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Michaela
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| Posted: Jan 27 2009 at 2:26pm | IP Logged
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Our 6 Barred Rocks aren't aggressive. Actually, one is so sweet she just sits at the back door for attention.
I'd love more chickens, but we are at our legal limit....and have to work through the free range poo in the suburban backyard. 
The eggs have been coming in strong!
For all of you chicken enthusiasts, there was a blog fair recently geared to anyone interested in owning chickens. You can find the link from my entry:Backyard Chickens.
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Michaela
Momma to Nicholas 16, Nathan 13, Olivia 13, Teresa 6, & Anthony 3
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Angel
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Michaela wrote:
Our 6 Barred Rocks aren't aggressive. Actually, one is so sweet she just sits at the back door for attention.
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Which just goes to show you that you should probably just order whatever you want. I think you can always find somebody who will tell you a negative story.
I am trying to get my seed order in, and then I can focus on chickens. And guineas. And turkeys. And ducks. 
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Michaela
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| Posted: Jan 27 2009 at 2:39pm | IP Logged
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Angel wrote:
| I am trying to get my seed order in, |
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If you or anyone starts a thread on gardening, I. AM. THERE!
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Michaela
Momma to Nicholas 16, Nathan 13, Olivia 13, Teresa 6, & Anthony 3
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Angel
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missionfamily wrote:
Dh wants to try some meat birds but neither of us have nay idea what we're doing. Our beef comes from our friends who raise cattle and they just bring it to a nearby slaughterhouse and we pick it up and clean and frozen...I wonder if he'd do a batch of chickens for us?
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I'm not sure if we're going to try and do the slaughtering ourselves or ship them out to a meat processor we've heard of through the farmer who sells us beef. He apparently sends all his chickens there, and they do them for a reasonable price. I'm a little squeamish so I kind of hope dh won't opt for the truly self-sufficient path!
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Bookswithtea
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I did meat chickens last fall, and it was so not a big deal (and I stress easily about stuff like this, and I also had a 3 and under 1 yr old at the time). I wouldn't stress at all if you've already done layers. Only a few differences...they grow FAST, and ours were out of the brooder at 2 weeks (into a chicken tractor). That was in weather that was 80's during the day, cooler at night. I did keep a heat lamp on them at night for 2 more weeks. They do not like heat and will sometimes die in really hot weather, so I think fall is a better time to raise them. We will do ours again in Sept/Oct. Oh, I did have older helpers. I couldn't have done it all myself with the babies. My 14 yr old could move the tractor/water/feed on his own. My two girls 8 and 11 at the time could handle it together.
The most annoying thing is that because they eat and grow so fast, they poop like crazy and it smells *horrible*. By the 6 weeks mark, we had to move the tractor 3 times a day to keep the grass clean and peckable for them. They are also ugly and well...look like little walking roasts so there is no point in attaching to them at all. They taste fantastic. We received 51 chicks and lost a few, so we ended up with 46 in the freezer, from 5-9 lbs dressed. Took an entire 17 cu ft. upright freezer to store them! One chicken actually feeds my family, which I love.
I asked around a lot and most of the more au-naturale types I spoke with still recommend going with broilers instead of dual purpose. Even the mennonite family who did our butchering (their family business) said, "the problem with dual purpose is that they just don't do either very well."
I think I might tackle butchering a mean rooster from the flock of layers, but there is no way I am butchering 50 birds.  I paid to have it done.
I never considered Dominiques. Are they good layers? Everyone I talk with just loves their Buffs. The problem with getting 3 of each is that I will have to reduce the amount of varieties I get.  I am thinking 18. I figure I may lose a couple, and the hatcheries only guarantee 90% success on sexing, so there may be a few roos in there, too. If I end up with 12-14 layers, I'll be happy. Then I'll add in more next spring, and each year after that.
I've also got seed catalogues on my bed stand. Burgess and Seed Savers. My chicken catalogues are Meyer and McMurray. Which ones are on your bedstand?
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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Sarah
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McMurray here! We ordered from them last year and everything was fine. We received 100 percent females so their sexing worked well for us. The only 2 roos we ended up with were a straight run Maran and the free gift with purchase a Polish.
We did 29 last time. This May it will be 45.
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Bookswithtea
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Wowie, you got 100% sexing right??? That is awesome. Sarah, that is a lot of chickens! How many eggs do you get?
...edited to add...oops, I see you get 10-15 a day right now. Do you have breeds that are not big layers or a lot of roos?
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~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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Sarah
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The kids and I sell the extra eggs right now to friends.
We are getting around 15 a day sometimes more and sometimes less.
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Sarah
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Me again!
I think that the sussex and australorps are our biggest producers.
Sussex eggs are easy to distinguish because of their lovely creamy color.
Marans eggs are dark, but not as dark as they once were in France. I would say that they aren't as hardy as some of the other heavy weights. At least that is my little experience.
Other than that I really don't know who's laying. The kids know way more by observation than I do.
No roos here. They were a wonderful birthday dinner last September.
We are getting the free chick again. I was really hestitant this time because last time he was so pecked due to his massive crest. Then I read that the crested breeds cannot be mixed with noncrested due to pecking. He was a Polish and the sweetest thing!
The kids want the free gift chick.
We're learning tons!
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missionfamily
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So do you think we could do meat birds in the early spring before the weather gets too hot here...say late March, early April?
For laying, we are getting some Sussex, a few more Buffs, and some Aracaunas (that's the blue egg girls right?)......the kids love the colored eggs.
Dh is begging me to do 40 chickens and some turkeys...but I don't know if I'm ready for that yet.
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Colleen
dh Greg
mom to Quinn,Gabriel, Brendan,Evan, Kolbe, and sweet St. Bryce
Footprints on the Fridge
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Bookswithtea
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missionfamily wrote:
So do you think we could do meat birds in the early spring before the weather gets too hot here...say late March, early April?
For laying, we are getting some Sussex, a few more Buffs, and some Aracaunas (that's the blue egg girls right?)......the kids love the colored eggs.
Dh is begging me to do 40 chickens and some turkeys...but I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. |
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Sure. Spring would work as well. I just don't like the idea of having two separate brooders and raising two sets of birds at the same time. Wowie, 40 chickens is a lot! We'd love to do turkeys too, but we aren't sure about the best way to pasture them and don't have enough fences planned for this year.
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Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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Bookswithtea
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Sarah wrote:
Me again!
I think that the sussex and australorps are our biggest producers.
Sussex eggs are easy to distinguish because of their lovely creamy color.
Marans eggs are dark, but not as dark as they once were in France. I would say that they aren't as hardy as some of the other heavy weights. At least that is my little experience.
Other than that I really don't know who's laying. The kids know way more by observation than I do.
No roos here. They were a wonderful birthday dinner last September.
We are getting the free chick again. I was really hestitant this time because last time he was so pecked due to his massive crest. Then I read that the crested breeds cannot be mixed with noncrested due to pecking. He was a Polish and the sweetest thing!
The kids want the free gift chick.
We're learning tons! |
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I can't decide about the free chick, either. I could end up with some weird bird that won't handle our cold weather, or something that isn't sweet, temperamentally. I'm also thinking about Meyer hatchery. They have a few breeds that McMurray doesn't have that I am interested in. Glad to hear good things about the Sussex and Australorp. I'm on the fence now with Barreds. I was thinking about a Maran instead since they have some similar markings, but I need them to be able to withstand cold weather. Hmmmmmmmmmm....
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Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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Angel
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Bookswithtea wrote:
I never considered Dominiques. Are they good layers? Everyone I talk with just loves their Buffs. The problem with getting 3 of each is that I will have to reduce the amount of varieties I get. I am thinking 18. I figure I may lose a couple, and the hatcheries only guarantee 90% success on sexing, so there may be a few roos in there, too. If I end up with 12-14 layers, I'll be happy. Then I'll add in more next spring, and each year after that.
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All our layers are in together, so I don't know who's been laying and who hasn't, but we're getting 6-10 eggs a day out of 11 hens right now, and 4 of them are Dominiques. (4 Golden-Laced Wyandotte, and 3 Buff Orpington.) The eggs we're getting are a little on the small side, but all of them have giant yolks. We don't have a light in the coop or anything to increase production. The Dominiques do seem to be fairly cold-hardy -- no big comb or anything -- although I would say they're a little less cold-hardy than the Wyandottes, which are amazing. The Buff Orpingtons have single combs so we've been a little worried about frost bite, but - so far, so good! But honestly, as long as the sun is out, it doesn't matter if it's zero, all of the chickens will come out of the coop.
We ordered from Meyer and were very happy with them. They let us order 15 chickens for a small fee which covered a heating pad in the shipping box, and sexing was 100%. I haven't gotten their catalog, though, and I don't know why... but maybe it's gotten here in the past week when our mailbox has been destroyed by a snowplow and nobody is delivering the mail. 
They're closer than Murray McMurray to us, so unless Murray McMurray has something that Meyer doesn't (My dd has her heart set on Belgian D'Anvers bantams), we'll probably order from them again.
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Sarah
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Books,
I had the same idea about the barred, that I would get Marans. But I will warn you that the barring is only intense in the roosters. The hens basically look black and whn you get close you can make out some subtle barring. They are a matte black, too, not shiny and irredescent like the australorp.
They are not nice looking. However, they lay an egg of nice quality and the darker look is lovely in the carton. We've had one die this week. Our first full grown chicken death. She just fell off her roost and died in the night. I'm suspecting that she is the same one who would pant and pant when the weather was even the slightest bit warm. She must have had a heart problem.
My other two marans are laying just fine and seem to do okay with the cold. We have two heat lamps on when it dips too low.
The heat lamps help.
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Bookswithtea
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Angel wrote:
All our layers are in together, so I don't know who's been laying and who hasn't, but we're getting 6-10 eggs a day out of 11 hens right now, and 4 of them are Dominiques. (4 Golden-Laced Wyandotte, and 3 Buff Orpington.) The eggs we're getting are a little on the small side, but all of them have giant yolks. We don't have a light in the coop or anything to increase production. The Dominiques do seem to be fairly cold-hardy -- no big comb or anything -- although I would say they're a little less cold-hardy than the Wyandottes, which are amazing. The Buff Orpingtons have single combs so we've been a little worried about frost bite, but - so far, so good! But honestly, as long as the sun is out, it doesn't matter if it's zero, all of the chickens will come out of the coop.
We ordered from Meyer and were very happy with them. They let us order 15 chickens for a small fee which covered a heating pad in the shipping box, and sexing was 100%. I haven't gotten their catalog, though, and I don't know why... but maybe it's gotten here in the past week when our mailbox has been destroyed by a snowplow and nobody is delivering the mail.
They're closer than Murray McMurray to us, so unless Murray McMurray has something that Meyer doesn't (My dd has her heart set on Belgian D'Anvers bantams), we'll probably order from them again. |
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I'm so glad to hear you had a good experience with Meyer. They are closer for us, too, so I am leaning in that direction. I heard Wyandottes can be less than docile, so I was avoiding them. I am beginning to get the feeling it all depends on the individual chicken, though...
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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Bookswithtea
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Sarah wrote:
Books,
I had the same idea about the barred, that I would get Marans. But I will warn you that the barring is only intense in the roosters. The hens basically look black and whn you get close you can make out some subtle barring. They are a matte black, too, not shiny and irredescent like the australorp.
They are not nice looking. However, they lay an egg of nice quality and the darker look is lovely in the carton. We've had one die this week. Our first full grown chicken death. She just fell off her roost and died in the night. I'm suspecting that she is the same one who would pant and pant when the weather was even the slightest bit warm. She must have had a heart problem.
My other two marans are laying just fine and seem to do okay with the cold. We have two heat lamps on when it dips too low.
The heat lamps help. |
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I'm sorry for your loss.  I think I am going to have to get at least one Maran, just for the fun egg color. The picture looked more barred than you mentioned, so that is good to know. Sigh...I really need to make up my mind but there are too many to choose from!
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Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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Angel
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My Meyer catalog finally came! I really like the way they show what the eggs look like along with the chickens. Having forgotten about molting, it looks like I now will need to decide on 15 layers. Well, maybe after I get my toddler out of the purple stamp pad...
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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missionfamily
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Hey ladies, thanks for all your info...we are adding 5 rhose island reds and 5 sussex to our brood this year. They are on order at McMurray.
And I'm pretty sure we've decided to try 30 Cornish Rocks for meat birds...we need to check processing costs to make sure it's feasible.
Dh is going to handle the meat birds from the start and the kids and I will care for the layers.
I love getting ready for spring.
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Colleen
dh Greg
mom to Quinn,Gabriel, Brendan,Evan, Kolbe, and sweet St. Bryce
Footprints on the Fridge
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Angel
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Dh just put in our order at Meyer today -- and they said there was a chicken shortage since demand is so high this year. We weren't able to get any Salmon Faverolles, which I wanted, but here's what we did get:
4 Black Jersey Giants
4 Speckled sussex
4 Americauna
10 Old english bantams (5 black, 5 barred) for the kids to keep for show
15 White Rock to try as meat birds (we'll keep a couple of the hens as layers)
15 Delaware as meat birds (we'll keep some of those as layers, too.)
We decided to go heritage for the meat birds as well as an experiment... I hope it works!
Now "all" we have to is build a bigger chicken coop.
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Angela
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Philothea
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We have chicks, they are a month old. 4 Speckled Sussex, 5 Araucanas (blue eggs), one Buff Orpington and a White Cochin (both of these were free packing peanuts from McMurray since they couldn't send two chicks my friend put on our shared order). Mine shipped Presidents Day weekend and six chicks out of 25 died in the cold when the mail stopped for a day. It was awful, but McMurray refunded everything we lost.
I have to warn everyone, and this probably goes without saying -- make sure everyone washes and disinfect their hands constantly after being around the birds. And don't wash the chicken feeder and waterer in the kitchen sink unless you're going to clean the sink out with bleach afterward every time. We started out diligently with this but apparently the very first time you say "oh, I'm in the middle of something, I'll finish this later" problems can happen. I have a feeling the 6 day long (please let it stop, Lord) vomiting and diarrhea illness my youngest has is due to the chicks -- I suspect Salmonella. 
Other than that, the chicks are great, very entertaining and cute. They grow fast and are starting to look like big girl chickens since they've lost their fluff and have real feathers now. The Speckled Sussex are stunningly beautiful. The Araucanas and Buff Orpington have better personalities, though. I'm hoping the weather holds so we can move them out to the coop soon, though. I'm over the house chickens.
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Topic: chickens?
