Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[xoxocammyxoxo]

There is 4 kinds of "Chicken" people I have noticed:

The first person is (usually) a man & wife who both work, and have 5-10 year old kids, and these people usually want breakfast,.and all colors of eggs (and multicolored hens) are what attracts them.
They care little about SOP, 'TYPE' or lineage.
The kids around here LOVE 1) olive eggers, 2) easter eggers and 3) "chocolate eggers"
I have 1 woman who comes every spring & begs to buy my most "colorful" hens, regardless of their breed or even their age.
She wants "yard eye candy"  
These folks are about 80% of my sales.

2nd person(s) are the same as above but kids want into 4-H or FFA and looking for pedigree birds to raise & show.
Alot are interested in the smaller breeds at first until their kids grow, and then the kids can get into anything from heavy chickens, to ducks, geese & turkeys.
I get about 2-3 families in this category, per year.

3rd person(s) is raising at least 1, if not quite a few, heritage & "purebred" breeds of poultry, game birds and water fowl, and shows, sells, etc.
These people are far & few.
I get about 10% of my biz here, in egg & chick sales, depending on how hard I advertise.

And the 4th customer is the person(s) who can barely speak English, and are usually Latino or Asian, and they want Roosters & hens to eat.
They even pay $10 for the birds, insisting that there is better "magic" (for lack of a better word) in a fresh killed bird than a fat store bought bird.
The Asians LOVE silkies, and refer to them as "Black Chicken" and they do not mean a chicken with black plumage, but black skin, bones & blood.
These birds have special health properties to these people.

Someone    (KIM ! ! !  )  SHOULD TRY CROSSING A CORNISH WITH A SILKIE !!!!!!!!!
I cannot imagine what that hard feathered breed & the extremely soft fluff breed would hatch out, but it would be hysterically fun !

As far as breeds............"designer" breeds such as legbars & Bielefelders are all the rage.
The Serema & bantam world has exploded !
And smaller seems to be the rage.
You can have 2-3X as many  or raise them in a very small area.

 Hope this gives you an idea.

Lol well I lack chickens as of this moment but will probably fall into category 3 until my son is old enough and then be both 3 and 2

 

[ochochicas]

I'm in a category all my own. I love animals and just love chickens in general. All my girls get lots of attention from me and probably get tired of all the kisses, but they'll do anything for scratch grains. The crazy part is that I don't even eat eggs. I can't stand the taste (or the texture). I do love the egg colors though, so I'm in the category that wants lots of different egg colors. My clients love the eggs and I barely have enough to supply the demand.

 

[xoxocammyxoxo]

I'm in a category all my own. I love animals and just love chickens in general. All my girls get lots of attention from me and probably get tired of all the kisses, but they'll do anything for scratch grains. The crazy part is that I don't even eat eggs. I can't stand the taste (or the texture). I do love the egg colors though, so I'm in the category that wants lots of different egg colors. My clients love the eggs and I barely have enough to supply the demand.

That's good though! Especially since you don't eat your own eggs, never have to worry about you not having enough. Sorry about the somewhat short answers earlier. Typing on a smartphone isn't easy. Personally I feel people should do whatever it is they want to do as long as it makes people happy. I spent 20 years around registered Arabian horses and showing and things. When I finally had to give up riding and training because of a back injury I just downgraded to a smaller sized animal. Actually with the change of paths I learned a lot of things, but that's a different story all together.

 

[ThisishowIroll]

I'm type 1 on that list! No kids, but I'm just allergic to everything furry and adorable, so chickens afford me an outdoor pet that's still affectionate. The eggs are a bonus, but a big one since I'm a chef so I truly value the difference in quality for my finished products. Speaking of which... Time to brag on my EE's first couple of eggs! It took her 10 months but Martha finally laid a beautiful pale aqua egg. 2.2 oz on her second one, which seems large for so early on? Either way, I'm a proud mama!

The black beard, it is potent.

 

[ochochicas]

Quote: I started out with thoroughbreds. LOL A couple of years ago an Arabian almost got me killed, so I'm not training anymore either. Still have the TBs, but my favorite ride is a 13 hand Paso. In the end, the chickens are much more fun, but also a lot more fragile.

 

[ThisishowIroll]

WOOHOOO got my first colored egg today

Yaaaaay! Congratulations on having multi-colored eggs in time for your Easter baskets!

 

[Hinotori]

Anyone ever try the "no-crow-collars"???

The person I got my blue wheaten ameraucana cockerel from tried a no crow collar on him. She also kept him inside their garage at night and early morning. It didn't work really. Just choked him and broke off neck feathers. It only reduced the volume a little. She really wanted to keep him but nothing was working. I have him now and he's not getting eating. He IS put to work taking care of a harem of 7 wheaten/blue wheaten hens.

 

[Hinotori]

Quote:
I can always drive halfway. Or meet up with you when I go down into Puyallup for something.

I have one 10.25 month old cockerel and a couple 16 week old cockerels. There isn't a lot of meat on a silkie and the younger boys are still skinny and growing. I usually make soup with them. They go farther. They taste just like the rocks and EEs we've eaten, which is nothing like the chicken you buy at the store. It's got grain and taste and isn't just mush that doesn't need chewing.

 

[clawstar]

The person I got my blue wheaten ameraucana cockerel from tried a no crow collar on him. She also kept him inside their garage at night and early morning. It didn't work really. Just choked him and broke off neck feathers. It only reduced the volume a little. She really wanted to keep him but nothing was working. I have him now and he's not getting eating. He IS put to work taking care of a harem of 7 wheaten/blue wheaten hens.

Never worked huh.....oh well
i gust saw these for sale and was wonderin' if they worked

 

[xoxocammyxoxo]

I started out with thoroughbreds.  LOL  A couple of years ago an Arabian almost got me killed, so I'm not training anymore either.  Still have the TBs, but my favorite ride is a 13 hand Paso.    In the end, the chickens are much more fun, but also a lot more fragile.  

I started out on Arabians then when I worked out at a farm I bought auction horses and retrained them to sell later on. Had a wide variety of horses from mini's to draft horses. I had a riding accident that banged me up a little from a Paint no less. Then a horse attacked and severely injured a horse I had spend a lot of time bonding with that I rescued. Who ultimately had to be put down from his injuries. After that I couldn't get my heart in it anymore. I have a lifelong struggle with depression so. Anyway, being pregnant with my son and in labor I've just had problems since. It's not safe for me to ride anymore. In all the years I wanted to be in it, my research was focused on genetics and breeding. After a long time comparing numbers and such, it just wasn't cost efficient to stay in the horse industry and get what I wanted in genetics from it. I've been able to compare the knowledge I gained from all my research to information I've found on pretty much everything else. So now it's about applying my theories and gaining the experience.

It's interesting the things that happen in your life that put you on a path.