I'll be raising Buckeye layers at the neighbor's

[Kaleva]

Went with my father-in-law to talk to the neighbor and she was pretty excited about the idea of raising meat birds with us as it was getting to much for her alone so she hasn't for a couple of years. She has the coops, brooders, chicken runs, feeders, waterers, killing cones and a deplucker. All what is needed to raise and butcher about 50 meat birds at a time. We could do 2 batches of up to 50 birds each and she wants 25 for herself and we'll divide costs. My father-in-law wants 25 and my wife and I want 25. My son-in-law hasn't got back to me about how many he would like but he could have up to 25.

I brought up the idea of layers and she is all for it. She has a small 4x8 foot coop built on a single axle trailer bed we could use to house about 5 layers. That would provide ample room for the hens in the winter when they'll be spending much of their time cooped up. I asked her if we could have the Buckeye breed and said she hadn't heard of that breed but was fine with it. She wants a dozen eggs per week and with 5 layers, my wife and I can reasonably expect to get a dozen or so a week too.

She doesn't use chicken tractors as she said they don't provide enough security against the coyotes, wolves, raccoons, and foxes in the area and she's lost flocks in the past when she tried the chicken tractors. She's never seen a bear of her property but I watched one run through my yard in town a couple of years or so ago. She uses the solid chicken coops on the trailers so the birds have secure housing at night. She has a tractor to move the coops when needed, The chicken runs are detachable from the coops and they can be moved by hand.

Yesterday when I brought our dog to the vets for a checkup in another town, I stopped at the feed mill there for prices. Their costs are much then Tractor Supply's and it's half the distance. An example is that a 50# bag of DuMOR 16% Layer Poultry Feed Pellets, Calcium Fortified is $19.49 while a 50# bag of layer feed from the feed mill is $13.85. They also offer chicks from early spring to August and they are cheaper then Tractor Supply too.

The neighbor isn't expecting any reimbursement for use of the coops and equipment and will split costs of the chicks and feed. She's happy she can get a lot of help with labor.