FLORIDA!!!!!ALWAYS SUNNY SIDE UP!!!

[JesNflock]

I am on the North / West Side.

Feed Stores... Tractor Supply - be careful. I have gotten spoiled food a few times from them. Needless to say, I don't buy from them unless I am going to open the food immediately.
The is standard feed on Main Street ...

The is Dinsmore Feed on New Kings Rd...

My favorite is Eason's feed in Callahan.
They won't hesitate to special order anything you want.

OBTW , Tractor supply tends to have the highest prices on their feed. Definitely look around at the other smaller mom and pop feed stores.

Ok good to know about the feed from them. I figured there were probably some places cheaper than Tractor Supply, but it was the first place I found. Besides, I would prefer to buy from smaller/local places if possible. (Everything is a decent distance from me so I have to get everything I need at one time if possible) Thanks for the list I will check them out

 

[math ace]

Hey Math Ace, I never realized you were in Jax, i enjoy your posts on the Marans discussions. Are your Marans BIG, i am looking to
increase the size of my birds. Do you run your black and blue together? I am keeping them separate except for pre-planned occasions and it is proving quite onerous tracking which black came from a blue parent and keeping them out of my black copper flock.

Are my marans BIG?

The granddaddy of my stock weighs in at 8.5 to 9 lbs.

I just weighed the daddy to all this year's chicks and he weigh in at 7 lb 15 ounce.
This is an excellent weight for him. He lost a lot of weight this Spring due to what I think was a snake bite. He dropped all the way down to 6.5 pounds.
His old weight, before injury, was just over 8 lbs....

I just weighed his 5 and 6 month old offspring. The cockerels are already weighing in at 7 lbs. They have another 6 or 7 months to put the last pound on to meet the SOP of 8 lbs for a cock.

Do I run my blues and blacks together? I started with 4 blues and 1 black copper hen. My flock is now mostly black coppers. My goal is to eventually have a black copper only flock. However, I still have two blue coppers in the mix. They were just too impressive not to keep. The one hen weighs around 7.5 and she is not fat... She is just HUGE...
When I set up my breeding pens, I select the hens that best off set the faults of the male. My two Blues are bigger girls so they were placed with the daddy cock, as opposed to the granddaddy cock. Needless to say, ALL the black offspring I have this year, came from that pen, the pen with the blue coppers in it.

 

[math ace]

On a completely new subject...

I have two breeding roosters (Wheaten Marans) that suddenly started fighting this week. They are in the same run with no females and have grown up together and always been together, so how come now they have suddently got this hair brained idea to fight, and quite badly too. I separated them two days ago for recovery. Their names are 'King Arthur" and 'King Arthur's Assistant'. Well it looks like King Arthur was beaten by his assistant...

Given this development i'm considering risking going down to one Breeding rooster fory my wheaten flock,

does anyone have any idea why this would suddenly occur, and also anyone who might be interested in taking on King Arthur's Assisant,

Your boys are probably around the 6 month age range.
The smack down happened because #2 bird wants to be #1 bird.

Generally, you can only keep two male birds together peacefully if there is a huge difference in size AND there is plenty of room for #2 bird to stay the hell away from #1 bird.
The 9 lb granddaddy cock has his 7 lb cockerel in the same pen. However, I let the group out to free range every day - ALL DAY.
The 9 lb granddaddy cock is # 1 cock. He takes his hens to bed early. The 7 lb cockerel does not even think about going to roost until #1 9 lb cock is in bed with his girls.
When the 7 lb cockerel gets another pound on him, there will be trouble in that pen and I will have to separate the boys...

 

[JesNflock]

Hi everyone! I'm located in Sebring. Just acquired my first flock- two americaunas (true americaunas from a breeder), a salmon faverolles and four silkies for the kids. We are using an awesome tractor from urbanchickentractors.com on our St. Augustine lawn. Any tips for keeping them on Florida grass is much appreciated!

 

[3goodeggs]

Keep that tractor moving because they will tear up the grass quickly. But if you move it a lot, then you will get it dethatched and fertilized all at once.

 

[kwol]

Hello all! I'm new to chickens, but learning quickly! I just found this thread so I haven't read all the way through this thread (tons of posts lol) Anyone in NE Florida??

Here in St. Johns.

I have a small back yard flock of 4 laying hens RIR, New Hampshire, Austalorpe and mongrel that was supposed to be EE, in a small a-frame mobile coop.
It will be a year this Thanksgiving weekend that I've had them.
.

 

[kwol]

Hi everyone! I'm located in Sebring. Just acquired my first flock- two americaunas (true americaunas from a breeder), a salmon faverolles and four silkies for the kids. We are using an awesome tractor from urbanchickentractors.com on our St. Augustine lawn. Any tips for keeping them on Florida grass is much appreciated!

I move my tractor once a week and the grass grows back quickly. We do not fertilize or spray insecticide on any of our backyard grass or plants because the chickens free range from morning to night. I fertilized my orange tree once with some retail pellets and thought the rain washed them into the ground. the next day I was horrified to see the chickens spent the whole day under the tree scratching them up! Everybody lived though and apparently none the worse for wear because that was this past spring. I bought some citrus stakes this time, and I'll pound those suckers DEEP into the ground the next time I fertilize the orange tree!

 

[JesNflock]

Here in St. Johns.

I have a small back yard flock of 4 laying hens RIR, New Hampshire, Austalorpe and mongrel that was supposed to be EE, in a small a-frame mobile coop.
It will be a year this Thanksgiving weekend that I've had them.
.

Awesome! Is that St. Johns County? I just started a couple months ago with chicken. So far I have a RIR (I think that's what he is) Roo, BSL, SLW, EE, BR, and an Australorp ( or maybe actually another BSL I'm not 100% sure she's an Australorp.) I thought they were supposed to be totally black, but mine has some reddish/brown kinda like my BSL...Do you have any pics of yours? I guess you've been getting eggs for some time now from them huh?

 

[Gaiser Ranch]

...

What are the exact differences between WFBS and Black Dutch Bantams?
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[Gaiser Ranch]

The WFBS have the white on the whole face including the wattles, the dutch only have the white on the wattles.

FB has a WFBS page with alot of knowledgeable people with the breed.