My wife and I started our small chicken flock ( 9 birds ) last year. We purchased three breeds ... RIR, Blue Andalusian and Delaware. We liked them all but the Delaware seemed to be our pick. We researched a bit into all three and we even liked the history of the Delaware. Combine that with the fact that they are a threatened species and we decided to convert our pen into a Delaware pen. Out of our original nine birds we were only lucky enough to get three hens ... 2 RIR and 1 BA.
When we got home with our chicks we placed them into a temporary pen and hooked up the lights, etc. While I was building our coop one of the Delawares somehow injured one of its toes, and in fact it was completely missing. We took care of it as best we could but we wasn't sure if the little roo would make it. He hopped around a lot and didn't eat as much as the others. But he recovered and turned out to be the biggest roo in the whole bunch, and the experience earned him the nickname of Hoppy.
We have our rooster, but now we need hens, so we began a search for more Delaware. We found the guy we had purchased the others from, but he was no longer raising the Delaware and had switched to another breed. He suggested Meyer Hatchery ... nothing against hatcheries but we decided we would like to purchase our new chicks or eggs from a working farm or at least a poultry enthusiast who has really tried to improve their stock. We contacted a few and found Chickcharney Farms and eventually purchased a dozen eggs from them. I know that's not a lot of eggs, but its what the budget would allow. When we received our eggs they had suffered some damage and we had lost a few. We were fortunate though in the fact that they had shipped out extra eggs and we wound up with 11 eggs. Chickcharney of course refunded us for one egg and we are completely happy with the way it worked out.
I built an incubator and we made a test run and that went ok. So ... tonight, the eggs came out of the turner and into the setting basket. They are due to hatch this Friday! My fingers are crossed, and I keep checking for pips every 5 minutes or so
I have a lot of plans ... you know what they say about best laid plans ... and ideas about breeding and hatching and improving the stock we get. We've been having a blast and I think this chicken project is one of the best things we've ever done together.
Will keep ya'll informed on how the hatch goes ...
PS: a big thanks to my wife who has helped me ( swinging from my coop rafters to get them straight ... man I wished I'd of had a camera and a free hand at the time ) and supported me with my/our little Delaware project!! She's the best!
When we got home with our chicks we placed them into a temporary pen and hooked up the lights, etc. While I was building our coop one of the Delawares somehow injured one of its toes, and in fact it was completely missing. We took care of it as best we could but we wasn't sure if the little roo would make it. He hopped around a lot and didn't eat as much as the others. But he recovered and turned out to be the biggest roo in the whole bunch, and the experience earned him the nickname of Hoppy.
We have our rooster, but now we need hens, so we began a search for more Delaware. We found the guy we had purchased the others from, but he was no longer raising the Delaware and had switched to another breed. He suggested Meyer Hatchery ... nothing against hatcheries but we decided we would like to purchase our new chicks or eggs from a working farm or at least a poultry enthusiast who has really tried to improve their stock. We contacted a few and found Chickcharney Farms and eventually purchased a dozen eggs from them. I know that's not a lot of eggs, but its what the budget would allow. When we received our eggs they had suffered some damage and we had lost a few. We were fortunate though in the fact that they had shipped out extra eggs and we wound up with 11 eggs. Chickcharney of course refunded us for one egg and we are completely happy with the way it worked out.
I built an incubator and we made a test run and that went ok. So ... tonight, the eggs came out of the turner and into the setting basket. They are due to hatch this Friday! My fingers are crossed, and I keep checking for pips every 5 minutes or so
I have a lot of plans ... you know what they say about best laid plans ... and ideas about breeding and hatching and improving the stock we get. We've been having a blast and I think this chicken project is one of the best things we've ever done together.Will keep ya'll informed on how the hatch goes ...
PS: a big thanks to my wife who has helped me ( swinging from my coop rafters to get them straight ... man I wished I'd of had a camera and a free hand at the time ) and supported me with my/our little Delaware project!! She's the best!
