Lets talk yardbird

[just country]

morning, raised chickens when younger. already very good
info given. lots of water always, plenty of feed. let out during
day time. should go to roust at night. the chickens will
foriage sp for green leaves, insects, gravel, anything
to help there digestion. feed stores have
medicine sp. u put in the water, for healthy layers.
hot weather slows egg laying. u can get a book on raising
chickens. the chickens only produce certain times. if danger
is near they will go to trees for protection. guineas hens
furnish very good audioable sounders and their eggs r good. snakes,
coyotes, foxes, raccoons, dogs, hawks and cevete cats like
fried chicken. NO roosters. if possible go talk to
AG. teacher at local schools. lots of good info.
justme gbot tum

 

[Bozz10mm]

I would start with a half dozen hens. Should be close to 2 dozen eggs per week. You can always add more chickens later. 86 the rooster if your wife can't eat fertilized eggs. Fresh water is essential. Keep them in the pen for a couple of weeks, then you can let them run free range if you wish. They will return to the roost at sundown.

 

[jordanmills]

Ok sorry for the confusion.

2 dozen eggs is what we're after

You want two dozen eggs a week? About five or six hens will do you. Get eight to twelve hatchlings, expect a couple to die and a couple to not lay well. They'll slow down in the winter, when they days get shorter, so you'll want more hens if you need a minimum of two dozen eggs a week all year. Research breeds, but red crosses, orphingtons, and rhode island reds seem to lay best around here.

 

[FireInTheWire]

Poppin in to say thanks for the info ya'll. Got a full plate till Sunday. I'll review and fire back on questions then.

 

[robertc1024]

Frigging subscribed. Always wanted to do this, but wanted my bird hunting dogs more. How does one manage that?

 

[jordanmills]

Frigging subscribed. Always wanted to do this, but wanted my bird hunting dogs more. How does one manage that?

Have good fences or a lot of spare chickens.

 

[kbaxter60]

Seems like 4, just to be sure.

Four would probably do it. We now have only three producing hens and typically get 3 eggs each day. That puts us close to two dozen a week. If you go to some of the good web sites on raising chickens, they list all the breeds and usually have notes about production (300 eggs/year and such).

We have done several breeds now and really like the Americaunas (lay blue/green eggs). We found that Brahmas did not tolerate heat well, so stay away from those. We have about 8 Silkies almost to "producing" age. They are considered bantams, so we need to see how they do with larger breeds. Also, their meat is black, so if you plan to eat any, you would like dark meat. We may try some Australorps soon.

I'd echo what others said about predators. We have lost a number of hens to raccoons. We took a couple out and then "hardened" their pen and coop and have done well recently. One hen just vanished in the daytime and we are thinking hawk or coyote.

Other cons: we have had issues with sickness/disease/etc. If you have a farm animal vet that knows chickens, that would be a plus. We had a couple of issues that we never figured out and lost some birds. We also have a few with allergies that plague them. Could be cedar, but we don't know for sure.

Bottom line: go for it. We really love our small flock. We even have one Silkie/Americauna cross and she is a cutie. Just look:

 

[kbaxter60]

One other note: we have a local breeder we do business with and he has a few hens called "death layers". They are supposed to lay one egg every day until they die. They are rare and go for up to $150 each (yikes).
We saw them and they are attractive, looking more like game birds than chickens.

Just plugged that in as a note of interest. Good luck!

 

[GoPappy]

Wouldn't have one of those loud, messy fowl on my place! Hate guineas! Damn near as bad as geese and peacocks.

My wife suggested getting some guineas. I then showed her some YouTube videos of the incredible racket that guineas make pretty much constantly. She put the kibosh on the guinea idea pretty quickly.

 

[kbaxter60]

My wife suggested getting some guineas. I then showed her some YouTube videos of the incredible racket that guineas make pretty much constantly. She put the kibosh on the guinea idea pretty quickly.

Yeah, my parents have guineas and they CAN be noisy, especially if you have many of them. On the plus side, they make good "watchdogs" of your barnyard. They typically make the most noise when they feel threatened and will alert you to predators, trespassers, and Democrats. Could be worth it...

 

[jordanmills]

My wife suggested getting some guineas. I then showed her some YouTube videos of the incredible racket that guineas make pretty much constantly. She put the kibosh on the guinea idea pretty quickly.

There two animals prohibited by deed restrictions in my neighborhood: hogs and guineas. I was glad to see that.

 

[Whistler]

Speaking of yard birds there were a bunch of birds in my yard when I went out to feed. Sitting on the chicken coop, fences, trees... Buzzards, about 50 of them. Not even going to let that get started, threw a couple 9mm (because that was what I happened to have in my pocket today) at them to scare them off.

 

[deemus]

We had some Chinese chickens that laid green eggs.

 

[BRD@66]

We had some Chinese chickens that laid green eggs.

Did they flu the coop?

 

[kbaxter60]

There two animals prohibited by deed restrictions in my neighborhood: hogs and guineas. I was glad to see that.

Pit Bulls welcome!

 

[deemus]

Did they flu the coop?

Nope. They laid big green eggs for their duration, then my dad wrung their necks, and my mom cooked them for the dogs.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Nope. They laid big green eggs for their duration, then my dad wrung their necks, and my mom cooked them for the dogs.

Why for the dogs?

 

[BRD@66]

Why for the dogs?

Google "spent hens" - if you are brave.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Google "spent hens" - if you are brave.

Ok, I'll take your word for it.

 

[easy rider]

Hell, I thought this thread was about workers at a shipyard. We were called "Yardbirds".