Surviving Minnesota!

[I Love Layers]

Doing lots of thinking for my egg laying flock for this year. I am deciding on the 4 breeds I will be ordering each year, I am thinking Leghorns and Naked Necks in January. They tolerate the heat well, so they will handle the heat laying well when they first start. In August I am thinking of Black and red sexlinks. They are a really good hardy breed, and the bonus of being sexlinks!
All roosters from the January chicks would be butchered. And after the January hens turn a year I would have chicks coming in of the same breed to replace them. By time the new chicks would start laying it would be the New Salem sale so all the hens would be taken there, they go super high in the spring.
For the fall birds since no one wants laying hens in the fall I am thinking maybe just butchering them. I would maybe try to sell some but no one wants to pay the same price you get in the spring. Same thing goes for the sex links in terms of replacing, order so the new chicks come at one year and are ready by a year and a half.
Right now I am working on cutting back on layer roosters, I have got my Chantecler, and my SLWxChantecler. Those are the only two I really want to keep, but my younger sister disagrees she has a silkie, who is an absolute idiot also my most aggressive rooster, and a Svart HonaxIsbar who I wouldn't mind keeping but it is just one more rooster.

Also have any of you ever showed at the Red River Valley Fair? I am thinking about maybe showing but would like some opinions on it.

 

[MNChickMom]

Good Evening All;
It has been quite the week here! Of course Thursday evening DS and I spent some time at the Urgency Center....(people need to know when to use Urgent Care and when it can wait.) Anyway son's infected wood tick bite within 2 inches of he new hernia incision is doing just fine with a high dose of antibiotics.

Friday, I had my testing for NPIP hatchery, we had a student (Ada) and the Vet (Kelly) pay us a visit. All of the instructions I received from Ralphie really paid off big time. They were in and out in just under 2 hours. Again I owe many kuddos (in form of assisting with testing) to Ralphie.

Saturday, DH and DS baled hay with my father in law. They busted their bums to get everything baled and home before today's storms. Around 10am I got a call, can you watch DH niece, IT'S TIME! Sure I would be happy to watch a niece so that I can add another picture of a niece/nephew to the wall. Things didn't go so well, my nephew was born with out a kidney and Mom had to go in for emergency D&C as she hemmoraged. So I got to watch another niece as Grandma (who was babysitting) was called into the hospital. So fast forward to 10 pm at night when I get to evening chores...we find bloody poo in one of the pens. NO say it is not soooo! We quarantined the one sick hen gave electrolytes (no Corid on hand) well she didn't make it by this morning. A second cockerel from same pen was sickly looking this morning....so I helped Gilman Co-op Creamery open at 9am and picked up Corid and a few more 1 gallon waterers. Went to visit my new nephew and came home to a dead cockerel. I am taking this whole weekend in as a learning experience.....boy my head is spinning!

 

[duluthralphie]

Good Evening All;
It has been quite the week here! Of course Thursday evening DS and I spent some time at the Urgency Center....(people need to know when to use Urgent Care and when it can wait.) Anyway son's infected wood tick bite within 2 inches of he new hernia incision is doing just fine with a high dose of antibiotics.

Friday, I had my testing for NPIP hatchery, we had a student (Ada) and the Vet (Kelly) pay us a visit. All of the instructions I received from Ralphie really paid off big time. They were in and out in just under 2 hours. Again I owe many kuddos (in form of assisting with testing) to Ralphie.

Saturday, DH and DS baled hay with my father in law. They busted their bums to get everything baled and home before today's storms. Around 10am I got a call, can you watch DH niece, IT'S TIME! Sure I would be happy to watch a niece so that I can add another picture of a niece/nephew to the wall. Things didn't go so well, my nephew was born with out a kidney and Mom had to go in for emergency D&C as she hemmoraged. So I got to watch another niece as Grandma (who was babysitting) was called into the hospital. So fast forward to 10 pm at night when I get to evening chores...we find bloody poo in one of the pens. NO say it is not soooo! We quarantined the one sick hen gave electrolytes (no Corid on hand) well she didn't make it by this morning. A second cockerel from same pen was sickly looking this morning....so I helped Gilman Co-op Creamery open at 9am and picked up Corid and a few more 1 gallon waterers. Went to visit my new nephew and came home to a dead cockerel. I am taking this whole weekend in as a learning experience.....boy my head is spinning!

WOW , what a weekend. I just lost tree limbs nothing as exciting as you..Good luck on it all.

Doing lots of thinking for my egg laying flock for this year. I am deciding on the 4 breeds I will be ordering each year, I am thinking Leghorns and Naked Necks in January. They tolerate the heat well, so they will handle the heat laying well when they first start. In August I am thinking of Black and red sexlinks. They are a really good hardy breed, and the bonus of being sexlinks!
All roosters from the January chicks would be butchered. And after the January hens turn a year I would have chicks coming in of the same breed to replace them. By time the new chicks would start laying it would be the New Salem sale so all the hens would be taken there, they go super high in the spring.
For the fall birds since no one wants laying hens in the fall I am thinking maybe just butchering them. I would maybe try to sell some but no one wants to pay the same price you get in the spring. Same thing goes for the sex links in terms of replacing, order so the new chicks come at one year and are ready by a year and a half.
Right now I am working on cutting back on layer roosters, I have got my Chantecler, and my SLWxChantecler. Those are the only two I really want to keep, but my younger sister disagrees she has a silkie, who is an absolute idiot also my most aggressive rooster, and a Svart HonaxIsbar who I wouldn't mind keeping but it is just one more rooster.

Also have any of you ever showed at the Red River Valley Fair? I am thinking about maybe showing but would like some opinions on it.

Layers I am thinking about this but I might have it wrong, so correct me if I do.

You are only going to keep the birds for a year. Then sell or butcher them. To me it makes no sense to get the Leghorns. You will not be owning them long enough to get any noticeable amount more eggs than from a young heritage breed.

The leghorn will carry no value in the fall when you get rid of them and little meat. Why not some EE that can handle the heat just fine and are cheap, and someone else might buy them as a layer/backyard/pet? Or some other bird that might have a tad more value?

I have quite a few birds that handle the heat just fine, the barred rock, the Doms, The legbars, Even the SS do fine. The Chantlclers do okay but Ed would like a tad cooler than 90. If you want a hrdy year round bird that is cheap to feed, I suggest the Appenzeller Spitzenhubens. They are amazing birds BUT you will have a medium egg instead of a large. Also people seem to love them in their backyard flocks. Weather just does not phase them a bit.

I would be leery of NN up here. I admit to knowing nothing much about them, naked and our springs just don't seem to go together. How many months laying are you looking to get out of them? Winter could devastate a naked bird.

Just my thoughts. I am sure others have birds they think would do better for you too,,, Good luck whatever you do.


I will be processing a toad tomorrow. It appears she has broke her femur. Hopefully the meat will be good.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Junior doing his distraction job on a mid sized hawk out there. Girls under brush. Junior standing on the edge sending warnings.
Finally a crow came along... hawk went away.

 

[duluthralphie]

Junior doing his distraction job on a mid sized hawk out there. Girls under brush. Junior standing on the edge sending warnings.
Finally a crow came along... hawk went away.

Bless the crows and ravens. I have more ravens than crows around here, I have no problem with them eating the corn I leave around for them!


Oh and GO JR GO!!!!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

He is such an excellent roo. Only problem I have with him is his penchant for Wyandotte scalp.

 

[I Love Layers]

WOW , what a weekend. I just lost tree limbs nothing as exciting as you..Good luck on it all.



Layers I am thinking about this but I might have it wrong, so correct me if I do.

You are only going to keep the birds for a year. Then sell or butcher them. To me it makes no sense to get the Leghorns. You will not be owning them long enough to get any noticeable amount more eggs than from a young heritage breed.

The leghorn will carry no value in the fall when you get rid of them and little meat. Why not some EE that can handle the heat just fine and are cheap, and someone else might buy them as a layer/backyard/pet? Or some other bird that might have a tad more value?

I have quite a few birds that handle the heat just fine, the barred rock, the Doms, The legbars, Even the SS do fine. The Chantlclers do okay but Ed would like a tad cooler than 90. If you want a hrdy year round bird that is cheap to feed, I suggest the Appenzeller Spitzenhubens. They are amazing birds BUT you will have a medium egg instead of a large. Also people seem to love them in their backyard flocks. Weather just does not phase them a bit.

I would be leery of NN up here. I admit to knowing nothing much about them, naked and our springs just don't seem to go together. How many months laying are you looking to get out of them? Winter could devastate a naked bird.

Just my thoughts. I am sure others have birds they think would do better for you too,,, Good luck whatever you do.


I will be processing a toad tomorrow. It appears she has broke her femur. Hopefully the meat will be good.

Ralphie
All the birds are being kept until about a year and a half, Leghorns and Naked Necks will be sold at the New Salem sale, they should get at least $10 a piece. The sexlinks are the only ones getting butchered at the end of the year and a half, mainly because no one wants new birds in the fall, and they have a decent carcass size.
The Naked Necks are still up in the air, I may be going more towards a different breed. Easter Eggers are about a dollar more expensive then the other breeds so thats a no, and they sell out so fast that I would not always be guaranteed getting them when I want, even if I ordered way early.
I have thought about Spitz but the chicks are way to expensive also. Doms and SS are also ones I have considered but they are again more expensive then the others. And I have always wanted a few more chanteclers but mine don't tolerate heat well either. As for Plymouths, I honestly just do not like them, I may try them again but I do not like the ones I have had in the past..
As for the NN hardiness I have talked to a few people who also live in a colder climate and own them as say they are just as hardy as their Orpingtons, I guess I will see for myself this year. If anything my mom can knit them neck warmers right?
As for the Naked Necks, they may get replaced with Rhode Islands, since I think there featherless necks may get them a cheaper price if I were to take them to New Salem.
Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions! If I could find cheap Spitz I would go for them, but as I have not found cheap ones sold as sexed its a no go.

Also forget to mention in the original I buy sexed pullets, otherwise I would probably get 3/4 cockerels with straight run

 

[duluthralphie]

I am betting you could get them cheap in the right place....How much per bird are you considering?

 

[I Love Layers]

Junior doing his distraction job on a mid sized hawk out there. Girls under brush. Junior standing on the edge sending warnings.
Finally a crow came along... hawk went away.

I had a golden eagle today. Other then the balds they are the 2nd biggest bird around. He has been investigating for the last week or so. Today he finally decided to get close enough. Stupid hawk I have 3 good roosters there is no way you are getting any of my hens

 

[I Love Layers]

I am betting you could get them cheap in the right place....How much per bird are you considering?

I think it is $2.86 for sexed pullets for the sexlinks, leghorns, and RIs.
I have done quite a lot of research in terms of price and service. McMurray has the cheapest prices, and they have always treated me very well, sending free extra sexed pullets of breeds I ordered. And I have only ever had 1 chick arrive dead with them.

Cackle is 1 cent less on Leghorns but for the many times I have gone through McMurray I would not switch over for 1 cent to some place new