Chicken husbandry ?? EGGS, FERTZ, MEAT - ANY TIPS?????

C

chilliman

Gday guys,
I am going to be putting in a chicken coupe very soon. I want all things chicken from my new venture into chicken husbandry.
1. Eggs.. "Mans gotta have his eggs"
2. Fertilizer that they produce will be used on the farm here. This is one of the main reasons!!!
3. Meat, I eat chicken alot and dont mind dressing meat as I hunt alot.

So I am COMPLETE NOOB at this at would love some tips or advice if anyone has chooks ?:)

HHEEELLLLPPPP ???!?!!

. What is the best meat bird and the best egg birds ? Or a X between them ?????
. Whats a good number to start and how much fertz/manure will they produce ? I have to cover around 400 sqm + of beds. So a 5-6 KG a week would be good

Thanks
Ian
 
Part of your answer can only be determined by what your goals are. Do you want a lot of eggs, only a few, any preference to color, egg size ect. Most chickens will lay 4 - 7 eggs a week, less in the colder months. For brown eggs Barred rocks, Rhode island reds, wyndotte or one of the hybrid red stars would be good choices, there are actually a lot more you could choose.

For meat you have 2 options, one you can grow broilers which mature really fast 5lbs in 4 weeks, the meat isn't as textured and they have certain health problems. The best bet is to get "fryers" which are the males of any of the heavy breed chickens (Barred rock, Rhode island reds, ect) in about 16 weeks you will have a nice sized 5 -6 lbs bird, with plenty of texture and flavor.

As for fertilizer, you may be a little disappointed in this area. I had 15 chickens and used the "Deep liter method" of raising them. This starts off with 3-4 inches of pine shavings and you add 1 inch every so often to build up the liter. You turn it over / mix it up every once in awhile, it cuts down on smell and becomes self sanitizing. once you are up to 12 -15 inches of liter you just mix it up. Once a year you clean it all out and start again.
 
Is a chicken coupe anything like this DeSoto coupe? :rolleyes:

1948_Desoto_Custom_Coupe-Dgrn-Fvlmx.jpg
 
Gday Matt ! Welcome to the forum ! hehehe we have a chicken guy ! That is wicked aas I will have plenty of questions !

Eggs are not that much concern, but I do enjoy fresh eggs ! Meat is prety important, If I could get 1 bird a week in the long run to throw in the oven would be great !

The FERTZ is what I really want... so with your layers ? You dont actually recover the poo every other day and just keep building it up?? 15 chickens ? How big was the pen ?? did you have them running around the back yard or locked full time in a coupe ?
I was hopeing to get at least a couple of KG a week of little chicken nug`s. And would probably clean it out to get the goodies. To mix into my compost pile of black gold.:cool:


Matt Berry said:
Part of your answer can only be determined by what your goals are. Do you want a lot of eggs, only a few, any preference to color, egg size ect. Most chickens will lay 4 - 7 eggs a week, less in the colder months. For brown eggs Barred rocks, Rhode island reds, wyndotte or one of the hybrid red stars would be good choices, there are actually a lot more you could choose.

For meat you have 2 options, one you can grow broilers which mature really fast 5lbs in 4 weeks, the meat isn't as textured and they have certain health problems. The best bet is to get "fryers" which are the males of any of the heavy breed chickens (Barred rock, Rhode island reds, ect) in about 16 weeks you will have a nice sized 5 -6 lbs bird, with plenty of texture and flavor.

As for fertilizer, you may be a little disappointed in this area. I had 15 chickens and used the "Deep liter method" of raising them. This starts off with 3-4 inches of pine shavings and you add 1 inch every so often to build up the liter. You turn it over / mix it up every once in awhile, it cuts down on smell and becomes self sanitizing. once you are up to 12 -15 inches of liter you just mix it up. Once a year you clean it all out and start again.
Click to expand...
 
What is the best bird you have ever eatten ?? And best laying rare breed ??
Ever eatten a dark skin bird ?? like a silkie bantam ?
Whats the biggest , is it the White Sully breed,, WTF it is ment to be a aussie breed ? [which has world record]?? I assume they would do the most fertz production ?!

I have also found a really good website ! Ultimate chicken website!
 
Anone ever had these ?? I was thinking a few of these for eggs and meat !---------------
The Australorp
Is an Australian chicken breed. It is a large, soft-feathered bird with glossy black feathers and a lustrous green sheen. The Australian chicken is hardy, docile and a good egg-layer as well as meat bird. The Australian chickens single comb is moderately large and upright, with five distinct points. Well looked after, Australorp chickens lay approximately 250 light-brown eggs per year.


Australorp chickens hold the worlds record for egg production with one hen having laid 364 eggs in 365 days under official Australian trapnest testing. The Australorp chicken was developed from the English Orpington. In 1929, the Australorp chicken was admitted to the Standard of Perfection. Australorp chickens are black in colour. Males weigh 8.5 pounds, cockerals 7.5 pounds, hens 6.5 pounds and poulets 5.5 pounds. The Australorp chickens skin is white beneath their feathers and the females lay brown coloured eggs.

It was the egg laying performance of Australorp chickens which attracted world attention when in 1922 - 1923 a team of six hens set a world record of 1857 eggs at an average of 309.5 eggs per hen for a 365 consecutive day trial. It must be remembered that these figures were achieved without the lighting regimes of the modern intensive shed. Such performances had importation orders flooding in from England, United States of America, South Africa, Canada and Mexico. Well looked after Australorp chickens lay approximately 250 light-brown eggs per year.
-------------------------------------------------------------

Was thinking Leghorns and a few Rhode Island Red as well. And do a mix!! Try get some cross breeds etc.
 
Australorps are a good choice. The only downside is you won't get the mythical egg a day from them. You should get about 3 - 4 eggs a week from them, and it will be a medium sized egg. For jumbo eggs look at the wyndottes, they have interesting personalities, and lay pretty consistently.

As for space, you should figure at least 3 - 4 square feet per bird, and then an additional outdoor space. This helps cut back on their tendency to pick on each other (pulling out feathers, ect)

Here are 2 links for more chicken info

Breed chart
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

Backyard chickens forum (Look under message boards on the left side)
http://www.backyardchickens.com/
 
I had a chicken for a while. Her name was "Girlfriend". Best eggs I ever had.

I've been meaning to get a couple more. Easy to take care of and the eggs are great. Also good fertilizer for the garden.
 
chilliman said:
Gday guys,
I am going to be putting in a chicken coupe very soon. I want all things chicken from my new venture into chicken husbandry.
1. Eggs.. "Mans gotta have his eggs"
2. Fertilizer that they produce will be used on the farm here. This is one of the main reasons!!!
3. Meat, I eat chicken alot and dont mind dressing meat as I hunt alot.

So I am COMPLETE NOOB at this at would love some tips or advice if anyone has chooks ?

HHEEELLLLPPPP ???!?!!

. What is the best meat bird and the best egg birds ? Or a X between them ?????
. Whats a good number to start and how much fertz/manure will they produce ? I have to cover around 400 sqm + of beds. So a 5-6 KG a week would be good

Thanks
Ian
Click to expand...

The best meat bird would be the Cornish X Rock (4 to 8 weeks to harvest depending on the size you want) and the commercial egg producers use the Leghorn. For the best of both worlds the Plymouth Rock is hard to beat. I have 4 Plymouth Rock hens, 5 Rhode Island Red hens, and three Golden Laced Wyandotte hens which lay an average of 9 brown eggs per day and have all dropped one rarely for 12 that day. That's more eggs than I can personally eat fresh so I pickle a lot of em with peppers for some nice "hen grenades". ;) They always have layer pellets in their feeder but eat a lot of table scraps, insects and grass seed (from the 60ft x 130ft fenced area), and I feed them a lot of bread purchased from the thrift/day old bread store ($3 per grocery cart piled full). Needless to say on that diet they poop a lot and would probably meet your poop quota. :lol:


chilliman said:
Eggs are not that much concern, but I do enjoy fresh eggs ! Meat is prety important, If I could get 1 bird a week in the long run to throw in the oven would be great!
Click to expand...

If you want to harvest one bird per week I would go with the Cornish X Rocks since it takes around 18 to 20 week old hens before they start laying and peak egg production comes at around 18 months and slowly declines from thereon. So purchase a few dozen Cornish X Rock chicks, harvest in 6 to 8 weeks and put most in the freezer and reorder more chicks to raise when necessary.
If you decide not to go with the XRocks get a couple of Buff Orpingtons as these make excellent brooders/mothers to hatch some of your eggs. I'd recommend a Plymouth Rock rooster to fertilize these egg hatches.

chilliman said:
The FERTZ is what I really want... so with your layers ? You dont actually recover the poo every other day and just keep building it up?? 15 chickens ? How big was the pen ?? did you have them running around the back yard or locked full time in a coupe ?
I was hopeing to get at least a couple of KG a week of little chicken nug`s. And would probably clean it out to get the goodies. To mix into my compost pile of black gold.
Click to expand...

The hens return to the coop every evening on their own and deposit a long line of ferts below their roost. I harvest most of my black goodness from behind a 4ft x 12ft cage holding roosters. The hens inside the fenced area stir it daily and it sits below some trees that supply leaves that are mixed in by the hens as well. I clean out the coop once every two weeks or so and dump it behind the rooster pen for the auto hen stirring. :)
Of course you could mix and compost it own your own, but I prefer letting my ladies do a lot of the work.

chilliman said:
What is the best bird you have ever eatten ?? And best laying rare breed ??
Ever eatten a dark skin bird ?? like a silkie bantam ?
Whats the biggest , is it the White Sully breed,, WTF it is ment to be a aussie breed ? [which has world record]?? I assume they would do the most fertz production ?!

I have also found a really good website ! Ultimate chicken website!
Click to expand...

Best eaten was a fresh harvested Cornish X Rock (let it sit in the fridge for a day before cooking).
The Delaware would get my vote for the best laying rare breed for large brown eggs or the Minorca for large white eggs.
No the silkie is too small, cute and also a great brooder. :D
Jersey Giant is the largest I'm familiar with; hens get over 10LBs.
I ordered my chicks from here: http://www.meyerhatchery.com/get_dept_1.htm

chilliman said:
Anone ever had these ?? I was thinking a few of these for eggs and meat !---------------The Australorp
Click to expand...

They're not broad breasted enough to suit me. I'm a breast man, but they do have a pretty iridescent sheen when in the sunlight.


chilliman said:
Was thinking Leghorns and a few Rhode Island Red as well. And do a mix!! Try get some cross breeds etc.
Click to expand...

Creating your own new breed would be nice, but would take many years to stabilize the traits you wanted. Just creating crosses could be fun though.

chilliman said:
LOL - I will be fencing back section off ...
Do chooks eat chilli ??
Click to expand...

They will, but prefer tomato scraps or the odd mater with a blemish. If you're asking can you turn your chicks loose in your chili garden, I wouldn't. They scratch the ground too much and would probably eat more leaves from your plants than peppers.

Good luck with your new chick project and I hope you have a brooder setup and ready when your new chicks arrive in the mail.
 
Silver_Surfer said:
The best meat bird would be the Cornish X Rock (4 to 8 weeks to harvest depending on the size you want) and the commercial egg producers use the Leghorn. For the best of both worlds the Plymouth Rock is hard to beat. I have 4 Plymouth Rock hens, 5 Rhode Island Red hens, and three Golden Laced Wyandotte hens which lay an average of 9 brown eggs per day and have all dropped one rarely for 12 that day. That's more eggs than I can personally eat fresh so I pickle a lot of em with peppers for some nice "hen grenades". ;) They always have layer pellets in their feeder but eat a lot of table scraps, insects and grass seed (from the 60ft x 130ft fenced area), and I feed them a lot of bread purchased from the thrift/day old bread store ($3 per grocery cart piled full). Needless to say on that diet they poop a lot and would probably meet your poop quota.
Click to expand...
That is one of the main reasons I am getting into chooks! poop ! That and I luv roast chook ! So essentially if you feed more they would poop more and be better meat birds, makes sense! lol My local bakery and fruit shop should be able to help !

"Hen Grenades" sound goooood... just vinegar ?
So you had 12 chickens ? And they produced a few KG a week ?



If you want to harvest one bird per week I would go with the Cornish X Rocks since it takes around 18 to 20 week old hens before they start laying and peak egg production comes at around 18 months and slowly declines from thereon. So purchase a few dozen Cornish X Rock chicks, harvest in 6 to 8 weeks and put most in the freezer and reorder more chicks to raise when necessary.
If you decide not to go with the XRocks get a couple of Buff Orpingtons as these make excellent brooders/mothers to hatch some of your eggs. I'd recommend a Plymouth Rock rooster to fertilize these egg hatches.
Click to expand...
X Rock, and a Plymouth Rock ... I will have a look ! I will get what ever to begin with! I dont really know any better. lol

The hens return to the coop every evening on their own and deposit a long line of ferts below their roost. I harvest most of my black goodness from behind a 4ft x 12ft cage holding roosters. The hens inside the fenced area stir it daily and it sits below some trees that supply leaves that are mixed in by the hens as well. I clean out the coop once every two weeks or so and dump it behind the rooster pen for the auto hen stirring. :)
Of course you could mix and compost it own your own, but I prefer letting my ladies do a lot of the work.
Click to expand...
So do you have your roosters locked up away from the hens ?
How many roosters per head of chicken ? And do you let your roosters out with the hens or periodically ?
Why, is that so you dont get fert eggs ? ?

How heigh do the fences have to be ?


Best eaten was a fresh harvested Cornish X Rock (let it sit in the fridge for a day before cooking).
The Delaware would get my vote for the best laying rare breed for large brown eggs or the Minorca for large white eggs.
No the silkie is too small, cute and also a great brooder.
Jersey Giant is the largest I'm familiar with; hens get over 10LBs.
I ordered my chicks from here: http://www.meyerhatchery.com/get_dept_1.htm


They're not broad breasted enough to suit me. I'm a breast man, but they do have a pretty iridescent sheen when in the sunlight.
Click to expand...

I like thigh .. great for curries !

Cornish X Rock - white or brown ?? When I plug it into google images these come up :
40637708.jpg

1855_close_up_red_hens.jpg


Creating your own new breed would be nice, but would take many years to stabilize the traits you wanted. Just creating crosses could be fun though.
Click to expand...

Yer, just crosses... I dont have the patients to stabilize a new breed ! lol

They will, but prefer tomato scraps or the odd mater with a blemish. If you're asking can you turn your chicks loose in your chili garden, I wouldn't. They scratch the ground too much and would probably eat more leaves from your plants than peppers.

Good luck with your new chick project and I hope you have a brooder setup and ready when your new chicks arrive in the mail.
Click to expand...

Thats what I needed to know ! I didnt think about the mulch on my garden that would be torn apart !


THANX a heap SS !!!
 
chilliman said:
That is one of the main reasons I am getting into chooks! poop ! That and I luv roast chook ! So essentially if you feed more they would poop more and be better meat birds, makes sense! lol My local bakery and fruit shop should be able to help !

"Hen Grenades" sound goooood... just vinegar ?
So you had 12 chickens ? And they produced a few KG a week ?
Click to expand...

Yes, my 12 hens easily produce that amount in a week.

Not just vinegar:

SS's Hen Grenades
-----------------
4 Dozen large hard boiled eggs
6 Cups white vinegar (5% acidity)
1/2 cup Kosher salt
1/4 Cup whole mustard seed
1/3 Cup crushed red peppers
1/3 Cup whole dill seed
2 tablespoons whole peppercorns

3 dozen fresh hot peppers (or less, your choice of variety)
2 tablespoons minced garlic or 12 cloves fresh garlic
1 Large onion coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons pickling spice
1 teaspoon red food color (optional)

Combine vinegar, salt, mustard seeds, crushed red peppers, dill seed and peppercorns in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve salt and simmer for 10 minutes.

Place the shelled hard boiled eggs into a hot sterilized one gallon glass jar and then add remaining ingredients except food color. You may use 4 quart or 8 pint canning jars and lids if desired, but the smaller jars will require more work (equal division of ingredients and processing). I buy pickles in gallon jars from Sam's Club and reuse the jars and lids. The lids will vacuum seal fine for 2 or 3 egg batches as long as you wash them before each use and place them in the hot water when sterilizing the jar. Since I created this recipe I've now switched to 1/2 gallon mason jars.

When the vinegar mixture is ready stir in the food color and pour the boiling vinegar mixture over the eggs, filling to within 1/2-inch from the top.

Wipe the jar rims clean, and cover the jars with lids and tighten firmly. Process the filled jars in a hot water bath (slow simmer) for 10 minutes. Begin timing the 10 minute processing as soon as the water begins to simmer. Remove the jars from the water bath and allow to cool completely (several hours or overnight for a gallon jar).

Let sit for 12 to 14 days before opening. After opening keep in the fridge.

Makes 1 gallon (4 quarts or 8 pints) of spicy pickled egg goodness! They will keep in the refrigerator for 6 to 8 weeks, but mine never last that long. :)


chilliman said:
X Rock, and a Plymouth Rock ... I will have a look ! I will get what ever to begin with! I dont really know any better. lol
Click to expand...

I'm just recommending the Cornish X Rocks for meat since you wanted to eat one per week. The Plymouth Rocks can be harvested too after their egg production has dropped due to old age, but you can't beat the food to meat conversion ratio of the X Rocks, nor their rate of growth.


chilliman said:
So do you have your roosters locked up away from the hens ?
How many roosters per head of chicken ? And do you let your roosters out with the hens or periodically ?
Why, is that so you dont get fert eggs ? ?
Click to expand...

All but one of my roosters are caged and you only need one stud rooster per 12 hens. I do change which rooster has access to the harem every now and then.


chilliman said:
How heigh do the fences have to be ?
Click to expand...

Mine are 6 feet, but they are all heavy breed chickens. If you raise bantams the fence will need to be higher, since lighter birds can fly much better.


chilliman said:
Cornish X Rock - white or brown??
Click to expand...

I raised white and they were perfect. I have no experience with brown.

Good luck.
 
Sweet mate ! Thanx for all the info ! I will use your recipe for sure !
I will get some photos and stuff up when all is done and settled !

X Rocks... you suggest , thats what I will get to start !
I will experiment after that!

Thanx
Ian
 
chilliman said:
Sweet mate ! Thanx for all the info ! I will use your recipe for sure !
I will get some photos and stuff up when all is done and settled !

X Rocks... you suggest , thats what I will get to start !
I will experiment after that!

Thanx
Ian
Click to expand...

Cornish X Rocks for meat and Barred Plymouth Rocks for eggs as well as meat. Get both because the X Rocks will be all harvested at around 6 weeks of age then you will be plucked clean. :D

You can't breed and hatch a Cornish X Rock, they won't breed true and their exact bloodline is a closely guarded secret.

Looking forward to the pics. :)
 
So the plan:

12 - Cornish X rocks
4 - Barred Plymouth Rocks

and should I get a rooster of each ? Like your self just rotate them through ?
 
Get ostriches bro, one egg can make 10 omelets.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top