Confused wannabe chicken owner
Wed, 08/19/2009 - 23:45
Hi all,
I am new, would love to raise chickens and am gathering my information before I jump in. I only need/want 6-8 hens and am wondering have any of you in the Albuquerque/East Mountains area have had success ordering smaller orders of chickens? How do I find local places to get chickens? I know of one but would love to get some other sources, if possible.
Thanks!
Hey Toni welcome! I think farmers feed on fourth street here in ABQ still has chicks. I ordered 12 from idealpoultry.com. I am going to be selling 6 of my hens in about 2 more weeks if you are interested. They will be 6 weeks old at that time, they are living outside in my coop. The advantage to buying them at that age, you won't have to put them in a brooder in your house, they will be feathered out and ready to go outside in the coop. There will be at least one Barred Rock, two Buff Orpington, and 2 Rhode Island Red. Let me know if you're interested!
Thanks for the info and the welcome! I do know I won't be ready in two weeks, gotta build the coop and all, so I was trying to do my research in order to be ready in teh spring. But I have two neighbors up here with chickens and I will tell them about your hens, who knows, they may be interested. I do like the idea of getting some chickens that are past needing brooders and all but still young enough to handle so they won't be "crazed" when the human appears!
No worries Toni. I overbought expecting some mortality but I got lucky and all twelve are thriving. In fact, we are chicken sitting my best friend's two silkies today and tomorrow due to the heat. Silkies aren't very heat tolerant and I have a backyard with lots of shade and a pond. Just put them up after their morning foraging session and they are all happy as clams. Not sure if the girls will be ready for sale in two weeks, as I am a doting mother and would love to keep them all if I can weasel it past my hubby. He likes the idea of 6, I like the idea of keeping them all together. Guess time will tell. You'll either be reading an ad in the paper for hens for sale or a divorce notice! ha ha ha ha ha
Oooo! I will keep my fingers crossed for NO DIVORCE! Everybody stays together - you, hubby, 12 chickens. Maybe you could convince him with some new math (so new, I'm making it up as I go along). Your chickens are young so if they aren't full size yet, they should be counted as half a chicken, not a whole chicken. Therefore, (always sound authoritative when you're making stuff up) 12 divided in half IS 6 and that's what you have - six chickens. See? Everybody happy, everybody together! ha ha
I like the way you do math!