IA here

[Sylie]

It is a very small, farming community, very old fashioned. The store is amazing, you can't beat their prices. They do have an online store too. Dutchman's Store pretty much is the main attraction these days, many businesses there have gone under, it's really sad honestly. It's such a cute little town, just run down now that so many stores/business's have gone out of business.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

If you're in that area you should stop by the Milton Creamery! They have an amazing cheddar called Prairie Breeze that has won awards.
We love the fresh cheese curds too.
They have an online store; I love that I don't have to drive all the way to get some amazing cheeses.

 

[Sylie]

Nice tip! Maybe I'll shoot over there next time that I'm going to Cantril! Thank you!

 

[Callender Girl]

You're both making me miss southern Iowa even more. Although, thank goodness, yesterday was one of those rare days when the prairie winds up here didn't almost blow me -- and the poultry -- away.

I talked to my sister, and she is aware of the store in Cantril. She says it's a lot like the Amish store in Kalona, Stringtown Grocery, which I used to frequent and where I could buy great stuff in bulk.

 

[Sylie]

yes it is, it is run by Mennonites/Amish, some of each in the employee roster lol so it is very much like any of those stores in Kalona. I've never been to Stringtown Grocery but I do know of it and pass it when I go the back way to Iowa City. I should stop in there sometime too! haha. Shopping!

 

[Cardi B]

HI There! I live in New Hartford. I have horses, dogs and chickens. This is actually our first year with chickens and so I am excited about this adventure with them! We have 9, 6 week old chicks that I purchased from McMurry Hatchery and 7 that I hatched out of my incubator. My goal was to have a rainbow of eggs in my basket so I bought from McMurry a Bielefelder - Brown Egg with speckles, Whiting True Green - Green Egg, Whiting True Blue - Turquoise or Blue Egg and a True Blue Roo-, Salmon Favorolle - Cream Egg, Black Australorp - Brown Egg, Blue Andalusian -White egg and a Black Cochin - Brown Egg. McMurry also gave me a free chick and I still have no idea at this point what they sent me. =)

The 7 that I hatched was my first ever hatch. I figured Id get one or two chicks out of 9, but I hatched out 7! It was such a fun experience to watch them hatch out. My friend gave me some eggs of a barn yard mix. I think they were a mix of Easter Eggers and Spitzhaubens.

Anyone local to me?

 

[Callender Girl]

Butler County isn't terribly far away from Webster County, but we're not exactly neighbors, either!

I have a McMurray Bielefelder, and Liesl is a love. She's a good egg producer, too.

Sounds like your plan for a lovely egg basket is coming along nicely.

Congrats on your hatches!

 

[Cardi B]

Butler County isn't terribly far away from Webster County, but we're not exactly neighbors, either!

I have a McMurray Bielefelder, and Liesl is a love. She's a good egg producer, too.

Sounds like your plan for a lovely egg basket is coming along nicely.

Congrats on your hatches!

We drove to Webster City to pick up my chicks. I was super excited about picking them up as I had seen a Youtube video of White House On This Hill and thought it would a lot more exiting than an 8x8 room that a lady comes to a 1/2 door and hands you your chicks. haha I also wanted to spare my chicks from the trauma of traveling in the back of a mail truck.

These photo are about a week old and the chicks are now 7 weeks old. I have no clue which ones are which except for the black cochin, the Faverolle and the black Australorp. lol The others are kind of a mystery So if you know which are which please let me know!

 

[Callender Girl]

I've never been to the hatchery. I had a friend who worked there, and she hand-picked the breeds I asked for and delivered them. Last year, she brought me the Bielefelder -- and a few more! All my Cochin Bantams are from McMurray; two from her flock when she was downsizing and two she picked up at the hatchery for me.

Probably a good thing for me and my coop budget that she now works elsewhere!

The 8-by-8 room does sound like a disappointing experience.

I am terrible at identifying chick breeds. But everyone in the photos looks adorable!

BTW, my Salmon Faverolles "complain" endlessly. Maybe they're just expressing their opinions about their food, housing, neighbors, treats. But they always sound as if they are registering serious misgivings about everything. On the other hand, they are so stinking cute that it's easy to forgive them.

Be interested in finding out what the "mystery" chick reveals herself to be.

 

[Cardi B]

How lucky you are to have a friend who worked at McMurry. What a great hatchery!

My Salmon is very timid and stays in the background. She doesn't talk a lot yet either that I have noticed. I named her Miss Lemon since she is still yellow, but her wings are turning brown now. I need to get an updated photo of her. Shes super cute but hides quite a bit. We spent a lot of time with these birds and the 7 still in my basement. I wanted them to be part of our family lol but the ones I hatched, I think I have more Roo's than pullets as this group seems a lot more willing to challenge each other than the other group does.