Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[bluebirdnanny]

Oh the largest in the chick box WILL NOT be sold or Bred as it has bowed leggs....it was the only one from the failed incubator that made it alive. I thought it would be male but now it acts like a female ..... sort of mothers the ones hatched in the second and third round! On its back and under its wings, etc.

 

[gjensen]

So, I planted my three little trees this morning. It's quite overcast here so a perfect day! It wasn't raining when I started but I got pretty damp by the time I finished.

One tree is bigger than the other two by quite a bit and I'm hoping it will grow fast.

The mulberry tree which the lady thinks is the parent donor of all the little ones she has had wasn't a large tree at all. Maybe 15-20 feet and had a lovely spread, made lots of shade! It was about 20 years old, if I remember correctly. She said she planted it when she first bought her place. She wondered if it was so short because she didn't provide lots of water for it.

I certainly don't want or need a 75 foot tree. We get too much wind here and there are not enough structures or other trees to help break the brute force of our winds... shorter trees for me will be just fine. So long as I can walk underneath them without banging my head or getting a branch tangled in my hair.

Some cultivars barely grow larger that 12', and then there are the large canopy trees. It is great that you were able to get a proven variety for your area.

 

[Beekissed]

Love that rich, mahogany coloring on those birds!


Well, done hatching for the year and am pleased with the results. Three broodies are caring for the 20 young right now and I'm pleased with the size and vigor of the chicks. I have 14 WR and 6 WR/BA cross chicks now and they will be raised on range all spring, summer and fall so they can learn that their main food source is outside, not the feeder. Seven of the chicks were from intentional, selective breeding and were hatched first. The rest were the result of flock breeding and are pretty much farmer's choice, mixed with some chicks from my good breeding pairs.

Fall will be culling time and it should be interesting to see how they all turn out, how many males to females I have and what this breeding year has developed in a new line. I'm very pleased with two of the broodies, with the third learning the ropes but not exactly a pure natural at it. I have a fourth broody....I may let her sit a clutch of eggs starting next week...haven't made up my mind about that. I was sort of hoping all the hatching was done for the year but I made June my very final month of hatch, then no more. She's still under the deadline.

Here's a pic of the broody that's raising my selectively bred chicks this year. They are 14 days old in this pic and have been out on range for a week now, only fed twice a day on fermented chick starter.

 

[bluebirdnanny]

Thanks Bee! The bottom photo is a hatch from last year and a mom of some of my chicks still in the "brooder box". The group shot pullet Juveniles came from a breeding partner who took my "little tot" I hatched last year and bred him and the two cockerels in that shot are the sons of the Nelson RIR champion.

Looking forward to my breeding next year!! Should produce some nice fowl even closer to the SOP.

I will have to cull heavy this fall or sell off some of the chicks. I don't have enough room to keep all I have. And definitely not enough for more than two two cockerels! (Neighbor is great and understands but not liking the crows overpowering the sounds of the woodland/wetland frogs etc) We have known each other since childhood though so she gives me no problem except to tease about how my rooster can 'outsound' her little dogs!! And he could !! Just wait until those two cockerels start their crowing attempts in another 3-4 weeks....

 

[finnfur]

Love that rich, mahogany coloring on those birds!


Well, done hatching for the year and am pleased with the results. Three broodies are caring for the 20 young right now and I'm pleased with the size and vigor of the chicks. I have 14 WR and 6 WR/BA cross chicks now and they will be raised on range all spring, summer and fall so they can learn that their main food source is outside, not the feeder. Seven of the chicks were from intentional, selective breeding and were hatched first. The rest were the result of flock breeding and are pretty much farmer's choice, mixed with some chicks from my good breeding pairs.

Fall will be culling time and it should be interesting to see how they all turn out, how many males to females I have and what this breeding year has developed in a new line. I'm very pleased with two of the broodies, with the third learning the ropes but not exactly a pure natural at it. I have a fourth broody....I may let her sit a clutch of eggs starting next week...haven't made up my mind about that. I was sort of hoping all the hatching was done for the year but I made June my very final month of hatch, then no more. She's still under the deadline.

Here's a pic of the broody that's raising my selectively bred chicks this year. They are 14 days old in this pic and have been out on range for a week now, only fed twice a day on fermented chick starter.

The broody appears to be Delaware - is that one of the ones acquired from Kathys line ?

 

[Beekissed]

Sure is! Beautiful bird, great broody and mother. Not much for laying, though. She has earned her flock spot, though, simply due to her value as a great broody.

 

[RIR-YELLOWLEGS]

Sure is!  Beautiful bird, great broody and mother.  Not much for laying, though.  She has earned her flock spot, though, simply due to her value as a great broody. 

that great it is soooo hard to get a good broody these days ,what even better is once a broody most always a broody.

 

[NanaKat]

Another broody photo session....Miranda has been taking her brood outside ...poor thing is almost bare-backed but has enough fuzz to keep her from burning. I don't use those saddles. Most of the chicks are Columbiian and Blue Columbian and White Wyandotte and a few are from the Buckeye. Caught her out buy the metal pile next to the barn. Sure glad there wasn't a snake in there...

Then snacking on some corn chops with some of the egg flock..some are scratching in the tailings along the barn wall.

and finally back in the run teaching dust batheing.

 

[Beekissed]

All those eggs and meat on the hoof, so to speak....it's a wonderful sight!

 

[RIR-YELLOWLEGS]

I

Another broody photo session....Miranda has been taking her brood outside ...poor thing is almost bare-backed but has enough fuzz to keep her from burning. I don't use those saddles. Most of the chicks are Columbiian and Blue Columbian and White Wyandotte and a few are from the Buckeye. Caught her out buy the metal pile next to the barn. Sure glad there wasn't a snake in there... Then snacking on some corn chops with some of the egg flock..some are scratching in the tailings along the barn wall. and finally back in the run teaching dust batheing.

ts a pretty sight to see a broody with the little