We have extra laying hens. 6 feather footed Cochin's (3 black and 3 black/white). Great brown egg layers and only 8 months old, so they recently started laying. Very tame, handled by a 3 and 5 year old since birth, and always babied. I've never fed them extra additives and they've freeranged in...
I just had a double yoke for breakfast! It came from one of our Maran's, and she's laid them in the past. She's a pullet and like others said, their bodies are figuring out how to lay and usually lay single eggs as they get older.
But...grandma had certain chickens who'd always lay doubles...
I'm a big fan of buff orpingtons. I'm in Minnesota and they were just fine in the unheated, uninsulated coop last winter. Layed all winter too!
I have cochin's now, but they don't seem as friendly as the buff's, Maran's or even EE's. They're nice birds, but they're just kind of ok for me.
I have 6 chickens for sale:
2 roosters about 13 weeks old. One Maran and one Black Cochin.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o88/halvey1/DSC00492.jpg
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o88/halvey1/DSC00494.jpg
1 Black Cochin - 13 weeks old. I think it's a rooster, but it may turn out to be...
According to the Storey book, chopping the head results in tougher meat.
I don't know that for sure, but that's what she said.
I have 2-3 roos (I'm still waiting on one to crow to be sure ) and haven't decided how to exactly do this yet either.
Chopping the head and dry plucking seems the...
I'm trying the same thing at this exact moment. I'm trying to introduce 22 14 week old chickens with 3 year and a half old hens. It's not going well at all. The hens beat the heck out of the others.
My neighbor who has a LOT of experience with chickens says sometimes it just doesn't happen...
And I agree. What I was trying to say is just because you eat orgainc, does not *necessarily* mean you will be more healthy or live longer.
And again, you will get more benefit the more "closely" the food is to the organic source. Say eating a tomato in which you eat the entire fruit, thus...
Yes, they get louder. It's funny, but one of my Cochin's just started crowing the other day. When he did, the rest of the flock, not hearing that before, got kind of freaked out and ran into the barn. Well, that freaks him out and he runs in too. Kind of like being scared of his own shadow.
Are you hanging your feeders? I hang mine with a chain and they are high enough so the hens can just get in there. Keeps the mice out for me and stops the chickens from spilling the food.
I don't have rats, so that may not work for you.
Quote:
Well, the way they counted things was a bit different back then. Jesus was in the tomb "3 days". Well, Friday afternoon to Sunday before dawn is less than 48 hours. But, they counted from sunsets to sunrises and such. If you want to believe Moses lived a literal 800 years to prove...
Quote:
Roxarsone is an additive they used to use to prevent coccidiosis (now it's more common to use Amprol or amprollium). That changes to arsenic in a chicken's system--yum! It is not in organic feeds (neither is amprol).
Any idea on how long before Roxarsone is out of their system? It's...
Quote:
Nope. You also cannot have anything like treated lumber, which I'm sure your coop has at least some treated wood in it. And, your bedding must be organic.
You ever wonder why cancer is so much more abundant in this century? We don't eat like we use to....we eat more processed...
Quote:
You are about 2 hours south of me. IMO, not a great place to sell organically. You may be better off selling "farm fresh" or 'free range' or semi free range or whatever. It's save you a lot on feed that way and your chicken will still taste and be better than the store bought stuff...
I'd start with Cornish X's.
Unless you want to spend a ton in feed that is.
The Rhode Islands will taste different however since you gain a lot of flavor by them growing slower. Again, they won't bother the hens until they are sexually mature. As soon as they are, you should probably...