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We can special order many chicken breeds during the peak PLACE YOUR ORDER! season! Ask a sales associate for an order form. ®® Answers & Low Prices Down Every Aisle SM ChoosingChoosing aa CHICKEN BREED With hundreds of chicken easy enough, right? Keep in breeds available, choosing mind, some breeds fall into more the right one for you can be than one category, and it’s ok to overwhelming. It’s easy to get mix breeds to have a nice well- caught up in the interesting rounded flock. names like Silkie and Cockoo Moran, or the beautiful feather Space and climate will also plumes, or the color of the eggs. effect your chickens. Some But before you choose your flock breeds require more room than based on aesthetics alone, you others, and some are able DidDid youyou should first consider what breeds to fly over low fences. While will work best in your climate, most breeds are fine in almost KNOW? space available, and what you any climate, there are a few want out of your chickens. that require warmer or cooler temperatures to thrive. Brown and white eggs Chicken breeds can be have the same broken down into three Ready to dive into categories: layers, meat the details of chicken nutritional value. birds and show birds. If breeds? Check out the Some chickens such you want farm fresh chart below to build the eggs, look for a laying perfect flock for you. as the Ameraucana breed. If you want breed lay blue/green fresh chicken for dinner, look for a eggs. Chickens with meat breed. If you want chickens white ear lobes lay for companions, white eggs and or for livestock shows, you want a chickens with red show bird. Seems earlobes lay brown eggs. EGG LAYERS Raising your own egg made from purchased lumber, laying hens you will be laying chickens is a wonderful scrap materials, or recycled doors able to choose based adventure. Whether your and scrap metal. They can also on the color of eggs motivation is fun, profit or be bought new online and at as well as the breed. superior nutrition, a backyard Orscheln Farm & Home stores. If chicken flock can provide you decide to build one yourself, Once your meat and eggs for your family a good set of chicken coop plans laying hens year round. There are several is a huge money-saver. Even if are safely chicken breeds that make the you plan to let your housed best egg laying chickens. In chickens free range in a coop general, female chickens, in your yard protected called pullets, will start during by chicken laying eggs at about the day, wire, and six months of age. you need your pullets However, if they reach a safe pen reach this age during the cold to contain maturity, you winter months, they them when will see your may simply wait to lay you’re gone or if efforts pay off in until springtime. they face danger the form of eggs. You should plan from local dogs, to gather the eggs a couple times Getting started: The first cats or other a day to prevent breakage by the step to raising your own predators. chickens. Do not wash the eggs, egg laying chickens is to as they are protected by a thin prepare a chicken coop, Choosing layer on the shell that keeps the scratch yard and run for your the breed egg fresh. If dirty, wash the eggs flock. Chickens need a safe, dry for your egg laying immediately before use. place to lay eggs as well as roost chickens, unless you inherit at night. Chicken coops can be peeps or hens from someone Egg laying chickens are quite else, is next. Commercial egg useful as they contribute to the layers are bred for production family larder. Because of their and will lay the most quantity gentle natures, they also make and often the largest eggs. wonderful pets. Backyard chicken They are quite reliable, and flocks are reappearing accross Top most lay almost daily. Other the country as families egg layers, including some work to EGG LAYERS heirloom breeds, improve their • White Leghorn are slightly less diets and • New Hampshire productive but may be more fun to • Australorp raise due to their • Rhode Island Red varied coloring, personalities and become • Sussex egg colors and more self- sizes. In addition to sufficient. • Buff Orphington brown and white egg • Wyandotte layers, some -- such as Easter Egg chickens -- lay • Plymouth Rock green or blue eggs, and others • Delaware are pink hued. When ordering egg • Ameraucana MEAT BREEDS Interested in raising chickens Chicken has become the most sought for meat? Some of the meat after meat in the marketplace. Raising your breed names include, own birds can save you a few bucks at the Cornish, Cochin, Marans, grocery store. Even more satisfying is the great Dorking, Plymouth Rock sense of accomplishment that comes with and tons of others. Take raising your own food from egg to dinner table into consideration there and providing this healthy meal to your family. are some additional steps -- for processing the As long birds when they are fully as you give grown to market size. them the Raising meat birds is very proper care different from laying hens. You’ll and have a lot more (usually at least 50 or more, although you could just raise a few) fast-growing birds, which means a lot of poop feeding, to deal with but plenty of the birds you fertilizer for the garden. raise will taste better than store-bought, contain little or no There are 3 types of meat birds. Broilers, chemicals or hormones, and live happier lives. Roasters and Capons. Each of these birds are Chicken is a very healthy meat. It has ready for butcher at different ages. The Broiler considerably less fat and calories than other birds are usually young and tender and can be commercial meats. The white breast meat male or female. Roasters are allowed to get a bit contains even fewer calories than the dark leg older and usually weigh about 7 pounds when they and wing meat with almost half the fat. White are butched. Capons are birds which are surgically chicken meat is nearly twice as high in niacin castrated at an early age. Capons are plumper, as dark chicken meat but the dark meat offers juicier and more flavorful compared to any almost three times as much zinc and iron. You commercially grown bird. can cut the fat from chicken even further by removing the skin before cooking, where much of the saturated fat is located. Marans Raise YOUR OWN MEAT! If you want to become more self- sufficient and put healthy meat on your dinner table, raising chickens is a great way to start! MEAT OR EGG BIRDS The best breeds for the dual-purpose flock are MeetMeet thethe generally from the American Class. This class includes RHODE ISLAND RED the Delaware, Rhode Island The Rhode Island Red was developed on Rhode Island, Red, Plymouth Barred Massachusetts USA around the 1890s. Crossing a large variety of Rock and New Hampshire. other breeds including the Buff Cochin, Langsh, Black Red Malay, For continuous winter Hamburgh and Rose combed Leghorns together laying success Orpingtons, Australorps and some White created the Rhode Island Red. The Rhode Island Rocks are great. These all lay is another bird created for both meat and brown eggs. Pick a few from eggs, to satisfy the demands of the American several different breeds and population. The Rhode Island Red is possibly see what works best for you. the best-known breed in the world today. The Rhode crossed with a Sussex forms the Having a flock of basis of most of our present day hybrids. dual-purpose chickens is a good, common-sense addition While most often an honor saved for either to any homestead. They a majestic or physically beautiful wild bird, the supply the owner with eggs Rhode Island Red Chicken is actually the state bird and meat, not to mention of Rhode Island. It was given this honor by the bug control, rich manure state government during the early 1950s. and general entertainment. Raising them keeps alive the breeds that are being Compromise is often Likewise, there are some amazing neglected for more efficient a bad thing but in the case of meat chickens but their egg-laying single-purpose factory dual-purpose chickens it is a ability has been sacrificed in the production breeds. In a sensible and practical idea for intensive breeding for feed to weight time when faster, bigger, the home flock. There is nothing conversion ratios. This is where the more is always better, the more satisfying than watching dual-purpose chicken comes in. It is old-fashioned dual-purpose a flock of robust hens roaming not the best in either category but chicken stands out as an about the farm chasing butterflies quite acceptable in both. They tend exception that wins in late summer or sucking up to be healthier overall and more all around. earthworms after a rain. They “normal” in chicken behavior than are inexpensive to purchase, some of the highly bred production reasonable to maintain, and breeds. This is an ideal solution for fun to watch. In return you are a family wishing to supply their own rewarded with eggs that have needs and to make a small income bright orange stand-up yolks selling eggs to the community. and a freezer stocked with fryers The climate you live in will make and roasters that you know were an impact on the decision as well.

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