Chicken Breeds: Choosing Your Backyard Brood
(Page 5 of 6)
March/April 1976
By GT Klein
It is best for the homesteader to buy the straight-run chicks. They are cheaper than sexed pullets, and the cockerels will be needed for poultry meat. The first of the cockerels could be eaten when they weigh about 2-1/2 to 3 pounds at ten to twelve weeks. The last of them should be disposed of by the time they are five to six months old, or they will be crowing and disturbing the neighbors. A homesteader might consider having some of the cockerels caponized. If you have a home freezer or a commercial locker you will certainly want to dress and freeze some cockerels at 3 to 4 pounds.
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Started Pullets —While more expensive, it is less trouble to buy "started pullets" that have been begun by a commercial poultryman who has good equipment than to buy chicks. At six or eight weeks of age, these pullets would not require heat, and that would save the purchase or construction of the equipment. The cost of pullets usually increases a certain amount each week that the pullets are held.
Broiler Pullets —In many communities, there are broiler raisers who are willing to sell the pullet broilers to poultry keepers who want a few for layers. Though they may be cross-bred poultry with special broiler qualities, they will usually be quite well suited for layers. This is a source of layers that should not be overlooked.
Ready-to-Lay Pullets—In some communities, it is possible to buy a limited number of ready-to-lay pullets. These birds would be about five months old and, of course, would cost higher prices. In recent years, many have depended on this source.
The pullets should be moved before they come into laying, as moving is very likely to upset them. You can seldom expect to buy laying pullets and move them without some drop in production. If they go into a neck molt, it may be from four to six weeks before they come back into laying. As in buying baby chicks, it is good sense to deal with a reliable poultryman who will sell only good, sound, healthy stock.
Hatching Chicks With Hens —Hatching and raising chicks with hens is troublesome, but it is another way of raising backyard poultry. There are many people who like to do it this way, and it can be done successfully. It hardly seems economical to have a hen waste her time with a brood of chicks when eggs are needed so badly and the job can be done so much better with incubators and brooders. This method is not recommended.
Rhode Island Red or Barred Rock hens make good mothers. If the hen has indicated by her clucking that she wants to set, she should be given a box about 18 inches square with straw in it for nesting material. This nest would have to be in a place where she would not be disturbed and preferably on the ground so that the hen would not have to fly to it. She could incubate 15 eggs easily in spring weather.
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