[Ag-eq] Choosing Hens

[Susan Roe]

Jody,

You are not ignerant, you are just starting out and gathering information 
and that makes a difference.  Trust me, I didn't find out all I know in only 
a week or two, or even my first year when we only had 4 hens and one 
rooster.

Day old chicks can be around $1 or so, but unless you buy them locally, 
hatcheries will not usually sell them for less than 20 to 50 chicks at a 
time.  I buy my chicks 4 to 8 weeks because they can take the outdoor temps 
better than the day olds.  We Just make sure they are all in the coops at 
night and shut them in and don't open them back up until about 9:00 once the 
sun has warmed things up a bit.  We'll do this until they are about 12 weeks 
old.  They will also need to be on a starter feed until they are 15 weeks 
and a finer grade grit.  Most important, do not feed them oyster shells 
until they are 15 weeks because they are too young to be turning that 
calcium into egg shells and it could cause them to be egg bound or even die.

4 to 8 week old chicks could range in price from $2 to $4 or more depending 
on age and breed.  Where I get them, age definitely has a cost increese.

The only roosters that can be identified as day old chicks or so by sight 
are the Red Star and the Black Star.  They are both hybrids and that was one 
of the trates they were trying to develop.  Some breeds you can tell by 6 to 
9 weeks of age by their behavior and sometimes their coloring.  Hatcheries 
have a way to sex chicks, but this is usually only to seperate large amounts 
of hens from roosters to be able to sell single lots of hens, where 
everything else is mixed together and you won't know how many hens or 
roosters you get until they are older.  They say, no big deal, if you have 
too many roosters, then just butcher the extras.  My luck would be out of 
25, I'd get 5 hens and 20 roosters!  That is why the hatcheries can charge 
more for their lots of straight hens.

If where you are in Florida still gets temps in the 40's or 50's at night, I 
wouldn't get any young birds before March.  I haven't seen chicks here at 
local feed stores before April because they sell day old to 1 week old 
chicks.  Where I get mine, they start selling the first of March, 2-1/2 week 
and 4 week old chicks.  They will sell and ship firtal eggs only in 
Virginia.

Susan
dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jody Ianuzzi" <jody at thewhitehats.com>
To: "'Agricultural and Equestrean Division List'" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2012 5:42 PM
Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] Choosing Hens


> What is a good age to buy chicks and what time of year here in Florida? 
> Can
> you tell the males from the females at that age?
>
> What is an average price per chick?
>
> Sorry to sound so ignorant, but I am.
>
> JODY
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ag-eq mailing list
> Ag-eq at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ag-eq_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> Ag-eq:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ag-eq_nfbnet.org/dogwoodfarm%40verizon.net