"Getting Started With Chicks" by Jan Hoadley page 1

Have you considered chickens as a means of producing your own food? Have you looked at the stores and seen the price of eggs, the price of chicken and wondered aloud why you don't raise your own? Have you ordered poultry catalogs, but never ordered poultry because it seemed too difficult and complicated, or too time consuming? Along with rabbits, poultry is one of the most kept food production animals on the homesteads across America.

Chickens can offer good, home-grown food in a short amount of time. Fresh eggs are much different than what is in the stores! For the creative...feathers can be used in many crafts as well. You have thought about it for some time. You think you have room. It's time to decide and take the plunge!

First decide what you want exactly. If you are squeamish about butchering and don't know anyone to do it for you, getting meat birds will end up being a waste of money, and you'll end up with a lot of roosters that aren't good for much of anything else! If you want eggs - how many eggs does your family consume on a weekly basis? Do you want to sell the overage? Keep in mind that if you just want eggs you don't need a rooster. In fact, you'll only need a rooster if you want to breed and raise baby chicks. If you want eggs, do you have a shell color preference? What size area do you have to devote to chicken production? Do you want extra birds able to be served for dinner? Do you care about skin color (Americans are used to yellow skinned birds - while the UK prefers white skin)? Do you live in an area there are hawks and owls?

Most of these questions aren't something you need a book to answer and there are no right and wrong answers! They will, however, help you chisel down what you want. If you want meat and eggs you can order “straight run” - which means there will be both males and females in the order. For just females order “pullets” or just meat birds order cockerels (this is usually the cheapest option! ).

For strictly meat birds, many hatcheries offer specials on cockerels. These may be “heavy breeds” or “egg layer cockerels”. The latter are the 'unwanted' from hatches of Leghorn-type egg-laying chicks; the hens are in demand for eggs, but not all chicks are female. Compared to the heavy breeds, these will take a little longer to attain “fryer weight” but they can be good cheap eating. Heavy breeds can be butchered as fryers or grown a little longer for “roasting” birds.

Recently, Cackle Hatchery in Missouri advertised a “frying pan special” of heavy breed chicks - 25 for $8.50; 50 for $13.95 or 100 for $24.95 - for most families the latter will be too much unless you REALLY like chicken! Suppose you pick out the batch of fifty, even if a few die, you have chicken several times a month for a pittance, but don't forget to also figure in your feed costs. With chicks it's very important to not let them run out of feed or water.

For egg layers you'll want to order pullets - which will cost you a bit more but you are guaranteed to get females. There may be the occasional missed cockerel but most of the order will be females, sexed at hatching. If you have a lot of hawks around you would be best advised to get colored, not white, birds...which don't stand out as well. Decide how many eggs you want also. A dozen hens will provide plenty of eggs for most families - a half dozen for many. Keep in mind good hens at maturity will produce roughly an egg a day. If you have a dozen you'd best plan on finding a way to eat or use 6-7 dozen eggs per week! If you don't have a particular breed in mind but just want fresh eggs, Murray McMurray has a package of 25 egg layer pullets for about $40. Day old chicks are delivered by post office mail.

Before you order birds you will need to get some basic supplies. A watering fount is the first thing - these vary from plastic to metal waterers to a gadget you screw a canning jar in to. To start small numbers of chicks the latter will work fine and will cost you a couple dollars at a farm supply store. For larger numbers of chicks get a gallon fount which runs a couple of dollars more. Remember chicks MUST have plenty of water. The more they eat and drink the better and faster they grow...and the healthier they will be! If you plan on having a couple dozen layers your next purchase will be a five gallon steel waterer - these will run about $20-25. For starting you'll need one gallon for each 50 chicks - the first few days add a couple tablespoons of sugar to the water. This gives young birds a little boost. Once you have your watering system figured then get feeders. Chick feeders come in various sizes, many are metal with a slide in top and holes chicks can reach through. You'll need two feet for each 50 chicks. Adult birds should have a steel feeder which will look similar to your waterer but is open on top. Starter feeders are a couple dollars; the bigger ones will run more but will be needed as your birds grow. The other thing you will need for starting is a brooder light. This is a hooded bulb - for small numbers a regular 100 watt lightbulb will do. The lights can often be found for about $5. You will also need a closed, tight area to start chicks in. For small numbers a large dog crate can be used. It is best, however to allow about a half foot per bird. Overcrowding can be deadly.

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