SufficientSelf's Chicken Thread!!!

[Hinotori]

The green eggs go great with a slice of ham or bacon. I would eat them with a fox, I would eat them in a box.

I love my easter egger girls, but the are a year and a half now. I have an ameraucana pair that should mature in about three months. I'll be putting some of the easter egger hens in with them and hatching a few easter eggers of my own. I got the first egg from one of my 7 month old silkies yesterday so one should go broody around the time I need them.

My broody EE has decided she's done raising the brahma chicks after 5 weeks. They are hanging out with the silkies and ameraucanas so they will stay warm enough at night since that group sleeps in a pile.

 

[Cindlady2]

LOL.... got to work on that ham part! I also got to figure out which of the pullets laid them didn't think they were ready yet.

I got some broodies going too now and really don't need more chicks! I'm letting the first hen that went broody try her wing with a few guinea eggs but that's it 'till next year. This year I bred for color, next year it's for laying. Got a nice Australorp/Gold Star Roo that should do the job!

 

[luvinlife offthegrid]

I like seeing everyone's chick photos. of the 6 chicks (mixed bag of mutts with a GLW sire) that hatched June 4th, we originally thought we had 4 pullets and 2 Roos. DH swears the other brown leghorn cross is a girl, but I'm pretty sure that comb and face shouldn't be red yet. .

My April 9th mail chicks are starting to pink up in the face. The egg wait is on, especially for my 2 red stars. I can't wait til they start laying, I now have extended family hoping for eggs every week. They got spoiled with high spring/early summer production, then 2 went broody for the second time this year. I'm getting 6-7 eggs a day from 10 hens that are a year old. Which is good, but I have new customers!

I'm already waffling about next year. I'm wondering if I should get hatching eggs for pure bred ameraucanas and other breeds I want, and process extra cockerels for meat, OR should I order pullets, and get some larger heritage breeds for meat birds... I just can't stomach getting the Cornish crosses. I hear the freedom rangers are a bit high strung, and I would rather not have an industry genetic secret for my food. It just doesn't sit right with me for some reason.

 

[odd_duck99]

I think I miss my chickens the most after moving to an apartment... just had to come wistfully look at chick pics. <wistful sigh>

 

[Cindlady2]

Oh odd_duck... I feel so bad for you! To have to move to an apartment is bad enough, but to have to give up your critters too!

 

[odd_duck99]

Oh odd_duck... I feel so bad for you! To have to move to an apartment is bad enough, but to have to give up your critters too!

The part that really hurt was that we had JUST rebuilt the flock with chickens we liked (Barred Rocks), including a great cockrel! I can't complain too much though, as I LOVE the weather here. You wouldn't think the difference between Portland and Seattle was that big, but it's huge to a garden junkie like me! Our friends up the road have chickens, so I can at least hear the sounds of a freshly laid egg and have fresh eggs on occasion. We will get a flock again some day... trying to see the silver lining until then! I am just glad we found an apartment that allows a 50lb dog and 2 cats! Getting rid of THOSE critters would not have been on the table.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Added four Araucana hens to the flock this morning. They were free-ranging, almost wild and the neighbor wanted rid of them. Had them long enough to get one blue-green egg, and then the youngest DD decided she needed to intervene in the pecking order discussion going on, and did not close the run up properly. I'm guessing I will need to help catch them again tomorrow night. :/

Lost two of my older hens, perhaps from the heat, in the past week.

the new pullets still aren't laying.

 

[BarredBuff]

Last night we divied up the flock, we put the new pullets, laying hens, geese, ducks, turkey hen, and rooster into the smaller free coop. We have 32 birds to overwinter, and we put the slaughter roosters (22) into the coop and run to fatten up to slaughter in a few weeks. I was pleased , as was the tomatoes and ALL the hens!

I ended up with:
3 Delawares (2 Hens and Roo)
4 Dominiques
4 Buff Orps
3 Black Sex Links
11 Australorps

We are very happy with this combo!

 

[Cindlady2]

Yup, I think allot of us are sorting out our poultry. I don't even know how many young roos I have right now. There are a few I'm going to try to sell or even give away before butcher time, just because they are real nice ones. I have a beautiful Ameraucana I would hate to butcher, but I have his beautiful dad and don't need him. I'm only keeping 4 roos, 2 for colored eggs and 2 for production layers. I have a real handsome Gold Comet/ Australorp roo I'm hoping will throw lots of pullets! That combo should make good layers.

 

[Boogity]

Our flock has dwindled over the past two years from 30 something to only 4. We were not making any money selling eggs at $1.50/doz. and chicken feed is not cheap. So we either made chicken soup to can for winter time, sold some layers, or the hawks took care of a few of 'em.

Anyway, sometime back in May one of our hens went broody. She stopped laying and spent almost two months sitting on golf balls. We got rid of our only roo last year so I didn't have any fertile eggs anywhere. I asked a neighbor for 6 fertile eggs and I stuck them under our broody gal and took out the golf balls. 21 days later (July 4th) she was a new mommy to six tiny chicks. I don't have any idea what kind of chickens they are - three are white, two are black/grey and one is brown. They are 5 weeks old now and they have the run of the farm with the others. We're not sure if we are going to eat them or not. If there are any roos they will definitely head for the dinner table.