Keeping a Smaller Flock

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Unknown
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the coop with Meyer Hatchery, where we talk all things poultry in hopes of educating chicken keepers and inspiring future black owners. I'm Jess, and today we are going to be talking everything small.

00:00:17:17 - 00:00:31:24
Unknown
We are going to be sharing about what it's like to keep a smaller, more urban backyard flock. And we have a special guest on the coop today from our amazing customer service team. We have Blair. Hi, Blair.

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Unknown
I am so excited to have you here today. This is your first podcast with us. It is. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me.

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Unknown
Awesome, awesome. So kind of before we get started about talking about a small urban flock, do you want to talk a little bit about where you are and just how you got into chicken keeping? Sure. Yeah. I, I've been chicken keeping for about a decade now. Maybe a little more than that. and I used to live in Michigan.

00:01:03:24 - 00:01:29:19
Unknown
We had a small hobby farm, and we kept a ton of chickens, and, I tried tons of different breeds. we also kept pigs and in lots of other, like, goats and other farm animals and, so I learned about chickens first. Then that was about 2000, 15 or so. And, we moved here, to Florida in 2017.

00:01:29:21 - 00:01:55:01
Unknown
And, I had to downsize quite a bit because we moved to the city, and, we lived just outside city limits in the county, and there are different regulations. but yeah, I keep a smaller flock now, a more, compact set up. But I love it and it's awesome. So you went from cold Michigan to nice, warm Florida.

00:01:55:03 - 00:02:16:04
Unknown
That's so different. Do you miss the snow? Not really. No. I've never. I loved the beach and all that. That's so great. Well, next time it snows here in northeast Ohio, I'll pack them up and send it to you. Just in case you ever miss a it. It'd be fun times, especially in the summer. I'm like, okay.

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Unknown
Yeah, I bet, I bet. Oh my goodness. All right, so let's talk a little bit about managing a small flock or having a smaller flock.

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Unknown
So how did you plan your setup before you even got your chickens? How did you plan your your backyard setup?

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Unknown
so when you're looking at having a smaller flock, like me personally, I have a larger family, so I wanted a lot of eggs.

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Unknown
That's why we had a lot of chickens before. so I just had to think a lot about what breeds I wanted to get, and it was pretty much a no brainer. Production breeds, because they're going to pop out an egg a day, basically. so I knew what I wanted. and at Meyer, we have so many choices.

00:03:00:11 - 00:03:23:28
Unknown
So I honestly, chicken math got the best of me at first. I ordered, like, a bunch of different breeds, and, you know, I settled on the production breeds for the most part, because they produce so many eggs, and I don't have to keep a ton of chickens. as far as our coop and everything there, we built our coop out of, like, found materials, like pallets.

00:03:24:00 - 00:03:50:11
Unknown
we went to the, like, architectural salvage and stuff like that to, to source it, but we just have a simple box set up for our coop. It's just like an eight. I think it's six by 10 or 8 by ten, made out of pallets with like a sloping roof and a run attached to it. Because in an urban area you need to have them fenced in, and it's better to have them kind of double fenced in with the run and, fence around the property.

00:03:50:13 - 00:04:12:22
Unknown
so that's what we did. Very nice being that you're in Florida, did you have to make any accommodations for hurricanes or anything like that when you were building? Oh, yeah. I wouldn't say when we were building necessarily. well, actually, one yeah, we did have to do the, we had to raise the coop because we do flood often.

00:04:12:24 - 00:04:33:08
Unknown
we'll get six inches or so of water, in their yard. And, you know, we don't need it flooding. So, you can buy these concrete, like, cinder blocks, or they sell a lot of different things, and we bought some to lift our coop up off the ground about ten inches. Good, good. It's great. So, what are some hair, I guess?

00:04:33:15 - 00:04:58:14
Unknown
Have you experienced any challenges when you were setting up your your backyard flock? predators? I would argue that predators are worse. in urban areas, for some people, it's there's a lot of, a everything wants to kill a chicken. And we have a lot of hawks. We have a lot of raccoons. and so the coop needs to be fortified.

00:04:58:17 - 00:05:21:27
Unknown
More so than I noticed when we lived in the country. so that was that was trial and error. I've. I've lost an entire flock to predators, so we had to reevaluate our setup, go around with, hardware cloth or, you know, just metal. Different, different types of fasteners, locks on everything. so that's that's actually been our biggest challenge.

00:05:21:27 - 00:05:47:25
Unknown
I've I've lost a few birds to predators, and we we had to redesign once. Yeah. Yeah. So kind of goes with the whole kind of chicken keeping adventure. You're constantly learning and and making adjustments and all that kind of good stuff. let's talk a little bit about having an urban flock and being, you know, and a little bit of a more city kind of area.

00:05:47:27 - 00:06:08:08
Unknown
let's talk a little bit about rate regulations where you live. where I live, there's a lot of different zones. you do need to if, if you're watching this and you're and you're thinking about keeping chickens, there's there's a few major things you need to look into. You need to call your city and your county, to find out what the regulations are.

00:06:08:15 - 00:06:28:02
Unknown
they absolutely do not allow roosters in most residential areas. so that's a big deal. and if you live in an HOA, like, if your neighborhood has an HOA. I would say 90% of the time it's not going to be a possibility for you. You can talk to your HOA, you can talk to your neighbors.

00:06:28:02 - 00:06:51:05
Unknown
But, you know, it it would be pretty unfortunate to order chickens and then you find out you can't have them. So do your research. It's super important. and there's reasons why they have these regulations. And again, it's because of excessive, pests and sometimes predators like I was talking about. and it's, it's a big deal.

00:06:51:05 - 00:07:13:18
Unknown
It's, it's something you need to look into. Absolutely. It is so important to do your research and calling your local city or your township. They're more than willing to listen to your questions and answer those questions for you. I know in the area where I am, you can have six smaller chickens. So you want to have like smaller breeds.

00:07:13:20 - 00:07:33:22
Unknown
and you can have you can't have roosters. and you can, you can have a good sized coop. also, when you're asking questions, if you are allowed to have chickens, finding the location of your coop is really important. So does it need to be, you know, ten feet from our property line or X amount of heat from a dwelling.

00:07:33:28 - 00:07:59:20
Unknown
And it's like you said, it's it's for pest control. It's for, predators, it's things like that. So sometimes it may not be the best news when you find out what you can and cannot have, but they do have their reasons for it. Although on the flip side, I'm seeing a lot I don't know about around you, but I'm also seeing that a lot of rules are being, expanded and they're allowing more backyard chickens.

00:07:59:20 - 00:08:20:15
Unknown
It seems like in the last couple of years, there's not as many rules as there used to be. when it comes to when it comes to backyard flock. Yeah. I would agree with that. And I've seen a lot more schools, taking on agriculture programs. which is really nice for kids who can't keep chickens in their neighborhood.

00:08:20:16 - 00:08:40:20
Unknown
You know, families can't. And, but they can still learn about them and such an, as a customer service agent. I hear about it occasionally, and it's really special. that is really great. And you can help. You can help your neighbors out, too. Maybe your neighbor around the corner can have them, but you can have them. And you you kind of grow a community a little bit.

00:08:40:22 - 00:08:51:12
Unknown
yeah, that's kind of how it is, right? Where I live, some of the neighborhoods neighboring, they they cannot have them. And, but all my neighbors, I would say the majority of them keep them. Yeah.

00:08:51:12 - 00:09:09:24
Unknown
So you've already mentioned about your experience of moving from Michigan to Florida and having to redo your entire flock. Do you have any advice for anybody that is making a big change when it comes to their chicken keeping adventure?

00:09:09:26 - 00:09:36:02
Unknown
Yeah. I mean, I think it's really fun to have a big farm and to have more, chickens. But it's also fun to have a small flock and, it's it's fun to treat them a little more like pets. Kind of get to know them a little bit. and I really enjoyed it, actually. I enjoyed, downsizing my flock and, it just changing it up a bit.

00:09:36:04 - 00:10:04:24
Unknown
learning more about urban farming. because in the country, we didn't have quite as many things to worry about. but now I get to get into composting and stuff and just love it. my best advice to like our customers ordering chickens would be, look into your regulations and, maybe order, maybe one more check then, you know, you think you need because, things happen.

00:10:04:26 - 00:10:32:17
Unknown
and and believe it or not, 4 or 5. Six chickens, ten chickens is more than enough to produce quite a bit of eggs. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I totally agree with that. I've kind of went through the the thing of when I first got chickens, we had over 20 chickens and it was a lot. And then we've kind of adjusted and over the years and I still have a little bit of chicken math going on, but definitely not as much as I, I did.

00:10:32:20 - 00:10:56:23
Unknown
And I totally agree, when you have that smaller flock, you grow to really know your chickens even more. and they do become I mean there are cheaper, better eggs and some of them were raised for meat, but they do become more like pets because you don't have as many. at the time when we had so many, you were just like, here, eat, give me the eggs.

00:10:56:25 - 00:11:23:28
Unknown
And that was like, right. Oh, yeah. So I totally agree. That's great. So integrating chickens into urban living. So how do you make the most out of having a limited space? Oh well, like I said, we have, I think a larger coop and run that we need for the chickens that we have, but, I like to use, automatic waters and feeders.

00:11:23:28 - 00:11:50:29
Unknown
When you have less chickens, you don't have to have these huge feeders. You can just have, smaller, but, yeah, they're they're pretty happy. And their little and their little set up. we have a lot of coop building plans on, Meyer hatch recon, and you can really, you can really do so many things. I mean, anybody who's looked into keeping chickens is going to see there's a variety of different ways to keep chickens.

00:11:51:01 - 00:12:18:27
Unknown
and some cities actually regulate that. You have to have a movable coop. And so we have a tractor as well as a coop. Nice. Yeah, absolutely. So we're talking a lot about our city regulations and being closer to neighbors. And with that comes sometimes chickens can make noise. And so how do you manage the noise level and keep your neighbors nice and happy?

00:12:18:29 - 00:12:37:14
Unknown
Yeah. My neighbors occasionally, chicken will be like laying an egg. And they can be really loud when almost as loud as roosters when they're laying eggs. And I'll get a text. Is your chicken okay? Which is fine. and, occasionally, like, over the last few years, last seven years or so that we've been here six, seven years.

00:12:37:16 - 00:13:04:06
Unknown
I've had a few roosters, like, it happens, and, I had to find some new homes, and you know that that's that's a big deal. Your neighbors will get not too happy about that. So, you need to choose, breeds that are more than likely you're not going to result in roosters. I have suggested to a few of our customers to look into auto sexing breeds, and sex linked breeds.

00:13:04:06 - 00:13:30:06
Unknown
That means that hatch, we can easily tell whether they're male or female. And that way you're not going to end up with a loud rooster. but, yeah, having a good relationship with your neighbors. A lot of my neighbors, have been really curious, and, they're open to it. There are some that are not. So, you know, try and make friends, let them know, maybe pass out some eggs to.

00:13:30:08 - 00:14:00:14
Unknown
Yes, give them a dozen eggs that will turn anybody, most everybody into a lovely chicken. Keeping. I loved it, when I gave a neighbor some eggs. And the eggs were blue, blue and brown, and they had never seen, never seen that. So they were pretty excited. Yeah, yeah. It is. It's important to have those a good relationship with your neighbors and and I know personally with us it was just come on over check them out.

00:14:00:17 - 00:14:24:03
Unknown
You know this is what we got. This is and and showing them the eggs and and then they're like oh okay we get it. You know so that's that is really cool. So what are the benefits of having a smaller flock? surprisingly a lot. I mean, it's very it's more budget friendly. you're keeping less chickens, you're buying less feed.

00:14:24:06 - 00:14:52:17
Unknown
the health benefits are good. you know, and I personally don't want to support, like, big farms, but maybe don't treat chickens. Not great. I really like the peace of mind of having mine at home and having my own fresh eggs. so yeah, yeah, it also helps to keep chicken math in check when you know that you can only have so many.

00:14:52:19 - 00:15:11:07
Unknown
because like that you can have less chicken math, which I think is good. And you do become very mindful of the breeds that you pick out. you don't just go, oh, I want them all, which can be hard to tell yourself. No, but you do become very mindful of, like you mentioned when we first started talking about the production breeds.

00:15:11:07 - 00:15:36:23
Unknown
Do you want eggs then? Yeah, you need to look at breeds that are going to lay on a regular basis, especially if you have a larger farm. I know my chickens love kitchen waste. How about yours? Yeah, that's their favorite thing. It's kind of my favorite thing to to throw it out there. Put it out there in their bowl and they just go crazy, be clucking all around and, pushing each other around to get to it.

00:15:36:23 - 00:15:42:25
Unknown
It's just hilarious. but yeah. And it's, it's the less waste which is better. You know, overall.

00:15:42:25 - 00:16:12:07
Unknown
All right. So do your chickens help with your composting at all? yeah. We do the deep litter method. we. And when the chickens are out in the yard, they get over there and scratch all around and get into it. we also, like, compost the eggshells. so, yeah, it's definitely contributes. I love being able to tell people that my garden is like, run on chicken poop.

00:16:12:10 - 00:16:32:13
Unknown
I think that having the compost from the chickens, it's always, always good kind of look at them. They see all the stuff that's growing in my garden and like, yeah, it's it's like all big happy circle of awesomeness in this backyard. So that's great. And I love putting the chickens to work turning the compost. Oh yeah, I get it, I get I gotta work for the mealworms.

00:16:32:17 - 00:16:57:16
Unknown
Yeah, yeah we have a tractor as well. And people say, wow, your grass is, you know, is green as long as it's thick. Yep. Yeah. As we move these chickens around. That's awesome. Very cool, very cool. And and within the, the benefits of having your own small flock and just raising your chickens in general. it's the benefits of your own eggs.

00:16:57:18 - 00:17:21:17
Unknown
that is so satisfactory to have your to have your own eggs and know that, you know, what you feed your chickens and how you raise them, and you get to bring the action and enjoy them or share them with your friends and family. I know that's that's one of my favorite parts of raising chickens is our amazing egg basket that we're getting from them.

00:17:21:19 - 00:17:43:07
Unknown
And nutritional, they get a lot of interest in. yeah. So they do like my I think they're going to collect the eggs. Yes, yes, it is the best. And getting that first egg tell me you remember when you got your first egg from you. Yeah. It's like and I'm pretty sure the neighbors heard me. It wasn't the hens that we have to worry about.

00:17:43:09 - 00:18:03:03
Unknown
Hey. Yeah. No, I. Yeah. I think the first egg I ever got was from an Easter egg. Or it still like one of my favorite breeds. And I was just, like, amazed because, like, at first, they lay a darker, a little bit, darker. Like it kind of the color will lessen over time. But I was like, wow, it's green.

00:18:03:03 - 00:18:20:03
Unknown
You know, like, are you kidding? It's crazy. that's a great. Let's say my first egg came from a White leghorn and she was a Meyer meal maker. So I was really excited when I got her, and I. She was the first one to lay out of all the chickens we got. And our first, first, round of chickens.

00:18:20:03 - 00:18:42:03
Unknown
So that's awesome. So with your, your backyard flock, do you? You mentioned you compost. Do you have a garden? I have a small, like, raised bed garden. Okay. and we are we used to be more into gardening, and now, not so much. The last few years have been pretty brutally hot, and we've had trouble with pests as well.

00:18:42:05 - 00:19:07:27
Unknown
but I love having chickens still up the garden to, you know, get it ready for planting. and again, with the compost. So my garden's looking good when I'm after it. Right now we don't have a garden, but. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's great though. Yeah. Chickens are definitely good for for the garden tilling like you said. I know when we have, extra produce, we just feed it over to the chickens.

00:19:07:27 - 00:19:33:26
Unknown
And they love that. That fresh treat. So, again, it goes to that whole really awesome kind of relationship with everybody in the backyard. The one thing I think is so important for so important for people to remember. If you don't have to have acres and acres to have your own little homestead or your own little hobby farm, you just you don't need a ton of space.

00:19:33:26 - 00:20:02:11
Unknown
You, six chickens or 4 to 6 chickens or, and a some raised beds is excellent. It's easy to take care of. And, don't don't feel ever feel like you have to have hundreds of chickens to be doing well in the chicken world. Every coops different. I totally agree. yeah, I totally agree. couple chickens, especially production breeds they'll be producing.

00:20:02:11 - 00:20:28:05
Unknown
You'll be going, how do I use all these eggs? Like egg salad? Egg sandwiches? Yeah. You're gonna you're going to be really happy with a smaller fly. It's way more manageable to for most people. like you said before, like the having a really big flock, it can turn into a chore. And, so it's, it's nice to have a larger farm to a small urban farm is, is just a lot more manageable for the majority of people.

00:20:28:07 - 00:20:53:24
Unknown
Right. Exactly. So you've mentioned some of the production breeds. What let's talk specifically. What are some of your favorite breeds that we have here at Meyer Hatchery? my favorite hands down for production is going to be the golden buff, and the leg horns, if you want white eggs. A lot of people want the brown eggs. but the leg horns are amazing, too.

00:20:53:27 - 00:21:19:23
Unknown
however, for backyard production, the golden buffs, the Black Sex Link, they're quieter, and they're not so bad about escaping. because you do not want they can. The more flighty breeds can really fly, and you do not want them going over your fence. so I really like the Golden buffs, the Black Sex Link. and I recently ordered some astro white, so I'm going to give those a try.

00:21:19:23 - 00:21:47:16
Unknown
So an update, but. Yeah. And Orpington are amazing. they're a heavier breed. Very quiet. Yeah, I totally agree. All of those are really great breeds. Orpington are my hands down number one favorite breed? when it comes to a backyard flock, they're just they're docile. They're fun to raise. Barred Rocks, I've had really good luck with those, too.

00:21:47:19 - 00:22:12:07
Unknown
as far as production and being a really good, backyard breed, depending on your setup, you may want to even look at bantams. some of our, like our some of our Barnum's. You know, they can definitely be they can produce eggs even though they're really small. they can produce eggs and they may work better in your particular, smaller backyard flock.

00:22:12:07 - 00:22:37:25
Unknown
So, definitely check those out as well. I know I have a I had to say it. I've got a thing for bantams. Okay? I like a lot of bantams. I have one I it's a good size egg. Yeah, yeah they do surprisingly. And some of them are quiet and some of them can be a little bit, you know, I feel like the smaller they get, the, the latter they have the thing their eggs on to let you know that they've laid an egg, but they are a little.

00:22:37:25 - 00:23:03:03
Unknown
But, I, well, thank you so much for chatting with me today. I had a lot of fun learning about your coop and your smaller urban backyard setup. So thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for having me. Awesome, awesome. And to everybody, we would love to hear from you. Do you have any ideas you'd like for us to talk about on the coop?

00:23:03:06 - 00:23:29:25
Unknown
Any questions we can answer? Email us your ideas and questions to podcast at Meyer hatchery.com. Be sure to subscribe and if you would be so kind, drop us a review. Did you know that you can save $5 off your next Meyer Hatchery purchase over $50? Enter the coupon code coop and check out. And with that, we thank you for listening to the coop.

00:23:30:00 - 00:23:35:17
Unknown
And remember, life is better because we have chickens.