We currently have 18 birds, of which six are Americauna, six are Buff Orpington and three each of black and red sexlink. These birds are in their first six months of full production and give us an average of 12-13 eggs/day. We like all the variety but think that one breed is the way to go; rather than buy more chicks every year I'm going to transition to incubating them myself sometime later this year or early next year. For this spring, given the increase in demand for eggs from neighbors, we want to add 12 birds to the flock and one rooster-so we are on the hunt for local (Maine) sources for chicks and are considering all breeds but are extra curious about the Dominiques and also Heritage birds, at least the ones that are allstar producers (this may be a oxymoron).
The idea is to add 12 hens and a cockerel to the main flock in late summer, after expanding the coop and then living with 30 birds over another winter before getting ready to incubate for the first time the following spring. While we like the production of the sexlinks, the personalities and eggs of the Americauna and the ah-shucks charm of the Buff Orpingtons, we are not wedded to any of them as far as breeds go. We do however, want to keep production high, the idea is to be able to sell at least 10 doz/week, essentially double our current output.
After two years of production, we would like to be able to sell these birds and not slaughter them but it may prove impossible to get rid of all of them and so we may end up eating some, so meat quality at the two year mark is a priority as well.
Any and all advice appreciated, mulled over and weighed carefully.
The idea is to add 12 hens and a cockerel to the main flock in late summer, after expanding the coop and then living with 30 birds over another winter before getting ready to incubate for the first time the following spring. While we like the production of the sexlinks, the personalities and eggs of the Americauna and the ah-shucks charm of the Buff Orpingtons, we are not wedded to any of them as far as breeds go. We do however, want to keep production high, the idea is to be able to sell at least 10 doz/week, essentially double our current output.
After two years of production, we would like to be able to sell these birds and not slaughter them but it may prove impossible to get rid of all of them and so we may end up eating some, so meat quality at the two year mark is a priority as well.
Any and all advice appreciated, mulled over and weighed carefully.