Choosing Chickens | Backyard Chicken Coops

Choosing Chickens


If you follow along with the blog you will remember my frantic call for help a few weeks back as I was in search of chickens ... meat chickens to be precise ... actually meat chicks to be more accurately precise. My original plan wasnt going to work out anymore so I needed to come up with another plan somewhat quickly. Thankfully there were tons of helpful comments posted on the blog, e-mailed, and messaged through Facebook. Now ... we have chicks on the farm and they seem to be doing great.

So ... what did I end up doing? I came up with a solution ... thats what I did! Its not my ideal solution, but I believe it will allow me to accomplish some of my goals this year and then prepare for the future (the future being next year). In fact since I was somewhat late to the game when it comes to ordering I couldnt even really get exactly the chicks I wanted. Here is what I ended up doing ...

Step #1 :: Order 125 Freedom/Red Rangers
  • These are the chicks that I have already received and they are doing great
  • I was interested in trying them because I had talked with a farmer who raised them at the processor last year and he loved them
  • They grow a bit faster than the Naked Necks so hopefully they will be ready earlier than expected
Step #2 :: Order 125 Naked Necks
  • I have been very pleased with these birds for the past two years, but I am a little gun shy about ordering from a hatchery instead of a farmer I know
  • They are slow growing birds so they will be ready sometime in July hopefully ... perfect for the market
Step #3 :: Order another 125 Freedom/Red Rangers
  • This batch is coming from a different hatchery in order to try something different, and because I can add it to an order at the farm store in town (where I used to work) to save on shipping
  • Hopefully I can get the scheduling right and then Ill be able to take these into the processor at the same time as the Naked Necks
Step #4 :: Evaluate and Place Following Orders
  • While these three sets of chicks are growing I need to decide what to do for the rest of the season
  • Hopefully Ill be ordering two more batches of chicks
Step #5 :: Get Ready for 2014
  • Thanks to all of the great comments about various heritage breed chickens I have lots to think about
  • One thing Im very interested in is incubating chicks here on the farm ... so lots to research there
  • The Mottled Java ... that is one of the breeds that was mentioned and I think Im going to check them out
It seems like a good plan doesnt it? If it is a good plan Ill let you know how it works out ... and if its a bad plan ... well, Ill let you know about that as well.




Choosing Chickens