CHICKEN SWAPS OF NH SWAP LISTINGS

[blackbirds13]

congrats on your sale. did they go to a breeder?

The buyer only wanted pullets so no, but I am now working with someone who wants at least a pair and who does intend to breed them. They're really so easy to care for. They're auto-sexing, they lay blue eggs which seem sooooo easy to incubate. They seem relatively hardy and being a medium build standard bird the feed costs are bearable. I love them. I'm hoping to get down to 8 or so pullets but that coop's big enough to keep them all over winter and the other coop is not close to max capacity to I can still add birds and if push comes to shove (can we say NYD hatchalong) I have a few small dog house coops that I can toss some in - poor hubby. I know which ones I am going to breed forward so the others I will either sell off or put into a layer or an EE flock if folks feel the cost is too high. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do and what I want to breed as I have my eyes on another import....

What kind of bird is Bubba. Is he a frizzle? That mixed bird of Blacksheepcardigans is sooooo pretty but my Chocolate bantam Orps are the limit of my bantam ventures.

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

I think I missed the "medium sized" boat . The two that I have from you are pretty dang big! But that's exactly what I wanted, so I am excited.

We've finally got the breeding pens set, so this is what I'll be swapping in the spring (I'll start incubating as soon as the hens settle down and start laying again):

Large Fowl:

Easter Leggers (Easter Eggers made with Legbars): Legbar roosters x naked neck cochin, frizzle cochin/brahma, a bunch of Wyandottes, etc.

Big Giant Mixes: White Orp (he's looking to top out above 12 lb) and black giant cochin rooster x our biggest layers (Jersey Giant mixes, mostly).

Cheek Puffers: Sultan rooster x ameraucanas and salmon faverolles

Bantams:

Fatties: SQ silver-laced bantam cochin x bantam cornish

Serama Cochins: Barred bantam cochin x serama

First-generation smooth sizzles: Black silkie rooster x serama/cochin mixes and cochin/bantam RIR mixes

Our "Healthy Tinies" project (this one I am very excited about): One pen is a three-year-old A-size Serama rooster x tiny Old English, Japanese, etc. The other is A and B Serama hens x a khaki Old English Game rooster. All babies will be dun chocolate. The third is a frizzle C-size Serama rooster over a bunch of miscellaneous little hens. The goal is a serama-sized chicken that won't drop dead!

 

[nhnanna]

Sounds like everyone is busy getting ready for the swaps.
We are also. We are still hatching whatever is laid for now to get a good head start. I am looking for a LF Gold Laced Cochin rooster and also a bantam black or blue mottled Cochin roo. If anyone one has any please let me know. We are also looking for a Buff Orpington roo.
We are just now starting to hatch out blue/black Mottled D'uccles. These are not hatchery birds. I got them from a breeder.
It is going to be such a long winter. I miss the swaps already.
Here are some of my Mottled D'uccles.

 

[blackbirds13]

I think I missed the "medium sized" boat . The two that I have from you are pretty dang big! But that's exactly what I wanted, so I am excited.

We've finally got the breeding pens set, so this is what I'll be swapping in the spring (I'll start incubating as soon as the hens settle down and start laying again):

Large Fowl:

Easter Leggers (Easter Eggers made with Legbars): Legbar roosters x naked neck cochin, frizzle cochin/brahma, a bunch of Wyandottes, etc.

Big Giant Mixes: White Orp (he's looking to top out above 12 lb) and black giant cochin rooster x our biggest layers (Jersey Giant mixes, mostly).

Cheek Puffers: Sultan rooster x ameraucanas and salmon faverolles

Bantams:

Fatties: SQ silver-laced bantam cochin x bantam cornish

Serama Cochins: Barred bantam cochin x serama

First-generation smooth sizzles: Black silkie rooster x serama/cochin mixes and cochin/bantam RIR mixes

Our "Healthy Tinies" project (this one I am very excited about): One pen is a three-year-old A-size Serama rooster x tiny Old English, Japanese, etc. The other is A and B Serama hens x a khaki Old English Game rooster. All babies will be dun chocolate. The third is a frizzle C-size Serama rooster over a bunch of miscellaneous little hens. The goal is a serama-sized chicken that won't drop dead!

I know - I have 2 pullets that out-weigh their momma by quite a bit. But they are considered a lighter standard breed and when you put them next to my Jubilee boy who will probably top out over 15 pounds and my BCM boy they really are smaller. I'm trying to breed towards the UK SOP so I'm trying not to get them too big beyond what the SOP calls for but glad you like them- don't want them too small either. I have one juvie boy in the pen that seems he will be the tank of this group so far but he seems to have more golden saddle feathers coming out than I would like to see. I have 2 that I definitely have my fingers crossed on.

I love that you call your bantam cochin-cornish Fatties. That's what I call my bantam chocolate orps. We named the rooster Fat Albert but the hens are just 'fatties'. They are soooooo beautiful and cute but I just can't seem to get into them so not sure where I'll go with them, I really prefer a standard size and though they really are not that small at all I am still wavering on what to do with them next year. I'll probably breed them then make a decision in the summer. They are really beautiful and the egg size was not as bad as I had anticipated it too be for bantams. I love looking at them.

In regards to the swaps. Is there still a 12 chick minimum for under 4 weeks at the swaps given that New Hampshire has gotten rid of the minimum chick buying requirement?
Okay gotta finish making my football picks for today before it's too late.

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

No, the 12-chick minimum is gone, thank goodness. They do need to be seven days old, and most swappers are requiring a minimum number of chicks sold to make sure that nobody's taking home one lonely chick. But nowhere near twelve.

Oh, and I am looking for a show-quality in terms of type (don't care about perfect color, comb, shank color) bantam cochin rooster in something gold-based. Buff, red, mille fluer, buff columbian, etc. Needs to be nice and wide and fat and have a good cushion.

If some of your chocolate orp bantams ended up here, I wouldn't throw them out . We LOVE bantams.

 

[LAGear]

Bubba is a handsome Roo! Great frizzle

 

[dorkings]

Hi Everyone,
We are raising Silver Gray Dorkings and I just recently found the Chicken Swaps of NH

I am trying to increase and improve my flock. For those of you still hatching for next spring how long do you leave heat lights on them now that the weather is getting colder?
All the Best,
Lisa

 

[LAGear]

I got a cross breed hen from the swaps this spring (I think it was the one in Derry). They were bred exclusively for Tractor Supply. This hen started laying young and lays a LARGE light brown egg a day even now and is calm and friendly. I am wondering if this cross is going to be available again this spring?

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

Is she white/cream? If so, she's a Tetra Tint (http://www.tetraamericana.com/products/tetra-tint/). They are one of the production crosses - not crosses of purebreds, but a patented cross where the parent and grandparent strains are themselves very specialized crosses. I saw them this year for the first time, and didn't get any, and now regret it because people say they're really lovely. I am going to get some this spring for sure.

 

[LAGear]

Yes, thank you! That name even rings a bell. They are great! My 2 yr old daughter picks her up and carries her around without a squabble. And her eggs are just beautiful. I have a few of her eggs in the incubator, my roo is a Silver Ameraucana. Will be interesting to see what they throw