Future thinking of being an organic chicken farmer :) Need help in deciding

[keesmom]

Why not start with Orpingtons since they seem to have the qualities you are looking for? If they don't turn out to live up to what you want then start again with another breed. They come in other colors than buff if you want something else.

If you were looking for show type stock I know I've seen buff Orps in the past at the Boston Poultry Expo in Oxford. It's held the first weekend in Nov. I imagine there were some at the Poultry Congress too. That's held over MLK day weekend in Springfield. Of the two shows the Congress is much larger. The birds are huge compared to hatchery stock, though I have no idea on their laying ability. I also don't know how long it takes them to reach such a monstrous size.

 

[tigger19687]

LOL, I have seen some LARGE birds !
I definately want a couple Buff Orpingtons, even if JUST for broodiness and raising chicks.
Just not sure of the amount of eggs they pay per year as apposed to other fluffy ones.
sorry I just love the fluffy butts !

 

[keesmom]

The best broodies we have had have been some hatchery Cochins. They are probably the fluffiest ones we have and it's a job to keep them from trying to go broody. They definitely aren't great layers.

 

[mobius]

So you can think maybe about another breed for broodiness if necessary. like have three cochins for brooding lol in the mama pen. I love the fluffy butts too! The buff orps sound adorable! Big old puffballs!

 

[aliciaplus3]

The only successful mama I have had so far is a welsummer cross.... I had a white leghorn set on eggs for 24 days but nothing hatched.... so breed does not guarantee broodiness. Lol

 

[tigger19687]

When I had Silkies they were always broody but I didn't care then

 

[firstlight]

As someone that talks to a lot of egg farmers I would try one of two things:

1.get a production quality bird- a red sex link, 300 layer, whatever hybrid layer you have access to.
2. get a LARGE order of barnyard mix and see what suits you and your climate.

I wouldn't go the route of settling on one heritage breed before you have more experience. I've seen it time and again, the farmer picks their favorite chicken to do an egg business, by the next year they are either out of business or buying a new flock of production birds. I HAVE seen heritage egg flocks work in diverse income stream farms, but pound for pound of feed you get less eggs. If that means you can offer something unique like rainbow eggs it may be worth the trade off.

 

[paintedChix]

I agree with firstlight. From my talks w/ breeders of heritage birds, they just don't lay at the levels of the modern birds (sex links). Even many of these are non-broody. Ours, so far, have all been hatchery stock - BA, SS, NH, RIR, RO, Del, White Leghorns, Cuckoo Marans, Blue/Splash Ameracauna. None have been broody - we end up having a couple of BantamXs that will raise the chicks... As of now, we don't incubate. The hens refuse to stay on nests long enough to get live chicks - just spoiled, nasty stuff.

Any birds can adapt to winter weather. One breed you haven't mentioned looking at is the Chantecler - bred in Canada. They have smaller combs & wattles, fluffier feathering w/o loose feathers. They come in 3 varieties - Partridge, White & Buff and are considered a large egg layer that will lay during the winter. I don't have any yet - they are on our list to check out - but they may not do so well here in our heat/humidity in the sandhills of NC.

I have a question about the raw diet you feed your dog(s). Can you either post here or send me a PM re: what you've worked out to good amounts? We are looking at switching to this and trying to figure out how many birds I would need to process for our dogs (6 - various breeds- ranging from 12 to 77#). Did you feed 1x or 2x daily or more?

We also have rabbits - but family wanted them in colony type set up and more often than not our cats get a "good" feeding every other month or so.... Hubby REALLY didn't want us to do hanging cages for meat rabbits, but that is slowly changing as in over 2-1/2 years we haven't been able to raise any kits to process for ourselves or continue w/ breeding stock. Have both NZ reds & Rexs - general stock, not from breeders... 3 farm cats hang out with the rabbits - they leave the chickens, rabbits & ducks alone ONCE they are past an 8 week(2 month) size.

 

[Krazyquilts]

As someone that talks to a lot of egg farmers I would try one of two things:

1.get a production quality bird- a red sex link, 300 layer, whatever hybrid layer you have access to.
2. get a LARGE order of barnyard mix and see what suits you and your climate.

I wouldn't go the route of settling on one heritage breed before you have more experience. I've seen it time and again, the farmer picks their favorite chicken to do an egg business, by the next year they are either out of business or buying a new flock of production birds. I HAVE seen heritage egg flocks work in diverse income stream farms, but pound for pound of feed you get less eggs. If that means you can offer something unique like rainbow eggs it may be worth the trade off.

Very interesting post!

 

[Krazyquilts]

I agree with firstlight. From my talks w/ breeders of heritage birds, they just don't lay at the levels of the modern birds (sex links). Even many of these are non-broody. Ours, so far, have all been hatchery stock - BA, SS, NH, RIR, RO, Del, White Leghorns, Cuckoo Marans, Blue/Splash Ameracauna. None have been broody - we end up having a couple of BantamXs that will raise the chicks... As of now, we don't incubate. The hens refuse to stay on nests long enough to get live chicks - just spoiled, nasty stuff.

Any birds can adapt to winter weather. One breed you haven't mentioned looking at is the Chantecler - bred in Canada. They have smaller combs & wattles, fluffier feathering w/o loose feathers. They come in 3 varieties - Partridge, White & Buff and are considered a large egg layer that will lay during the winter. I don't have any yet - they are on our list to check out - but they may not do so well here in our heat/humidity in the sandhills of NC.

I have a question about the raw diet you feed your dog(s). Can you either post here or send me a PM re: what you've worked out to good amounts? We are looking at switching to this and trying to figure out how many birds I would need to process for our dogs (6 - various breeds- ranging from 12 to 77#). Did you feed 1x or 2x daily or more?

We also have rabbits - but family wanted them in colony type set up and more often than not our cats get a "good" feeding every other month or so.... Hubby REALLY didn't want us to do hanging cages for meat rabbits, but that is slowly changing as in over 2-1/2 years we haven't been able to raise any kits to process for ourselves or continue w/ breeding stock. Have both NZ reds & Rexs - general stock, not from breeders... 3 farm cats hang out with the rabbits - they leave the chickens, rabbits & ducks alone ONCE they are past an 8 week(2 month) size.

Another very interesting post!