Farm animals

[Dirk Williams]

We are looking into raising chickens. Our research is lacking, so I thought I'd reach out to anybody with experience raising chickens for eggs or meat.

Want to start with say a dozen chickens for eggs.

1. How many eggs on average should I expect from a dozen birds.
2. How much food do they eat.
3. Do they need to roost inside a building Or, can they have a out door pen with a cover in the winter.
4. How does cold weather effect the birds regarding egg production.
5. Can chickens handle weather say averaging 20 degree's in the winter and zero about 3 weeks a year.


Also looking at one milk cow for Milk, cheese, cream, butter and yogurt production. Any advice is welcome.


We have our stocks of food bullets and bandaids in place, have producing fruit trees on the creek behind the house. just planted blackberry's and blueberry's this past summer.


Thank you in advance.
Dirk

[zacii]

We've got 18 chickens.

Egg production depends on the breed, and living conditions.

Our's are called black star. Our daily average is 15 eggs in the summer and about 10 in the winter. The light seems to affect their laying more than the cold. My brother put lights in his coop, to simulate longer days, and that brought his egg production almost to summer levels. Just make sure that they have fresh water, and keep their feet dry.

I probably buy 100# of feed a month, but they also forage on 2 acres. They eat less feed in the summer, seems like.

They also love table scraps.

My dad raises a couple of batches of meat chickens a year. They're a lot more work. They are not as hardy as regular heritage breeds.

With the meat birds you have to regulate their feed, or they'll over eat. They're also prone to heart attack. But, they're a lot better eatin' than what's at the local grocery.

If you've got some acreage, it is my opinion that turkeys are easier to raise than meat chickens. They're not as finicky, and you don't have to babysit them as much.

Generally, the broiler chickens are ready for butchering at 8 to 10 weeks. Males can weigh around 10#.

Turkeys can get really big, but I prefer them at 4 months so they're not too big for the oven. I prefer turkeys around 15 to 20#.

[Dirk Williams]

Zac thanks, what brands or kind of chickens would excel above 4000 feet high dessert?, and am I reading this right you feed them 100 pounds of food per month?

Seems like alot of food for one month. What does that cost on average.

Thanks again for the info.
Dirk

[DeltaSierra]

I have a fair amount of experience in this particular field, so here goes...

1. It really depends on what breed of birds you get. I would recommend Red Sexlinks, as they will, more often than not, will lay at 95%. Other breeds, even Leghorns will only lay 80 or 85%.

In other words, if I had 100 Red Sexlinks, I would expect to get 95 or more eggs per day, whereas if I had the Leghorns (generally considered to be a pretty good laying breed) I would only expect 80 or 85 eggs per day in peak season.

2. Chickens are fed free-choice. A dozen hens shouldn't go through more than a 50 pound sack every week and a half or so, but that really depends on the breed. You should also feed out kelp meal to balance out their diet.

3. In the temperatures you are describing, you really need to have an enclosed coop for the birds, or they will get frozen combs and feet, as well as the fact that they will not lay well at all. In cold weather, they need to have free access to a draft free area, although heating that area isn't absolutely needed, they must be able to be out of any drafty area.

4. It isn't the cold weather that is as big of an issue for egg production, as a lack of light. For that reason, I would recommend that you put some sort of light in the coop, so they have light at least 12 hours per day in the winter. If they don't have light, it will throw them into a molt, and during the molt period, you can expect no eggs.


5. Yes, chickens will handle that weather fine.


As far as a cow, I would highly recommend a Jersey heifer. Jerseys, if raised properly, are the friendliest cows there are. I would highly recommend that you get a week old heifer, and raise her yourself, as she will be used to you, and will actually become attached to you and your family.

Other breeds, while decent cows, simply don't have the friendly personalities (and stubborn streak) that makes Jerseys a pleasure to work with.

[Inuvik]

The above pretty much sums up production and feed. Do you have the ability to grow any supplemental feed? You can grow quite a bit of grain in a relatively small space.

The breed will also determine cold-hardiness. I consider Rhode Island Reds to be sort of the "standard" hardy brown-egg breed. You will get more egg production from some of the white-egg layers, but less hardiness.

The degree of coop you need is determined by your predator issues. If you have no coyotes or bobcats, you can get away with less. Your neighbors dogs may be an issue as well. If you have bears, you may be out of luck.

[DeltaSierra]

A fifty pound sack of feed should cost about $15.


That really isn't a lot of feed, at least for what I am used to.

When you are feeding out a sack or two per day, or better, that adds up...

Really, the breed of chicken isn't too dependent on the climate, with a couple exceptions. Get the Sexlinks, as they will perform the best under most conditions.

Zac thanks, what brands or kind of chickens would excel above 4000 feet high dessert?, and am I reading this right you feed them 100 pounds of food per month?

Seems like alot of food for one month. What does that cost on average.

Thanks again for the info.
Dirk

[DeltaSierra]

My dad raises a couple of batches of meat chickens a year. They're a lot more work. They are not as hardy as regular heritage breeds.

With the meat birds you have to regulate their feed, or they'll over eat. They're also prone to heart attack. But, they're a lot better eatin' than what's at the local grocery.

If you've got some acreage, it is my opinion that turkeys are easier to raise than meat chickens. They're not as finicky, and you don't have to babysit them as much.

Generally, the broiler chickens are ready for butchering at 8 to 10 weeks. Males can weigh around 10#.

Turkeys can get really big, but I prefer them at 4 months so they're not too big for the oven. I prefer turkeys around 15 to 20#.

After raising and/or butchering tons meat birds, I can't say that I agree with you here. I have never regulated feed rations for meat birds, and have never had any issues with heart attacks, or anything else. If you are having issues, it is NOT because of how much they ate, but what quality grain you are feeding out, and what conditions they were kept in.

Turkeys, when compared with chickens are a royal pain to raise. All turkeys want to do is die for the first eight weeks or so, and then all they want to do is figure out some way of killing themselves so it looks like it was your fault...

Turkeys are more personable than chickens, but I would never recommend that someone new to poultry start out with turkeys, as they are much more sensitive to their conditions that chickens are. If it is too damp, the turkeys will get spasms, and keel over. If it is to hot, they'll notice it first. Chickens are much more resilient, and are much better suited for beginners.

I don't know what breed of meat bird you raise, but the Cornish Roaster (NOT a Cornish XRock) is the hardiest, and won't give you any leg issues. They hardly have any health issues at all, and grow 10 to 13 pounds or better.

I've had turkeys that easily topped #40 dressed, so butchering a turkey at 15 or 20 pounds in almost not worth it for the trouble.

[PlatoCATM]

I have 8 chickens that I picked up at the hatchery in mid-august. 2 each of sussex, rhode island red, americauna, and barred rock. I got my first small egg last monday and have since found two more. I think they are from the same barred rock. Note, these are small pullet eggs, but it's interesting that they were laid in some of the coldest weather to date. A 50lb bag of feed is lasting about 3 weeks. I imagine they will eat more feed now that they are in the coop all the time since the weather finally turned to freezing. I will still go in and feed them some cracked corn from time to time.

I helped my buddy butcher about a dozen broilers a month or so ago, after he fed them out for around 8 weeks. By the end I think he said they would eat 10 lbs of feed a day.

[DeltaSierra]

By the end I think he said they would eat 10 lbs of feed a day.

Sorry to say it, but your buddy is smoking some good grass if he thinks his birds were eating ten pounds of feed per day, as that is physically impossible.


Even a forty pound turkey doesn't eat ten pounds of feed per day....

...but it's interesting that they were laid in some of the coldest weather to date.

Not really, considering what I said earlier about how cold weather does not really affect how well the birds lay.

[zacii]

I believe that we raise the Cornish X.

We're a very small operation, usually 75ish meat birds. They get fed a meat bird feed from the local feed store. I have no idea what kind.

I know that they have to have water continually, and that we give them feed for 12hrs, then off for 12hrs. My dad is the chicken guru, I honestly don't know anything, I just dress 'em for the freezer. Perhaps I didn't use the word regulate correctly.

Turkeys are very different animals depending on the breed. We can, and have, raised some very large ones. Just a preference for a bit smaller. The last batch, I believe, were the Narragansett.

I'm sure that anyone with a large operation, or who's raised them for many years is going to have a better handle on normalcy, than me. We've only been going for about 3 years.

We're in the high desert, probably about 4800 ft. Highs around 110 in the summer, and in the winter we routinely go into single digits at night. We usually get a week of sub-zero temps mid to late january.

I personally raise my own chickens for eggs; the Black Stars mentioned earlier. This is my second year with this variety and I've been real pleased with them. My first chicken batch were Buff Orpingtons. I wasn't that impressed with them. They didn't lay as well as the Black Stars, and they were not as well tempered.

We give them fresh water every day, and some oyster shell to help their egg shells. The wife also gives them cayenne pepper, or diatomaceous earth (spelling?) for their digestive systems. The cayenne is also supposed to help their circulation in cold weather.