I Need Advice - As in what would you do? yes, chicken related...lol...

[GaFarmGirl]

cons:
can't just up and go somewhere
sitting at a huge loss right now
have to do extensive repairs to existing pens due to weather damage
have no rooster for BLRW, biggest $ makers in my poultry, for spring breeding
will be feeding at a finacial loss all winter between feed expense / coop repairs

1. Can't up and go somewhere: When my husband and I go on vacation we ask a family member or friend to stop by and feed the chickens. In exchange they get all the eggs they lay and we usually give them a little money too.

2. Extensive repairs: check with your home owners insurance. I know all of our out buildings are covered for 10% of the total policy value. For example if we were to have damage in the chicken coop and our home was insured for 100,000. then we could get up to 10,000 for repairs assuming that it would cost more to do the repairs than your deductible cost. This would also give you the opportunity to make it more predator proof.

You can always just keep a small backyard flock. 4 - 5 hens just to have fresh eggs.

 

[keljonma]

Put your thoughts on paper and sketch out what you want the poultry yard to look like and if the breeds will be separated (for breeding purposes) or combined (as a family flock for eggs). You have plenty of land for a fenced hen house/forage yard. And maybe now would be a good time to decide if where the current hen house is the proper location.

With 6 people in your household .... I would guess 12 to 24 birds would be adequate as a family flock. I can't imagine that 4 to 6 birds would provide enough eggs for eating and baking. Sometimes TR and I didn't think our 20 hens provided enough eggs. Of course, we did have a couple Ladies who insisted on going broody every year.

Just an idea..... In one of my old farm books, it shows the hen house in the middle of the fenced yard and the yard is divided into quandrants so that the birds can forage in different areas during the year so that the area doesn't become a mud pit.

 

[Beekissed]

Aly, with a family the size of yours, I'd hesitate to not have any chickens at all. The egg sales and consumption, as well as meat, will help defray food costs and will help pay for the feed for the chickens. You could keep a flock of dual purpose with a DP roo to breed over and just sell any extra chicks from that mix if you still want to sell chicks.

I'd invest in some electric poultry netting for an effective and movable fencing solution...I've checked prices and it isn't as expensive as one would imagine. The electric netting is supposed to even deter bears, so I would say it would keep dogs and other four footed preds away. They have a netting that doesn't need to be grounded, which would be a blessing when it comes to moving it.

As for structures, one can build a lightweight, movable chicken coop that can be stationary during the winter months and insulated with junk hay bales. The sheep hut I built took a few cattle panels, zip ties and tarping....it could be attached to a 2x4 frame to make it into a mobile pen~I attached mine to T posts due to it being fixed and housing sheeples. Roosts can be easily mounted on this structure, hay bales can provide both insulation and nesting opportunities and the whole thing can be dismantled in about an hour. This hut of mine withstood the highest winds recorded up here for many years past....never moved an inch.

With a setup like that, one could leave adequate feed and water and be gone for quite some time without too much maintenance from other people...just a check in to see if the fence is working and chickens intact.