Jett_05
In the Brooder
Hello!
I'm new to the forum. I've raised chickens casually on and off since I was a child. I recently just moved from a community farm to an amazing 16 acre property tucked away in southwest WI.
We moved in with 4 laying hens (kinda a barnyard mix but notably one black copper maran cross and her olive egger offspring) and 5 muscovy ducks. They have been staying in our garden shed and free range while we build a coop to house 25 birds with 4 paddocks and some portable structures for our muscovies who will stay free range because they are just so entertaining and really help with bugs. We have a creek, a lot of springs and some healthy marsh ecosystems and we hope that they can play a role in maintaining a low mosquito population.
Since moving here in August we lost our olive egger to a hawk, picked up a wonderful black copper maran rooster, picked up 7 chicks (more black copper marans and some golden laced wyandottes) and a muscovy sat on 16 eggs and hatched them all! Needless to say, I've become a little bit of a crazy chicken/duck lady.
I'm hoping to focus on breeding black copper marans because that rooster just won my heart. He eats out of my hand, eats snakes and mice (as do my muscovies), has defended the ladies from hawk attacks, and is just an all around good rooster. The chicks matured surprisingly fast compared to other chicks I've raised. I'm really excited to expand my flock. I'm already designing more coop areas.
I'm really happy to see active forums for other bird enthusiasts to connect through. I hope to learn more as I move towards more selective breeding, butchering and processing, and creating a home for these guys.
Beyond that I'm also an active gardener, very into permaculture, and my partner and I do a lot in the way of invasive species control and cultivating native perennials. We hope to get goats and some dexter cattle next spring and have big plans for the future.
Look forward to connecting and learning!!
I'm new to the forum. I've raised chickens casually on and off since I was a child. I recently just moved from a community farm to an amazing 16 acre property tucked away in southwest WI.
We moved in with 4 laying hens (kinda a barnyard mix but notably one black copper maran cross and her olive egger offspring) and 5 muscovy ducks. They have been staying in our garden shed and free range while we build a coop to house 25 birds with 4 paddocks and some portable structures for our muscovies who will stay free range because they are just so entertaining and really help with bugs. We have a creek, a lot of springs and some healthy marsh ecosystems and we hope that they can play a role in maintaining a low mosquito population.
Since moving here in August we lost our olive egger to a hawk, picked up a wonderful black copper maran rooster, picked up 7 chicks (more black copper marans and some golden laced wyandottes) and a muscovy sat on 16 eggs and hatched them all! Needless to say, I've become a little bit of a crazy chicken/duck lady.
I'm hoping to focus on breeding black copper marans because that rooster just won my heart. He eats out of my hand, eats snakes and mice (as do my muscovies), has defended the ladies from hawk attacks, and is just an all around good rooster. The chicks matured surprisingly fast compared to other chicks I've raised. I'm really excited to expand my flock. I'm already designing more coop areas.
I'm really happy to see active forums for other bird enthusiasts to connect through. I hope to learn more as I move towards more selective breeding, butchering and processing, and creating a home for these guys.
Beyond that I'm also an active gardener, very into permaculture, and my partner and I do a lot in the way of invasive species control and cultivating native perennials. We hope to get goats and some dexter cattle next spring and have big plans for the future.
Look forward to connecting and learning!!
They sure can do damage to a flock. Copper Marans are such pretty birds! You might stop by this thread for some chatting on all their aspects and such... 
