|
| Dave,
Broilers are a good way to start, readily available and inexpensive to purchase. My kids get theirs from the local farm supply store, I think that the come from Hoovers Hatchery in IA.
When we first get them, we give the a mixture of water and molasses, one tablespoon in 1 gallon of water. Does two things, gives them a bit more energy the first few days and helps to prevent "pastie butt". We do this for about a week and then just give them fresh water daily. Normally just buy a bag of premixed starter and when that bag is done, switch them over to grower. For the first few days, we put their feed in the bottom halfs of egg cartons, easy for the chicks to eat out of. We put a heat lamp over them, make sure that the corners of the building are rounded, if cold, chicks will sometimes crowd into the corners and suffocate. If they huddle under the heat lamp, they are cold and need more heat, it they crowd to the outside of the pen, they are too warm.
Some people who raise a lot of broilers to sell, will butcher at a set number of weeks old, the feed efficency drops off after that point. Ours are for 4-H and the judges like to see birds that are full grown and fully feathered, which means a cornish cross broiler that will weigh in between 8-10+ pounds. They eat a lot of feed when the get fully grown.
For layers, we also get them from the local farm supply store and again I think that they come from Hoovers. For laying hens, there are a lot of choices, my kids have a collection of about 6 different breeds from past years of their 4-H project. The only ones that we have not raise are the standard Leghorn. We have been getting Buff Orpingtons. They are a large multipurpose breed that lays brown eggs, are quite calm and do well both in a coop and free range.
If this is a 4H project, Leghorns will normally judge better in the production classes because they are considered a egg laying type, whereas the multi purpose breeds are not considered to be as efficient at feed conversion. We have stayed with the multi purpose for two reasons, they tend to be calmer and gives the option at the end of the year to keep as layers or put in the freezer.
We have bought layers from mail order and had good luck with them as well.
If they decide that they want to do a specialized breed or bantams, stay away from the commercial hatcheries and mail order catalogs. Look for a small breeder that specializes in show birds. The quality will be much better with better breed characteristics than from the commerical hatcheries. They will cost quite a bit more, around $4 each is common with the small breeder.
| |
|
|
Ok, Chickens ???
