paradoxbox wrote:Hey there! Thanks for inviting me to this place.
Glad you could join and thank you for taking the time to sign up, we really appreciate that.
paradoxbox wrote:
I just moved to a rural area in Ome, Tokyo and I have a moderate sized plot of land (Around 11x40m) but with around 4-5 times that in unused land surrounding it, which I can probably negotiate to my own use after I get friendly with the neighbors.
Shouldn't be a problem, most folk seem quite happy to rent land they aren't using rather than see it completely abandoned. Once people get to know you rental prices seem to be very cheap indeed
paradoxbox wrote:
Questions for you, how noisy are these things? I really want to have my own chickens for eggs and for the meat, but there are houses next door with people living in them and I'm guessing they're the thin walled old style Japanese traditional style type where you can hear a pin drop from a mile away.
Females tend to squawk a little immediately after laying an egg but that does vary from bird to bird, some don't make any noise at all others are a little more enthusiastic. Males on the other hand really go for it specially just before sunrise and then at random intervals through the day and boy are they loud, you can hear them quite some distance away. Like maybe up to a kilometre depending on terrain, we found that some folk in our village like hearing a rooster first thing in the morning but it might be a problem right next door as rooster really can be very loud.
paradoxbox wrote:
How many do you recommend for a plot of land like my size? Ideally I'd like to have 1-2eggs per day, plus eat chicken once a week-ish, but I understand that might require a large flock of birds...still, would like to hear from someone who's doing it.
For eggs I'd go with maybe three or four Ouhans or Boris Browns, chickens like being in a group. Boris's give the best economy in relation to food consumed/eggs produced but they aren't a meat bird and likely to be quite tough with very little meat.
For meat you are going to need quite a large flock, 1 bird per week. Broilers grow quite fast and are ready at around 12 weeks but tend to be quite bland. If you really are interested in meat production and can find some land later on away from houses I'd investigate
Sasso Chickens they are bred for flavour. Sasso ship worldwide but obviously check with your local customs office for importation procedures, it's often quite a hassle when you import something new the first time but subsequent shipments go through normally without a hitch.
paradoxbox wrote:
Also, what's the feed bill like per kilo? I.e. how fat is the bird when you take it for meat and how much in feed did it cost to get it there, and how long did it take to get from chick/egg to the plate?
Currently chicken feed is around 1,180 - 1,380円 a 20 kilo sack from Home Centres with layers consuming around 100g a day but that can vary considerably if you supplement their feed with kitchen scraps and weeds. Also Boris Brown's eat somewhat less than larger breeds. Right now Komeri seems to have the cheapest feed but prices do vary between different stores.
paradoxbox wrote:
Any trouble with raccoons, rats, foxes, inoshishi, other pests or diseases etc?
We have hakubishin, tanuki, anaguma, itachi, snakes, hawks and Hunting Dogs (during the hunting season) to contend with so for us a net fence backed up with an electric fence and mesh over the top of the enclosure is essential. If you a dog or houses close by with dogs then many of those predators might not be an issue for you, probably worth checking with your neighbours for what lives locally.
paradoxbox wrote:
Where do you get the chicks, or are you incubating them from eggs? Are they naturally hatched or ??
Joyful Honda carry the three breeds we have, males are around 480円 and females around 1000円 but you can probably order online if there isn't a Joyful close by. We also hatch our own chicks or rather one of the hens decides she want to be a mother and starts sitting on a clutch of eggs and we leave her to it. We do replace the roosters each year so we don't have to worry about inbreeding problems.
paradoxbox wrote:
Finally, how do you deal with winter temperatures?
Hasn't been a problem so far and it gets pretty cold here, they all huddle up inside the coop at night. You might have to defrost the water each day in winter.
paradoxbox wrote:Grateful for your response! Sorry for so many questions - I've never raised chickens before.
Honestly no worries at all.
paradoxbox wrote:Should make myself clearer - I would like at LEAST 1-2 eggs per day, but I wouldn't mind having more and then just sell or give away the rest to my neighbors.
Better to occasionally have more eggs than you need and your neighbours will love any you don't need, little gifts like that are really appreciated.
paradoxbox wrote:
I'd also REALLY like to be eating chicken regularly - it is my favorite source of meat / protein so .. Yeah. How many chickens do I need to keep myself eating chicken a few times per week?
You'd need one or two chickens per week depending on how much meat you want to eat. A large bird such as a Nagoya Cochin would probably give the average family several meals or one very large roast if you were inviting friends or family over. Given the amount of noise young roosters make I'd look to renting some land away from any nearby houses and do that once you've been fully accepted into your local community.
Many people think chickens are going to be extremely smelly because of what they see with really large chicken farms so my advice would be start small and let folk become accustomed to free range chickens being practically smell free then slowly expand. When we first got ours practically everyone from the village wanted to come see them and they all said "They don't smell !!!! I thought they'd be really stinky" and then we expanded after that.
For slaughtering and preparing your bird for the table there are lots of instructional videos on Youtube that will take you through the whole process. We don't bother dipping our birds in hot water as we found the feather generally come out quite easily if done immediately after dispatching the bird.
General age Cochins & Ouhan males are ready for the table for us is around 5 to 6 months so that is quite a bit more expensive than shop bought chicken meat but the flavour is incomparable.
sorry, forgot to say don't feed young chickens layer's feed as it has too much calcium for their kidneys to handle and you can get kidney problems later. Cainz Home sell a full range of 20kg sacks of chick food that has gradually lowering protein content and doesn't contain excess calcium needed by laying hens.
Hope that helps