Ready to get back into chickens

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oilmandg

oilmandg

Hatching
Oct 16, 2015
3
0
7
Pennsylvania
Hello All,

I have lurked around BYC for a long time now. A little about myself, I was raised in central Nebraska on a farm. We had both a free range flock of egg layers and raised about 600 broilers a year. We also had ducks, a few turkeys at times, and guinea fowl. It was my brother and I, then later mostly me that raised all the chickens and we were a large part of the labor to dress all the chickens. Needless to say, I can still dress a chicken pretty quickly. Dad would sell about half the broilers to pay for feed, then we would put the other half in the freezer to feed us. I used to sell the eggs we didn't eat to various friends and neighbors.

I now own 110 acres in Pennsylvania, a family farmstead we purchased from my wife's family. I am now looking forward to raising some birds for for eggs and probably try to raise some heritage meat breeds to sell.

Thanks - oilmandg
 
oilmandg said:
Hello All,

I have lurked around BYC for a long time now. A little about myself, I was raised in central Nebraska on a farm. We had both a free range flock of egg layers and raised about 600 broilers a year. We also had ducks, a few turkeys at times, and guinea fowl. It was my brother and I, then later mostly me that raised all the chickens and we were a large part of the labor to dress all the chickens. Needless to say, I can still dress a chicken pretty quickly. Dad would sell about half the broilers to pay for feed, then we would put the other half in the freezer to feed us. I used to sell the eggs we didn't eat to various friends and neighbors.

I now own 110 acres in Pennsylvania, a family farmstead we purchased from my wife's family. I am now looking forward to raising some birds for for eggs and probably try to raise some heritage meat breeds to sell.

Thanks - oilmandg
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Welcome to BYC! I suggest the Black Australorp chicken then. Black Australorps produce a medium-large brown egg. The roosters can be butchered for meat. They can pack on the pounds and lay lots of eggs for a bird that can be used for meat. Black Australorp is my favorite breed. These are all Black Australorp pullets. They are all 5 months old and I have 6 of them laying. Pullets usually begin laying around 6 months old. Black Australorps will sometimes mature faster than other breeds. I have 24 pullets.








 
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Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. X3 on the Black Australorps. In my personal opinion, they are the best of the heritage breeds. I raised them for years (along with dozens of other breeds), and they are extremely hardy in both heat and cold, calm and gentle (our children and granddaughter made lap pets of them), and the best layers of the standard brown egg laying breeds. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Cheers.
 
I am not surprised that many of you like the Black Australorps, they seem very popular now days. We had a very mixed flock, it had Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island white and red, and several others. I think we may have had some Jersey Giants and Orpingtons as well. We used to by a batch of mixed breed "discount chicks", we would butcher roosters young and keep the mixed batch of hens. In addition we always seemed to have a broody hen or two.
 
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Welcome back to chickens!
 

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