Ooo! Thank you both for pointing me to the Canadian Chicken Egg Swappers group. Had not heard of that before! Am now waiting for my sign-up to be processed.
Ok then, what kind of breeds are you after?
Somewhere between "I'm not certain" and "I'm flexible"
. I *think* what I want to do for this next year, aside from maybe get a small number of meat birds through the local feed store, is to try just two or three pullets each of several different types to try to get a sense of what I'd like to have more of. Needs to be cold hardy, reasonable temperament, a decent layer, and big enough to more or less eat the culls if I do start breeding them.
So I am currently thinking something along the lines of Wyandottes (any color except black or barred, just b/c aesthetics), maybe partridge Chanticlers, maybe Welsummers, maybe light or speckled Sussex, dunno. Have not got my heart irrevocably set on any one particular thing. If I were deciding among noncommercial breeders, the temperament and health of the chickens would be the deciding factor, more than breed/color.
The Mount Forrest sale & swap would be able to hook you up with meat/egg birds as well. The Mennonites sell a lot of chooks there cheap
When is that? I might go, but at the same time I am leery of buying birds that way because I am totally new to chickens and I *know* that I have no chance of identifying diseased etc animals. (I've been working with horses for over thirty years now, and I still approach HORSE auctions with a certain amount of caution).
I will be at the ROYAL, and if you are planning on going, let me know.
Oh yes, we will absolutely be going, always do - have not decided yet exactly which day(s). It would be nice to be able to stop by and say hi to you! Thanks for all your help!
Pat
