Who is picking up new spring chicks for 2019? As yall know I have lost several chickens over the past year. There was a recent incident where I left the gate to the chicken yard open - https://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=912434 I recently picked up: 7 Barred Rocks 7 Rhode...

Over the past year I have lost a bunch of chickens to dogs and predators. My wife and I rescued two puppies and they killed some of the chickens. Currently I have around 17 or 18 hens and 2 roosters. I am thinking about buying a dozen chickens. Chicken house is 16 X 16 feet, and chicken yard...

Farm supply stores are getting their chicks in, what breeds will you be buying this year? February 11 2016 my girlfriend and I bought: 4 - White Leghorns 4 - Rhode Island Reds 8 - Buff Orpington This is my first batch of white leghorns. They are supposed to be egg laying machines and have...

The local feed store has Buff Orpington, Black Sex Links (Black Stars) and Production Reds. Are production reds just as good as rhode island reds? I want egg production and am not too concerned about a meat chicken. It would be nice to have a dual purpose chicken for butchering, but I already...

Shortly after I moved to the farm 2 years ago a coyote started picking off my chickens. He was able to steal 3 or 4 before I spotted him but was unable to get a shot off. The coyote wised up and took a break for a little bit. The recently he started coming back and stole several chickens. In...

What are good chicken breeds for a long term shtf / teotwawki situation? Let's consider three traits: Hardiness Dual purpose for meat and egg production Broodiness Hardiness Hardy is defined as, "robust; capable of enduring difficult conditions." The breeds listed should be able to...

Have you tried putting chicks under a broody hen? Friday May 22nd my wife and I bought some chicks from a local farm supply store. It just so happens we also have a broody Buff Orpington, but no rooster in that yard. We had two roosters but dogs killed them several months ago. The grandkids...

Hatcheries will be start shipping soon. What breeds do you plan on adding to your flock in 2015? My wife and I are looking at: 12 guineas Golden laced wyandottes Australorps Maybe some of the classic barred rocks and rhode island reds. When we place our order we will probably order 2 dozen...

Awhile back I started a thread on building a new chicken yard. Now that the yard is pretty much complete (for now), the time has come to build the new chicken house. The size I decided on was 16 feet by 16 feet. The laying boxes take up 6 feet on one wall, and the roost takes up around 12...

My wife and I are planning on ordering some chicks friday August 1st. Breed / Quantity Australorp - 5 Barred Rock - 5 Buff Orpington - 10 Dominicker - 5 Rhode Island Red - 5 Plus the 17 or so we have left after the dogs, fox and chicken hawk got finished. 47 hens with 3 roosters. My Rhode...

Tell me about the New Hampshire Reds. Anyone here have first hand experience with them? My wife and I are looking to buy maybe 2 dozen chicks, this is to offset losing almost half my flock to predators. In a previous thread we talked about the best dual purpose chicken breeds. Where does the...

List your favorite types of dual purpose chickens. My wife and I are getting ready to order a batch of chicks. Yes I know chicks are supposed to be ordered during the spring, but oh well. After a fox killed off half our flock we need to order some more. We are looking for good egg layers...

The current chicken yard is too small. It gets the job done, but there is no room to plant fig trees or blueberry bushes. Before my wife and I moved to the farm, with the help of friends and family I we got a 75 feet long by 35 feet wide chicken yard. With 2,625 square feet 100 chickens could...

When my wife and I moved to the farm in august 2013, we arrived with 13 hens. The hens were a little over a year and a half old. Those 13 hens were laying around 9 – 10 eggs a day. With that 9 – 10 eggs a day I tried to estimate how many chickens and eggs my family would need during a long...

When my wife and I bought our newest set of chicks last February we bought 6 of each breed, for a total of 24. Out of that 24 we lost around 10 to various predators. Looking across the flock this evening these are my estimated looses over the past month or so. Barred Rock - 3 Buff Orpington -...

It is amazing how fast chicks grow. In 1 month they went from being totally helpless, to foraging for food. With every passing day the chicks move further away from the chicken house. The more I watch chickens, the more I understand why the species has been so successful, and why humans have...

My wife and I got our first new chicks of 2014, 6 Buff Orpingtons and 6 Australorps. Circle 3 Feed here in Jasper Texas got an early shipment of chicks. Usually the chicks do not start shipping until late February and early March, which is when Kristy (my wife) and I got our first set of chicks...

What would you consider the best three chicken breeds for a small farm? For the sake of discussion lets look at dual purpose for meat and egg production. My personal favorites are Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red and Australorp. My wife likes the Buff Orpington. When my wife and I get moved to...

Over the past couple of years I have looked at several chicken breeds to develop a self-sustaining chicken flock. Some of the breeds I have looked at are the Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, Dominique and Australorp (only to name a few). This article will focus on the Barred Rock, which is part of...

Can yall believe it’s been a whole year since my wife and I got our first chicks? For the first few months I posted several videos about building the coop and how the chicks were doing. After the chickens start laying, there is not that much to post about. They are chickens, they do their...