This summer my flock has grown from zero to......well.....embarassed to say -
6 Mallards, now 2 months old - somehow I got 3 hens & 3 drakes.
20 Ringneck pheasants - now probably 12 weeks old.
Hatched out 13 chukar in my homemade incubator.
Bought 12 Delaware eggs off ebay - near as I can tell, 4-5 are still living at day 16 (brown eggs are harder for my flashlight candler).
I have them in my homemade since it's forced air & egg turner on the LG that my neighbor loaned me is unreliable.
I just had to have Black Copper Marans so I bought 6 almost week old, & he had to help my obsession by throwing in an extra.
Then, this local gentleman has Guinea keets. My dad had a pair that free ranged & something happened to one, sooo.....I must maintain self-control.
I probably went crazy because I only had to buy the stock, feed, & supplies. My dad used to raise hogs, & then raised dogs, so the fencing, posts, wood, & coop were all scavenged from old pens & buildings.
It started with these (Chukar). Kinda. They came still in the shell - 23 days is a long time to be patient! I actually set about 75 eggs in a LG & my homemade. Quite a few chicks fully developed, but died sometime before hatching. Most of the 13 came out of the homemade, but similar dead in shell in both bators. Upon researching, & being my 1st time it could have been numerous things.
These actually hit the ground first. 6 red sex links & 1 Black Copper rooster. My dad has about 6 acres a few miles out of town. While I'm doing chores they get to roam next to their pen & harvest the young grasshoppers.
This gentleman in town has Black Copper Marans, & I fell in love with them & their beautiful eggs. I bought 6 & he threw in 1 extra. My wife picked them out, so if I end up with too many roosters I have someone to blame. He had all ages, but me being a crazy dog trainer guy, I envision clicker training a few chickens - so I wanted young.
These actually hit the ground first. 6 red sex links & 1 Black Copper rooster. My dad has about 6 acres a few miles out of town. While I'm doing chores they get to roam next to their pen & harvest the young grasshoppers.
This gentleman in town has Black Copper Marans, & I fell in love with them & their beautiful eggs. I bought 6 & he threw in 1 extra. My wife picked them out, so if I end up with too many roosters I have someone to blame. He had all ages, but me being a crazy dog trainer guy, I envision clicker training a few chickens - so I wanted young.