calling any one from missouri

[microchick]

Good point. Thanks. The dual purpose Orpington is one reason I chose that breed, not that I'm looking to butcher any of my flock. I mainly want a flock for fun, eggs and insect control in my orchard and arbor. (the person that thought up tractors should be twice blessed IMHO) IF I am lucky enough to get a broody hen (another reason behind the choice) and if she produces extra cockerels or hens I cannot sell or trade, then I would probably consider butchering. I would use extreme prejudice when dealing with a mean rooster. Will not tolerate a mean male, either.

Plus, we are trying to be a little more self sufficient and you never know when an emergency might occur that would make you more dependent on yourself and your farm for sustenance. I don't like the word 'prepper', not after watching the program. It brings to mind images that I don't like to be associated with. I prefer to be referred to as being 'self sustainable', especially where food is concerned....of course the term 'pack-rat' could be used also.

But being a pack rat means we have enough scrap material on hand to build our coop come spring.

Another motivation is eggs at $1.99 a dozen at the local grocery store for medium sized eggs when the local Amish eggs have dried up for the winter. At least when I buy Amish eggs from the local farmers I know that the eggs have come from hens that have had a chance to scratch around in the dirt and grass and act like chickens.

 

[potagergirl]

I caught the price of eggs yesterday when I was at the grocery and for a dozen large they were 2.99! Yikes! Considering we go through an easy 2-3 dozen a week ourselves and there are only two of us.

Hubby bought me one of those cute little chicken coups that were on sale at Orschelins over Christmas. Then he added some wheels on it after I tacked some chicken wire on the bottom. Great little chicken tractor with laying boxes and everything.
Yesterday I took care of wheeling it into the greenhouse and placing it on part of one bed. I placed my blue Cochin roo and 2 splash hens in it last night. I thought it would be a couple days before they would lay eggs in the boxes since it was a new house but they both laid today.
Once I get enough eggs collected I know are from the blue roo I will put them back in the large chicken house and take the two I plan for brooding and place them in the tractor. My hope is that adding a few eggs over a couple days someone might go broody. If not I will put them in the incubator.
This little hen house tractor has 2 large nesting boxes and is going to be great for my brooders. I'm just thrilled! Then I have the added factor of fertilizer in my garden beds =) I just love homesteading or being "self-sustainable" whichever you want to call it =)

You are so lucking to find a breeder close to you for the Orpingtons. I looked for weeks before finally ordering from Cackle. Eventually I figured out I could have asked on byc. Wow was I ever green a year ago. hehe
Now I'm a plain newby.

 

[microchick]

Love your avatar potagergirl. Such such pretty girls.

So I ordered my chicks today for end of March pick up from L&M in Brashear. I'd rater travel that short distance instead of over 2 hours to Lebanon any day of the week. I was impressed by how fast my email was dealt with and the customer service. I'm starting with 6 Buff O pullets, 2 cockerels and 4 partridge cochins. The bantams are straight run so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for at least 1 hen in the group.

Suddenly I'm hoping for an early spring!

Thanks to ocap for pointing me in the right direction!

 

[peanut67]

you can not shoot a hawk it be a 10,000.00 dollar and imprisonment which is crazy because they are so many of them. I talked to wildlife person because we were having trouble with foxes, he said you could shoot them out of season if they were harming you fowl I found more infoe on the internrt hope this helps

 

[CGinJCMO]

you can not shoot a hawk it be a 10,000.00 dollar and imprisonment which is crazy because they are so many of them. I talked to wildlife person because we were having trouble with foxes, he said you could shoot them out of season if they were harming you fowl I found more infoe on the internrt hope this helps

If a hawk or eagle finds your chickens to be an easy meal, the only thing you can do is keep them under cover of a net or something and visit your chickens often to scare it away. I don't know if windchimes/streamers/fake crows and such will scare them away or not. You want to think frightening??? I had a bald eagle visiting my back yard last week. I think it's gone now <Knock on wood>. I hope it stays away. If I didn't have the chickens, I would have totally thought it was cool. Then again, it's probably the chickens that brought it around (killed coon that was after my chickens, which is what the eagle was feeding on).

CG

 

[EdenCamp]

I've got batam cochin X BCMs at or neat POL if you don't want to wait til fall for eggs......

 

[microchick]

Thanks for the offer Edencamp. I placed an order with a local breeder that is outside Kirksville and less than an hour's drive from our farm. After reading here about dead chick nightmares, my husband and I were liking the idea of our chicks being mailed to us less and less and we were wanting to keep the driving time to a minimum with them. I really don't mind waiting for them to grow up and yes, watching them grow. It's half the fun plus at this point in time I don't have my chicken house ready to go. It's strictly on paper with the building materials stacked in a shed just waiting for spring to happen.

I'm one of these people that wants winter till Christmas then I am ready for spring.

I'll sure keep you in mind when my flock gets matured and I want to add birds, especially bantams.

 

[potagergirl]

I have a question for anyone that is npip certified here.
I'm trying to figure out once the paper work is mailed do they call and schedule a test date or is the testing
done the same time every year for everyone like a designated month or something?

 

[Fyremelody]

RLShepard,

I'm just south of you down by Holden.

I had an interesting conversation with one of our local farmers this fall. I was asking the same thing you were, pretty much. Bear in mind, other folks who raise crops might know more about what I'm about to spit out. I raise chickens and horses and I feed what comes in the bag Otherwise my crop knowledge stops at being able to identify the plant.

But she told me that in our area the vast majority of our corn is *not* GMO yet. However soybeans *are*. The essential advice she gave me was to have a mill (like the local one in Holden) mix special for you, and avoid soybeans if you're antiGMO, but not to worry about the corn if it's local. And if the mill is buying local, they can tell you what they're using in their mixes. I don't know what (where?) the corn comes from in the local mill mix, but they have a house mix (two actually) that is very affordable and most everyone uses it around here. I've used it; the birds loved it. I opted to return to crumbles though because the whole grit issue is beyond the amount of brain power I want to put into feeding.

It might be a bit of a drive, about an hour or so, but if you can buy in bulk and store it, you'd only have to do so every so often. I'm apt to still have the mix she gave me written down somewhere, and can look, if need be. PM me if you want more details.

Val

 

[elorraine52]

On the issue of grains, not yet sure what I will plant, possibly the blue corn, maybe some millet? I wonder if they would like quinoa or amaranth?
On the issue of breeds, I love the EE's, but I've settled on Marans, Black Copper, blue and splash, and BBS Ameraucanas. I may do away with the BBS Ams tho, they are pretty, but so far are not laying well at all, and they tend to the smaller end of size for LF. But I do LOVE the Marans eggs! And they are a great dual purpose bird too, being at the large end of LF.
On the issue of dogs, I have a friend nearby who raises boer goats. I was helping her out with the December kidding and she has 3 Great Pyr dogs on her place that do an amazing job with their charges!! She also has a few hens, but they are not trained with them, if they could, they would as soon kill them. She said she had not trained them to be with the chickens. Anyway, they are in the same barn that the goats use for shelter and since they are, they are safe from pedators b/c of association (the dogs don't have access to their pen)
I'm in south central MO. around the Houston area.