calling any one from missouri

[microchick]

bantams are cute but I am limited by housing for the chickens. 2 breeds are all I can handle right now.
I don't mind though taking my time to learn and build up the flock along with getting animals is working well for me.

I'm thinking two different breeds for right now also. Bantam and dual purpose standard that has a strong brooding instinct, possibly something like Buff Orps or Cochins.

So you have an extra Cochin roo, heh?......

 

[potagergirl]

hehe,
well no not really. I have one blue cochin male and one splash cochin male for breeding.

if you decide on white crested black polish I do have an extra roo. =) 3 is to many. =)

 

[CGinJCMO]

Potagergirl and micorchick...I'm a former Shelby Countian, still have family there (Shelbina, Shelbyville, Macon, La Plata, just to name a few). Hubby's job brought us to Jefferson City; I've probably been here now as long as I lived in Leonard. Nice to see more NEMOs here on BYC and in Missouri too.

CG

 

[microchick]

GCinJCMO nice to meet you. Missourians are some of the friendlyist people that I have ever met.

Potagergirl if the white crested black polish were good brooders that spare roo would have a new home come spring,

 

[ocap]

Welcome to BYC and the MO thread

I also planned during winter and have one summer under my belt. My decision making ability was lacking so I had way too many breeds. The buckeyes are leaving to a new home tomorrow, the Wyandotte males are in the freezer, now enjoying the simplicity of three breeds and looking forward to having one large fowl breed and silkies to brood. Seems like the more I looked the more confused I got. The silkies from Cackle Hatchery have been great brooders and much more winter hardy than I expected. They can hatch three of your largest eggs and have as many as four broods a year, amazing breed!

 

[microchick]

Hi ocap. Glad to know I'm on the right track.

Last night I down loaded a book about back yard chickens and did some reading. I wound up with a list of 5 birds and am now going to spend some time narrowing it down to two breeds. Believe it or not, Silkies are #2 on the list.

I definitely want Bantams. i had a speckled Sussex hen once who was the best brooder and momma you could ever ask for. I can still remember seeing her sitting on her nest and the other hens actually perched on the edge of the nest box, dropping an egg in alongside her and 'Maxine' gently rolling the still wet egg under her to 'join the party'.

My thoughts are that there aren't a lot of bantams in the area, so they would be unique to promote as back yard chickens.

The other breed I need to decide on is a dual purpose bird, one that would provide both meat and eggs for us. Orpington's are on that list. I don't necessarily need heavy layers. I'm sure I wouldn't have trouble getting rid of any excess eggs We might have but why get inundated and have to deal with it?

Where we live, white chickens are out of the question. Too many large Great Horned Owls, Red Tailed Hawks and yes, Bald Eagles to worry about.

 

[ocap]

Where we live, white chickens are out of the question. Too many large Great Horned Owls, Red Tailed Hawks and yes, Bald Eagles to worry about.

My wife and I saw a hawk grab a chick last summer. One of my chicken buyers lives near and saw a pair of mountain lions on her place, I don't know the laws but I doubt there is an open season.

 

[potagergirl]

Hi Ocap and GCinJCMO,

great to see you =).
We see Jeff city quite often. My shopping ground is Columbia. My sister lives in Branson so we go through Jeff a lot.
I've never been to Cackle even though we go through to Branson all the time. Seems the hours never match up when they are open.
Great people though, I talked to them several times on the phone last year. I'm sure they were sick of holding my hand by the time
I finally decided on chicken breeds and getting them ordered.

WCB Polish are not good setters. But they are great fighters and watchdogs. Mine have gone after large birds and cats. I'm glad the
guineas are there to help because I don't think they realize how small they really are in comparison they are just so aggressive.

I am in desperate need of a real farm dog the search continues for that....sigh

 

[microchick]

My wife and I saw a hawk grab a chick last summer. One of my chicken buyers lives near and saw a pair of mountain lions on her place, I don't know the laws but I doubt there is an open season.

Yep, we had a mountain lion killed by Amish men doing a predator hunt about 3 miles from our farm. When they encountered it, it didn't back down so they shot it. Mountain Lions are a protected species in Missouri as are birds of prey. I think with the cougar you can shoot it if it is posing a threat to you or your livestock but I'm not sure if you can shoot a hawk, eagle or owl under the same circumstances.

For years MDC has denied the presence of cougar in the state. There have been so many confirmed sightings though that they now backing down on that claim. They still hedge on saying that there is a breeding population here but we have talked to Amish neighbors who have seen females leading kits on their property. We have no reason to doubt them. These folks are outside enough to know the difference between a cougar and a bob cat.

Now there are reports of black bear slowing moving their way up from the south. Lions and tigers and bears....OH MY!

We have caught owls taking out squirrels in our back yard on our game camera (pretty impressive to see) so our birds will be kept safe with a netted run. I will also not have white feathered birds that are just asking to be seen from above and pounced on.

 

[ocap]

I am in desperate need of a real farm dog the search continues for that....sigh

My brother's wife raises goats and has 4 or 5 livestock guard dogs, they live in north Texas and bought at least one from a guy in Oklahoma. Each breed of animal they protect is a different project for the owner, one of her dogs does fine with the nanny goats but doesn't like the bucks. She does not raise dogs, all her dogs are spayed or neutered. My poodle cross (60 lbs) is great with the chickens but too old to really protect, she just barks a little in the morning and like to chase the deer in the evening, she ran a single coyote away but could not stop any kind of united attack by a pack if they wanted to take her down.