Originally Posted by CindyBee
Henry, I had hens for eggs. I kept 6 and they were like pets. I would still keep them, but we built a house on the land where we used to keep them and no room now. As others mentioned, you need a secure hen house to house them at night. My hens were loose during the day to free range in the huge garden we used to have. I purchased my chicks at a feed store and they were not fully fledged. They had to stay in large box with a light on to keep warm. You feed them chicken feed which you can purcase at the feed store as well. They need to eat gravel too and fresh water too. And straw to roost on. Be prepared to muck their stalls - they poop a lot! It's all good though because it's an excellent fertilizer and be added to compost for the garden. I think they were about 4-5 months old when they started to lay. You don't need a rooster for eggs, only if you want baby chicks. Roosters can be mean!
Also, if they do not free range, they will quickly remove every blade of grass from their enclosure. It can get rather nasty and muddy.
I used to raise a flock of about 50 chickens, mainly for eggs. I would use what I needed and sell the excess. Cindy covered a lot so I won't repeat any of it. Here are some of the things I learned in addition to what Cindy covered. You want to either feed them back their shells or get oyster shell bits to throw on the ground for them. The calcium strengthens the shells - And YES, you can get the shells too strong. :P I always kept a rooster simply because fertilized eggs are higher in several nutrients. And despite what many people believe, if you get an egg with a blood spot inside, it is NOT because it is a fertilized egg. It is because the hen strained too hard to lay the egg, thus causing the blood spot. Poor hen! Depending on the breed of chicken, your hen can lay 1 egg every day or 1 egg every 1-3 days. Do NOT wash the eggs as you collect them. Each egg has a protective coating on it that is natural from the hen. This protection keeps bacteria and other nasties from getting through the membrane and making the egg bad.
Interesting facts...My aunt used to sell eggs to Albertsons. You can bury eggs in cool sand and they will remain good for up to a year. What a thought! :? Of course our society consumes eggs so rapidly that such methods are no longer needed and the eggs you get in the store are usually only 1-3 months old.
If you do not have anyone local who raises chickens to talk to, check out your local 4-H. They should have someone who will be able to give you all sorts of insight into raising chickens and will be able to point you in the right direction for where to buy the best chickens and equipment/feed for your area.
One thing to consider when buying feed. If the corn inside the feed has been genetically modified (which over 80% of the corn in America is now), you should realize that tests have shown that the modifications can be passed down into the egg. It is unknown how it affects the human body but I would be cautious feeding it to small children and infants. JMO.