Purchasing chicks from a hatchery has important advantages, such as fewer people handling the birds, lessening the chance for cross-contamination in established flocks. Customers also have more options of birds to choose from to best suit their needs. Whether you are a veteran producer or are brand-new to raising chickens, follow these five tips and you'll be well on your way to making the experience as positive as possible.
ESTABLISH GENERAL GOALS
Before you even start shopping for breeds, you need to review your chicken-keeping goals. For starters, decide if you're looking for meat or egg production, or both. You'll also want to decide if your ambitions include simply contributing to your family's food supply or if you want to sell what your produce and on what scale.
Before he shopped, Greg Nance, a producer and pastor, decided on what type of breed-specific bird he wanted. Nance has raised chickens off and on since childhood. For the past five years, he has lived on his Sweet Grace farm, a small plot located on Signal Mountain in Tennessee, where he keeps a flock of about 100 birds that he raises for meat and eggs. While the birds provide for his family, he also sells to community and church members. Nance put in a considerable amount of research before he clicked "submit" on that first purchase.
Plan Before Proceeding
Evaluate your goals prior to placing your order. Decide ahead of time if you wish to produce meat or eggs for just you and your family or if you plan to sell what your produce. Selling your produce can be something on as small a scale as covering your feed costs by selling to community members or involve something on a larger scale such as selling at a local farmers market.
Denne historien er fra Best of Hobby Farms 2023-utgaven av Hobby Farms.
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Denne historien er fra Best of Hobby Farms 2023-utgaven av Hobby Farms.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The RISE of Opportunist WEEDS
Be prepared to see increasing changes in weeds we fight, such as poison hemlock and poison ivy, and in the crops we grow.
LIVESTOCK Health
Prepare yourself for how to spot symptoms of illness in your farm animals so that you can get them help before it's too late.
CUT FLOWER Farming
If you're considering growing flowers for sale, brush up on these five key things to know before diving in.
WINTER Survival
Keep your land, animals and yourself in good shape this winter with this helpful advice.
COVERAGE CONCERNS
Avoid common insurance mistakes for rural and hobby farm businesses.
FARMER'S GUIDE Berries
Set the stage for tasty strawberries, blueberries and brambles with these soil-boosting garden tips.
Preconditioning CALVES
Follow our step-by-step guide to get more money for your calves.
Soil Conservation
Often, outside of having a specific problem that needs to be addressed, soil conservation isn't something every farmer readily thinks about. Yet conserving the soil should be at or near the top of every farmer owner or manager's list of concerns because absent the prevention of soil erosion, we have the opportunity for another dust bowl.
Year-Round Lettuce & Salad Mixes
It's easy to think of salad greens as just a spring- or fall-garden crop, but it's possible to enjoy freshly harvested lettuces, mustards and more from your own garden year-round.
Barn Improvements
Days are never long enough for a farmer. From dawn to well into the night, tasks arise that often require immediate action. Having to search for tools or equipment is an enormous time waster and incredibly frustrating when you can't find what you need, especially when you know you have it.
