Breeding chickens.
In spring of 2018 I decided to make a small chicken breeding plan for 2019
I loved the idea of hatching and raising healthy chickens and selling them off to families that wanted a little backyard flock for eggs or people that wanted to breed them and take them to the show.
First I had to pick a breed that people would want.
I wanted a dual purpose breed, a breed that people could raise for eggs and for meat but I also wanted a breed that would make people WOW when they saw them.
After doing a bit of research on all the wonderful different chicken breeds I decided to go with Brahmas due to their docile personalities, wintertime hardiness, their beauty and they’re a dual purpose breed.
I decided to order 8 Brahma eggs in May 2018 to put under my broody Rhode Island Red hen.
3 blue buff columbian
2 golden
2 lemon Pyle
1 dark buff
7 eggs hatched.
I ended up with 1 blue buff columbian rooster and 2 blue buff columbian hens, 1 golden partridge rooster and 1 golden partridge hen. 1 buff Brahma hen and 1 lemon Pyle hen.
I then had my two colours to breed from, blue buff columbian and golden partridge.
I added another golden partridge hen just to add to the pair.
Then spring 2019 when they were all grown up I started my breeding project
I hatched mostly with broody hens but I had an incubator on hand that I only needed to use once.
Since I only had one lemon Pyle Brahma hen and no lemon Pyle Brahma roosters
I decided to put her in with the blue buff columbian rooster just to try that out and see if I would get any lemon Pyle offspring.
2 batches of Brahma eggs were hatched in may
I ended up with 23 Brahma chicks.
7 blue buff columbian cockerels.
7 blue buff columbian pullets.
1 buff pullet.
1 golden partridge cockerel and 1 blue partridge cockerel (blue buff columbian x golden partridge)
4 lemon Pyle pullets
And 2 blue buff columbian x golden pullets.
For one of the batches I didn’t separate ^
Out of the first two batches
I sold 6 blue buff columbian pullets , I sold some as pairs with the cockerels and kept one blue buff columbian pullet and 1 buff pullet for myself.
I sold 2 lemon Pyle pullets and kept 2 lemon Pyle pullets for myself
And I also kept the blue partridge rooster and the two blue buff columbian x golden pullets.
Then in August I hatched another 2 batches, 19 chicks this time.
7 blue buff columbian pullets.
3 lemon Pyle pullets
4 golden partridge pullets
2 golden partridge roosters
1 blue partridge rooster
1 lemon Pyle rooster
1 buff pullet.
And out of the two batches hatched in August I kept
4 blue buff columbian pullets
3 lemon Pyle pullets
4 golden partridge pullets
1 buff pullet
1 lemon Pyle rooster
I did sell a quite a few Brahmas but I would only recommend breeding chickens to those with a lot of space.
I made a total of €275 which is a lot less then I spent on raising the little chicks but it was all worth the fun of it.
I enjoyed this breeding project but I don’t plan on breeding chickens anytime soon.
I enjoyed raising the little baby chicks and watching them all grow up into big beautiful Brahmas.
In spring of 2018 I decided to make a small chicken breeding plan for 2019
I loved the idea of hatching and raising healthy chickens and selling them off to families that wanted a little backyard flock for eggs or people that wanted to breed them and take them to the show.
First I had to pick a breed that people would want.
I wanted a dual purpose breed, a breed that people could raise for eggs and for meat but I also wanted a breed that would make people WOW when they saw them.
After doing a bit of research on all the wonderful different chicken breeds I decided to go with Brahmas due to their docile personalities, wintertime hardiness, their beauty and they’re a dual purpose breed.
I decided to order 8 Brahma eggs in May 2018 to put under my broody Rhode Island Red hen.
3 blue buff columbian
2 golden
2 lemon Pyle
1 dark buff
7 eggs hatched.
I ended up with 1 blue buff columbian rooster and 2 blue buff columbian hens, 1 golden partridge rooster and 1 golden partridge hen. 1 buff Brahma hen and 1 lemon Pyle hen.
I then had my two colours to breed from, blue buff columbian and golden partridge.
I added another golden partridge hen just to add to the pair.
Then spring 2019 when they were all grown up I started my breeding project
I hatched mostly with broody hens but I had an incubator on hand that I only needed to use once.
Since I only had one lemon Pyle Brahma hen and no lemon Pyle Brahma roosters
I decided to put her in with the blue buff columbian rooster just to try that out and see if I would get any lemon Pyle offspring.
2 batches of Brahma eggs were hatched in may
I ended up with 23 Brahma chicks.
7 blue buff columbian cockerels.
7 blue buff columbian pullets.
1 buff pullet.
1 golden partridge cockerel and 1 blue partridge cockerel (blue buff columbian x golden partridge)
4 lemon Pyle pullets
And 2 blue buff columbian x golden pullets.
For one of the batches I didn’t separate ^
Out of the first two batches
I sold 6 blue buff columbian pullets , I sold some as pairs with the cockerels and kept one blue buff columbian pullet and 1 buff pullet for myself.
I sold 2 lemon Pyle pullets and kept 2 lemon Pyle pullets for myself
And I also kept the blue partridge rooster and the two blue buff columbian x golden pullets.
Then in August I hatched another 2 batches, 19 chicks this time.
7 blue buff columbian pullets.
3 lemon Pyle pullets
4 golden partridge pullets
2 golden partridge roosters
1 blue partridge rooster
1 lemon Pyle rooster
1 buff pullet.
And out of the two batches hatched in August I kept
4 blue buff columbian pullets
3 lemon Pyle pullets
4 golden partridge pullets
1 buff pullet
1 lemon Pyle rooster
I did sell a quite a few Brahmas but I would only recommend breeding chickens to those with a lot of space.
I made a total of €275 which is a lot less then I spent on raising the little chicks but it was all worth the fun of it.
I enjoyed this breeding project but I don’t plan on breeding chickens anytime soon.
I enjoyed raising the little baby chicks and watching them all grow up into big beautiful Brahmas.
