Hatching Eggs / Paypal CHAT Thread

[Daloorashens]

ok folks keep on offering those chick assortments, hubby insisted I shut incubators down for awhile, he said nothing of getting chicks delivered.

 

[cluckitall]

Hey, can I as another question? Those of you with multiple breeds, what do you do as far as free-ranging? Up till now all my feathered beasties just go out to run together -- only one adult roo, so it's not an issue. Plus these aren't breeder birds. (Well, except I had to hatch out a few eggs, of course!) By next summer, I'll have various breeds/lines I don't want interbreeding. I can build them all separate runs, but they wouldn't be particularly big -- and let's face it, that's a lousy substitute (in a chicken world-view) for being able to get in the garden, steal raspberries off the bushes, root around for bugs and worms...

Can I give them all turns are real free-ranging? Let one bunch out into the big wide world per day? They'll all have their own separate pens but somehow I don't think, with chickens, the "action" happens at night...

 

[chiqita]

I had thought about orpingtons Another bird that people have mentioned is the show girls and other naked necked chickens. I just don't know f I can go there..... Has anyone had experience with them? Do they play nice with others?

Showgirls are silkies with a wee bit more spunk . They can usualy see a bit better too, and mine lay better then a straight silkie. The issue is you breed them back to silkies so you are never sure how many showgirls or silkies you get out of a batch. If you breed showgirl to showgirl, they have bare patches when theya re chicks and the seem a bit more fragile, imo. They feather out fine as adults, but still have bare patches you cant see.

The uncertianity makes selling eggs a a bit more of a challenge. And you really ahve to know your area, showgirls have a very... specific.. look, people either love it or or horrified.

 

[doubleatraining]

Hey, can I as another question? Those of you with multiple breeds, what do you do as far as free-ranging? Up till now all my feathered beasties just go out to run together -- only one adult roo, so it's not an issue. Plus these aren't breeder birds. (Well, except I had to hatch out a few eggs, of course!) By next summer, I'll have various breeds/lines I don't want interbreeding. I can build them all separate runs, but they wouldn't be particularly big -- and let's face it, that's a lousy substitute (in a chicken world-view) for being able to get in the garden, steal raspberries off the bushes, root around for bugs and worms...

Can I give them all turns are real free-ranging? Let one bunch out into the big wide world per day? They'll all have their own separate pens but somehow I don't think, with chickens, the "action" happens at night...

My ducks free range during the day and normally the teenagers/grow outs do to. They aren't old enough to cause and cross-breeding problems yet. During the day I let 1 of the big breeding pens out and then rotate them daily. The only ones that don't get outside time are my bantams because they are useless when it comes to free ranging. LOL

 

[cluckitall]

Doubletraining, thank you! Learning how to manage multiple flocks/pens is a new thing for me, and I just started wondering about the logistics of it last night!

Day runs for each pen and rotated free-range time it is, then! And really, as far as worrying about who's fertilizing what, what is really means is only one rooster out at a time. I just realized that. I've got a bunch of hens who won't ever be hatching-egg producers, so it really doesn't matter if they get "friended" by a roo or two.

 

[doubleatraining]

Doubletraining, thank you! Learning how to manage multiple flocks/pens is a new thing for me, and I just started wondering about the logistics of it last night!

Day runs for each pen and rotated free-range time it is, then! And really, as far as worrying about who's fertilizing what, what is really means is only one rooster out at a time. I just realized that. I've got a bunch of hens who won't ever be hatching-egg producers, so it really doesn't matter if they get "friended" by a roo or two.

If you have a normal layer flock then they can go out daily and if you decide to sell/hatch their eggs you'll know they are mixes. Otherwise you keep the breeding pens separated. Its easier than you think. I'm actually working on building bigger runs so I can have more hens and I can feel less guilty about leaving them cooped up when I'm working.

 

[cluckitall]

Yeah, they're my "Whee! I've got a nearby hatchery! Let's get two of EVERYTHING!" flock. Eating eggs only But they're a very colorful motley crew!

And I wanted to get a sense of a bunch of different breeds, then decide which ones I want to focus on. The hatchery stock was an inexpensive and convenient way of getting at least an introduction to the general characteristics of a variety of breeds. But yeah, not the quality of bird I want to breed and sell.

 

[superjjf]

Am I cleared for swapping?

 

[KYTinpusher]

I got my SFH eggs from BHep today!

 

[juststruttin]

Hey, can I as another question? Those of you with multiple breeds, what do you do as far as free-ranging? Up till now all my feathered beasties just go out to run together -- only one adult roo, so it's not an issue. Plus these aren't breeder birds. (Well, except I had to hatch out a few eggs, of course!) By next summer, I'll have various breeds/lines I don't want interbreeding. I can build them all separate runs, but they wouldn't be particularly big -- and let's face it, that's a lousy substitute (in a chicken world-view) for being able to get in the garden, steal raspberries off the bushes, root around for bugs and worms...

Can I give them all turns are real free-ranging? Let one bunch out into the big wide world per day? They'll all have their own separate pens but somehow I don't think, with chickens, the "action" happens at night...

My breeding pens are 8 x 16 and I used to let them take turns free ranging and it did not work out very well. On the days when it was not their turn, they would pace in their run. Now, they stay in their breeding pens and seem happier.

My juvies free range with my layers until they are ready to go into the breeding pens; and the first couple of weeks are tough cuz they want to be out, but they get used to it.


I do fill the runs with straw and throw scratch in the straw to keep them busy looking for the scratch.