Sjh444
In the Brooder
- Sep 3, 2022
- 5
- 63
- 46
Hi, I'm Shannon. Long time lurker who is finally getting around to making an account.
I first got chickens in 2019. Started with 6 Cinnamon Queens. Chicken math is real. Now there are also geese and ducks...
We currently have 15 laying hens, 2 keeper roosters, 6 meat birds I'll be butchering soon, 3 Buff geese, and 12 ducks (mainly backyard mixes I hatched from free eggs given to me). And there's a brooder with 10 chicks ... chicken math, man. Best kind of math.
For my layer flock, I have: Blue Stars, Americaunas, Easter/Olive Eggers, Black Copper Marans, Buff Orpingtons, Blue Orpingtons, Cinnamon Queens, and Speckled Sussex.
The babies in the brooder are Anconas, more Easter/Olive Eggers, and most excitingly for me, Niederrheiners. I am hoping to use the Niederrheiners to start raising my own meat birds from our flock instead of purchasing hatchery chicks.
Producing our own eggs and meat is becoming more important to us as food prices rise. Selling eggs is becoming easier too and justifies the chicken addiction. My favorite part is having the opportunity to show my kid where food comes from and the life lessons that come with having livestock even on limited land. We at one point lost most of our original flock to stray dogs. While that was awful, it was a lesson for the whole family and we picked up the proverbial pieces and started over with safety improvements.
Having birds has encouraged me to learn woodworking, which I never thought I'd do much of. Gardening and generally being a hobby farm are definitely top priorities for us. Our biggest struggle has been getting fruit and nut trees established with our heavy clay soil. We also do medieval reenactment, which unsurprisingly lends itself well to homesteading - I'm not talking LARPing (nothing against LARP), but studying and recreating history.
I first got chickens in 2019. Started with 6 Cinnamon Queens. Chicken math is real. Now there are also geese and ducks...
We currently have 15 laying hens, 2 keeper roosters, 6 meat birds I'll be butchering soon, 3 Buff geese, and 12 ducks (mainly backyard mixes I hatched from free eggs given to me). And there's a brooder with 10 chicks ... chicken math, man. Best kind of math.
For my layer flock, I have: Blue Stars, Americaunas, Easter/Olive Eggers, Black Copper Marans, Buff Orpingtons, Blue Orpingtons, Cinnamon Queens, and Speckled Sussex.
The babies in the brooder are Anconas, more Easter/Olive Eggers, and most excitingly for me, Niederrheiners. I am hoping to use the Niederrheiners to start raising my own meat birds from our flock instead of purchasing hatchery chicks.
Producing our own eggs and meat is becoming more important to us as food prices rise. Selling eggs is becoming easier too and justifies the chicken addiction. My favorite part is having the opportunity to show my kid where food comes from and the life lessons that come with having livestock even on limited land. We at one point lost most of our original flock to stray dogs. While that was awful, it was a lesson for the whole family and we picked up the proverbial pieces and started over with safety improvements.
Having birds has encouraged me to learn woodworking, which I never thought I'd do much of. Gardening and generally being a hobby farm are definitely top priorities for us. Our biggest struggle has been getting fruit and nut trees established with our heavy clay soil. We also do medieval reenactment, which unsurprisingly lends itself well to homesteading - I'm not talking LARPing (nothing against LARP), but studying and recreating history.
