Chickens.?

[Parks 788]

I like eggs for breakfast and do a little baking. These sorry things in the store they pass off as eggs these days aren't going to cut it any longer. I'm gonna get a handful of chicks this spring.

For those with chickens, any special places you buy your chicks or hatching eggs?

I've been thinking about Atwoods. They have a kinda hodge podge grab-bag of breeds all thrown in the same trough, but I've read the quality of chicks is pretty good.

I've got an incubator but not sure if I want to commit to 3 weeks of manually turning eggs multiple times a day.

Any breeds that really shine in the Oklahoma Summer heat?

Ok, I'll chime in. Yes, they guy from Orange County, CA. Well, I do have five hens but started with six two years ago but one died from being egg-bound last summer. Once we get back from Christmas we will be getting three more for a total of Eight Hens. While I'm no expert i did my due diligence with a lot of research and have had them for two years so take my thoughts and recommendations as you see fit.

I would not go through Atwoods for my chicks. I absolutely didn't want nor could i have a rooster where i live. He would crow once then become dinner. Not sure i would trust myself or one of the Atwood's employees to tell me i have hens or that they only order hens. I would guess the last thing you want is to get 10 chicks and have a bunch of Roosters mixed in there. If you go through a hatchery directly there is about a 90% success rate of them sexing the chicks correctly. OK has a hatchery in Wewoka called COuntry Hatchery but i got mine from Privett Hatchery in New Mexico. I went through a small local feed store and it was quick and easy. I believe you can go direct to Privett and pic out your breeds etc and it quick and easy.

The five hens i have now are two Barred Rocks, one Delaware, one Rhode Island Red and a Red Sex Link. The one that dies was a RIR. All are real good layers. The next three we get will be similar to what we have. The Buff Orpingtons, any of the sexlinks and Wyandottes would be a good bird for eggs as well as what i have above.

Most of the "popular" layers will be fine in OK summers and winters. There may be several days a year were they need supplemental heat or cooling needed but as long as your coop and run is build correctly there should be no issues. I also would worry about predators if your coop and run are built to keep them safe. Building it "right" is not hard, you just have to think about how to make it secure.

If you have acreage you have a lot of options for the coop and run. Also, depending on your setup I would prefer to have a few more hens that i would think i want as you can expect some to die as chicks as well as loose some to predation. With acreage, or at least not many neighbors getting a rooster is a good idea as they watch over the hens especially from birds of prey.

I could go on and on with recommendations so ask away and maybe i can answer. Her are pics of my coop i build. It is a total of 12' x 7' and the inside is 4'x7' with three nesting boxes.

 

[dennishoddy]

Ok, I'll chime in. Yes, they guy from Orange County, CA. Well, I do have five hens but started with six two years ago but one died from being egg-bound last summer. Once we get back from Christmas we will be getting three more for a total of Eight Hens. While I'm no expert i did my due diligence with a lot of research and have had them for two years so take my thoughts and recommendations as you see fit.

I would not go through Atwoods for my chicks. I absolutely didn't want nor could i have a rooster where i live. He would crow once then become dinner. Not sure i would trust myself or one of the Atwood's employees to tell me i have hens or that they only order hens. I would guess the last thing you want is to get 10 chicks and have a bunch of Roosters mixed in there. If you go through a hatchery directly there is about a 90% success rate of them sexing the chicks correctly. OK has a hatchery in Wewoka called COuntry Hatchery but i got mine from Privett Hatchery in New Mexico. I went through a small local feed store and it was quick and easy. I believe you can go direct to Privett and pic out your breeds etc and it quick and easy.

The five hens i have now are two Barred Rocks, one Delaware, one Rhode Island Red and a Red Sex Link. The one that dies was a RIR. All are real good layers. The next three we get will be similar to what we have. The Buff Orpingtons, any of the sexlinks and Wyandottes would be a good bird for eggs as well as what i have above.

Most of the "popular" layers will be fine in OK summers and winters. There may be several days a year were they need supplemental heat or cooling needed but as long as your coop and run is build correctly there should be no issues. I also would worry about predators if your coop and run are built to keep them safe. Building it "right" is not hard, you just have to think about how to make it secure.

If you have acreage you have a lot of options for the coop and run. Also, depending on your setup I would prefer to have a few more hens that i would think i want as you can expect some to die as chicks as well as loose some to predation. With acreage, or at least not many neighbors getting a rooster is a good idea as they watch over the hens especially from birds of prey.

I could go on and on with recommendations so ask away and maybe i can answer. Her are pics of my coop i build. It is a total of 12' x 7' and the inside is 4'x7' with three nesting boxes.

]

Awesome setup! I'll bet it was the first day you let those chickens in there.
I'm betting it's not so clean now. LOL.

 

[Parks 788]

Awesome setup! I'll bet it was the first day you let those chickens in there.
I'm betting it's not so clean now. LOL.

Ha! You are a wise man, Dennis.

 

[Dave70968]

Ok, I'll chime in. Yes, they guy from Orange County, CA. Well, I do have five hens but started with six two years ago but one died from being egg-bound last summer. Once we get back from Christmas we will be getting three more for a total of Eight Hens. While I'm no expert i did my due diligence with a lot of research and have had them for two years so take my thoughts and recommendations as you see fit.

I would not go through Atwoods for my chicks. I absolutely didn't want nor could i have a rooster where i live. He would crow once then become dinner. Not sure i would trust myself or one of the Atwood's employees to tell me i have hens or that they only order hens. I would guess the last thing you want is to get 10 chicks and have a bunch of Roosters mixed in there. If you go through a hatchery directly there is about a 90% success rate of them sexing the chicks correctly. OK has a hatchery in Wewoka called COuntry Hatchery but i got mine from Privett Hatchery in New Mexico. I went through a small local feed store and it was quick and easy. I believe you can go direct to Privett and pic out your breeds etc and it quick and easy.

The five hens i have now are two Barred Rocks, one Delaware, one Rhode Island Red and a Red Sex Link. The one that dies was a RIR. All are real good layers. The next three we get will be similar to what we have. The Buff Orpingtons, any of the sexlinks and Wyandottes would be a good bird for eggs as well as what i have above.

Most of the "popular" layers will be fine in OK summers and winters. There may be several days a year were they need supplemental heat or cooling needed but as long as your coop and run is build correctly there should be no issues. I also would worry about predators if your coop and run are built to keep them safe. Building it "right" is not hard, you just have to think about how to make it secure.

If you have acreage you have a lot of options for the coop and run. Also, depending on your setup I would prefer to have a few more hens that i would think i want as you can expect some to die as chicks as well as loose some to predation. With acreage, or at least not many neighbors getting a rooster is a good idea as they watch over the hens especially from birds of prey.

I could go on and on with recommendations so ask away and maybe i can answer. Her are pics of my coop i build. It is a total of 12' x 7' and the inside is 4'x7' with three nesting boxes.

Five hens and three nesting boxes? Will they share? I would have thought each would want her own nest.

Totally clueless here.

 

[Parks 788]

Five hens and three nesting boxes? Will they share? I would have thought each would want her own nest.

Totally clueless here.

Three nesting boxes for 5 hens is actually more than needed. Really only need about one box for 3-4 birds. They are only in the nesting box to lay their eggs and then they are back out doing their thing. Most of the time with 5 hens i will get about 3-5 eggs per day. If i forget to get the eggs for a couple days will tend to find 2/3 of the eggs in one box and then a couple in a second and then nothing in the other. And it isn't always the same box that gets most of the eggs. No rhyme or reason that i know of.

 

[dennishoddy]

Is this to sell eggs? I don't eat eggs for every breakfast. I love them, but sometimes skip breakfast and go to lunch. 3-5 a day would overwhelm us in a week or two.

 

[MacFromOK]

Is this to sell eggs? I don't eat eggs for every breakfast. I love them, but sometimes skip breakfast and go to lunch. 3-5 a day would overwhelm us in a week or two.

Lol. I could eat 6 per day (or more) myself...

 

[dennishoddy]

Lol. I could eat 6 per day (or more) myself...

I love em,

 

[MacFromOK]

I have loved fried over-easy eggs since I was a kid. Mom always cooked us two each for breakfast, plus we had bacon (or sausage) along with toast.

I remember one breakfast before school age that Mom asked if I was still hungry (lol, I must have looked pretty forlorn). I said yes, and she cooked me two more eggs.

Surprisingly (to me anyway), I asked for two more after that and she refused...

 

[Foghorn]

My daughter has been raising hens for several years now. We always buy from www.mypetchicken.com.
Great selection of breeds, They ship the same day they hatch and they always arrive alive and healthy. They ship through us mail, but you have to pickup at the post office, they keep them indoors so the carriers aren't walking around hauling a box of cheeping chicks on their route. It's kind of funny, everytime we go to pick up the chicks, the ladies at the post office have already opened the box to "check" on them, and given the water.
Her customers prefer the brown eggs so she always gets the buff Orpington, Brauma or the Barred rocks. All are great layers in Oklahoma's bipolar weather. The buff orpington's are like a Labrador, very friendly, social birds. But all of hers follow her around the yard like a puppy...

Good luck with the birds, holler if you have any questions!!

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