Reserve Your Pilgrim Eggs

My Pilgrims have started romancing one another and should be laying in another month. I'm taking reserves for the eggs.

I keep my Pilgrims in pairs for maximum fertility. Age varies within the flock; a few of the hens are 2-4 years old and two of them are last year's hatch.

They are free ranged during the day and penned up at night. They all meet standards as far as color and size (these are not midget birds . I won't even keep a Pilgrim that hisses, so you're guaranteed these eggs are from friendly stock - not just a bunch of breeders. I've already swapped their feed over to egg pellets.

Right now eggs are $6 each, $30 for a half dozen or $50 for a dozen plus $10 S&H. If the price goes down you will pay less if you've reserved in advance. If the price goes up for whatever reason (poor laying, etc), then you'll be "locked into" these prices if you put down a 50% deposit in advance. Otherwise I'll let you know what the higher price is and see if you still want to be on the waiting list.

PM me to reserve your eggs. I'll send you an email after I've tested fertility and am satisfied that they're laying in full swing (early March).

Below are pictures of two of our ganders as goslings (one as a baby and one at a few months old). More pictures of the flock to come when it isn't too cold to sit outside with a camera.

Hi,

Can you tell me where you got your line from? I'm looking specifically for the Ashbrook strain.

Thanks In Advance!

God Bless,

I've been collecting from a variety of people. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with Ashbrook (but now I want to be - do you have any details to share? .

Some are from Superior Farms in Oklahoma, some from a breeder in Arkansas, one is from Metzer Farms, another from Fred Farthing who breeds show birds (the gander is absolutely georgous). I picked up an older pair from a breeder who was getting out of Pilgrims who had bought them from a breeder in Illinois or Iowa. Being a genius, I lost his name/number. I'm hoping to find him again in the spring and get more information.

Next year I'll have Holderread geese laying eggs in the mix. I also plan on hitting a few poultry shows and buying some show stock. But I doubt any of that will be laying until next year at the earliest.

The Rev. Paul Ashbrook is a very well known breeder for a variety of poultry. He used to live in WA but has moved to OH last year. He had Pilgrim geese and developed the "Ashbrook Strain". Paul sold all of his Pilgrims to Dave Holderread.

I just got an email from Dave two days ago saying that he is in the process of putting his breeding pens together and they have one of the original Ashbrook females (he didn't know how old she was, but she produced this past year and they've used her to watch over large groups of baby geese and protect them from hawks and other predators and said she has great maternal instincts).

They are mating her to a first generation Ashbrook gander. He is out of one of Paul's pairs and he is nearly perfect in all regards. He asked if I was interested in the pair but I had to tell him that I really REALLY hate to pass but I am going to have to because my wife left me on Thanksgiving week and since her leaving me, I’ve had to hold down The Fort all by myself. I’m sorry to say I just don’t want anything else to take care of right now. They are $100.00 and would be a good buy if you want them.

If you decide to get them, I'd appreciate you letting Dave know I told you about them.

God Bless,

Argh. Now I wish I didn't know.

I wonder how much it would be to ship them to Missouri...

If I can find a way to swing $200+ on a pair of geese I'll definitely let Dave know who told me. I may have to scrounge up my pennies and live on eggs and ramen for a couple of weeks.

Unfortunately I'm awful with breeder names still. Sooner or later I'll start remembering who is who. Then I'll just have to remember who raises what and match names/breeds with faces.

There's always something to learn.

It's $100 for the pair.

See there, I just saved you $100!! Now you can get right to buying them! LOL

God Bless,

I was adding shipping to the mix. I can't imagine shipping being under $100, and it'll probably be closer to $200.

Gah. But Pilgrims make me happy. Happiness is worth eggs and ramen for the next month

Where are you located Omniskies? I am in SE Kansas. I have been thinking about Pilgrims for a couple of years... and I see you might have pairs/trios of Faverolles.

DeAnna

PS - you might email me as I don't come here as often as I used to.