Anyone planning any big changes for your flock this spring?

[ChickenToes]

My husband and I have decided to have fewer chickens and more ducks. It's blasphemy to say that on a chicken forum...

...but it's all for the best.

We're not selling enough eggs to justify having all these hens around, so we're going to reduce the size of our flock to 6 or 7, enough to supply my family and my in-laws with eggs. We'll get a few more ducks to supply us with duck eggs for eating and baking.

We love watching our ducks, and we love their personalities. A good example is Boris, our female mallard, who flies away whenever something scares her, and then she flies back in 10 minutes. It's so cool to see her winging around the yard.

Anyone else have big changes coming this spring? New coops, new additions to your flock? I wanna hear what everyone else is up to!

 

[sussexgal]

Big changes? Not so much.... a few changes tho. Need to build a coop with runs that will allow me to separate my birds by breed. Or at least an additional coop to separate out one breed at a time to get some pure bred hatches.... And I need to cut back on the number of breeds I have.... right now I have 5 roos and 15 hens.... of those, 3 groups are pure breed matches; then there's the roo with no match and the hens with no match.... and the 3 mutts. Hmm..... what to do, what to do....

Four mixed breed ducks share the farm with the chickens... they look awesome on the pond in the summer. No more ducks tho.... they are strictly eye candy and won't be replaced when they move to the great pond in the sky.

And that's the plans so far... or the lack of plans, depending on how you look at it

Thanks for asking!

 

[Mom 2em All]

I have eleven illegals- I hatch out for my brother in laws farm. He wants fewer banties and feather-footed, and he wants NHR or barred rock. I told him he probably would like Isa Brown or sex-linked also.

I plan on giving two of my Buff Orps to him. They pick on the other hens here, really are bullies of my flock. His coops arent heated, and when you compare the posh life here at my house, to his farm-life...well, my chickens have it made here. So, I feel a little guilty sending the girls away but I make myself feel better by saying, "They did it to themselves. They are lucky they arent going into a stew pot."

I told my husband yesterday that I want to expand my coop, and well, he turned a pale shade of green.

It really is too narrow for me to do anything inside- and it is hard to get to my nest boxes. So, I am going to change that up a little. I will add a couple. I miss my show girls and I love my turken, so I plan on hatching some of those. (My brother in law wont mind the additional extras

)

Oh, and I have silkies under my broodies right now and in the incubator- but that was their fault because I hadnt planned on hatching anything yet.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

Change UP, not down.

I plan to add Delawares, Welsummers, Barnevelders and BBS Orpingtons.

I don't know that I will keep a room from every group. I am doing it most because I like the variety in the flock and the variety in the egg basket.

I sell my duck and chicken eggs for $3 per doz for large to Jumbo eggs.

My bantam eggs and pullet eggs are for us and other family to eat.

 

[chicken_angler]

Yes i do plan on making changes but not in the Spring. I am thinking about it now.

Here is my problem:

I have 13 chickens and ALL are supposed to be hens. All of mine are hens but the five that i got for free off of craigslist are questionable.

I need to cull a few cause they arent laying and eating too much. Right now i go through 25 lbs. per week for 13 chickens and 2 guineas. It is costing me $15 every two weeks just for feed.

I am not sure which ones to cull though.

Cody!!

 

[chicks for better health]

We are going to develop our multi breed flock into 3 or 4 breeds including Pure Black Orps, Buff Orps, NH Reds, and Silver Laces Wyndadottes.

We are also going to start a small breeding program and sell eggs and day old chicks.

Right now I am designing our incubator.

We are also going to raise Bourbon Red, and Midget White Turkeys (probably from eggs)

I will be building a new larger coop in the spring and we will keep our 8 x 8 coop not sure what we are going to use it for yet.

 

[chicken_angler]

You could put a bunch of quail in there. I just wanted to help you add to our addiction for poultry. Lol

 

[snowydiamonds]

I'm trying to stay w/the original plan of cold hardy purebreds but also converting to bantams. I've got to decrease the BO flock, they eat more than the six geese! I am going to try to get that down to a trio of the roo and his best hens.

The banties are purebreds but a mixed flock so my January hatch of chicks are mutts bred for full body and large eggs, mostly Buff colored.

I'm going to have to take a look at the EE flock, the hens are nearly bareback from the beautiful but Conan the Barbarian (used to be Black Beauty) and the BLRW hens in w/him will be out of the EE flock to be joined by the chicks due to hatch out the end of the month from Turbo.

With the EE flock, I've got a couple chicks looking roo-ish from the caveman daddy roo so he'll most likely be replaced if there is one smarter and nicer to the hens. I want to raise prettier EE hens, instead of only black and have three chicks from this month's hatch but one looks like a roo

I've got two coops to insulate and want to make the electricity wiring up to code or at least safer. So far the biggest coop is insulated but cold and the smaller coops are insulated and warm.

I'll be adding the bantam RIR's

(as a purebred flock) and:
SLW LF, BLRW bantams

finding out whether I have a gander or two in the Am Buff yearlings
and if so, will only keep a trio but have them raise each year for the freezer (extras)

Working on the banty mutt white egg layers, the Jan hatch chicks are so very cute...not sure if I'll keep that project going too long, possibly just keep a trio as the white layers don't lay as often as the brown layers.

Would you believe I'm trying or saying constantly, I'm downsizing?

Meat chicks, I'd like to do more than the fifty I did last year. We did them in two flocks/ages. The neighbors and I would like more this year.

The Cayuga & Magpie ducks are only yearlings and laying right now but its too cold and the eggs freeze, too soon for the time of year and they are too young to know to set. Its due to the red heat lamp over their water bucket and an un-insulated coop- have to do something about their lifestyle...and insulate the coop.

 

[menageriemama]

I dont want to be a wet blanket- and I'm not looking for sympathy- but I am getting a divorce- so I will be giving my chickens away. The bright side is that a dear friend of mine has decided to convert her chicken coop into a chicken coop WITH chickens!!

So, I will be able to see the ones that she takes. And- I shall have chickens again soon- mark my words...

 

[chicken_angler]

You have really taken time to think this out. Lol I found one of my hens looks like she has frostbite on her comb so she might have to go.