Getting and Raising Chickens?

[FrugalMomof3]

I hope this is the right place for this but here goes.

I am thinking about the future of course and thought it wouldnt hurt to get myself prepared but I am interested in getting some chickens and using their eggs to eat of course, I dont want to sell their eggs or make a profit but I do want chickens, so any help you have on this subject would be GREATLY appreciated.

Also, any advice on goats too?

[Iansmommy]

We raised chickens when I was little, for eggs and for meat. DH and I just got 16 Buff Orps this spring which are now 6.5 weeks old. I found a great site that has pretty much everything you would ever want to know about raising chickens.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/

HTH

Leah

[Laurie in Bradenton]

Also check back issues of mother earth news, over the years they have done tons of articles from caged to free range.
Make sure your local country regulations will allow you to have both chickens and goats.

In my area your not allowed to have them. You have to go into more rural areas of the county which are getting fewer and fewer.
Laurie in Bradenton

[Jeanna]

This page will help you I think.http://www.backyardchickens.com/
I have raised chickens for years and they are not that hard. I would suggest reading up on the different breeds.Some are more calm than others. I would make sure not to buy bantam's. If you are just wanting eggs I would suggest sex-links and golden comets. I have had both and they are both very good layers and are friendly. I would also think about how many eggs you would need a week. In the summer you would probably get 4 -5 eggs a day out of 6 chickens. Then in the winter if you provide lighting for your chickens you would probably get about 3-4 eggs a day.
Thats just a little information. If you have any other questions ask. Wishing you good luck.

[Jeanna]

Oh I need to add that the above amount of eggs is done with feeding laying mash along with either free ranging or other chicken feed such as cracked corn.

[ShawnaRae]

Chickens are very easy to raise. We keep six chickens which provide us with more than enough eggs. We are always giving eggs away. They need ventilated shelter with nest boxes and a perch, and I'm tellin ya, you can get frugal and creative with it! We use an old outhouse! Of course it hasn't been used for more than 20 years! We gutted it, built nest boxes with scrap lumber, found the perfect limb for a perch, etc. The chickens go straight inside at dusk. We are getting 4 new chics tomorrow. They need a heat lamp and draft free place to start out. They eat a chic feed to start, layer feed when they start laying. There are lots of good books at the library. I agree that sex links are great layers. Ours have laid well all year, even through the winter. There are some good hatcheries on-line, you could check out different breeds, and get info from. Murray McMurray Hatchery is one of them. Min. order for baby chicks is 25! So, I've never ordered by mail, but they do have good info and good photos.

[Odilia]

You can't go wrong checking out Storey's Guide to _______. They have a couple of different chicken books and books on almost every animal you'd ever hope to see on a homestead. Excellent, easily understood and implemented information.

[Its_Donna]

Here's another site for some info:

http://www.chickencrossing.org/

[YankeeMom]

How do you go about finding out if one can have chickens where they live? I've tried contacting our local codes & ordinance office and they never get back to me

[YankeeMom]

Oh and this is all I can find out in the codes:

In any zone in the City of XXX wherein the keeping of horses or other livestock is allowed, the following regulations shall be complied with:

A.	A lot or parcel of at least 45,000 square feet shall be required for the keeping of horses, ponies or other similar livestock.
B.	There must be provided a pen or corral for the keeping of horses, ponies or similar livestock.
C.	Within the pen or corral there must be provided a stable or similar roofed enclosure.
D.	All stables, pens, corrals and other structures for horses or ponies or similar livestock shall be located no closer than 20 feet to any adjacent property line or 50 feet from any neighboring dwelling.
E.	Stables and similar enclosures for housing horses or other livestock must be built and maintained so as not to create offensive odors, fly breeding or other nuisances.
F.	Manure from stabled horses or other livestock may not be stored in the stable or housing structure used to house said horses or livestock. Any stockpile of manure shall not exceed 100 square feet and shall be stored not less than 50 feet from the nearest neighborhood dwelling. All stockpiles of manure shall be limed at least once every week.

Are chickens considered livestock? I thought livestock were hoofed animals.

[Missy]

Call the local county extension office. Lots of info there. also the local chapter of 4H will have some info too.

Humane society might know...