I have been looking around online to try and figure out the vital stuff about raising chickens but there are some specific questions I have that need answers.
I know the coop, the food and all that.
1)in cold winters do I need to provide heat bulbs in the coop?
2)for a 1st times how many chickens/roosters shall I start with?
3) when I let them out to graze in the afternoon will they come back??
4) How many eggs can one hen produce and how often do they lay them?
5) what do I do with the frsh eggs? Just take em inside and use them? Or shall I let some hatch?
6) If I let them hatch is there any special care I have to give that the mother wont? (besides food)
7) Is it really a ton of work? Do you clean their poop daily or bi-weekly- or what??
If you can answer any of these q’s Id be very pleased.
Related posts:
1. You may not need heat it if is free of drafts and covered from wet. Light is more vital for laying hens- they need at least 12 hours of light or they may stop laying.
2. Depends on what you want. Eggs for your family? Three or four hens is plenty. No more than one rooster.
3. If you let them get used to the chickenhouse first so they see it as "home", they should return each night. And they don’t graze. Graze means eating grass. They eat the bugs in the grass.
4. Depends on the breed. Really excellent layers can give you 5 or even 6 a week. They never lay more than one a day.
5. Whatever you want. Eat ‘em, sell ‘em, hatch ‘em.
6. It depends on how you hatch them. A lot of chicken breeds no longer go "broody", meaning hatch their own eggs. You may need an incubator. The mother will need a separate nest away from the others, and you have to leave all the eggs she lays in it.
7. It will depend on the coop. I know one family who has medium sized coops and never cleans it- but I wouldn’t recommend that option. You can lay down straw or hay if you want, pile on clean stuff over the ancient stuff, and clean it all out only once a year. Or you can clean biweekly or monthly and not have such a huge job to do in the spring.
By the way, the breed I’d suggest is the buff orpington. They are honestly common, your feed store may stock them. They are also pretty excellent layers, and they are especially fluffy so they’ll do better in winter. Some even keep laying all winter. They do sometimes go broody too, though not as much as a silkie or something.