I live in southern Oregon and I drive 50 miles one-way down into California to obtain Modesto Mills' feed. I find it's an outstanding feed, and substantially better than the locally-produced Rogue Valley feeds I could easily obtain here in my own area. My fowl love it, and do extremely well on...
I haven't raised Welsummers but I've heard good things about them, especially their egg color. ;) ... Swedish Flower Hens look similar to Icelandics. Icelandics tipped the scale for me because of their need for preservationists to support their cause. I'm glad I decided on 'em!
I've raised a lot of different kinds of chickens, and this landrace (NOT a breed, google it) is far and away the most awesome chickens I've ever had. They do everything you want a homestead flock to do, in spades! If you're looking for a terrific flock for your farm, or even for your urban coop...
Did you consider installing a Circulated Air Fan Kit for Hova Bator Incubators inside your 1602? That would greatly improve its reliability by stabilizing the temperature inside the 1602!
Wondering the ultimate outcome with your RCom-20? I've had the exact same issue with my unit and could never figure out how to get the digital reading to match my wet bulb hygrometer reading. I realize it's been nearly two years, but can you provide an update? Did you try the dry hatch method in...
I emailed this fella Joey who runs this site for Gould's, asking if he knew of a source for eggs or poults:
http://www.nwtfhuagoulds.org/turkey-sightings-and-credits---thanks-to-you.html
He bluntly let me know that they're not in the habit if "stealing" eggs from hens.
Well alrighty then ... lol.
I just ordered my first turkeys from Porters, and I included the Penciled Choc Palms in the order. They were mentioned as available but the link for them was missing, so I googled and found it. Like you said, not a great photo of it, but I'm going off the look of the other penciled varities...