Backyard Farming Forum
Bringing food production home

Hello,

Next month i'll be buying some chooks for the first time. I'm extremely excited as this is something I have been wanting to do for a long time now. I will be buying point of lay chooks purely for egg production. I have done a bit of research, but I thought i'd throw the question out here to the forums chicken enthusiasts to see what the general consensus is. I would love some advice/opinion on the following:

* What breed/s produce the best tasting eggs? (I know their food intake has a big impact on this)
* How many chooks will I need to feed a family of 4? (This family loves eggs!)
* What is the best feed to buy for laying hens? (In conjunction with insects, worms, vegie scraps etc)
* Recommended breeders/suppliers of poultry in SE Queensland?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,

dusky_flathead

Isa Browns are great layers, possibly the best and when laying you can get an egg a day from each. We feed ours sprouted wheat, layer pellets, vege scraps as well as letting them scrounge in the gardens for a part of the day.

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Yep, If you only want eggs then Isa Browns are the bird for you, four birds will give you four eggs a day for two or maybe three years, but the are short lived. They are a very common egg laying cross breed and as such are found everywhere and are cheap.

As far as food goes I use vegetarian layer crumble in an on demand feeder are supplement with kitchen scraps and free range foraging.

I have had Isa Browns and Australorps and can't say I have noticed any taste difference.

In my opinion Isa Browns are the best chook for the poultry novice.

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Why did the chicken cross the road? ... To have her motives questioned.

My Australorps are real handfuls.

They are stubborn and rowdy and have an ability to get out of their pen at will regardless of my best efforts.
I've held off planting my Summer garden until I can find a way to stop them short of using an axe. *chicken casserole is not without it's charms*

I may have been really unlucky and got chooks with personality issues but my Isa Browns are quieter *noise wise* and stay in their pen.

Thank you to all for the feedback to date.

Is there much difference in difficulty looking after pure bred chooks compared to ISA's? I definitely don't want to bite off more than I can chew but have really liked the idea of getting some pure bred chooks, however the feed back suggests ISA's are far superior layers.

I'm curious to know why some breeds such as ISA's, Black Australorps, and White Leghorns are sold vaccinated whereas the pure bred chooks don't seem to need it?

To those with ISA's do they make decent table fare after their best laying days are behind them?

no difference at all in looking after them really, it's more the getting pure bred birds

isa's are often scrawny by the end of life

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contentment

Isa'a are definitely no good for the table. They are bred as super layers and put everything they have into laying.

If you want good layers and table birds I would recommend australorps

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Ben

Bender's Backyard
Bender's Aquaponics System