Interested in breeding "fancy" chickens

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ElysianBlight

In the Brooder
May 10, 2018
28
48
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Kansas City, MO
Hi everyone :)

I currently have no chickens at all, but just bought a house and finished school - so I am looking for a good "hobby".
When I was a kid we incubated and hatched quail and chickens a few times, but did not keep them.

I love animals, love "training" animals, of course I love baby animals, and I am fascinated by genetics - so I decided I would ultimately like to get involved in a selective breeding project.

Fish are boring and flowers are slow, so I settled on birds. When I realized exactly how much variety is possible in cross breeding chickens, I got really excited!

Since I live in town and just have a backyard, my local ordinances limit me to 15 birds. I'm thinking I will try to stick to one rooster and 3 or 4 hens of different breeds, and very strictly/selectively breed them to see what kind of crosses I can get.

Obviously I am still in the heavy research stage so I wont be fully into this for at least a year or so..

One thing I am little worried about, is what to do with the chicks I cannot keep or hens/roosters I want to retire. I will not be hatching willy-nilly since my breeding will be deliberate.. but with my flock limit, I'll only be keeping the ones I really want in my breeding stock.

Has anyone had any difficulty with finding places for small batches of unwanted chicks or single chickens?
I intend to raise them as pet quality.. if someone wants to buy them for meat I suppose, as long as they don't tell me to my face, that is ok.. but I understand fancy breeds aren't really great for meat anyway.

Anyway, I'm also wondering if there are any other birds that have the intense kind of genetic variety that chickens do? I looked into smaller cage-kept birds for their smaller space needs and colors, but the feather patterns and textures of chickens are much more interesting.

Oh, also - do the no crow collars work as well as de-crowing?
I am technically not allowed to have a rooster that crows within 300 feet of my neighbors.. and I dont think there is a space in my yard that far from anyone. I could keep the rooster with my brother outside city limits though.

Any tips and suggestions about any of this is welcome :)
 
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You need to put together a stronger gameplan.
Pet quality? Money pit. Aim higher. You are competing with $3 sexed pullets from TSC. With a limit of 12 birds, you do not have enough room for one breed. You need to be able to raise the first generation to maturity then hatch their eggs, cull. Hatch more eggs. Cull. Cross them back for more desirable traits... I think you realistically need room for 150 birds. You won't know if you got it right for years and will accumulate extra "maybes".
A rooster's crow easily travels over 300' so to keep noisy neighbors out of your business, I wouldn't even try to keep one much less a pen of cockerels.
Can you build breeding pens at your brother's? Raise the hatchlings at your house.
 
Percheron chick said:
You need to put together a stronger gameplan.
Pet quality? Money pit. Aim higher. You are competing with $3 sexed pullets from TSC. With a limit of 12 birds, you do not have enough room for one breed. You need to be able to raise the first generation to maturity then hatch their eggs, cull. Hatch more eggs. Cull. Cross them back for more desirable traits... I think you realistically need room for 150 birds. You won't know if you got it right for years and will accumulate extra "maybes".
A rooster's crow easily travels over 300' so to keep noisy neighbors out of your business, I wouldn't even try to keep one much less a pen of cockerels.
Can you build breeding pens at your brother's? Raise the hatchlings at your house.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the feedback!
I am really not trying to make money or anything - and I'm not trying to be a hardcore breeder either. You don't think that is possible on a really small scale?
I honestly just want to make "pretty" chickens for my own enjoyment, not for profit.
 
Also I guess it was misleading when I said I was worried about whether people would buy the chicks..
I wouldn't be trying to sell for profit, that's exactly why I am concerned. I know if I tried to do small scale I would have tiny batches of mixed chicks on a very irregular basis.. and I want to know I can get "rid" of them without having to stop my hobby or kill them or something.
 
Alt-WELCOME-farmer-connie-1.gif
Have fun on the site!

It might be a good idea to post specific questions on separate forums. Finding your local state thread will help with re homing resources in your area too
 
Hello and :welcome

It sounds to me like your best bet might be to buy some fertile eggs and do a few small hatches to begin with and see how you get on with rehoming the cockerels. Rehoming is very hard work though. My rooster plan is
1. Try to sell them or give them away. Lots of advertising. Join your local Facebook Poultry groups etc.
2. I know a few people who rehome and a friend with a farm but they don’t especially want them and will only take them if I’m stuck.
3. Eat them. Fortunately I’ve not had to do this yet but I accept that if I want to hatch it’s my responsibility to deal with excess cockerels.
Pure breeds, especially blue egg breed cockerels are easier to rehome but I’d advise trying to rehome as soon as possible because mine often start crowing at 12-14weeks. Fortunately not too loudly and I’m lucky to have neighbours that don’t mind the baby crows!
Best of luck with your venture :thumbsup
 
Joeschooks said:
Hello and :welcome

It sounds to me like your best bet might be to buy some fertile eggs and do a few small hatches to begin with and see how you get on with rehoming the cockerels. Rehoming is very hard work though. My rooster plan is
1. Try to sell them or give them away. Lots of advertising. Join your local Facebook Poultry groups etc.
2. I know a few people who rehome and a friend with a farm but they don’t especially want them and will only take them if I’m stuck.
3. Eat them. Fortunately I’ve not had to do this yet but I accept that if I want to hatch it’s my responsibility to deal with excess cockerels.
Pure breeds, especially blue egg breed cockerels are easier to rehome but I’d advise trying to rehome as soon as possible because mine often start crowing at 12-14weeks. Fortunately not too loudly and I’m lucky to have neighbours that don’t mind the baby crows!
Best of luck with your venture :thumbsup
Click to expand...

Thats a good idea, thanks!
Yeah.. sadly.. part of the reason I am planning on chickens is because I know if I get stuck, someone will always at least be able to eat them.
I am glad that is at least socially acceptable around here, I was afraid it would make me sound like a horrible person.
 
ElysianBlight said:
Thats a good idea, thanks!
Yeah.. sadly.. part of the reason I am planning on chickens is because I know if I get stuck, someone will always at least be able to eat them.
I am glad that is at least socially acceptable around here, I was afraid it would make me sound like a horrible person.
Click to expand...
Not at all. Lots of people here raise chickens for meat. I’m not looking forward to the day I have to dispatch a cockerel I’ve raised myself but I just tell myself it’s not me who invented the food chain.
 

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