The hobby, project, or whatever one wishes to call it concerning people raising chickens in their backyard or at their home appears to be getting more popular in recent years. It is something that is not difficult and will provide meat and eggs for the family.
I strongly recommend that it is understood that it is generally as, or more expensive to raise chickens for either eggs or meat yourself than to buy at them at the local store. I do know you won’t find the quality in any of the stores. Possibly a farm market or just some small scale chicken farmer selling a few eggs out of their home would compare, but the eggs in the supermarket, just aren’t of the quality you get from having your own chickens and eggs.
The picture to the right shows some chicks I recently ordered. It includes Barred Plymouth Rock, New Hampshire Red, Buff Orpington, Silver Laced Wyandottes, and Rhode Island Reds. The darker one’s are the wyandottes and barred rock, and the lightest are the orpingtons. It is almost impossible to distinguish between Rhode Island Red and New Hampshire red as their colors can be almost identical.
These chicks are what I believe to be some of the most popular, “dual purpose” breeds. They have similar egg laying characteristics other than I feel the Buff Orpington does actually lay a few less eggs per year than the others. It is a little heavier and might even be classed more as a “heavy” breed. It also has white skin when dressed for the oven.
Tags: Barred Plymouth Rock, buff orpington, chick, chicken coops, coops, dual purpose, Feeding Laying Hens, hobby, new hampshire red, rhode island red, silver laced wyandotte
From time to time I hear from people with stories about things that happened to them while raising chickens. I received this one from someone in North Carolina.
I thought it was nice of the person to share, so I am posting it, just as I received it. The story might Read the rest of this entry »
There are many blogs, forums, and websites on the internet about chickens.
I have gotten some really good information from some of the forums that I have visited. I have also seen some websites about poultry that are very obviously only online to make the owner some money. I say this, not Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: american standard of perfection, and Websites, Blogs, chicken, Forums, orpington, poultry
My first flock of chickens consisted of 13 birds. As it worked out I split an order of 25 with someone and when we divided them up we each ended up with 13 birds as they sent an extra one.
This first flock was Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: corn, First Backyard Flock of Chickens, rhode island red
There are four considerations when deciding which breed of turkey you desire.
- Large-sized bird.
- Small-sized bird.
- Broad Breast(more white meat)
- White Feathers (unplucked pinfeathers don’t show).
The Bronze Turkey
The bronze turkey was developed in the region of Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. It was a cross of the European strain and the Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: broad breasted, bronze, holland, narragansett, royal palm, Selecting A Breed Of Turkey
Turkeys require most of their care and attention during the first couple months. After this time they become much easier to care for. Turkeys are friendly and curious by nature. Similar to chickens they will talk to you, or whatever you call their so called gobbling. At the same time they don’t care for strangers and will really raise a ruckus when strangers approach them.
The thing turkeys are known Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Poultry Problems, Raising the Flock, turkey
This may surprise some people as there are so many stories about how difficult it is to raise turkeys. It says in some of the older books that this was actually quite true, but now days, although nothing like chickens, they can be raised successfully. They are harder to raise than chickens, ducks, or geese so do your homework well in advance of ordering turkeys.
I mentioned in my earlier post that it Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: baby turkey, cost, how many, poult, Raising Turkeys Successfully
Hatching baby chicks is not difficult. Incubators and supplies are available in many areas. Lyon Technologies, Inc. is one place that distributes to many areas of this country, and beyond.
They sell everything needed from the incubator, to the chicken that is ready to put out in the coop or chicken house.
If you already have chickens and fertile eggs, getting fertile eggs Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Hatching Baby Chicks, hygrometer, incubator, thermostat, wet bulb thermometer
With the move toward more people having chickens in small areas or lots, that wouldn’t be considered a farm these portable chicken pens, coops, houses, etc. are getting more popular. I can see where they work well, but I also see that it’s probably the people that are so against cage laying or crowded commercial barns that are probably using them.
I don’t see how on the humanitarianism side, many are actually that well suited because of the issue about room. I don’t think Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: chicken tractor, coop, hen house, poultry shelter, shelter
There are many mistakes people make when raising chickens at home.
As nearly as I can tell the one that stands out involves expanding the flock. Any expert will strongly advise not to add birds to your flock. In large commercial enterprises the workers wear rubbers or overshoes if they go from barn to barn, just so they have less chance to carry diseases from one chicken barn to the other.
I admit that I Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: cannibalism, Mistakes People Make When Raising Chickens At Home, mixing chickens, pecking order, room, room per bird
This is a picture of my chicken coop, house, shelter, or whateve you wish to call it. This is a very old picture I stumbled across from when I first completed the structure. It is actually much nicer than is necessary for chickens, but I think because it is quite large for a few hens it makes it easy to walk in and out for me, plus because the building is of normal height, it is easy to clean and care for the flock.
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