Best Types of Poultry: Chickens for Home
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When it comes to choosing bird varieties for your homestead, there are a whole lot of options besides chickens (how long does chicken last?) and turkeys.
Every breed has its own distinctive benefits and needs. While some don’t produce as many eggs as adult hens, your feathered friends will have other unique talents to offer your home farm. Most Texans raise chicks or poultry from their chicken coop for their nutritious eggs and meat, but the most profitable farmers go for the rare varieties. Whether you’re looking to improve your diet, make some extra cash, have a quality coop, or beautify your homestead, our list has everything you need to make the right choice.
Top 3 Poultry To Raise In Your Home Farm
1. Ducks
The hardy, easy-to-raise birds are the ideal choice for beginners. They thrive equally well in any climate and are highly stress-resistant. As far as production goes, ducks lay 300-350 eggs per year - that’s more than most older hens. So you can have your own flock of ducks. They’re also great foragers, which means they require minimal feed from your local feed store.
Best of all, ducks are a boatload of fun! In their entire lives, the creatures are perpetually happy, energetic, and full of personality. With time, they warm up to humans and learn to recognize their owners, just like traditional pets. The only downside of raising ducks is their loud quacking, but at least they aren’t large birds and won’t take up a lot of floor space.
2. Turkey
They may not look the part, but turkeys are the most graceful and clean type of poultry on our list. When you put out feed containers for them, the food stays in the containers. Some varieties or certain breeds are even known for forming lines to the feed or water. Likewise, waste stays in one area instead of being scattered around the pens where their nesting boxes are.
Selling turkey poults can be a very lucrative business, as it takes a certain level of skill to raise young male turkeys from young chicks. On the other hand, the constant supply of specialty feed you’ll need for raising poults may not be worth the trouble, especially for a small-time farmer.
3. Geese
Though they produce less fresh eggs and meat than other types of poultry, geese are an amazing addition to any homestead. They’re very protective mothers, and will guard your farm from predators. And if you have a large garden with lots of square feet for free range, geese will eagerly help you weed it. The vegetarian birds are always hungry for greens.
On the downside, geese are known to get aggressive, which is a natural behavior, and they sometimes bite the hand that feeds them, literally. They also create lots of waste, but that can come in handy if you compost your own free fertilizer.
Top 4-7 Poultry for Your Home Farm
4. Quail
These wonderful little birds can be a bit challenging to raise, but they are absolutely worth it. What really makes quails unique is that they mature faster than any other variety, with adult birds producing fresh eggs at just 8-10 weeks. That’s right - quail eggs mature faster than spinach!
Their egg production isn’t the only thing people have them for. Their meat is also highly sought-after and more nutritious than other poultry. Since quails produce less eggs after the first year, it’s recommended to keep a small rotating flock.
5. Guinea Fowl
Often confused with wild turkeys, guinea fowls are among the most practical birds for a home farm. Their number one utility is pest control. They clear harmful larvae and ticks from your garden and even hunt down small rodents. Best of all, they don’t disturb the earth nearly as much as chickens do, so you can let them roam free no matter what you're growing.
The only con of raising guinea fowls is keeping them home. They are wild birds and not as domesticated as most poultry, and some varieties tend to wander off if they’re not contained well which is why you will need a secure coop.
6. Peacock
If you’re looking for a money-maker that doesn’t require a lot of space, look no further. Female peacocks, or peafowls, lay only 20 to 30 eggs per year. Their fertile eggs and chicks, which sell for a steep price, are always in demand.
Plus, no other bird will beautify your homestead like the graceful peacocks. As a bonus, they shed their feathers every season, creating a bounty of craft supplies.
7. Chicken
This list would simply not be complete without the original poultry. Humans have bred laying hens for over 5,000 years, creating some amazing chicken breeds in the process. There are broiler varieties that produce the tastiest meat you’ve ever had, and Leghorns that pump out 250 eggs per year. Keeping chickens are so popular for a reason - they are the most multi-purpose poultry. They forage for bugs and other pests, mature quickly, create potent fertilizer, and are forgiving enough for chicken owners who are beginners who want a chicken coop.
And if regular laying hens with white or brown eggs seem boring, there are exotic chicken breed varieties that will truly surprise you. There’s the all-black Ayam Cemani, the fluffy Blue Silkie, and even a breed that lays green eggs.
Raising backyard chickens as they lay eggs is a fun and rewarding hobby. It's important for beginner chicken keepers to know what chicken breeds to choose in raising chickens. In addition, to efficiently care for your chickens and baby chicks, one must provide a healthy environment and a quality chicken coop. Chickens will also need fresh water throughout the day. It's important that they have access to this at all times so they don't become dehydrated while you are raising chicks. You also need to be aware of the kind of food chickens need and how much chickens eat.
Keeping chickens is a great way to get your family involved in the food you eat. When you raise chickens for eggs, you can have fresh eggs every day instead of having store bought eggs, and you can also enjoy the benefits of having a free-range chicken who will spend time outside of her coop and eat bugs instead of chicken feed.
These are helpful tips for a new chicken owner, just remember to buy the best nesting box for egg laying, chick grit, heat lamp, and chicken wire fencing for your backyard chicken. The most important thing is to keep your chickens safe no matter how many chickens you have.
That’s all for our list of the best types of poultry for your homestead. Do you agree with our pecking order? What’s your favorite farm bird? What do you think about having a mixed flock? Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments and we hope you enjoy your backyard chicken adventure.
Sources:
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/why-chickens-are-foundational-to-homesteading/
https://backyardpoultry.iamcountryside.com/eggs-meat/chicken-breeds-blue-eggs/
https://www.mannapro.com/homestead/pros-cons-and-facts-about-raising-turkeys
Don’t forget to check out our all in one guide for homesteading, farming and ranching in Texas.
