- Apr 16, 2009
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Quote:
I wouldn't exactly call it an "operation". I have a total around 45 breeders I think. I have the cabinet incubator because I wanted to have the reliability of forced air and temperature/humidity control. Incubating itself isn't interesting to me and I just care about getting a good hatch, so anything close to "set it and forget it" is good by me. I also wanted to have the extra capacity to plan for the future when I'd hoped to be able to sell a few to others to help preserve the breeds I raise, and to have my own old fashioned birds for meat.
My interest lies mainly in heritage breed preservation and providing good slow-grown clean food for my family. I started out slowly and have added as I went along and learned how to do things. I have a relatively small place, so I'm always trying to improve the efficiency of my setups and getting my animals to work for me. Everything chicken-wise I have is in a mobile coop of some sort or another and gets moved to new grass each day. My layers are in very sturdy coops on wheels with enclosed yards, plus I have some smaller pens for roos/breeding/emergency space etc. About a month ago, I added a hoop coop that I currently have about 70 in that I'm raising to fryer size. I have a really crappy weedy tiny pasture that I'm trying to slowly improve thru rotational grazing, so I'm moving my little herd of Dexters thru it, followed by the chickens, then I seed behind them. Muscovy follow the cattle around freestyle as fly control. I seem to have a fox this year that's been really hard on my Muscovy numbers, but penning them would defeat the purpose I got them for (natural pest control).
hth,
tom
Thanks so much for your reply and sharing your knowledge! Would love to chat chickens with you at the next swap!
Cathy
I wouldn't exactly call it an "operation". I have a total around 45 breeders I think. I have the cabinet incubator because I wanted to have the reliability of forced air and temperature/humidity control. Incubating itself isn't interesting to me and I just care about getting a good hatch, so anything close to "set it and forget it" is good by me. I also wanted to have the extra capacity to plan for the future when I'd hoped to be able to sell a few to others to help preserve the breeds I raise, and to have my own old fashioned birds for meat.
My interest lies mainly in heritage breed preservation and providing good slow-grown clean food for my family. I started out slowly and have added as I went along and learned how to do things. I have a relatively small place, so I'm always trying to improve the efficiency of my setups and getting my animals to work for me. Everything chicken-wise I have is in a mobile coop of some sort or another and gets moved to new grass each day. My layers are in very sturdy coops on wheels with enclosed yards, plus I have some smaller pens for roos/breeding/emergency space etc. About a month ago, I added a hoop coop that I currently have about 70 in that I'm raising to fryer size. I have a really crappy weedy tiny pasture that I'm trying to slowly improve thru rotational grazing, so I'm moving my little herd of Dexters thru it, followed by the chickens, then I seed behind them. Muscovy follow the cattle around freestyle as fly control. I seem to have a fox this year that's been really hard on my Muscovy numbers, but penning them would defeat the purpose I got them for (natural pest control).
hth,
tom
Thanks so much for your reply and sharing your knowledge! Would love to chat chickens with you at the next swap!
Cathy
