Anyone buy some chickens this spring? With the price of food going up,,, well, with the price of everything going up, my wife and I decided to get some chickens. My wife and I decided to get some chicks this spring. In all, we ended up with 13 chicks of various types. 3 - black jersey giants 2 - barred rocks 2 - australorps 4 - rhode island reds And a couple others I do not remember what type Its just too much trouble to raise chickens for the meat. Well, unless you do not like factory raised meat that is. Easter weekend I adding a 6 feet wide by 4 foot deep section. When its finished the coop should be about 8 feet long and 6 feet wide. If my math is right, this gives each chicken 3.23 square feet, not counting the laying boxes or perches. The next step is to fence in the bottom of the coop so the chicks can get outside.
So you are raising them for... Who will do the kill? My 12 year old was in the supermarket with me when I was comparing the cost of eggs in dozens and trays and decided he had the perfect solution... get hens. His Dad vetoed that pretty quickly.
The chickens are being raised for egg production, and not for butchering. When the chickens get older and stop laying, we might butcher them then. At just a little over 2 months old, a coupe of the larger breeds weigh a couple of pounds.