Colorado

[Latestarter]

Processed Bruno today and he will sit in fridge for a day or two, then he will be eaten. Funny he was 9 month old and was amazed at how small he really was under alll the downy plumage. He had a lot more fat on his body than when we processed our RIR roo's but they were 6 1/2 or 7 months.

So RIP

Rocco lost some of his wattle in the battle with Bruno, he managed to heal almost completely from frost bite on his wattles to loosing some of them in battle. Will be interesting to see how the flock dynamic will change and how Rocco adjusts to being being man on campus with a flock of 23 hens.

Sorry you lost one of the roos, but sure he'll taste pretty good

Can you tell why you chose to process Bruno vice Rocco? Wan't Rocco the 2nd in command? Anyway, I'm sure things will settle back down and maybe even be less stressful with just the one roo and no battles. Hope so!

Quote:

Here are some chicks I hatched out last week from my project Olive Egger flock.

Beautiful chicks! Grats!

 

[COChix]

Sorry you lost one of the roos, but sure he'll taste pretty good   Can you tell why you chose to process Bruno vice Rocco? Wan't Rocco the 2nd in command? Anyway, I'm sure things will settle back down and maybe even be less stressful with just the one roo and no battles. Hope so!

Bruno was second in command to Rocco. We chose to process Bruno for several reasons, first and foremost was the fight. While we don't know what transpired to start the fight, it lasted for 40 minutes and only ended because I discovered them. Secondly, i saw Bruno with the ladies and he was a late bloomer and was mating the same girls that Rocco would mate, sometimes right after. He was rather rough with the girls and never seemed very smooth In that department. Rocco on the other hand was the earliest to develop, the first to crow, the first to mate and has always been gentle on the ladies. He has always been the undisputed alpha and we will see what his off spring is like maybe bringing up a younger roo for second in command will work out better. We are hoping our decision will help with egg production and some of the girls will get some of their feathers back on their saddle sores.

 

[trsturself]

I already have people asking for chicks. This early taste of spring is getting everyone itching. Things are looking good for my friend getting her chickens out of here. It can't come soon enough. I noticed our poor rooster is missing 2 toenails now.

Once they are out I'm going to start collecting eggs, checking fertility, etc.

 

[Bill1st]

upgraded the brooder this morning and took a couple pics of the BLRWs.

 

[Latestarter]

So last weekend, a gentleman stopped by after seeing my sign and bought all the eggs I had at that time (~ 10 doz) for $0.50 each. I charged him $50.00 for them all, as I was so happy to sell them all at one time!

He at that time asked me to take down the sign and he would continue to buy all I had each weekend till he filled his incubator which holds 280 eggs. I called him this morning and told him I had another 100 for him and he just came by and bought them for another $50.00 (I actually gave him 105 eggs as it's all I had). He once again asked me to keep the sign down and call him next weekend or whenever I have another 100 eggs ready for him.
I asked him what his plans were for all these chicks he was going to hatch. He said he plans to eat them

My thought was that's a LOT of frozen chickens down the road! So I told him I thought that maybe he was going to raise them to about 8 weeks or so then sell them as they would go for $3-5 each by then. He didn't respond to that but said he owns a couple of acres of land a short ways from me and plans to raise them all there. It matters not to me what he intends to do with them... They will be his responsibility regardless.
In any case, he said he wants to keep buying them from me, so I'm happy either way

. I expect he'll only want to do one more week's worth and his bator will be overflowing! That is of course unless he plans to do rolling hatches and just keep adding new eggs each week as the previous 100 hatch out and get moved to a brooder. I'm really thinking I need to build a bator and brooder and start hatching some out myself for sale. Even accounting for cost of feed for the chicks, I think I can/would make more money from the sale of chicks than I could ever make from the eggs alone.

 

[suncatcher]

Quote: X2, very nice Steve!!!

I already have people asking for chicks. This early taste of spring is getting everyone itching. Things are looking good for my friend getting her chickens out of here. It can't come soon enough. I noticed our poor rooster is missing 2 toenails now.

Once they are out I'm going to start collecting eggs, checking fertility, etc.

upgraded the brooder this morning and took a couple pics of the BLRWs.

Lovely, and nice set up!!!

So last weekend, a gentleman stopped by after seeing my sign and bought all the eggs I had at that time (~ 10 doz) for $0.50 each. I charged him $50.00 for them all, as I was so happy to sell them all at one time!

He at that time asked me to take down the sign and he would continue to buy all I had each weekend till he filled his incubator which holds 280 eggs. I called him this morning and told him I had another 100 for him and he just came by and bought them for another $50.00 (I actually gave him 105 eggs as it's all I had). He once again asked me to keep the sign down and call him next weekend or whenever I have another 100 eggs ready for him.
I asked him what his plans were for all these chicks he was going to hatch. He said he plans to eat them

My thought was that's a LOT of frozen chickens down the road! So I told him I thought that maybe he was going to raise them to about 8 weeks or so then sell them as they would go for $3-5 each by then. He didn't respond to that but said he owns a couple of acres of land a short ways from me and plans to raise them all there. It matters not to me what he intends to do with them... They will be his responsibility regardless.
In any case, he said he wants to keep buying them from me, so I'm happy either way

. I expect he'll only want to do one more week's worth and his bator will be overflowing! That is of course unless he plans to do rolling hatches and just keep adding new eggs each week as the previous 100 hatch out and get moved to a brooder. I'm really thinking I need to build a bator and brooder and start hatching some out myself for sale. Even accounting for cost of feed for the chicks, I think I can/would make more money from the sale of chicks than I could ever make from the eggs alone.

Wow, he is going to be eating LOTS of chicken!!! Congrats on gettin them all sold! Did the egg sales last year, and barely broke even.......

 

[21hens-incharge]

Congrats to everyone that is having littles hatch out!

Looks like it has been a very busy week for everyone.

I built my brooder (almost done) 30"x 8'. I plan to brood in the coop.
I have been getting 3 to 5 eggs a day out of my 19 hens. I have only got 5 that lay white eggs and those seem to be the ones laying. Even my older leghorns are laying. (They are turning 5 this spring)

Wish me luck and strength to avoid the littles at the feed store.

I must go get pine shavings and more feed.

 

[Double Kindness]

Eurto- I have another bresse roo named Boris that has a curled toe lol.

In fact I might sell Boris because I don't need 2 wb roos with the crow reduction surgery.

AC are hatching, they look pretty black so far my friend said.

And today I have 4 hatchings in the incubator, after adjusting the temperature in the janoel.

Does anyone want ee/oe chicks?

I need wb chicks, but am thinking I might add gff new line of high end meat bird http://greenfirefarms.com/chicken/barbezieux/

 

[21hens-incharge]

Been snowing here for about 3 hours. UGH. I am so ready for spring to well spring already.
My crocus have been blooming and the iris are trying to grow. I just hope the peach trees hold off for a while yet.
I finally got enough eggs to sell a dozen. I sell the eggs for 4 dollars a dozen. I kind of miss the hens paying for their keep.

DK

Holy bats my DH would freak if I told him I wanted chicks that cost that much. They are very pretty birds though.
Congrats on the hatches!

Late starter

OH my that would be a lot of chicks to raise and eat. I cannot imagine what that would look like with so many chicks.
I would think with them raised to 8 weeks you could sell for 8 to 10 dollars a bird since all the hard stuff is already done.
I have paid as much as 25 for a 14 week old pullet. Not a special rare breed either. Just a GLW. I also have paid 20 for a BO at 12 weeks.

 

[uzisuzuki]

Been snowing here for about 3 hours. UGH. I am so ready for spring to well spring already.
My crocus have been blooming and the iris are trying to grow. I just hope the peach trees hold off for a while yet.
I finally got enough eggs to sell a dozen. I sell the eggs for 4 dollars a dozen. I kind of miss the hens paying for their keep.

DK

Holy bats my DH would freak if I told him I wanted chicks that cost that much. They are very pretty birds though.
Congrats on the hatches.

I was just looking at the Black Swedish Hens on GFF & yeah. I think I would need to be a lot more well off in the wallet to get some of the breeds that I find interestingly! Holy smokes! That farm must be putting out a good quality bird for those prices (or are one of the only hatcheries offering those breeds).

I was not thrilled about winter showing back up today, especially since I woke up with another cold! Who knew that a cold would feel worse that a car accident! Thank goodness my big dog helped me get the chickens into the barn coop for the night. With how stuffed up my head feels, I think if I had to bend down to pick up a hen my head would just pop off & roll away!