- Dec 8, 2014
- 3
- 1
- 11
I've been a longtime lurker here at Backyard Chickens, so I figured it was about time to make my debut! Let me just say, this website has been my go-to for pretty much everything I've needed since my wife and I decided to start raising chickens this past spring. I never thought that there would be so much to it, and I'm so thankful for the endless wealth of knowlege I've found here!
We live on a few acres in rural Wisconsin on the Minnesota border, and we started in May with 15 Cornish Cross's, and 20 layers- 5 Barred Rocks, 5 Buff Orpingtons, 5 Americanas, and 5 Silver Laced Wyandottes. The meat birds went great! I finished with 14 out of the 15, (one flipped) and they averaged between 8-10 lbs per bird dressed. We plan to do another batch in the spring, possibly 2 as we are currently down to our last of them.
Our layers are allowed to free-range alot- pretty much whenever someone is home to keep an eye out for predators. Which is not fail-safe...At about the time we processed our meat birds, our layers suffered an attack by a fox, and we lost 11. It was heart-breaking.. My 14 year old son sat vigilant with his shotgun when he made the discovery, and was able to kill the fox that killed our chickens. All-in-all a very sad ordeal... We replaced the 11 we lost with 15 new layers- 5 more Rockies (as I like to call them) 5 New Hampshires, and 5 more Americanas. Our first batch of layers started laying just over a month ago, and I hope that the newcomers will start laying this month!
So far it's going great, and my chickens seem to be loving their lives, save for 1 Wyandotte that turned cannibal, and then turned stew-pot after trying what I believe to be everything to fix the problem. The kids love collecting eggs, and the whole family enjoys the indescribably delicous eggs and chicken. For me, It's really about providing my family with the highest quality organic chicken and eggs, and providing my kids the experience of being part of the process. I strongly believe that one of the biggest problems with our society is our disconnect with our food, and where it comes from..but that is a whole other conversation..
Thanks again so much! I'll try to put up a few pics of our current arrangement
Best Regards, Jason
We live on a few acres in rural Wisconsin on the Minnesota border, and we started in May with 15 Cornish Cross's, and 20 layers- 5 Barred Rocks, 5 Buff Orpingtons, 5 Americanas, and 5 Silver Laced Wyandottes. The meat birds went great! I finished with 14 out of the 15, (one flipped) and they averaged between 8-10 lbs per bird dressed. We plan to do another batch in the spring, possibly 2 as we are currently down to our last of them.
Our layers are allowed to free-range alot- pretty much whenever someone is home to keep an eye out for predators. Which is not fail-safe...At about the time we processed our meat birds, our layers suffered an attack by a fox, and we lost 11. It was heart-breaking.. My 14 year old son sat vigilant with his shotgun when he made the discovery, and was able to kill the fox that killed our chickens. All-in-all a very sad ordeal... We replaced the 11 we lost with 15 new layers- 5 more Rockies (as I like to call them) 5 New Hampshires, and 5 more Americanas. Our first batch of layers started laying just over a month ago, and I hope that the newcomers will start laying this month!
So far it's going great, and my chickens seem to be loving their lives, save for 1 Wyandotte that turned cannibal, and then turned stew-pot after trying what I believe to be everything to fix the problem. The kids love collecting eggs, and the whole family enjoys the indescribably delicous eggs and chicken. For me, It's really about providing my family with the highest quality organic chicken and eggs, and providing my kids the experience of being part of the process. I strongly believe that one of the biggest problems with our society is our disconnect with our food, and where it comes from..but that is a whole other conversation..
Thanks again so much! I'll try to put up a few pics of our current arrangement
Best Regards, Jason
and Welcome To BYC!
