Chicks 2012

[Jim]

Okay it is that time again!  Who is raising chicks this year and what breeds?

We are adding 4 hens, now one week old:

• Dominque
• Blue-Laced Red Wyandotte
• Silver-Laced Wyandotte
• Specked Sussex

[Dunappy]

It depends on what my hens hatch out, but I'm hoping for some Muscovy ducklings, Americaua/Rhode Island red mix chicks, some goslings and maybe I'll get lucky and have a few turkey chicks.  I don't buy chicks usually I just let one or two hens plus the ducks and geese go broody.

[Brian Ring]

So far:
2 Black Sex Links
2 Production Reds
2 New Hampshire Reds

[WayneH]

I haven't decided yet.  I might just do a batch of meat chickens.  I was thinking of ordering surplus chicks, but I don't know what I would do with 100+ chickens!  I'm not even sure I would want to butcher that many.  It just sounds like a bad day to me.  Even worse because I don't have a motorized plucker.

I may end up just getting a dozen barred rocks and try to be happy with that.

[heliotropicmoth]

I am in the process of building two top-bar hives right now. Once that is done I am building a chicken tractor and we are getting Ameraucana laying hens. I cant wait for my green eggs and ham!

[WayneH]

Moth:

I was hoping you would volunteer to help butcher my 100+ chickens! 

[heliotropicmoth]

I would love to help! I hear its much easier to skin them than it is to pluck them. Seriously, if you need help, my fiance and I would love to give you a hand so we can learn the process. All you have to do is ask.

[Jason Akers]

My mom just went to the PO and picked up my 27.  9 Golden Campines, 9 Dominiques, 9 Broilers.

My wife is going to pick them up from her and my son is going to love it!

Jason

[Jono]

We got our 61 Barred Rocks, and 6 Araucana's about 3 weeks ago.  They're starting to feather out now.

About half of them will turn out to be cockerels and go into the freezer around Memorial day.  The other half will join our adult hens a few weeks later as part of the laying flock.  I plan to keep one or two of the males though to grow into full cocks and hopefully help with the next step in sustainable flock keeping.

Jono

[bacpacker]

I started raising chickens last spring. We went with Buff Orpingtons. Right now I only have 4 hens, but they are laying well. I hope to have another 6-10 hatched off sometime this summer. I'd like to keep my flock somewherer around 10-12 hens and a rooster, for now.
I did build my coop big enough to handle 25-30 pretty well if I need to increase the flock size.

[Jim]

Bacpacker,

Your situation sounds like where we want to go as well.  What are the dimensions of your coop and nesting area if you don't mind describing it?

I started raising chickens last spring. We went with Buff Orpingtons. Right now I only have 4 hens, but they are laying well. I hope to have another 6-10 hatched off sometime this summer. I'd like to keep my flock somewherer around 10-12 hens and a rooster, for now.
I did build my coop big enough to handle 25-30 pretty well if I need to increase the flock size.

[bacpacker]

I built a 10' x 12' coop. I'll try and get a pic of the finished product up. Inside I have a roost built out of some scrap wood,  4 small windows, and 4 nesting boxes. Right now this is where the hens live. I have the roosters in a chicken tractor and most of them will be leaving soon.

Just got started yesterday on my fencing. The run will end up being 64' x 32' x 7-8' height. I plan on running a gutter off the back into 2 300 gallon plastic totes to water the chicks using chicken nipples, as well as, to irrigate some of the garden as needed.

I also have a deer feeder to put up in the run that should hold about a months worth of food for them. At least with the flock I have currently.

[Brian Ring]

We picked up another 6 chicks, 4 ameraconaus (sp?) and 2 Rhode Island Reds.  Now we will have 5 different breeds.

[heliotropicmoth]

Question,

Does anyone know what to do with a chicken tractor in winter? I am in zone 6a southwest Ohio. I plan on building a chicken tractor to house 5-6 Araucanas laying hens. This breed is hardy to begin with and they lay cool blue-green eggs. So what do I do when I can no longer move the tractor around the yard? Do I put it somewhere the winter sun will hit it? Maybe box it in with hay bales? Should I have some sort of heating device in it? How do you keep a sanitary environment in a stationary chicken tractor? Do you just muck it out every other week like a traditional coop? What about water? I was thinking about a gravity fed reservoir with a fish tank heater in it. Does anyone see a problem with that? Any help would be great because I am going to do it, it's just a matter of how bad I screw up.  

Patrick

[Jim]

I can't wait to see the water system up and running.  I like all your winter ideas.  If your bedding is straw, having straw bales as cold barriers might be a great thing (if you can keep it dry I suppose).

I have 2 of these lights:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=82-021-177&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

I got them on sale for $13 each shipped last December, but thought they might be handy.  They have a 1 watt LED light that is pretty good.  I originally was thinking I could mount them inside the coop part of the tractor to help with broodiness. Also, if you are working with the coop and it gets dark early, it provides hands-free light.  You cannot override the motion detector, and the light says on 40sec unless motion is constantly detected.