California - Northern

[zooweemama]

I was looking at some Blue Andalusians at the show on Saturday.  I didn't realize how big they were.  I had seen them at shows in the past, but always saw them as LF on the smaller side, like my Lakenvelder.  But these birds were HUGE.  They were gorgeous, but I really need to be thinning out the flock, not expanding.

I seriously need to reduce the feed bill around here.  I think I'll get back into the swing of processing with a few quail this afternoon.

Is it hard processing quail? They are so tiny.

 

[ronott1]

Quote: It is pretty easy--no feather plucking...

 

[Ali707]

Thanks for all the comments and thoughts.

I'm going to guess the sultan will be the hardest to find and ordering Red Star eggs you will have the boys to deal with, although I have a SIL that thinks you can order sexed eggs. Not sure how you deal with the boys, if they go in the freezer it's only a matter of time and feed.

Yeah, I was thinking this too. They are pretty much just an ornamental bird. They say they don't lay well, but I like the odd birds, being an odd bird myself.

Yes! My pet chicken has some hatching eggs and there really is no non hatchery version of Red Stars. The others you can find quality types from people on the breed threads. The Chicken State University thread just reviewed Jersey Giants and someone was recommended as a good source. Check there for that breed. For the White layer, get Jaehorn hatching eggs from Miss Molly. They will be much nicer than white leghorns.

Great Plan!

You know, I could have just gotten a Black Australorp from the Stockton show and had a giant black bird right there! They were so big. I will check out that site and see what they have. I will have to look up the Jaehorn chicken. Don't really know much about them and Miss Molly is pretty close to me. Do they lay large white eggs or medium?

The Hatcheries send Red Star Roosters as packing nuggets--they make decent meat birds.

Thankfully My Pet Chicken doesn't send packing peanuts. But since I have started hatching I already have the issue of finding a solution for the boys.

I should have Langshan eggs in another month or two. We are building breeding pens on Saturday. They have been laying for a while and the roos are doing their business so the eggs should be fertile. All 4 colors are free ranging together right now so it's a toss up with the genetics. Hopefully, we will finish the pens in the next week so we can separate out the breeding hens and give them a 3 week vacation before putting a roo with them. I am going to give some of the fertile eggs to my head hen who has decided to go broody and is almost impossible to break of it. I might put a few in the incubator just to test them. Are you interested in a certain color?

I thought of you first when I put them on the list of birds to find hatching eggs for, but I didn't know if you had gotten everything all set up yet .

Congrats! I wish I had advice about the feather sexing though...

Confession... my chicks hatched last week and I still haven't cleaned out the incubator. I'm just scared of it now.

I'm also glad you mentioned the gross-factor of the mealworms. I was considering growing them because dried mealworms are just so dang expensive!!!

You should be very scared of it! lol, If maybe it isn't the styrofoam one it might be more easily cleanable than mine was. Thankfully a good portion of the mess was on the rubber mats I had down so I just threw those away. But the smell is lingering on the Styrofoam, so I need to clean it some more. I didn't want to use too strong of a bleach solution because I didn't know how it would affect the styrofoam, but I do need to deodorize it a bit more..... Any ideas for that one?

OH, and I am assuming the mealworms thing will pay off once I actually start giving them to the chickens, I am just not a bug person. I followed this BYC members idea, https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-raise-mealworms because I didn't want to mess with them too much and he doesn't really mess with them at all. AND he is a super nice guy and will answer any question you have.

Hi Ali Red Stars, as I understand it are a RIR roo...which I have access to and a Delaware Hen which I own. I can put them in a breeding pen for you this summer if you want. At that point I may have another Delaware hen too. I was considering doing it anyway when/if I get a broody. I love my red star girls too!

HEY! That would be AWESOME! I like experiments too! I really miss my girl "Red", yes I know original name, but she got the ugly end of an Opossum at the farm she went to . She was their favorite too.

Ali707, Just to show you how absolutely adorable Langshan chicks are, check out these pics from the hatches I did last year with eggs from Skyline and Pawhead.


Black

Blue

White & Splash

Okay you are on! I will take all the colors! lol Do you have pictures of the different colors of the adult birds? I only knew about the black ones until you just told me about the others.

My two currently best white egg layers are my Lakenvelder & Campine. I always have both available.

I do have exhibition quality White Leghorns. I'm currently using the hens for a breeding project, but in about six weeks I will be setting them up into a pure breeding pen of their own and I could supply eggs from them.

Good luck in your search for eggs, hatching is SO addictive.

I'm not planning on breeding them, either, but they are sooooo cute! We put them in the brooder last night before bed and then had a terrible time dragging ourselves away from watching them. We ended up with 19 out of 25. I am leaving the 6 unhatched eggs in the incubator for another day since last night was day 23. Not a one has a pip so I'm pretty sure not a one will hatch. I wasn't even going to keep any of them but then a good friend asked me about quail eggs yesterday. She says that there is no where close that sells quail eggs and she would love to have access to some for her fancy recipes! So, DH may be building me a quail pen in the near future!

I didn't do the numbers but your hatch went really well. I had 23 in lockdown and 15-16 hatched. The last one to hatch that had a leg issue finally died on Saturday. Did any of yours have curled toes? I had one that did and then it straightened on its own. I am trying to remember what it is that can cause toe, leg issues....? Temp too low? I will have to look it up.

I wanted the eggs because I have heard they are really good for you. So I am going to see how many boys and girls I get out of the 15 and probably have two pens, one on top of the other. Realistically it would take about 3-4 of these to make one chicken egg equivalent. I was thinking that I breed the biggest birds and see if I can create future generations of bigger quail? Just another experiment.

I actually had to use earplugs over night when the three that hatched in the middle of the night woke me at 4am lol. Earplugs work wonders.

When the quail were hatching I was so wishing I had ear plugs!!! They are all excited on hatching day. They have gotten much quieter almost two weeks later. Thank goodness!

 

[Ali707]

Is it hard processing quail? They are so tiny.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/129174/processing-quail-pictures-warning-graphic

I probably can't do this but I appreciated that someone posted it.

 

[juststruttin]

Does anyone breed black SQ langshans? A customer sent me an email looking for them and I said I'd keep my ears open.

 

[debs_flock]

Quote:
Personally, poultry skin is my favorite part of the bird

so I still pluck. But instead of having to reach up inside, you just cut out the backbone and lay them open. It is much faster. Good thing too, they are pretty small.

Quote: Leghorns are egg laying machines. Start early, eggs are large and they are reliable. Oh, and mine are friendly, I'm assuming more than commercial stock would be, that's generally true in most breeds. They don't raise for temperament.

 

[PetRock]

Does anyone breed black SQ langshans? A customer sent me an email looking for them and I said I'd keep my ears open.

I'm working on it but can't say that I do yet. Dirt Farmer has a beautiful SQ black roo that is the start of his breeding program. He just needs to find or grow out some girls for him. There is a breeder in S CA who has some nice looking birds and a gentleman in AZ who has gorgeous SQ LF blacks who will ship eggs. Dirt Farmer's roo came from the man in AZ and I am going to be getting eggs from him sometime in the next month or so as soon as his hens get back to business.

 

[PetRock]

And the ones that hatched overnight bring the total up to 16 (one hatched as I was writing this post). Wow, thankfully a friend of mine is coming to get some tonight, I hope. I was wondering if anyone had a guess as to what they may be. The dark ones look like Maran crosses and they did come from nice dark eggs. The chipmunk looking ones came from either the blue or olive eggs and the odd little lavender one. Any guesses would be welcome.

Congrats!!! They are adorable!!!

 

[Ali707]

Personally, poultry skin is my favorite part of the bird

so I still pluck. But instead of having to reach up inside, you just cut out the backbone and lay them open. It is much faster. Good thing too, they are pretty small.

Leghorns are egg laying machines. Start early, eggs are large and they are reliable. Oh, and mine are friendly, I'm assuming more than commercial stock would be, that's generally true in most breeds. They don't raise for temperament.

If I could learn how to fry a good chicken the skin would be my favorite too, but I fail at frying!

For some reason I really like the White Leghorn. Maybe it is my early cartoon influence.... do you sell/ship eggs? Or maybe what part of No. CA are you in again? Maybe you are close enough I could pick them up?

 

[chiqita]

and random news -- a long time ago i shared this polaroid of my then-new kitten (now a rambunctious half-grown cat):


i learned very unexpectedly today that a print of this, plus the original, will be on exhibit in LA next weekend -- and by a funny coincidence, *I* will be in LA next week for a conference -- was planning on only staying wed & thurs (my talk is on wed), as i have a class back in Sonoma on friday morning -- but once i saw this, i called the airline & changed my flight home to saturday -- so i'll get to be there for the reception, by total chance!
http://blog.the-impossible-project.com/impossible-pops-up-in-la

just need to line up chicken-sitters (thankfully two of my immediate neighbors also have flocks) -- it was hilarious watching Eleanor the broody this afternoon, she's still very friendly/docile with me, will eat treats out of my hand and doesn't grown very much -- but she's a BEAST toward the other chickens, or any unlucky cat that gets too near. and only stays away from the nest for about 10 min or so -- such a professional, even at her young age!

OK THAT is exciting! I love it when serendipity works in your favor.

Just a tip...... Never unplug your styrofoam incubator after a hatch and leave it sit for a few days..... Holy moly that was gross!

I was going clean it out the very next day, but one urgent thing after another kept popping up and as a single mom of a 6 year old sometimes things get put on the backburner. Wow! Never again. This is now considered the urgent item!

On another gross side note, meal worm colonies are down right creepy. They are bugs and I am voluntarily growing them, and I keep them IN my house because everywhere else was too cold. That is just not normal. Everytime I go check on them I ask myself WHY I am doing it? At first it was an experiment and because meal worms are expensive. But I keep looking at them and ewwwwwwwwww. How am I going to get the worms out of that mess to give to the chickens???? I don't really even see that many worms right now. I saw a literal ball of beetles in one drawer. One half pupated beetle walking around. Bleck! Makes my skin crawl!

. (Sorry went off on a self analysis tangent there.....you know one of those what is wrong with me tangents?)

I would like some opinions please. Months ago I put in an order for some chicks from My Pet Chicken. Now I have taken up hatching some. We will see how it goes as I set my eggs Saturday.

There are a couple of breeds I want but don't really see them offered much as hatching eggs.

Here is the list. Red Star, Belgian D'Uccle (Millie Fleur), Sultan, White Leghorn or other white egg production breed, Black Jersey Giant and Langshan. .

I could get hatchery stock female chicks of these if I keep my order placed. BUT I kind of like hatching and would really prefer hatching my own if I could find the eggs.

Have you all seen these hatching eggs available?

My Red Star was the best chicken. So sweet, head hen and laid 29 days a month. I want another but don't want to have to order 9 minimum chickens from MPC to get one.

What do you think? Do you think I can find those breeds in hatching eggs?

Not that this helps with hatching, but I have some MF d'Uccle hatching in a couple of weeks. I got eggs from babymakers 6 . Got some from her last year she has BEAUTIFUL chickens. I have some silver leghorns too ( these chickens are now the bane of my existence, they STILL look like cream legbars) Petrocks langshams are awesome, id go with them too.

Congrats! I wish I had advice about the feather sexing though...

Confession... my chicks hatched last week and I still haven't cleaned out the incubator. I'm just scared of it now.

I'm also glad you mentioned the gross-factor of the mealworms. I was considering growing them because dried mealworms are just so dang expensive!!!

usually its not bad, just depends on what they drop. I used to clean my hatcher once a month , but I do not put water in the trays so there is never a chance at mold. I use cups and sponges, and hatch in egg cartons so there is virtualy no clean up. I don't know what happened to make it a nightmare, but I'm sorry!!

I'm not planning on breeding them, either, but they are sooooo cute! We put them in the brooder last night before bed and then had a terrible time dragging ourselves away from watching them. We ended up with 19 out of 25. I am leaving the 6 unhatched eggs in the incubator for another day since last night was day 23. Not a one has a pip so I'm pretty sure not a one will hatch. I wasn't even going to keep any of them but then a good friend asked me about quail eggs yesterday. She says that there is no where close that sells quail eggs and she would love to have access to some for her fancy recipes! So, DH may be building me a quail pen in the near future!

Ask deb if her bobwhite eggs are different. I only know cot eggs. Should be similar size, but different protein makeups and yolk to white ratio. I'M interested to see what you think of the bobwhites!

My first cots of the year hatched yesterday. I got 2 weeks of clear eggs, the girls started before the boys did, but we are looking good now. Hopefully my list of 20 people still wants quail.

I think now that its a wee bit warmer, and my smoker bator is awesome, I'm going to order XXXL quails. No they are not pornographic, they are HUGE. Making larger quail from excellent stock could be a great project for this year, last years projects seemed to turn out well, so i looking for a longer one, that is not terribly hard.

Is it hard processing quail? They are so tiny.

NO its easy and fast fast. You skin them and all the guts come out in a package. Mario can do a bird in 5 min or less. But unless you get fancy and debone them, they take a while to eat. But, like I have said before, I like it. everyone takes time at the dinner table, eats slow and enjoys each other. I do them a fair bit for guests because of this. I have a great recipe for rosemary quail from Thomas Keller I use a lot. I make the marinade and freeze them in it, then just thaw and serve. You do eat a lot of them, but you can process at 6-8 weeks so it is less feed per meat ratio then chickens. I can trade you applyards for quail later this year if you like ( processed). I have this fantasy I can get duck eggs, hatch them, and give them to someone to raise and they get the girls, and I get the boys back ready to eat. I would love to have ducks for food but am not up for it here, roosters and quail are enough! I keep looking at those french muscoveys and thinking someone must want to do that!


So, the smoker bator proved to have a surprising plus this morning! I had an egg explode in it ( one snuck under a hen at some time while she was broodie, so did not know when it should hatch. hadn't been 21 days yet however) . The bator has hatching trays ( wire) that had plastic pointy things meant to hold eggs in it originally. They were wired in, but I didn't like them, so I have been hatching in egg flats. So all I had to do to clean up was wash the poor eggies next to boomer egg and take the cardboard tray out! I transferred the eggs to another shelf and will bleach the wire just in case, but it does not smell or anything. But the egg carton? PEEEWWW.

These hens stealing eggs that I don't know the age of are looking like a bit of a problem. I had one hatch in the smoker bator last night and drown . We are going to start putting all questionable eggs that no longer have veins on their own shelf that has a top, so If I guess when they hatch by surprise they cant fall out of the trays anymore. the one that hatched went from pip to out in less then 6 hours, we didn't catch it at all .

Pancake is hatching eggs today. And so I don't feel like I have enough hens sitting on eggs, Catalina is going broody ( on nothing) . MArans are trying to catch up to the silkies!

This weekend is the Master Gardner heirloom herb and vegetable sale. I'm so excited. This year between the front and the aquaponics I swear I'm going to have vegetables!!! I WILL NOT BE DENIED.

hey, those of you who got your oxine from Amazon, was it available on prime? it is not at the moment, I was just wondering if I should wait or not...