- Jun 27, 2010
- 49
- 0
- 22
Well, I am taking time to reflect on the last 10 months today. I purchased my first 6 hens last July and today there is just over 200 chickens here. My wife goes around muttering something about a mental institution. I don't know what she is talking about. She doesn't understand chicken math I guess. Today we are up to 50+ laying hens, 50 CX that are less than a month from freezer camp and 102 DP roos arrived yesterday. This is my third batch of CX and while I appreciate how quiclky they make freezer camp, I don't have the best luck raising them. I usually have death losses in the excess of 10% for various reasons. I am trying the DP roos to see if there is a difference in flavor and if I find some that are satisfactory as far as growth and size I will probably convert my laying hens to that particular breed as the current hens age out. More and more the idea of something that is sustainable is appealing to me. I would like to have a self sustaining flock that will keep us in eggs and meat. The DP roos I have are barred rock, buff orpington, silver laced wyandotte, and rhode island reds. Does anyone have any idea what I can expect on the grow out times and carcass traits for these breeds? I am not real concerned with how long it will take since I am only raising these for our consumption I just would like an idea of how long they will take to get to a decent size. On another note, I do hope that we don't see the same percent increase in the coming year that we have seen in the last year.