I don’t have any chickens yet, I’m still in the research stages. I found answers to most of my questions but in finding those answers, I’m left with more questions.
The reason I’m considering getting chickens is to have fresh eggs for my family at a lower cost than we currently pay. Also, becoming more self sufficient is a goal of mine (even though my husband still thinks I’m kind of crazy for that thought) As a family of 8, we currently pay €2.20 for ten ‘farm fresh eggs’ and in a month, we spend about €20 on eggs. (We live in Germany)
I understand the square footage per bird but different blogs, sites, threads differ in opinions. For us, buying a coop is the best option vs building our own. Our chickens won’t have unlimited access to our entire yard, so technically they won’t be free range. Am I correct in saying that? The coop I’m interested in, the manufacturer says it’s suitable for six chickens. Its about (converting centimeters to feet) 6’ wide, 2.5’ depth and 2.5’ tall with four nest boxes. We will build a fence around the coop that is 10’x10’. I will also have a tractor so they can explore and forage. So my question about the space I have ‘planned’ Is this a suitable size coop and run for 6 chickens? Maybe 8? At first, I just wanted to get 2 chickens to see if I like it and can do it. Is the coop too big for just 2? I’d like to have everything set up for the maximum amount of chickens I’d have, and that would be 8.
Onto feeding. I’ve found a supplier for pellets. Their recommendation is a ratio of 2:1 layer pellets to regular pellets, totaling 120 grams per chicken, per day. I’m really confused on feeding chickens though. I’ve read so much about kitchen scraps as well as grains and fodder. Kitchen scraps are a snack? What about fodder and grains? Are the pellets all they NEED? If I give kitchen scraps and/or fodder, do I reduce the amount of pellets? Food and water need to be available all day, but what about at night when they’re cooped? Do I move it into the coop with them so they have 24 hour access to food and water? What about grit? Should I give oyster shell or just the tiny stones? How much per bird? Daily, weekly?
I’d like to keep chicken as economically as possible so growing fodder as food for them is something I’d really like to do since wheat and barley grains are much cheaper than a bag of the same size of pellets. With a family the size of ours, kitchen scraps are always there, so feeding the chickens those would also keep costs of feeding them down. I don’t want to scrimp on feed costs and compromise their health though. So please tell me if I can do this and still get good egg output.
Any information is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for sticking it out through my entire long post
The reason I’m considering getting chickens is to have fresh eggs for my family at a lower cost than we currently pay. Also, becoming more self sufficient is a goal of mine (even though my husband still thinks I’m kind of crazy for that thought) As a family of 8, we currently pay €2.20 for ten ‘farm fresh eggs’ and in a month, we spend about €20 on eggs. (We live in Germany)
I understand the square footage per bird but different blogs, sites, threads differ in opinions. For us, buying a coop is the best option vs building our own. Our chickens won’t have unlimited access to our entire yard, so technically they won’t be free range. Am I correct in saying that? The coop I’m interested in, the manufacturer says it’s suitable for six chickens. Its about (converting centimeters to feet) 6’ wide, 2.5’ depth and 2.5’ tall with four nest boxes. We will build a fence around the coop that is 10’x10’. I will also have a tractor so they can explore and forage. So my question about the space I have ‘planned’ Is this a suitable size coop and run for 6 chickens? Maybe 8? At first, I just wanted to get 2 chickens to see if I like it and can do it. Is the coop too big for just 2? I’d like to have everything set up for the maximum amount of chickens I’d have, and that would be 8.
Onto feeding. I’ve found a supplier for pellets. Their recommendation is a ratio of 2:1 layer pellets to regular pellets, totaling 120 grams per chicken, per day. I’m really confused on feeding chickens though. I’ve read so much about kitchen scraps as well as grains and fodder. Kitchen scraps are a snack? What about fodder and grains? Are the pellets all they NEED? If I give kitchen scraps and/or fodder, do I reduce the amount of pellets? Food and water need to be available all day, but what about at night when they’re cooped? Do I move it into the coop with them so they have 24 hour access to food and water? What about grit? Should I give oyster shell or just the tiny stones? How much per bird? Daily, weekly?
I’d like to keep chicken as economically as possible so growing fodder as food for them is something I’d really like to do since wheat and barley grains are much cheaper than a bag of the same size of pellets. With a family the size of ours, kitchen scraps are always there, so feeding the chickens those would also keep costs of feeding them down. I don’t want to scrimp on feed costs and compromise their health though. So please tell me if I can do this and still get good egg output.
Any information is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for sticking it out through my entire long post
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