Our new chickens! Picking the chickens…

Deciding to get chickens? I started thinking about it last year but couldn’t decide. When I decided I really wanted them I had to get my husband on board. To do this I researched to figure out what it would cost!
I wanted 25 chickens which were going to cost $60 to $100 if I bought day old chickens.
The coop would be about $500 to $1000 if I bought it but I was pretty sure we could build it for a lot less if I got supplies off of sites like freecycle.org and took things from family and friends.
When they were first here I was going to need a heat lamp and place to keep them inside for warmth.
I would need food, straw, egg cartons, etc.

I then researched to figure out what breed I wanted. Some questions I asked myself were…
Roosters or Hens or Both?
Eggs or Meat?
Friendly or don’t care?
Eat lots of bugs?(Great for gardeners)
How many?
White or Brown eggs?
Time of year to buy?
Outside electricity allowing to put them outside right away or will they need to be inside for a while?
McMurray’s Hatchery in Iowa is a great place to learn more. I read alot of information on their site to figure out what I wanted and what questions to ask. They also see a lot of breds.

I ended up getting 25 day old chickens at around $60 with shipping. I got sexlings so that I had a better assurance they would be hens not roosters. I found a bred that had all of my requirements and was on the low end of the estimated cost.

I started telling my family and friends I wanted to get chickens several months before I was actually going to get them. Once they knew what I wanted to do they offered ideas and supplies! My son (with some help from the rest of the family and his girlfriend) built the chicken coop for about $20 out of pocket expense (more to come on the coop later).

I decide to get the chickens in July so they wouldn’t need to be inside for very long and was able to keep them in a childrens swimming pool with wood chips on the bottom. I got the pool on sale at the end of June for $5. We used 3 packages of wood chips while they were inside that cost $5 a piece.

I borrowed a heat lamp from a friend but had to purchase the bulb for about $5.

Food and water dishes cost about $30 but I could have done without the food dishes and used paper plates but they pooped in the food too much!

Food cost us about $15 to $30 a month and straw for the coop is about $7 to $14.

Family has started saving egg cartons so when we finally get eggs we should be OK there for a while at least.

Once I knew what I wanted and stuff started coming together my husband came on board and we received our chickens in July.

I just read a article in our local paper that a large city in Iowa just voted to allow people in city limits to have 6 backyard chickens. I was very excited.

If you are thinking about getting chickens I recommend looking at McMurray’s Hatchery in Iowa. Their website has lots of great information and they offer a lot of different breds at good prices.

Grit and Urban Farming magazine are both favorites of mine and usually have information on raising chickens. Back issues are available on amazon.

I’ll try to get a blog on our chicken coop up soon.