Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[Mike CHS]

We went and picked up some chickens today. We found out their niche is chickens of any age from one week up to 32 weeks. If any are left after 32 weeks they become part of their egg laying operation as replacement birds. We got 5 Road Island Reds (1 rooster and 4 hens) that are 24 weeks old. We also got 7 - 7 week old chicks, 5 Delawares (1 rooster and 4 hens) and 3 Buff Orpington pullets. We will wind up eventually with 3 separate flocks but the 7 week olds will be staying together at least for the time being.

 

[CntryBoy777]

You will certainly enjoy the bug-eating and fresh eggs...
Not that ya won't, but keep us posted on them. I know RIR, but the Delawares are unknown...though, I know Baymule had some problems with hers. I think they are pretty. Once we get some things "Ironed Out" we will be trying some other breeds to put into the mix, too. That's why I'm interested how they do for ya...

 

[Mike CHS]

We still want to get a few Light Brahmas but we will be sticking to these 4 breeds for awhile.

 

[CntryBoy777]

I am starting to think about our "Cycle" and the turning over the numbers and our freezer space is fixing to triple. I have to start thinking now for next yr, and try to get a "Plan of Action" together. I think "Hanging Out" with all of y'all is rubbing off on me....dang-it...so, now I have work on developing a plan....

 

[NH homesteader]

Nice birds! We wanted Brahmas but we have mud issues here and those feathered legs... Not good!

 

[Mike CHS]

@NH homesteader we have our share of mud but folks around here that have them don't seem to have problems.

@CntryBoy777 - We were worried about freezer space when we brought our half of the steer home but we could have fit more ( a little more) if needed. We have two 21 cf freezers but one is mostly full from the garden last year. Now that we are here full time though we will be doing more canning and less freezing.


We are finding chicken math a bit more complex than sheep math. After the RIR's get their systems clear of anything other thatn RIR eggs, we are going to incubate probably 40 of the eggs.

We decided to keep our red trailer and turn that into a chicken tractor. It could easily hold upward of 100 chickens and wouldn't take much to turn it into a coop. The roof couldn't be repaired but we can have a tarp custom made to fit or even cheaper just use a tarp stretched tight.

 

[CntryBoy777]

It never hurts to use what ya have "Available" to your advantage.....at all.

 

[NH homesteader]

So how many chickens are you aiming for? I have a harder time with chicken math than anything else math because if you're feeding 10 chickens you might as well feed 25! (and so on...) and they're cheaper additions than more goats, sheep, whatever.

 

[Mike CHS]

We have been following the sales at Farmers Markets and with a few folks that market young chickens in the local paper and they move surprisingly fast. We only want about a dozen for our own egg use but home grown eggs sell pretty good around here even though you can get a dozen eggs at Kroger for $1.25. For a real rural area there are surprisingly few egg/chicken growers.

I didn't answer your question but we want to get 75-100 started and see where that takes. You can sell eggs here without a license as long as you only sell your own eggs and your flock size stays under 3,000 birds so we have a lot of leeway.

 

[NH homesteader]

That's funny, up here it's hard to sell eggs because everyone else has chickens! Hard to sell meat birds too, we quit doing that as well.

75-100 is a decent amount! My limit is 50. We only have 13 now but 15 on the way in May, plus whatever we hatch out. I'm aiming for 25-50.