Anyone in WV???

[Storybook Farm]

Thanks @Sara Ranch. Yes, I feel grateful that I've taken the second half of this year to get legal, and learn about selling eggs and chicks in various venues. Now to find ways to let folks know that I'm selling. I started a FB group... and the blog... next step is to choose a cabinet incubator. I'm hovering between Brinsea and Dickey's.

 

[WVduckchick]

Thanks @Sara Ranch. Yes, I feel grateful that I've taken the second half of this year to get legal, and learn about selling eggs and chicks in various venues. Now to find ways to let folks know that I'm selling. I started a FB group... and the blog... next step is to choose a cabinet incubator. I'm hovering between Brinsea and Dickey's.

Have you ruled out GQF Sportsmans? If so, may I ask why? I've heard good things about them all, so I don't really have any opinion to offer.

My husband found a non-working medical-type food service cart. The kind you see in the hospital, when they deliver the hot lunch trays to rooms. Its about 3 feet wide, 6 feet tall, 3 feet deep. It was horrendously filthy and the heater didn't work, but we fixed and cleaned it! Now I think that thing could hold thousands of eggs!! Its also the kind with the water tray in the bottom for humidity (they call it "proofing" for like bread dough) I made a few modifications to centralize the heat, and got it all steady. I added a turner from an old plastic incubator, and used metal serving trays. I haven't actually hatched in it, but I did run eggs for over a week to check development. One of these days, I'll do a large setting in it.

 

[Redhead Rae]

Hello all. I live on a farm near Burnsville, WV. I'm a relative newbie. We've only had chickens since March of '16. I currently have 58 chickens, but that was as high as 83 earlier this year (most of the roosters were sent to freezer camp). I currently have:

• 3 Dominique hens (1.5 years old)
• 2 Dominique/Buff Orp hens (1.5 years old)
• 1 Dominique/RIR hen (1.5 years old)
• 9 Leghorn mix hens (1 year 2 months old)
• 8 Buff Orpington Pullets (8.5 months)
• 2 Buff Orpingotn Roos (8.5 months)
• 1 Black Cochin Roo (8.5 months)
• 10 New Hampshire Pullets (21 weeks)
• 3 New Hampshire Roos (21 weeks)
• 8 Delaware Pullets (21 weeks)
• 4 Delaware Roos (21 weeks)
• 7 leghorn mixed chicks (16 weeks)

One of my BO hens is currently sitting on a nest of Cochin/Dom or Dom cross eggs that are due to hatch this weekend.

I know my rooster/hen ratio is too high. I need to figure out which I want to cull.

I'm looking into the possibility of enlarging our layer flock to start a small egg business to try to offset feed costs (we by organic/non-gmo feed) but for now they are meeting our needs (though the Delaware and NH pullets haven't started laying yet). I'm looking to add colored and dark egg layers next year as well as using the Delaware and New Hampshire chickens to hatch and raise our own meat birds. Looking forward to finding breeders and resources nearby.

 

[Redhead Rae]

Oh, if you know anyone in the state or general region that sells any of the following breeds I would rather talk to them over having chicks mailed from a hatchery. Thanks in Advance

• Delaware
• New Hampshire
• Orpingtons (any color)
• Cochins or other cold hardy, large, broody breeds
• Dark or colored egg layers

 

[WVduckchick]

I have lavender Orpingtons, and English chocolate Orpingtons, the chocolates are small birds (bigger than bantam, but smaller than other orps) The 3 older hens that i have have been broody as &#&$!! One hen is on set #3 just this year! And she did one hatch last fall.
i also have bantam cochins, they have all taken their turns brooding too.
I've actually considered selling my whole flock of chocolates -- One cockerel, 8 hens/pullets.

 

[Redhead Rae]

I want bigger birds because we like sending most of our young roosters to freezer camp. That is why I want to phase out my Leghorn mixes, they are lacking in meat, that and they are flighty, hard to handle and master escape artist.

How big are the chocolates you have? If they are broody I might be interested in some come spring, even if they are smaller. How hard would it be to get new blood for the breeding line?

To hens get broodier as they get older? So far, I had one Dominique and one Dom/Buff go broody this spring and one Buff go broody about a month ago. I refuse to let the Dom hatch eggs though. She is vicious when broody, plus she kept playing musical nests. My Dom/Buff and Buff make a lot of noise and they fluff up like puffer fish, but they've never offered to bite me, let me handle them and the eggs, and are really good setters.

 

[WVduckchick]

The lavender boys get huge! I call them turkey-size! The girls are fairly good size too, but their eggs aren't as big as I expected them to be. My golden comets laid bigger eggs.

The chocolates, i have one older hen that is fairly large. Short and fat. She's the oldest, and brooding now. I had a couple other unrelated hens (since sold) that i have pullets from, and a couple hens from a hatch last year from eggs i got from a member here. a couple younger pullets are small, most are medium sized, I'd say. Their egg size varies also, but they actually lay a decent sized medium-large egg.
This is my biggest hen with her April chicks.

And i think both of these mauve pullets are now laying

 

[Redhead Rae]

I love mamas with babies! This is my Dom/Buff with some of the chicks she hatched out in May. Keep me posted, if you are willing I think I might like some lavender or chocolate chickens Are the mauve pullets brown/lavender mixes?

 

[WVduckchick]

I absolutely love watching broodies and their babies. Your girl there is very pretty! (I seem to find that the boys are the ones that like to jump on mommas back lol)

Mauve is chocolate with one Andalusian blue gene, not lavender. Two copies makes chocolate splash. I forgot, i also have a black hen, and my rooster is mauve. Chocolate is sex-linked, but my only chicks that are sexable at hatch are from my black hen.

 

[Photokitty]

Hey, just popping in to say I have started with 17 chickens this last July, most of them are mixes but I have silkies, sebrights, and australorps that are pure but the wyandottes brown leghorns, and sebright bannies are mixes and have a roo that's half sebright and half australorp and he is gorgeous. We are located near snowshoe and Watoga area on a family farm. My husband really wants an aracuna for the looks (and eggs) because he grew up with them.