Dixie Chicks

[ApiaryandAviary]

I posted on the Virginia thread.
It is about costs of chicks and not breaking even and not just buying, selling and trading but giving away also. It is also about doing this as a hobby and not a business. Any input is apreciated.
Please, let me know what you think.
Thank you.
RoseMarie

 

[ApiaryandAviary]

Thanks, I didn't know they had such stuff. I was going to get some plastic chicken fencing from TSC and piece it together, that sounds easier.

I have been amazed by what they carry with their online shopping.

 

[Outpost JWB]

I posted on the Virginia thread.
It is about costs of chicks and not breaking even and not just buying, selling and trading but giving away also. It is also about doing this as a hobby and not a business. Any input is apreciated.
Please, let me know what you think.
Thank you.
RoseMarie

I see your point. I don't raise mine as a business and I doubt I will ever break even. We have 140-150 chickens. Not counted recently. But we do get to enjoy chicken and dumplings, chicken soup, or chicken casserole weekly and fresh eggs daily. And I never sell as many eggs as I get because we live in the boondocks. Therefore a lot of eggs get donated to a church food pantry. There is a great sense of pride knowing that while I am cooking breakfast on Sunday morning that other families are out there enjoying their eggs from our flock as well. The time spent farming is well worth it.

DH used to get aggravated at the amount I was spending on feed. One day I asked him how much does he spend per week on cigarettes and beer.....He has not said anything further about the money I spend

We look at it as his addictions/ my addictions. Even.

I have given away a few chickens. I always have an extra rooster (or five) that anyone is welcome to! I never look at that as a loss either. Someone said "You give someone an egg, they will eat a meal. Give someone a hen they will eat for a year."

 

[ApiaryandAviary]

I see your point.  I don't raise mine as a business and I doubt I will ever break even.  We have 140-150 chickens.  Not counted recently.  But we do get to enjoy chicken and dumplings, chicken soup, or chicken casserole weekly and fresh eggs daily.  And I never sell as many eggs as I get because we live in the boondocks.  Therefore a lot of eggs get donated to a church food pantry.  There is a great sense of pride knowing that while I am cooking breakfast on Sunday morning that other families are out there enjoying their eggs from our flock as well.  The time spent farming is well worth it.

DH used to get aggravated at the amount I was spending on feed.  One day I asked him how much does he spend per week on cigarettes and beer.....He has not said anything further about the money I spend   We look at it as his addictions/ my addictions.  Even.

I have given away a few chickens.  I always have an extra rooster (or five) that anyone is welcome to!  I never look at that as a loss either.  Someone said "You give someone an egg, they will eat a meal.  Give someone a hen they will eat for a year."

I appreciate your input. I know farming is rough. I would never belittle anyone farming. I do farming but I am retired and have a tiny check to fall back on. So does dear hubby. I enjoy being able to share chickens with others. I buy, I sell, I swap and I give away. I can only hope to break even LOL never happens with the way I give away. So when someone else is selling and thinking their going to become one of the big names in chickens and pay off the farm selling chickens...to make money off these little girls and boys, does make it tougher on them and maybe a bit witchy in atitude, only substitute a different letter in there for it. I know of 4 big named farms of wonderful ladies and gentlemen farmers that I greatly admire. They import and breed just so they can sell to us. AND I GREATLY ADMIRE THEM FOR THAT FACT. I am sure there are more than 4. I have experiences with 4 and I will Go back to them again and again. I have to feel for those that buy a farm thinking they are going ti raise chickens to pay for it. I have only one thing to say, dont give up the day job.

I worry gov will become more intrusive with their regulations and scare tactics caused from chickens illnesses and AI. I fear they are trying to take over the backyard chickens and look at the crap they let into our country under the guise of frozen poultry. I have never sold eggs, give them away, let the girls raise them or I incubate.

I also feel the same way about the bees. I would not take a bee or the honey across a state line at all ever. I have bever sold onky given away ir use myself. And yet look at the crap OUR gov regulators let into this country under the guise of honey. I fear they will use bee illnesses to take control completely the backyard bee keepers honey. I never sold. I only raised to pollinate our crops and honey for my honey butter bread.

 

[Alaskan]

Honey butter bread!



On a more serious note... I agree with all you both said.

 

[ApiaryandAviary]

Oh, maybe he should make his own beer. I do and use it to feed chickens with and make bread with. You should see the big frothy clouds of yeast. And the girls love the yeast too. They like the sediments in the bottom of the cooker when I pour it on their feed and mix in all the by product billowing clouds of wet foamie yeast. Really much better beer and great for
Bread. Beer Batter bread is next to the honey Butter bread and also i like to make My cheesy crushed chilli pepper bread. That goes great with te home made pickles. The recipe I use for pickles is from Bath and Little Washington, NC and is from my momma's side of the family and dates back centuries. The ideal first step is to soak the cut cucumbers in the water straight up out if the ground at 59 degrees and loads of rock salt then drain and make sure a super amount of brown sugar is used. Lots of sugar for extra crispness. Two big secrets to the best pickles. The reason behind the very cold salt water is to draw out the moisture so there is room for the sugar/ seasons/ pickling brine to be soaked up. Well that is what my great great aunt said. But she also said they never killed Blackbeard too. She said he was first hired to retrive a ship someone stopped making payment on and then he found that profitable and so started his life of going after a boat whether or not they made payments or not did not matter and if they did not pay the tarriffs the Govenor sent him for the ship. That is how a Governor pardoned him in the first place but the sea kept calling him. She says they did not kill him they killed one of his hired look alikes. I never knew what to think. He like the pickles and he had a liking for Mustard seeds too.

 

[Outpost JWB]

@minihorse927 , Here's King Tut! He's the old rooster I bought from you. His comb was frostbit even more last winter. He now looks like some kind of fighting rooster (tell the mods he is NOT). He now has babies

 

[minihorse927]

@minihorse927 , Here's King Tut! He's the old rooster I bought from you. His comb was frostbit even more last winter. He now looks like some kind of fighting rooster (tell the mods he is NOT). He now has babies

wow his comb is way smaller! It was already frostbite when I got him and now he's got a nubbin! Lol! Awesome he has offspring. Any purebred offspring?

 

[Outpost JWB]

wow his comb is way smaller! It was already frostbite when I got him and now he's got a nubbin! Lol!

Awesome he has offspring. Any purebred offspring?

Yes. One little pullet. The 2 CCL hens got killed by DHs dog. I still have the other 2 CCL roos in the back, so I can breed one of them with her when she gets bigger. Their combs got frostbit as well, but they don't look anything like him! He thinks he owns the back yard. He and Sue (SS roo) have power struggles, but in the end, King Tut owns the yard & Sue owns the back field.

 

[Beer can]

I posted on the Virginia thread.
It is about costs of chicks and not breaking even and not just buying, selling and trading but giving away also. It is also about doing this as a hobby and not a business. Any input is apreciated.
Please, let me know what you think.
Thank you.
RoseMarie

Right now hobby and I don't want profit. If someone was interested in raising white giants or sussex down the road I'd sell some cheap, or give away. I've given away plenty of ducks through the yrs.

In the future profit and hobby. Why I decided on white giants and giant fibro silkies. There is a nich market for both, capons and black meat silkies. For the next five or ten yrs the plan is to just get my flock where I want them.
Deciding factor on whether or not I go commercial will be if we can afford to move to a place with more land, have to get rid of some kids first. When the wife goes back to work will be a big help.
I don't expect to make a living of it but figure it should pay for itself and keep our freezer full of large roasting capons.