Egg Layers, Meat Chickens, and Making New Chicks

[drink88]

Typically what you'll find is chicken breeds are optimized for different things. You have egg laying breeds (white leghorn is the best example) that lay up to 300+ eggs a year. Then you have meat chickens that are bred to put on as much weight as fast as possible and only live for about two months (cornish cross). In the middle, you have dual purpose birds that lay some amount of eggs ~200-250/yr and put on a fair amount of meat by 4-6 months, or up to a year (Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire, many others, often known as heritage breeds).

If you raise the white leghorn as a meat bird, you may be disappointed - the amount of feed and time needed to raise it to a processed weight of about 3-4 lbs is significantly more than it would be for a meat bird to reach that same weight. If you try to have a meat bird that lays eggs, you may be disappointed if you're looking for leghorn type egg production - it's not bred to do that.

However, if your main goal is eggs, you can raise a flock of white leghorns just fine, hatch out your own eggs, and eat any extra cockerels. Hatch rate of males vs. females can be all over the place, but over a large number of hatches generally works out to 50% male and 50% female. That's a lot of roosters you'll need to do something with. You can raise them to 4-6 months old and have a decent meal out of them. Even better if they can get a good portion of their food from free ranging, but rooster bachelor flocks or bachelor pads are a thing that many folks do while growing out the cockerels.

If you're looking for sustainable meat flock, there are a handful of dual purpose birds that have been bred for meat and as much eggs as they can manage. A few examples are Freedom Rangers and New Hampshires from Freedom Ranger hatchery, Delaware Broilers from Murray McMurray, and there are a number of other birds that breed true that I'm just not aware of. Heritage breeds can be bred for different things, so the particular strain you get does matter if you're looking for one thing or another.

No other breed is as time and cost effective to raise for meat as the Cornish Cross - look on the forum here - a number of people have tried. But it is a terminal cross that comes with its own special management requirements. If you can find a great deal on CX chicks and raise them in bulk, this will be the least time and money option. But if you're going for self-sufficiency, having to buy chicks every year, regardless of their price, isn't it.

Good luck figuring things out!

You're right. I did read that White Leghorns aren't the best for meat chickens, so it wouldn't make much sense to try and create more of them for meat. So...I will order another bread for meat chickens...maybe the Cornish Cross as you suggested.

Not to milk this, but trying to think through everything so I understand and can plan accordingly.

So, if I have a White Leghorn rooster, and then buy some Cornish Cross hens, would that work or being worth breeding? Or should I have a completely different meat chicken process, and keep it Cornish Cross rooster and hens to keep that meat process going?

Like you said, I can just use the White Leghorns for egg laying.

Now that you've pointed that out, I'll have to rethink my operation.

2 pens for egg layers, 15 hens each.
1 pen for meat chickens
1 pen for baby making for egg layers
1 pen for baby making for meat chickens
1 pen for roosters that make babies (and not used for meat)

Process:
Egg layers make eggs. Leghorn baby making pen has a rooster and a hen or two, to make more egg layers, and I guess meat chickens for the males, although not ideal.

Cornish Cross baby making will make meat chickens primarily in the baby making meat pen, but hens could be used to make eggs as well. If I keep Cornish hens, they will be added to eggs layer pens. Males will be added to meat chicken pen, or rooster pen.

Thoughts?

 

[NatJ]

I guess I need to figure out the bantam situation...how many to buy, should they be housed with the egg layers and moved to baby making pen when they're needed, etc. Any suggestions on the type of bantam to buy to do this job?

Bantams often do fine living with other breeds of chicken. But once a hen goes broody, some can be moved to another pen and some can not. It might make sense to have a pen where the bantams live, that has nestboxes you can separate a bit from the rest of the pen (maybe each nestbox is in a cage with a door, and you leave the doors open except when a hen is broody.)

There are two main reasons for separating a broody hen:
--she may come off the nest for breakfast, but then go sit on a different nest and let her original eggs get cold. (If she eats & drinks in a cage attached to her own nest, she cannot go back to the wrong nest afterward. She does need enough space to get off the nest, so she doesn't poop on the eggs.)
--other hens may lay eggs in her nest (bad if they are not the kind of egg you want hatched. Also bad if they are many days later than the ones you do want her to hatch, because you don't want a half-developed eggs left behind when the rest hatch and the hen takes the chicks off the nest to find food & water.)

For bantams, I would suggest you try an assortment of Old English Game Bantams from Ideal Poultry. I've had good results with several different colors of those. Buying the assortment will be a bit cheaper than picking specific colors, although of course you could pick specific colors if you want. If you watch the weekly specials, you can sometimes get a better-than-usual price. They only come in straight run, so about half will be males. Use the males for some of your first butchering experiments. Bantam leg/thigh pieces work nicely in recipes meant for chicken wings. Or they'd make cute little roasted chickens, like single-serving Thanksgiving turkeys.

It's convenient to have a variety of colors so you can easily tell the broodies apart (the black one has eggs just about to hatch, while the wheaten one just started, is easier than having to check legbands, or see which one has the funny crinkled comb or whatever other way you might tell same-color birds apart.)

Many people recommend Silkies or bantam Cochins for hatching eggs. I have a personal dislike of feathered feet (they always seem to be muddy), which rules out both breeds for me. Also, the crest on a Silkie can make it hard for her to see, which makes her more likely to be bullied by other chickens.

Old English Game Bantams don't need any special care, except that a covered pen is a really good idea. They fly even better than Leghorns, and much better than heavy breeds of chickens.

Broody means that they will sit on the eggs, or in the egg laying box, for long periods of time, as if she was incubating. I will only know if one of the is broody by noticing them laying in the boxes, right?

Yes.

Are you saying that if there is a broody hen in the flock I get, she will tend to remain broody throughout the year?

No.

For some hens, they will go broody one time in the spring, and that's it. They hatch eggs and raise chicks, then act like any other chicken for the rest of the year. Or they sit on the nest for a month or so, don't hatch chicks, and give up until next year.

For some other hens, they go broody several times each year.
I've had some that would lay about a dozen eggs, then go broody. After they hatched the eggs and raised the chicks, they would lay another dozen eggs and go broody again. This got repeated from early spring until late fall. (Some of those hens were Old English Game Bantams from Ideal Poultry, which is why I suggest you try that breed.)

My plan is to raise all the chicks, separate into two pens of 15 each, and get the egg laying production underway. I'll have a rooster and at some point when they are of age, I'll take one or two and move to a pen with a rooster to start making more chicks.

If you want to hatch eggs only from those specific hens, that will work fine.
But if you are happy to hatch eggs from any of the hens, just let the rooster live in one hen-pen all year long.

When a hen goes broody, grab the right number of eggs laid that day in the pen where the hens & rooster live, put those eggs under the broody hen, and expect chicks in 3 weeks.

My question is this...should I move the broody hen(s) to the rooster pen so that she can have chicks, knowing she'll be a good mother and incubate?

No, that will not work at all.
Once a hen goes broody, she stops laying eggs. So you have to collect her eggs before she goes broody, or you have to give her eggs laid by some hen that is still laying.

Or just have the rooster with two hens, and then use the broody hen to incubate them even if they're not hers?

Yes, use the broody to incubate eggs that were laid by another hen.
But do not give her two eggs today, two tomorrow, and two the next day.
Collect the correct number of eggs (store them in your house if needed), and give them all to the broody hen on the same day. If they all start incubating on the same day, the chicks will all hatch on the same day, which is good. That way the broody can switch to taking care of chicks, without leaving other eggs behind to get cold.

I'll have a baby making pen where all the magic happens, and an incubator pen where the broody hen or bantams will be for the incubation period. Want to keep separate because the roosters will be by themselves in the baby making pen, and figured the incubation pen will be nice and quiet so they can focus on being good mothers.

Don't leave the roosters alone in the baby-making pen. Put them in the pens with the laying hens. One rooster with 15 hens will be much happier than one rooster alone or two roosters together, and your life will be simpler because you have one less pen to tend each day.

I'm a newb, so no idea how long to keep until butchering, but that's why I came here...to learn from folks like you. So I will probably be doing as you suggested, keeping them 2-3 months and then butchering.

Different people do things different ways. The "right" age to butcher ranges from about 1.5 months up to 12+ months, depending on who you ask and what their goals are. 2-3 months is my own personal preference, but you may end up preferring a different age.

For your first batch, I would suggest you butcher one at some age (maybe 2 months), then wait a few weeks and butcher another, then later another... This will help you see the differences in chickens butchered at different ages, and then you can decide which way YOU prefer it.

Your last paragraph taking about broody hens being single parents...if the roosters stay in their own pen, and I bring in a bantam to incubate, is that a bad idea? Will they start knocking her up too?

I chose a silly way to say it, but I do not recommend putting the broodies in the same pen with the roosters. Yes, the roosters will try to mate with the broodies. That has a chance of breaking the eggs she is sitting on. Too much pestering by a rooster might make the hen give up on being broody.

Not sure if I should have ANOTHER small pen just for the bantams when they need to incubate, and keep roosters out of that...meaning put the hens in the rooster pen to make babies, and then move the eggs to the bantam pen so they incubate and separate from the roosters...or if it matters if they are staying with the roosters while sitting on the eggs for that period of time.

I would not have a rooster pen at all. Put the roosters in with the laying hens, and have a separate pen for the broodies.

How in the world can I free range such an operation? I need to keep them separate obviously, but also want them to free range a bit, get some natural food on their own, get some sun light, exercise, etc. Without creating some elaborate system where I corral them into certain pens when they come back, which would be a nightmare, not sure what to do. I'm thinking I'll just have to create a HUGE area that is a free range/run that's still fenced to keep them separate. Maybe a couple mobile tractor pens or something. Any ideas?

You could make one pen bigger, and put 30 hens/2 roosters in it (instead of trying to separate into two pens.) Then let those chickens free range during the day, and come back to sleep in that one pen at night. That way you won't have to sort them out into separate pens.

Then you could just leave the banties, broodies, chicks, and meat birds in their pens all the time. Runs attached to each of those pens can provide sunlight and exercise, although they won't get much natural food that way. For that matter, a big enough pen can provide room for some exercise inside, and windows can let in natural light as well.

I don't think this was mentioned yet, but the broodies that are raising chicks may need separate pens from each other. It's pretty common for a hen with chicks to attack any other hen or chick that comes near. Some mobile tractor pens might be a good solution here: after a batch of chicks are a few days old, so they can walk well, move them and their mother into a tractor. When the next batch of chicks hatch under a different hen, they & their mother will get moved into a different tractor. You may even keep the males in the tractors until you are ready to butcher them, rather than having a stationary pen for raising them for meat.

 

[aart]

Are you saying that if there is a broody hen in the flock I get, she will tend to remain broody throughout the year?

No, not necessarily. hen that goes broody will sit on eggs until they hatch, then tend to them for 4-8 weeks, then start laying again. She may go broody again or not.
It's a crap shoot as to if and when a bird will go broody.....they usually do it at not so appropriate times of the year. Best to hatch replacement layers for the next winter in the early spring.

So, if I have a White Leghorn rooster, and then buy some Cornish Cross hens, would that work or being worth breeding?

Cornish Cross meat birds from the hatcheries are a proprietary mix of 4 breeds.
They rarely live long enough to lay, they get too heavy(heart attacks, broken legs, etc are not uncommon unless on a very strict diet), and if they do their offspring will not be the same kind of meaty bird.

 

[NatJ]

You're right. I did read that White Leghorns aren't the best for meat chickens, so it wouldn't make much sense to try and create more of them for meat. So...I will order another bread for meat chickens...maybe the Cornish Cross as you suggested.

Not to milk this, but trying to think through everything so I understand and can plan accordingly.

So, if I have a White Leghorn rooster, and then buy some Cornish Cross hens, would that work or being worth breeding? Or should I have a completely different meat chicken process, and keep it Cornish Cross rooster and hens to keep that meat process going?

Like you said, I can just use the White Leghorns for egg laying.

Now that you've pointed that out, I'll have to rethink my operation.

2 pens for egg layers, 15 hens each.
1 pen for meat chickens
1 pen for baby making for egg layers
1 pen for baby making for meat chickens
1 pen for roosters that make babies (and not used for meat)

Process:
Egg layers make eggs. Leghorn baby making pen has a rooster and a hen or two, to make more egg layers, and I guess meat chickens for the males, although not ideal.

Cornish Cross baby making will make meat chickens primarily in the baby making meat pen, but hens could be used to make eggs as well. If I keep Cornish hens, they will be added to eggs layer pens. Males will be added to meat chicken pen, or rooster pen.

Thoughts?

Short answer: um, no.

Explanation:

Do not try to keep any Cornish Cross, of either gender, for breeding. They will probably get too heavy to walk, or die of a heart attack, long before they are old enough to have babies of their own.

Cornish Cross grow so much faster than other chickens that they MUST be butchered at a young age, unless you care for them in a way that is different than normal chickens.

To keep them alive long enough to reproduce, you have to keep them on restricted food from a very young age (meaning, half-starved so their growth is stunted and they never reach a big meaty size.) When they are on restricted feed, they are hungry and grumpy all the time, will fight each other for any bit of feed available, and may even start trying to eat each other.

Yes, some people do manage to keep Cornish Cross alive long enough to breed from them. But it's not easy, and I would recommend you at least have some experience with keeping normal chickens before you decide whether to try it or not.

Also, the Cornish Cross chicks you buy are a hybrid (a mix of two or more kinds of chickens.) If you breed them to each other, you will get chicks with a variety of traits. They will probably all be white, but some may be little and some big, and some will grow much faster than others.

 

[drink88]

For bantams, I would suggest you try an assortment of Old English Game Bantams from Ideal Poultry.

Just curious...you mentioned Ideal Poultry in Texas. That's where I am getting my White Leghorns from. Are you in Texas, or just having them shipping from there? I'm in Texas, between Houston and Dallas.

For your first batch, I would suggest you butcher one at some age (maybe 2 months), then wait a few weeks and butcher another, then later another... This will help you see the differences in chickens butchered at different ages, and then you can decide which way YOU prefer it.

Great idea.

You could make one pen bigger, and put 30 hens/2 roosters in it (instead of trying to separate into two pens.) Then let those chickens free range during the day, and come back to sleep in that one pen at night. That way you won't have to sort them out into separate pens.

So, there won't be any issues with two roosters with 30 hens in one pen? I was thinking there might be fighting over hen issues, or who is the alpha issues, etc. But good to know this is an option and would simplify the number of pens.

Once a hen goes broody, she stops laying eggs.

So, if I'm not wanting the White Leghorns to reproduce at first, then I would just take the eggs daily. If a hen goes broody though, and I take her eggs, will attack trying to protect? So the idea would be to keep taking all the eggs daily, not leaving any behind to incubate, so there are no new chicks until I want more in the future? What will happen to the hen if she's broody but I take her eggs...will she still just sit there and not be active, and become unhealthy? She might try and find other eggs to sit on, but if I'm taking all the eggs, just curious when/how she snaps out of it without eggs to incubate.

Cornish Cross grow so much faster than other chickens that they MUST be butchered at a young age, unless you care for them in a way that is different than normal chickens.

Ok, so I have a meat chicken pen, hens and rooster. They lay more eggs, and now I have multiple rooster and additional hens. It is ok to keep them all in one pen? You mentioned putting the meat chicken hens in with the other hens, but the idea is to butcher all the meat chickens, hen or roosters. I want to have enough meat chickens to keep making more/enough to never have to buy more, and that's their only purpose. And do the same thing with the egg layers, to keep my egg production up, and periodically reproduce to get more egg layers to replace once that are diminishing or dying, to keep my flock big enough to never need to buy anymore. Make sense?

You've been a big help in trying to understand this process. Once I get it down, I can better build the coop and run that will fit my demand. So, greatly appreciate you taking the time.

 

[imacowgirl2]

I think you are overcomplicating it.

Do one larger coop/run with your egg layers. Leghorns don’t usually go broody, but you can get a few hens of a breed known to go broody to put in the same flock. If you get something that lays a brown egg, then you will know which eggs to NOT set for incubating or a broody hen without having to do any separation into separate breeding pens. Eat the extra cockerels as they reach the weight you want or get annoying to you or the other birds.

In a second coop/run combo, keep your meat birds. I’m currently in the process of building my meat bird coop setup to do exactly this. Put in your hens and roosters, and do the same thing as you do with your layers — collect eggs until you are ready to hatch. When you want to hatch, set eggs in incubator or under broody. If a broody raised them, you’re done, they stay in the coop with the flock until processing day. The older hens and roosters will keep the younger ones in check until processing day, at least in my experience.

My meat birds are New Hampshires from Freedom Ranger hatchery. I highly recommend these birds, I had live weights of 7-9 lbs at 13.5 weeks when I processed them, so I didn’t have to feed them too much longer than a Cornish cross, and I didn’t have to worry they would fall over dead if I had to change processing day. The coop I’m currently setting up, I have one rooster and two hens, and right now 20 youngsters that will be going to freezer camp in about 4 weeks. Everyone will go in the coop/run, and I will process the growers as they get to the weight I want. Hopefully my hens will cooperate and one will go broody in a few weeks and will raise a small clutch and do this multiple times per year. If they don’t go broody, I will incubate then reintegrate the chicks into the flock between 2-3 weeks old. I’m hoping to get enough small batches going that I can process a few birds here and there as they get big enough and freezer gets empty. If I wanted big batches of eggs (like if I was having someone else process them all at once), I would keep more breeding hens and set larger batches of eggs at once.

Free range the flocks on opposite days. Layers free range Monday, meat birds on Tuesday, etc. I’m not free ranging my meat birds because of too much hawk predation pressure (another reason they’re getting their own digs since they currently live with the layer flock) but that’s an easy way to manage free ranging multiple flocks.

 

[NatJ]

Just curious...you mentioned Ideal Poultry in Texas. That's where I am getting my White Leghorns from. Are you in Texas, or just having them shipping from there? I'm in Texas, between Houston and Dallas.

No, I'm not in Texas. They ship chicks all over the USA.
I've ordered from a number of different hatcheries, but overall I like Ideal for selling chicks that are a reasonable price, reasonable quality, and generally in good health. Sometimes they will have some trait that is a bit wrong for their breed, such as a bearded breed without the beard, rose comb breed with a single comb instead, feet the wrong color, feather color a bit off, a bit bigger or smaller than the breed is "supposed" to be. Those would matter if someone wanted their chickens to do well in a show, and can matter a bit if you want chickens with a specific appearance, but are no problem if you just want healthy chickens that look vaguely like that breed.

So, there won't be any issues with two roosters with 30 hens in one pen? I was thinking there might be fighting over hen issues, or who is the alpha issues, etc. But good to know this is an option and would simplify the number of pens.

There might be some fighting, or there might not be.

The breeder flock for a hatchery will typically have multiple roosters with lots of hens. They aren't going to tolerate roosters that kill each other under those conditions. That does not mean it works for every rooster, but I think it has a good chance of working.

For 30 hens, I would keep either 2 or 3 roosters. I might start with 3, to have one extra as backup, and then if any one causes a problem you can remove him and still have 2.

So, if I'm not wanting the White Leghorns to reproduce at first, then I would just take the eggs daily.

Correct.

If a hen goes broody though, and I take her eggs, will attack trying to protect?

If you try to take an egg that is under a hen, she might peck your hand, or she might fluff up her feathers and make a loud squawk. She's not really dangerous. Worst case, you can wear a pair of leather gloves and a long-sleeved shirt, but that's usually not needed.

This can happen with a broody hen, but it can also happen with any hen that happens to be on the nest at the time you are collecting eggs.

If it really bothers you, just collect eggs when the hens are off the nests, and get any others after dark with a flashlight. But I think you will find it's not a big deal.

So the idea would be to keep taking all the eggs daily, not leaving any behind to incubate, so there are no new chicks until I want more in the future?

Correct.

What will happen to the hen if she's broody but I take her eggs...will she still just sit there and not be active, and become unhealthy? She might try and find other eggs to sit on, but if I'm taking all the eggs, just curious when/how she snaps out of it without eggs to incubate.

That depends on the hen.
Leghorns usually do not go broody, so hopefully it won't come up very often.

Some broody hens will just quit being broody. Those seem to be pretty rare-- maybe people just don't recognize them as broody at all, since they quite so easily.

Some broody hens seem quite happy to sit on an empty nest. They may move to a different nest (if there are eggs in another nest), or they may keep sitting on the same one. It's common for other hens to kick the broody out, or squeeze in beside her, and lay eggs in that nest. So the broody usually has some eggs at some point in the day, even if you take them all whenever you check.

Being broody for a few weeks isn't really bad for a hen, but she does not lay eggs while she is broody, and it takes her some time to get back to laying after she quits being broody. So if you don't want her to hatch eggs, you should break her broodiness. The sooner you break her, the sooner she will be back to laying eggs.

Here is an article about one way to break a broody hen:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/broody-breaking-ala-aart.77915/

If you don't break her broodiness, she may stop in about 3 weeks. Or she may stop earlier, or keep sitting for 6+ weeks. I've read that some broodies will keep sitting, and not eat enough, and eventually die. That seems to be rather rare, but of course no-one can guarantee what any specific broody will do.

Ok, so I have a meat chicken pen, hens and rooster. They lay more eggs, and now I have multiple rooster and additional hens. It is ok to keep them all in one pen? You mentioned putting the meat chicken hens in with the other hens, but the idea is to butcher all the meat chickens, hen or roosters.

Butchering them all is fine. I had thought you were talking about keeping some females to serve as egg layers, in which case it would make sense to add them to your Leghorn pen. But if you only want enough females to produce more meat birds, definitely butcher both genders at whatever age ends up working well for you. There is no reason to put them in with your Leghorns in that case.

I want to have enough meat chickens to keep making more/enough to never have to buy more, and that's their only purpose. And do the same thing with the egg layers, to keep my egg production up, and periodically reproduce to get more egg layers to replace once that are diminishing or dying, to keep my flock big enough to never need to buy anymore. Make sense?

Yes, I think so.

You've been a big help in trying to understand this process. Once I get it down, I can better build the coop and run that will fit my demand. So, greatly appreciate you taking the time.

I'm glad I've been able to help

Yes, you can definitely save time and effort and money by figuring it out before you build your coops!

 

[drink88]

I think you are overcomplicating it.

I think you're right, but as a newb, I know no other way.

Do one larger coop/run with your egg layers.

Yes, I've come to this conclusion over the course of this forum post. Makes sense, all together, they can keep laying eggs, and possibly fertile eggs so that I can keep the egg layer numbers up. And yes, finding a breed that is known for going broody, that will house with them.

I have one rooster and two hens, and right now 20 youngsters that will be going to freezer camp in about 4 weeks.

Ok, so this is a good idea. Buy a rooster and a couple hens (for me maybe two roosters and 10 hens), and then buy the first round of chicks and add them in when time is right. Idea that the older roosters and hens do their thing and they keep adding numbers as time goes by. You mention they will do this a few times a year...

I'd love to know how this works out for you, and if the rooster and hens successfully build your flock up.

Free range the flocks on opposite days.

Great idea. I'll create a nice sized chicken tractor, and rotate them every other day.

Thanks for the great info.

 

[paintedChix]

I haven't figured that out yet...I just ordered my White Leghorns, did a lot of reading and it seemed like they were a great egg layer. Now it's time to move on to finding some good meat birds, so will start researching that now.

Bresse - imported meat birds that lay well.

 

[paintedChix]

So, free ranging can work in different ways too. From 2015 to now, I have come to the conclusion that I need solid, covered runs or movable tractors. I am located in the sandhills of NC.

Running loose on several acres didnt work, even w/ multiple hidey spots - hawks, coyote & loose neighbor dogs. Mine. Attacks always happened during day, when at work.

Hot poultry netting w/i several acre pasture, movable tractor they sheltered under & LGD between fences (neighbors set up) - wing clipped hens able to get over original netting (u can now get it much taller), hawks still a major issue & older/bigger coyote killed thier LGD (still pretty young, though was able to guard against other preds).

Just a few miles from me, I know other folks who use the poultry netting & love it. I found it a rather large waste of my $$. I have watched so, so many homesteading type videos that make it look easy and workable, but for me, not so. And now, I'm either using for other things or have sold it... had issues w/ the solar batteries, too, while trying to keep it hot.

Another option - what I am working towards myself. Build your permanent coops around a large square/rectangle. Have a coop/regular run on each side of the open area - errr- fenced in, open area. Make it so that you can net or string fishing line over the top of the courtyard/garden area. Plant perennial plants that will feed the birds as well as annuals. Make "chunnels" that will funnel chickens from each individual coop/run into the garden - 1 coop at a time, when you decide they can be in there.

You could even start w/ just 2 (or even one) coop, then add more coop/run space & lengthen the garden space as your operation grows and as your space allows.

I'm using hooped CP w/ a variety of materials to rebuild 2 older 8x8 coops (both will go to 10'x16'). I have purchased cinder blocks for base of front & back. The fronts are already purchased dog panel pens (I had planned on removing the chicken wire & wood from fronts this weekend, but now getting a cold rain, so no). I have elderberry, fig, comfrey, raspberry ready to plant around the coops - in my "courtyard garden". I have lots of seeds for chicken safe herbs, flowers, fruits & veggies. Some have been started. We'll see how it all comes together. This has been a LOONNGGG time in thought, plan & getting accomplished - interspersed w/ out of state family stuff. Similar to your idea, I have egg layers - a variety of blue/green, tan & brown layers. Don't currently have white egg layers - but will. I have never done CornishX. Might try some this year, but would prefer a "meatable" breed that can breed on. Some of my breeds are dual purpose - both hatchery chicks (Buckeye, BR)& heritage bred from breeders (BR, RIR, Welsummer) & fun breeds - (Ameraucana, CLBs). Several of these breeds can be crossed to make either a bigger hybrid for meat or more egg laying (including sage, mint, olive eggers). I had been providing eggs, meat, fruit & veg for several families - all w/ pets on a limited basis. Wanting to do more... No chicks will be for sale for a while till whole plan is in place & working... I've already been approached for eggs & chicks.

In TX, I'd imagine that open air hoop coops would work great for you & relatively inexpensive & expandable.