Missouri, Ozarks area

Particularly close to Waynesville

HIYAS!!!

Newbie looking for others in the area that are into chickens, turkeys, geese - and even  4 footeds. 

Getting it together on an old river farm.  Big gardens.  Livestock. All the fun stuff that goes with them.

Live on the Gasconade so floats, fishing and swimming for fun in the summer - after the critters are taken care of course!

Interest in creating sex-link multi-use good layers.  Have my starter rooster and a couple hens to break my chicken "cherry".

Now started on raising up newly hatched chicks.

Does anyone have Delewares in the area?

Could use a red rooster too - prefer BO as wouId have a couple BO hens

Anyone have a barred roc cockeral chick? Have a couple young girls.   

THANKS ALL!!

Hey! Thanks for the welcome folks! 

Thanks for the shout out on the Rocks, can chat in PM and fill me in on particulars about what you've got there. 

Some of the fairs and swap meets might be fun to go to.

Pretty new to poultry and farm critters but used to breed and show persian cats, then dogs - now going green acres.

Good base in husbandry, sanitation, lay vetting and genetics to build on. 

Also what show circuts are like and likely pass on that. 

Takes a little time to figgure out who's who and what's what as well as getting my own self up to speed.

Looks like a good site for great info, pictures and all.

Have to confess tho, not a facebook fan.  Have spent time in small towns where the whole town knows if you hiccuped within five minutes.  LOL!  I like being tucked away in the woods minding MOB.  I tend to lurk, read and research more than blather on with posts just to post. 

Nice to meetcha!

I know chickens eat bugs - even the wee babies are chasing them.  Have a large glass fronted brooder cage set up on the front porch.  At night the heat lamp light pulls in the flying bugs and the chick go nuts!  Who needs cable TV?  The cats sure don't!

Don't know effective they are about ticks tho.  Thought it was more turkeys and guineas that can see them and do better about ticks.

Know the ticks are going to be horrible again this year.   Love those egg and fertilizer producing, bug eating machines!  I've had 3 different tick fevers and every year seems like someone in the area dies from lymes.  Go ticks!  No really, GO!  Burrrp!

The roo I have now is a white jersey giant.  Had a flaw in run set up, gate bottom could be pried open and I lost all but one of my hens.   The preditors have been dealt with - country justice style and the gate reinforced.  The lone hen is a red production and she does - pretty much an egg a day.  Even with only one hen the rooster has been gentle with her and while well guarded she's no worse for rooster wear.  Have 2 BO hens comming along with a clutch of BO crosses as soon as they hatch.   Meanwhile the hatchery assortment of chicks is doing great in the brooder and several will be old enough to move out into the small tractor coop.  A friend donated a 3 point hog cage, a little add on coop constructed and the inbetween chicks will be good to go.  Half the chicks are cornish cross so being raised for the freezer.  There are a couple EE's and sex links, a RIR, 2 BR's, a NHR and a Buff Worthington (I've been unable to find out anything on anywhere- help!).  Figgured it would give me a good broad base to get aquainted with different breeds before setting up for the purebred heritage and sex link hybred programs I plan on getting into.  The missionary camp next door for the military could sure use the eggs!      

So the roo herds his girl to the back patio door first, and I mean FIRST, thing in the morning to crow incessantly til I come out and toss out a little scratch for them.  They scratch around the yard among the farm cats romping and playing with the pyranesse keeping an eye on everything.  Any squabbling goes on she's in the middle of it to break things up.  Added bonus she not only keeps critters on the ground at bay she also keeps her eyes on the sky.  With the heavy canopy of might oaks and her we're not too worried about hawks or coons or snakes.  After the "incident"  she now keeps closer to the house and keeping an eye on everything and everybody.  Think she was embarrassed.  

Was a riot when I first brought the birds home and put them in the run.  Shasta, the pyraneese wasn't sure if she should protect them or protect me from the chickens. The puzzled, confused look on her face trying to figgure it out was priceless.  As was the reaction of the cats... At first they thought smorgasbourg had been delivered... the adult birds soon corrected thier thinking! Now, everybody does thier thing just one big happy family.   

Ok, now the mystery is solved.  The farm supply I bought the starter chicks from made a mistake at corporate.  I called the store, called thier supplier hatchery and got the scoop on a few things.    There is no such thing as Buff Worthingtons (hey I thought it might be some "new" breed or cross unique to thier hatchery).  The are BO's as I initially suspected.  SCORE!  Get a freebie chick out of that.  Then, also let the store know that since the hatchery innoculates the chicks, feeding them medicated starter as the store recommended dosen't double protect but cancels itself out - not good.  SCORE a second freebie chick out of it.  Woohooo!

See, all the great info on BYC has all ready served me well!  THANKS!  The store and customers too since the chicks weren't selling that well mislabled as they were AND chicks will now be having less problems making everybody happier. 

Then to top this day off, one of the young calico cats that seems to think I'm her MA (and is spoiled rotten) decided to start having her first kittens on my lap tonight.