Re: Looking for hen help

celiza wrote:
> Is buying feed really neccessary? My mom had
> chickens as a kid and is trying to convince me all they need is table
> scraps.

If you want your birds to be on a maintenance diet then scraps are fine --
if you want decent productivity you have to give them a feed with some
decent nutrition in it
A bird will eat around 110grammes of food and give you an egg of 70
grammes -- this egg is one of the nutritionally dense products on the
earth -- if you don't give her enough to eat of the right things she cannot
produce as many eggs

>
> But I guess we aren't really thinking about it to save money or
> anything, more for the fact that it was from OUR chickens, fresh, not
> sitting on a grocery store shelf, so our kids can grow up
> understanding more about nature/food, responsibility toward animals
> and such.

And the quality of the eggs is SO much better

>
> I was told that hens lay 1-2 eggs a day, I guess they were a little
> off.

An egg takes at least 25 hours to be produced --- not all hens repeat this
immediately every day
So depending on the strain you get and the time of year and the husbandry
you provide you may get an average of 5-6 eggs a week in the best weeks [
sometimes 7 sometimes 4]
In the winter, or if the strain/breed you choose are less productive,. or
you feed a maintenance diet you will get less or none at some times

> My mom and brother, who will be living near us, eat 2 eggs each a
> day. Assuming I'd use 2 dozen a week, for us and for my mom and
> brother, I would need 6 hens?

4 - 6 would be great - the kids can always sell any surplus to their friends

>
> Are Australorps good pick me up birds? That sounds like what I am
> looking for. (same with buff orpingtons)

Not sure how easy it is to get really productive strains of Australorps - ie
more than 200 eggs a year but Orpingtons are certianly not in that league
There are other breeds in the US that are more in the range of 250 eggers
but you need to ask around locally to see what you can get in your area.

Do they do okay in pens?

As long as its large enough - well drained enough -
I would have thought that your climate would not lend itself to pens as its
rather wetter than elsewhere.
Free range is easier but that depends on predators -- electric fencing is
good to look at


How
> big should a pen be? Do they always stay inside or do they need 'out'
> time? Would they need heat or just a dry place? Gosh, I have more
> questions than I thought!

If you keep them inside then you might as well buy store eggs -- you are
giving the birds no better conditions and no one is gaining the main
benefits
Unless your winters are VERY cold they do not need heat

>
> Where on earth do I even buy chickens? How much do they cost?

What research have you done in your local area?
Where is your local feed store?
Where is your local vet?
Where are your local breeders?
What birds do local chicken keepers have?

--

regards
Jill Bowis

Pure bred utility chickens and ducks
Housing; Equipment, Books, Videos, Gifts
Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine nursery
Working Holidays in Scotland
http://www.kintaline.co.uk

.

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