Where are you in CA? Central valley? Like bakersfield? I am in Lompoc, Santa Barbara County. I work in San Luis Obispo. If you need homes for the roos, let me know. I have people waiting for my roos.
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- Thread starter CaliRooster
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- #22
I'm in the Fresno area
I have to agree with the others, to many roos..... I made that mistake last year and couldn't wait to get rid of some. they were very hard on the hens and were fighting all the time. I finally separated them in to separate pens, for my sanity. ....we are now down to 2 roo's and 11 hens the 2 we kept get along well. and of course I ordered more hens this spring. NO roosters (I hope)...It is a terrible sickness this chicken-idess
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- #24
If I give Ideal a call would they let me modify my order to remove some and add extra hens.
YES!!! I redid my order SEVERAL times and each time they were really nice to me! I ordered four roos(one in each particular color) that I wanted to breed and it does get COMPLICATED! I know have three roos and wish I had two!
I would plan that all of your roo's will make it...b/c most likely they WILL!!!...and I
would choose maybe one or two breeds to start with(choose the MOST rare)
Delaware 6-not rare
NHR 6-not rare
RIR 6-totally not rare
RIW 6
PR 6
W leghorns 6-totally not rare
and get your feet wet..and don't drive your self nuts! It is very tempting to have lots of breeds but if I had to do it over...I would have just picked one or two roos and you can still have a mixed flock of hens. This way you can...
a:let your roos free range with your girls if they do get along(but I would NOT plan on that either!)
b: you could always have bachelor pads for your roos and rotate which one gets to free range which days.
c. if you are tempting to produce pure breeds then you will need seperate breeding pens that are large enough for your hens(many more hens than roos) to live comfortably in while they mate.
By choosingtwo roos your not stressed and their not stressed. You DON'T have to accomplish all of your goals in one season..there's always next year to expand and add something new. And since you are going for "egg layers" sometimes people won't mind cross breeds as long as they are going to be good producers. Are you planning to sell chicks or just fert. eggs?
My girlfriend who has been raising chickens for YEARS says that she likes to have one or two breeds at a time(they all free range together)...and then as they get older, stop laying, die off, whatever(this may take a few years) Then she gets all excited about trying a different breed. You should also consider that even though you can handle a more complicated backyard flock...you have to think ahead to when you want to get away for vacation and someone else has to tend to your flock. You want things to be as simple as possible. I would say 15 hens and 2 roos!!!PERFECT...and managable(not without issues mind you...but managable!) Just my opinion...don't want to see ya burn out just as soon as you get started.
Not trying to discourage ya
...Keri
Delaware 6-not rare
NHR 6-not rare
RIR 6-totally not rare
RIW 6
PR 6
W leghorns 6-totally not rare
and get your feet wet..and don't drive your self nuts! It is very tempting to have lots of breeds but if I had to do it over...I would have just picked one or two roos and you can still have a mixed flock of hens. This way you can...
a:let your roos free range with your girls if they do get along(but I would NOT plan on that either!)
b: you could always have bachelor pads for your roos and rotate which one gets to free range which days.
c. if you are tempting to produce pure breeds then you will need seperate breeding pens that are large enough for your hens(many more hens than roos) to live comfortably in while they mate.
By choosingtwo roos your not stressed and their not stressed. You DON'T have to accomplish all of your goals in one season..there's always next year to expand and add something new. And since you are going for "egg layers" sometimes people won't mind cross breeds as long as they are going to be good producers. Are you planning to sell chicks or just fert. eggs?
My girlfriend who has been raising chickens for YEARS says that she likes to have one or two breeds at a time(they all free range together)...and then as they get older, stop laying, die off, whatever(this may take a few years) Then she gets all excited about trying a different breed. You should also consider that even though you can handle a more complicated backyard flock...you have to think ahead to when you want to get away for vacation and someone else has to tend to your flock. You want things to be as simple as possible. I would say 15 hens and 2 roos!!!PERFECT...and managable(not without issues mind you...but managable!) Just my opinion...don't want to see ya burn out just as soon as you get started.
...Keri
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- #27
Thanks everyone for your concerns, I've been thinking about removing some roos and adding more chickens. I'm looking at removing RIW and PR and lowering the rest to 2 roos and removing the Leghorns completely for more hens
I called Ideal and changed my order three times and all three times they were nice and helpful. I would call.
I hope your chicks all arrive happy and healthy as mine did!!
I hope your chicks all arrive happy and healthy as mine did!!
Yea I changed my order three times. You don't even have to call them, just email. I went from 2 standard black cochins and 7 white silkies to 2 black cochin bantams and 7 white silkies to 9 white silkies. They never gave me any guff or anything. I have my 8 silkies in the brooder now (one died yesterday). Sleepy little suckers.
I noticed that you are going to use a steel tub for a brooder. I used one last year (my first year). I found to took (2) 250 watt heat lamps to warm it. I had it in my garage. The garage is attached to the house and insulated but not heated. This year I am going to build a wood brooder with a lid. Hopefully I will be able to use just one heat lamp this year.
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