Thank you to all who make this site such a great resource. I have been stopping by for a couple years now -- I can't remember how I learned about it.
In '07 we built our first chicken house for six Red Star hens. We bought the girls from a local organic farm -- they sell off their flock each fall after one laying season. The girls roamed our backyard and settled in nicely. I was hooked.
Over the past four years, our flock size has grown as our goals evolved. The few excess eggs we had at first were not enough for neighborhood demand -- the answer: get more chickens! I bought chicks from another farm that was having predator problems and raised them in a makeshift shelter outside (it was a hot August). I helped out a friend and rescued some of her layers from another dire situation. In 2010, I ordered 35 day-old chicks, some to raise for meat and some for eggs. Plus 15 Naragansett turkey poults! And late in 2010, we rescued six Guineas from a suburban home where dogs were becoming a problem.
So, here I sit on the bench at my desk with a Hova-Bator incubator next to me with eggs inside it peeping at me: two pips, one knocking on the shell and five other eggs that are taking their time (plus one turkey egg, long story). Outside, nestled or roosting are:
*35 laying hens: Ameraucana, Black Australorp, Speckled Sussex, White Leghorn, Red Star, and Welsummer
*1 Welsummer roo
*1 Welsummer hen with two chicks (hatched last week)
*1 Speckled Sussex hen with four chicks (hatched around 5/17)
*6 Naragansett turkey hens
--2 are jointly rearing three poults (hatched around 5/3)
--2 are setting on a nest
--2 are laying
*1 Naragansett turkey tom (the proud papa)
*5 Guineas, one male and four laying hens
Inside, in addition to the incubator next to me, there are two turkey poults in a brooder box and a second incubator full of turkey eggs. (Plus two cats and two dogs.)
Yep. hooked.
In '07 we built our first chicken house for six Red Star hens. We bought the girls from a local organic farm -- they sell off their flock each fall after one laying season. The girls roamed our backyard and settled in nicely. I was hooked.
Over the past four years, our flock size has grown as our goals evolved. The few excess eggs we had at first were not enough for neighborhood demand -- the answer: get more chickens! I bought chicks from another farm that was having predator problems and raised them in a makeshift shelter outside (it was a hot August). I helped out a friend and rescued some of her layers from another dire situation. In 2010, I ordered 35 day-old chicks, some to raise for meat and some for eggs. Plus 15 Naragansett turkey poults! And late in 2010, we rescued six Guineas from a suburban home where dogs were becoming a problem.
So, here I sit on the bench at my desk with a Hova-Bator incubator next to me with eggs inside it peeping at me: two pips, one knocking on the shell and five other eggs that are taking their time (plus one turkey egg, long story). Outside, nestled or roosting are:
*35 laying hens: Ameraucana, Black Australorp, Speckled Sussex, White Leghorn, Red Star, and Welsummer
*1 Welsummer roo
*1 Welsummer hen with two chicks (hatched last week)
*1 Speckled Sussex hen with four chicks (hatched around 5/17)
*6 Naragansett turkey hens
--2 are jointly rearing three poults (hatched around 5/3)
--2 are setting on a nest
--2 are laying
*1 Naragansett turkey tom (the proud papa)
*5 Guineas, one male and four laying hens
Inside, in addition to the incubator next to me, there are two turkey poults in a brooder box and a second incubator full of turkey eggs. (Plus two cats and two dogs.)
Yep. hooked.
