What basic things would someone need to know about raising chickens?

Question

I am interested in raising some chickens next spring for the first time ever. I've talked to local people(southern ontario canada) and I think I would like to raise Barred Plymouth Rock which are a fairly good dual purpose bird. I know I would like them to walk around the yard and or gardens to get rid of pests and live healthy.

Currently I live on my parents hobby farm and we have Shaver laying hens, horses, and few cattle. Is it good to mix different breeds of chickens or keep new chickens in the same coop where the old ones once were?

Any Tips, Suggestions or knowledge would be a great help, thanks.

Answer 1

There is no such thing as shaver laying chickens. You buy shavers in the store, they are made by gillette or norelco. If your chickens lay shavers then you should check your bathroom because they probably ate your shaver.

Answer 2

There's not a whole lot you need to know.  Keep their feet warm in the winter or they wont lay eggs.  Keep a light on in their coop for at least 8 to 9 hours per day or they wont lay many eggs. Every year in fall we put our lard from our hogs we have slaughtered in the coop for them to pick at.  The fat helps keep them warm in winter also.  Make sure they have access to fresh water and keep straw in the coop as needed.  Let them roam daily and lock them up at night so the other critters don't get to them.  If their egg laying becomes disrupted, look for cats or critters prowling around the coop at night.  Good to have a trap close to chicken coop to eliminate those problems.  Feed them laying mash and/or corn.  Chickens are fairly simple for the most part.  Try to spend some time with them if you get them when they are young.  It makes it much easier to gather eggs etc when they get older. Don't have more than 1 rooster per 12-16 chickens or they will over mate and hurt the hens.  Most everything is just common sense.  Good luck!

Answer 3

post a look-out for Col. Sanders :-)

Answer 4

For me, having a coop that is off the ground to keep predators from digging in (yes have had that happen), a fenced chicken yard to use on those days you want to keep the birds locked up.  Also having the yard is good for introducing new birds, let's them know where home is.  Good bedding on the floor.  I prefer sawdust as it's easier to clean up.  Straw or hay in the nesting area.  Nesting area that is dark, like a cubbyhole, seems to work best.  Yes, let them run around but understand some of them will probably nest outside the coop.  

I keep all my chickens together.  When introducing new chicks I start them penned in an area inside the coop or yard to get the older birds used to the younger ones.  If my new chicks were hatched by a hen, the hen has her own small coop and yard inside the main chicken yard.  When the chicks are big enough I let the family out with the other chickens...mommy protects the chicks from the other hens.  

Since you live in the north a light is needed in the winter to help keep egg production from dropping too low, figure at least 12 hours of light a day.

Answer 5

Stony,

I'll have to admit the chickens I kept were strictly pets, because I never had the heart to kill anything -even my black widows. Really. Although I did eat the eggs that didn't hatch.

I've actually learned more about keeping chickens from your other answers than I learned from the books I read while I had my small place that I called "Tumbleweed Glen."

I bought all kinds of different chickens, had all sorts of colors of eggs, and kept the shells for several years. I tripled the chicken wire around my coop because the one layer, then the two layers, just didn't keep the chicks in well enough not to loose quite a few to coyotes. I had over 70 chickens and 1 rooster at a time for most of the 7 years I owned the place.  I didn't begin with a plan to use my chickens for food, and couldn't ever bring myself to do so, making me not much in the farmer category. Oh, well, guess I'll just continue my art...Here are some (of many, many) links to info you might need.

http://www.farminfo.org/livestock/chicke...

http://www.pathtofreedom.com/pathproject...

http://www.amazon.com/tag/chickens

http://www.gatewaytovermont.com/thefarm/...

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/...

Answer 6

What came first?- the egg or the chicken?  How else will you know where to start.

Answer 7

Here in southern Ontario we still need to keep our chicks warm until they have their feathers out. In fact they need a temperature above 30C in the first 2 weeks.

Chicks will put out feathers faster if they have oats in their feed... it seems they need lysine that is often short in chicken food intended for factory farming.

Outdoor, free range poultry will come in contact with avian flu, very quickly. It has been migrating down with birds coming from the arctic. Sorry, not promising to change over the next couple years.

When one has a few hundred chickens, a loss of 20% of them due to predation is not uncommon. As the numbers get smaller, the percentage gets higher.

Those Shaver hens are identified as hybrids of the leghorn variety. If one of them were clucking, it would be smart to sneak a half dozen chicks under her wings. She will adopt and take care of them, keep them warm, teach them how to live.

I just wish chickens were a bit smarter, tho, because they tend to lose too many of their young.

Owls and hawks eat chickens if they can, and even rats do so. But nothing like a nice cute raccoon or squirrel!

There are several rock crosses that are slightly more robust than straight barred rock, such as rock and RI red or rock and Hampshire. They have a larger egg with a prettier shell.

You will possibly find two or more crosses with the same breeds, one from a rock hen, one from a rock rooster. Wierd but they are very different.

Answer 8

You don't want to mix young chicks in with older fowl, but otherwise mixing new individuals with old is good in that the new ones figure out right quick where the henhouse is, water, feed, etc.  As long as the older chickens haven't had disease problems, it's ok to use the same buildings.

Barred Rocks are good chickens but if you do your own killing and dressing, the dark pin feathers show up more easily than with something like a White Plymouth Rock.  

I prefer to let chickens run loose, except in very cold, snowy weather.  I'm not familiar with Shaver hens, but remember than heavy chickens like Plymouth Rocks can't fly and don't roost in trees, so be sure to train them to roost in a building that you can close up at night.  Otherwise, fox, coons and everything else will be feasting on them.

Answer 9

I am in ALberta...

check this link

http://www.gomestic.com/Pets/Unusual-Pet...

you dont want to mix big chickens with bantams.. but otherwise you can mix breeds - knowing that some are more bullyish than others.. and makeing sure your space is big enough...

chickens are people too!! treat them well, and know they value their lives just as much as you value yours.