from my friend and Queen of the Chickens:
i have a ridiculously long reply. apparently i can't shut up about
chickens if given the opportunity. 
ok, i got lots to say about the chickens. i lurve mah chickens. they
are the greatest, silliest creatures. i learned most of what i know
from storey's
guide to raising chickens by gail demerow. i also poured over the
murray mcmurray hatchery catalog (though i did not order from them due
to the 25 chick minimum) and lurking on the pastured poultry yahoo
group.
banties are popular today as pets, exhibition birds, and as
ornamentals that add colour to the yard. their eggs are smallish, but
i hear they are prolific layers, and taste just as good as the
rock-cornish commercial hybrids.
most of the breeds we know today have been developed since 1868 when
charles darwin published an inventory of chicken breeds existing at
the time - 13 of them! 12 have been recognized as endangered classics
by the american livestock breeds conservancy. they are ancona,
australorps, delaware, dominique, jersey giants, brown leghorns, black
minorcas, new hampshire (LFOD chickens!) barred plymouth rock, rhode
island red, and white wyandottes.
docile breeds: cochin, dorking, orpington, plymouth rock
flighty breeds: hamburg, lakenvelder, leghorn, polish
aggressive: aseel, cornish rocks, new hampshire cocks, rhode island red cocks
ameraucanas/araucanas are good flyers. most other breeds, especially
the larger ones, should not be able to make it over a 4 or 5 foot high
fence.
there is somewhat of a debate regarding the ameracauna/araucana
breeds. more on that on this site.
also feathersite is probably
the best place on the web for breed identification and breed research
in general.
there is a huge list of breeds that are good layers, a list of breeds
that are "dual-purpose" - meat and eggs, and breeds that are better
for meat, and breeds that are just plain purty. i chose a mixture of
both. i have 5 black sumatras (also endangered and rare, but not
recognized as such by the albc for some reason) and close descendants
of the original jungle fowl, a black australorp hen for good eggs, an
ameraucana for pretty eggs, two partridge plymouth rocks for good
eggs, and 6 "extra males shipped for warmth". yes, i know, weird. i
ordered from ideal
poultry, who claims to have no minimum order. when they ship you
your day old chicks, they need to stay warm, and apparently 12 is
too few so i received 16! 6 roosters! that's 5 too many! the ideal
ratio is one roo to every 10 hens. quite a harem. guess that makes
up for being expendable huh guys?
interestingly, my roos are the most friendly and curious, along with
the plymouth rock hen. they follow me around the yard. they run at
me when i come outside and then pause, uncertain as to what to really
do once they reach my feet. i have one "lap-roo" who will hop on my
leg and sit for a spell. i've named him the The Major, due to a small
gouge in his comb that i can only attribute as a battle wound from
sparring with the other roos. i have a feeling The Major may escape
the stew-pot.....
ok i am rambling. i house them in a modified chicken tractor because
i live in freezing new hampshire. half is open, and half is enclosed
with a plywood floor. it is 4x4x12, with a square frame and a peaked
roof. i read somewhere that chickens don't like a-frames. can't
remember why, had something to do with the peak being a waste of space
as they find it uncomfortable to roost in or something. it takes 2 or
3 people to move, and i move it whenever they look like they need
fresh ground. next year, everywhere the coop has been will be
in-ground veggie gardens, thanks to the chicken poops. when winter
time comes i plan on surrounding the enclosed portion with haybales
for insulation.
to answer the question regarding does my coop need to face east west
with the doors pointing north and you have to paint it yellow and turn
it 360 degrees every new moon but only on sundays, no, you definitely
do not need to be that precise. pay attention to the microclimate in
your yard, and orient the coop as necessary to prevent drafts and too
much/not enough sun. hens need good light to lay, which may be why
production slows, if not comes to a halt in winter. some hens can lay
up to an egg a day. production will slacken after a year or two,
which is when commercial hens get whacked, sadly. (the saying "tough
old bird" comes from retired hens in the stew-pot) however some hens
may give you an egg a week up until they are 11 or 12 years old. yes,
chickens are a long-term commitment, unless you plan on eatin' em.
they should start to lay after about 5 or 6 months.
chicks are failry easy to brood. best time to start is in march or
april when its startting to get warm but is still cool enough to
prevent disease. they need a heat lamp, fresh chicken starter feed,
and water, which can be supplemented with vitamins and electrolytes on
a rotating basis. they need to be kept at 90-95 degrees the first
week, gradually decreasing the temp each week until it hits 70
degrees, at which time they should be fully feathered and ready fro
the outdoors. you can buy a brooder, surround an area on your floor
with cardboard, or put them in the bathtub, like i did. my
baby chicken pictures are here on my flickr page, if you are
curious.
even though i live in an extremely rural area with coyotes, foxes,
hawks, and owls, i have had no predator problems as of yet, knock on
wood.
whew! ok, me shut up now. good luck with your chickens! feel free
to pm me if you have any more questions. |
