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How big are your biggest hens and what is there general weight? Going on 6 years of owning birds now for both dual purpose use. We started primarily with 5 breeds of hatchery grown birds and escalated to privately grown breeder quality. It seems each year we experiment with a few new breeds that...

I have been raising and buying different breeds of chickens for a good number of years. I have bought hatchery heritage breeds as well as breeder stock from a few breeders. After a while, you get a good feel for what you are really looking for from a chicken. You look back at all the breeds you...

I have 2 beautiful Neiderrhiner roosters just into juvenile age. I paid good money and hate to send them to freezer camp! 2 too many and they would be great for breeding. I live in Scottville Michigan and if you can arrange pick-up, these birds are free to good home.

Since I didn't find a direct link to pose a question to the experts, I guess I will pose it here. Every manufacturer offers different types of feed based on purpose and uses for all types of agricultural animals. I will speak directly about chickens. I primarily use 2 types and blend them...

Winter came early in parts of Michigan this year and so did the frost. Our temps are yet in the mid teens and have yet to drop below the freezing mark. We recently converted a premanufactured wood shed into what we will use as our breeding coop. Currently we have our future meat bird breed in...

Lasy year I gambled on ordering some hatchery stock mainly because of the new strain of color the orpington breed was offering. I purchased several Blue Orpingtons accompanied by a rooster to breed them with. A healthy price tag came along with these birds. I have some buff orpingtons that are...

Is anyone out there working on a new breed project? I have a few breeds I would like to mate to strengthen the traits or other chracteristics of the breed while yet creating my own signature bird. I know it will take time and several crossings to achieve this. I have Malines, Barnevelders...

I have a project in mind for breeding a Golden Cuckoo Marans with a Belgian/Mechels/Malines. What is a Malines you may ask? Well, its a rare meat bird from the Belgian area of France. It has very fine barrings and hackles of gray and black on the rooster and the same but darker markings on the...

BYC has done an outstanding job of discussing some very important information related to raising chickens for meat but has not specifically discussed what breeds of the hundreds available, were actually bred for their meat quality and table fare. As you explore the history behind some select...

A bit premature but I have a few blue orpingtons that just hatched under a broody. Possibly a few more yet to hatch. 1 silver, 1 black, and one beautiful roo thats going to be beautiful based on its markings. I also have some barnevelders due to hatch out on july 4th! The barnevelders are...

For 2 years now we have put a fallen down branch into the run area. Good sized girth with several branches protruding. Stable enough to hold several birds weight. This is like an outdoor roost for them! They even challenge each other for the best spot and kind of like king of the castle until...

Good mornin gang, 3 years into raising hatchery stock chickens, we decided to acquire an incubator and breeder quality eggs to hatch out. Our focus was more on breeding than hobby. We acquired a relatively good incubator with all the desired features necessary to get started without too much...

Okay, my girlriend got me an incubator for christmas. I'm 66 years old so it has been quite a while since I got a toy of such magnitude! We have been raising chicken together for a bit over 3 years now. The experience is gratifying and it has been educational as well as very satisfying to...

Just noticed within the last week or so that one of our hens has lost its neck feathers down to the bare skin in spots. She is fully feathered on the rest of her body. No clue if its pecking or possibly a partial molt occuring. Any thoughts on what it might be would be appreciated.

Any of you Michiganians have or breed golden cuckoo marans? Looking for a cockerel and or maybe some eggs to hatch.

She went out into the coop around 1:30 pm to feed, water and scoop some poop off the top of the nesting boxes, freshen up the straw bedding and gather a few eggs. As she went towards the half bale of straw she noticed something moving and starring back at her hiding in the corner all nestled up...

Questions: I have 4 birds around 9 weeks old in a brooding box in the garage. We are worried about them. We have never raised birds this late in the season and under these conditions. We recieved them from the hatchery in September. Their behavior in this cold weather is troublesome. Weather...

Okay gang! We are buying an incubator for the first time and need to get the skinny on using one so we dont fail in the process. We both know that there are umpteen million different brands and do it yourself makes out there to be used. Depending on how many eggs you wish to hatch, there is...

Next spring seems a long way off but I like to make plans in advance. I currently have 8 blue Orpingtons with 1 blue orp rooster in the mix. Come spring I will be acquiring Belgian Cuckoo Malines eggs in which to hatch. I am sure I will get another rooster or 2 in that bunch. I don't want the...