NSKDodge
Chirping
- Oct 24, 2019
- 20
- 120
- 69
Hello everyone!
Over the years I have found Backyard Chickens to be an extremely helpful recourse and am happy to be joining the community!
My name is Nina and I've been around chickens my whole life. Growing up we had a whole barn for them and a fenced field for them to roam. Later on my dad had his own flock which he refused to keep as anything other than free-range which made for a lot of new fox and coyote friends, a very loud roo, and some very angry neighbors.
I live on a fair amount of land and have recently gotten the OK from my landlords (my in-laws) to begin an egg laying flock of my own and I am incredibly excited! So much so that it's on an almost embarrassing level! As a child I spent hours looking through chicken breed books with my grandmother and even more time with our polish chicken, "Frenchie".
So I am here to share the passion with everyone...
My family has always been a fan of Murray McMurray Hatchery so I will follow suit. I'm big on rescuing so I will also try to find some rescue girls for the coop too. I've got a 6' by 8' (it's a tiny bit bigger than that) little Amish house and an planning to aim for a flock of about 15 with a good sized enclosure... fences dug into the ground and some sort of overhead fencing for hawks. I'd like my girls (and boy) to live large.
I am REALLY hoping someone can help me here... I have been searching ENDLESSLY for a Gold Brahma to have as my rooster. Not buff, not light or dark, gold is what I'm looking for. I'm not worried about vulture hocks as I will not be showing or selling my birds. I know that all roosters have their own personality and that anyone can end up being mean, we always had nice ones growing up. "Roo roo" who was an ameraucana was my grandfathers best friend. "Henry" and his wife "Henrietta" were some large cream colored breed and "Napoleon" was some fort of little buff orpington cross who was also very kind to his hens.
My dads rooster was "OJ" who I affectionately named because he was not as sweet with his girls, was constantly on hyper-drive, crowing all. the. time. He was a brown leghorn and incredibly beautiful but not what I'd want from a rooster. His coloring is what I'm looking for but in a huge friendly guy.
Any way, from what I've read, I love the Brahma breed and their disposition and their sheer size! The other colors are also beautiful but I've really got my eye on this color that is impossible to find in the US. I think because the "Gold" color is not recognized here and so, whats the point in breeding for it? I have emailed people all over the country and am privy to the American Brahma Club breeder directory, still I have found nothing.
I have looked into importing some birds from Europe (only because I import horses for a living and maybe i could find a deal) but have found that the quarantine period is 30 days and the importation alone will cost me the better part of a grand. Might anyone be able to put me in touch with the right person? Do you know where to find a gold brahma? or three?
As I am going to start setting up my coop soon, I would also love little tips on things you have found that your chickens really like! What makes them happy? Ours always danced for pasta. My dad's had natural branches for roosting and they seemed to really like that. My grandmother used wooden wine boxes with hay for nesting which they loooved. How do you improve your chickens general quality of life?
I'd love to hear any friendly rooster breed recommendations you might have too! (again, I know temperament is not purely a breed thing) Also hen recommendations! I would like to have a variety of egg colors but also some hens for looks as well! I love the polish so of course those and am planning to have some mixture of the following but am open to changing or adding...
maran
cream legbar
ameraucana
frizzle
easter egger
olive egger
welsummer
brahma
rhode island red
buff orpington
barred rock
silkie
wyandotte
MAYBE ONE naked neck/turken (but maybe not because it gets so cold here and truly... I just feel badly for them)
I hope I haven't put you all to sleep with this post and appreciate the time you took to read it!
Oh one last thing, could someone please explain to me how eggs are shipped through the mail? Doesn't time out of the proper temperature make them not-hatchable? I dont need details on the packaging just... how do the eggs stay able to create a fetus?
Over the years I have found Backyard Chickens to be an extremely helpful recourse and am happy to be joining the community!
My name is Nina and I've been around chickens my whole life. Growing up we had a whole barn for them and a fenced field for them to roam. Later on my dad had his own flock which he refused to keep as anything other than free-range which made for a lot of new fox and coyote friends, a very loud roo, and some very angry neighbors.
I live on a fair amount of land and have recently gotten the OK from my landlords (my in-laws) to begin an egg laying flock of my own and I am incredibly excited! So much so that it's on an almost embarrassing level! As a child I spent hours looking through chicken breed books with my grandmother and even more time with our polish chicken, "Frenchie".
So I am here to share the passion with everyone...
My family has always been a fan of Murray McMurray Hatchery so I will follow suit. I'm big on rescuing so I will also try to find some rescue girls for the coop too. I've got a 6' by 8' (it's a tiny bit bigger than that) little Amish house and an planning to aim for a flock of about 15 with a good sized enclosure... fences dug into the ground and some sort of overhead fencing for hawks. I'd like my girls (and boy) to live large.
I am REALLY hoping someone can help me here... I have been searching ENDLESSLY for a Gold Brahma to have as my rooster. Not buff, not light or dark, gold is what I'm looking for. I'm not worried about vulture hocks as I will not be showing or selling my birds. I know that all roosters have their own personality and that anyone can end up being mean, we always had nice ones growing up. "Roo roo" who was an ameraucana was my grandfathers best friend. "Henry" and his wife "Henrietta" were some large cream colored breed and "Napoleon" was some fort of little buff orpington cross who was also very kind to his hens.
My dads rooster was "OJ" who I affectionately named because he was not as sweet with his girls, was constantly on hyper-drive, crowing all. the. time. He was a brown leghorn and incredibly beautiful but not what I'd want from a rooster. His coloring is what I'm looking for but in a huge friendly guy.
Any way, from what I've read, I love the Brahma breed and their disposition and their sheer size! The other colors are also beautiful but I've really got my eye on this color that is impossible to find in the US. I think because the "Gold" color is not recognized here and so, whats the point in breeding for it? I have emailed people all over the country and am privy to the American Brahma Club breeder directory, still I have found nothing.
I have looked into importing some birds from Europe (only because I import horses for a living and maybe i could find a deal) but have found that the quarantine period is 30 days and the importation alone will cost me the better part of a grand. Might anyone be able to put me in touch with the right person? Do you know where to find a gold brahma? or three?
As I am going to start setting up my coop soon, I would also love little tips on things you have found that your chickens really like! What makes them happy? Ours always danced for pasta. My dad's had natural branches for roosting and they seemed to really like that. My grandmother used wooden wine boxes with hay for nesting which they loooved. How do you improve your chickens general quality of life?
I'd love to hear any friendly rooster breed recommendations you might have too! (again, I know temperament is not purely a breed thing) Also hen recommendations! I would like to have a variety of egg colors but also some hens for looks as well! I love the polish so of course those and am planning to have some mixture of the following but am open to changing or adding...
maran
cream legbar
ameraucana
frizzle
easter egger
olive egger
welsummer
brahma
rhode island red
buff orpington
barred rock
silkie
wyandotte
MAYBE ONE naked neck/turken (but maybe not because it gets so cold here and truly... I just feel badly for them)
I hope I haven't put you all to sleep with this post and appreciate the time you took to read it!
Oh one last thing, could someone please explain to me how eggs are shipped through the mail? Doesn't time out of the proper temperature make them not-hatchable? I dont need details on the packaging just... how do the eggs stay able to create a fetus?
Glad you joined.
Best wishes and have lots of fun! 
We are glad you joined our flock!
