TOO Homesteading
- Thread starter bowhunter1023
- Start date
Big_Holla
Senior Member
@bowhunter1023 chickens are on my list for the first animals at the new farm. What an I getting into? Say I buy chicks from Rural King or TSC... what’s my timeline, from the day I bring them home to the day they’re laying eggs?
triple_duece
Ragin Cajun.
- 9,477
- 159
Ohiosam
*Supporting Member*
Took the last of my sap this evening. Got a little over 80 gallons of sap from 1 tree. That made 2.5 gallons of syrup, got my 1/2 as 2 quarts and 6 pints.
Dang! I had no idea there was that much lag time. I better get my ass in gear!
They have to grow from chick's to laying hens JB. Do we need to have the "talk" on how all this works? Is your mind gonna explode when we tell ya no cock is needed for eggs lol?
Lol you fugger. I just didn’t realize it was 6 months. Hell, you can eat broilers when they’re like 6 weeks old! I thought maybe laying hens were super genetically modified to pump them out a little quicker I guess.
Nope, it's a 6-month grind. Broilers and layers might as well not even be the same animal. You can literally watch a broiler grow if you stare hard enough. A layer is a casual grower and once they get to full size and plume, you still have another 8-10 weeks before they lay.
Chickens are awesome to have around the homestead and I'm glad I took the plunge.
Chickens are awesome to have around the homestead and I'm glad I took the plunge.
Ohiosam
*Supporting Member*
Seeing what’s involved in boiling sap I wondered how Indians did it.
triple_duece
Ragin Cajun.
- 9,477
- 159
Got tired of picking up shitty eggs and some chickens eating the eggs. Built a new nesting box w a slant and added another roosting pole.
triple_duece
Ragin Cajun.
- 9,477
- 159
Sold 8 laying hens last night for $100, spent $100 on garden supplies today. Worked out just right. 
Wholly shit. Ya just dropped the price on a hooker here in Cambridge my freind! 
Lol nah good stuff. I’d like to get rid of mine. It seems to be cheaper to raise pigs.
Lol nah good stuff. I’d like to get rid of mine. It seems to be cheaper to raise pigs.
Perfect rainy day to stay inside and put up some pickles. 6 quarts of regular bread and butter pickles, and 5 of zesty bread and butter. Lost a jar in each batch due to one of two factors, either they came that way (inherited) or I didn't get them warm enough before submerging in the water bath. Either way, still got roughly a year's worth of pickles from the first picking of cucumbers.
Have pullets ordered from Meyer Hatchery for early March. Automatic door delivered this week. Lumber ordered from home depot.
This farm is getting laying chickens this spring!
This farm is getting laying chickens this spring!
Which door did you order? I'm seriously considering one myself and possibly moving my birds back to the barn again.