Spring Chickens
For many people raising chickens is their first step in growing their own food. The incentives of raising your own poultry are numerous but, primarily, a fresh supply of eggs might be the most popular reason people raise chickens. I still remember getting our first mix of newborn chicks mailed to us from the hatchery. We were very excited with the prospect of farm fresh eggs collected daily from the free ranging flock.
Each January, when the hatchery sends us their annual catalog describing all their available poultry, we act like excited children looking through the Sears & Roebuck Christmas catalog, anticipating ordering replacement hens and the prospects of new egg laying breeds. One thing we have learned over the years is that the breeds of chicken we raise makes a huge impact on the number of eggs we can expect to receive. As you might have guessed, certain breeds tend to lay more eggs than others. Some breeds might lay very few eggs at all, others are prolific, and yet others are raised specifically to show with no concern for eggs at all.
As homesteaders whose goal is to raise our own high quality food, the breed we select is ultimately important. If we select a breed for the wrong reasons, we might not have many eggs to eat (or sell) or the chickens may not even survive the Montana winters. Selecting the right breed is critical if you want fresh eggs all year long, so we thought we would share with you our favorite breeds.
The Red Star is our favorite breed as it has been the best brown egg layer we have raised. They are very easy to raise, are excellent egg layers and have a really good feed-egg conversion ratio. The hens begin laying a bit earlier than heavier breeds and will keep laying large eggs throughout the cold winter months, which is an important trait in SW Montana. They are a vey gentle breed with a great disposition.
Ameraucana. These chickens are best known as the “Easter Egg Chicken” because they lay colored eggs ranging from shades of turquoise to blue. Each bird typically lays a different shade of colored egg, adding a diversity of color to the egg basket. With American breeding you have the current breed name.
These birds are medium sized but are extremely hardy. They have a wonderful combination of colors and color patterns making your flock quite interesting.
Black Australorp. As you may have guessed, this heavier breed originates in Australia. They are good layers of light brown eggs. They are very gentle and quiet and take long winters in the chicken coop very well. We love their glossy black feathers with a greenish-purple sheen offset by their bright red combs. An added benefit is this breed can also be utilized as a meat bird due to its size.
Barred Rock. This American breed can be utilized for eggs or for meat production. It has very defined narrow barring on their feathers (hence their name) and are prolific brown egg layers. They are also a heavier breed and are quite comfortable in cold weather. We also have White Rock’s which are similar to Barred Rocks except they are pure white.
Red Ranger. Although we didn’t raise Red Rangers for their eggs, we thought they deserved to be mentioned for their meat production. The Red Ranger is a large, quick growing breed. They are excellent foragers and are a great addition to our free range flock.
If you want a broiler without any of the problems of other fast-growing meat production breeds, these are your best choice. In 55-60 days, these birds will be ready for the freezer weighing in at 6 pounds.
Maintaining High Egg Production
Just because you have a breed that is supposed to lay lots of eggs, that doesn’t mean they will. Egg laying is affected by many factors including their diet, age, light, and climate.
Age. A chicken’s first year of laying eggs is always their best. It’s a fact – the older a chicken gets, the fewer eggs they will produce compared to younger chickens.
Light. Egg production is affected by hours of sunlight. To maintain good egg production during the winter months, install a soft white light so that the birds continually have 12-14 hours of lights each day. We use a timer on our light to ensure enough light to keep up production.
Diet. We feed our chicks a 18% protein chick starter crumbles until they begin laying, then switch to a diet of 16% protein layer pellets. Our chickens are free range birds so they also forage for themselves in spring through fall. They love catching insects! We also supplement their diet with leafy garden vegetation, pork cracklings (left over from making lard), and cooked wild game meat scrapes cut into small pieces.
Climate. If you live in a colder climate, especially in winter, you may need to supplement the coop with a heat source like a heat lamp. In colder climates, chickens will utilize more of their feed to keep warm rather than using the feed for egg production. That is why production typically is reduced during cold temperature months. That being said, we do not provide our flock with supplemental heat unless the temps fall below -10 degrees. Our coop is very well insulated so the 20 bird flock provides their own heat to keep the coop sufficiently warm.
We hope this gives you a little idea of breed characteristics that we on the homestead in SW Montana find appealing. Now its time for you to jump in and order your chickens, spring is right around the corner!
Rick