Berryhomestead
In the Brooder
- Jul 5, 2020
- 7
- 35
- 25
Hello! We have the beginnings of a small homestead and want to learn and grow. We started out about 4 years ago with TSC's little red barn and a few, assorted chicks, which quickly turned into about 35 chickens and The Chicken Condo, as my husband likes to call it. We eventually let that flock free range and lost most to predators. No more free ranging, without limits, for us! We have 2 hens from that flock, Laverne & Shirley. Shirley still gives me an egg a day and Laverne is happily roaming the condo in a happy dementia. We love them both. We decided to get back to it when the world seemed to be going crazy, but struggled to find chicks. My hubby came home with 15 chicks, SR of assorted breeds, but all standards. That gave me chicken fever and I started stalking the poor boy at TSC. He finally broke down and told me when to call to get dibs on any chick deliveries. That resulted in 50 Barred Plymouth Rock pullets. I shared 10 of those with 2 hard-up, chicken-loving friends. I bought an incubator and did a practice hatch with eggs from my cousin's flock with great results, so a friend brought me some eggs, along with eggs from her friend, and my sister's boyfriend showed up with a Walmart bag full of eggs from his Americanas. Whew! I added 12 fertilized BPR eggs from a hatchery, hoping to get boyfriends for my BPR ladies. That didn't work out very well. My friend ended up with 1 chick, as did her friend. My sister's bf ended up with 7 chicks. I ended up with one EXTREMELY spradle-legged chick that had to be culled after splinting failed. Sad, sad day. But we rallied. We ordered 12 Cornish Cross SR chicks and 5 male BPR chicks. They threw in a free surprise chick, which turned out to be (I think) an Americana. One got wry neck, I think, on day 1 and was culled on day 3. We tried vitamins and Rooster Booster, but it seemed to be suffering. Another sad day. On hearing about my willingness to attempt incubation, another friend asked me to incubate some turkey eggs. Why not!? Ha! Then, my hubby's coworker gave me 7 turkey eggs and wished me luck. Then, 10 Pekin ducklings arrived. "Oh, yea, honey. I ordered ducks." He takes it all in stride, thank goodness. Today, a turkey pecked my hand through a pip while I was candling and gave me a good startle, since it's supposedly day 24! That turkey struggled for over 12 hours, so I started looking for advice and found this group. Long story long, I know. Next week, we'll be processing the assorted 15 from the SR, and it won't be long until the Cornish Cross are ready for the freezer, too! The BPR ladies are enjoying getting to know their little boyfriends through the chicken wire, so I think we're on a roll! We are expanding the 20' x 20' coop so we can keep the ducks separate and the turkeys separate. Basically, I have to learn a LOT. I grew up on a commercial poultry farm, but I know very little about ducks and turkeys. We also have a garden, which is doing really well and we do a lot of canning, so my hubby built a outdoor canning shed for me. We're having a ball! We're also looking for a chicken plucker or ideas for making one. Lots and LOTS to learn! We think we'll stick with a BPR chicken flock for eggs (for sure) maybe meat (not so sure) and with Cornish Cross for meat, as they are thriving. I love the ducks, so far, and would like to raise Pekins, but my hubby says they're not going to be so loveable when they've pooped everywhere, so we'll see. As for the turkeys, I have no idea, but I like the idea of raising Thanksgiving dinner. We're so glad to have found this group!
So glad you decided to join! 
Make yourself at home here.
