Maine

[buckabucka]

I need some frank opinions on commercial hatcheries.  Which do you use and why - which should be avoided at all cost and why?  I want to order a large batch of white and barred rocks for laying purposes and am trying to figure out where to order them from.  Thank you in advance for your reply.

I'm not sure one hatchery is better than the other. I went with Meyer Hatchery in Ohio at the outset, and had good luck. The freebie they threw in was a Welsummer hen! They probably made a mistake .

The only other hatchery birds I bought I picked up at LongHorn's in Buxton. It was a long drive, but there were several things I liked: you can preorder what you want (not like rushing into Tractor Supply and finding everything sold out), there was no minimum order, and at least at that time, no requirement to get 6 or more chicks (we got 3). We make regular trips to Portland for Trader Joe's, Micucci's, and the Oriental markets, so Buxton is an easy side trip from there. Their birds are from Cackle.

I've never purchased hatchery birds without getting at least one cross-beak . Even the time I only picked up three birds.

 

[buckabucka]

Ok, I'd love some input on chicken runs! We are picking up the rest of the fencing on Wednesday, and I'm trying to figure out just how I want this. Do it once and call it good!

Option A, one big giant run. Even at max capacity for the coop (25 chickens), that gives 34.4sqft of space per bird. I would need to double check to make sure we have 48' of space in the right direction, but I'm pretty sure we do.

Option B is a smaller main run, only 16.8sqft per bird at max capacity. But has a built in grow out pen for broody hens and cockerels until they are sold/slaughtered. Grow out pen would have 240sqft of space. I COULD leave the door between the two pens open, giving a total of 26.4sqft per bird when the small pen isn't in use.

Do I go with the smaller pen, so I can easily separate birds? (We do NOT have a shelter for a small coop, though) Or do I stick with one big pen for everyone? It's not a concern right now, but next year we will be letting hens go broody and raise chicks. We will keep some, sell some, and grow some out for meat. We cannot free range, so the more space the better.

Or is there a better setup you can think of? The coop is 10'x10'. We have six 6'x6' panels, and will be picking up eight 10'x6' panels on Wednesday. Two 10' panels have doors, 1 of the 6' panels has a door.

In my opinion, you need all the divisions you can squeeze in! I wish I had done that. We ended out sectioning off an area of the coop with a tiny door and chickens wire. It has been great for sick/injured birds, broodies, and new birds I'm integrating into the flock.

We were lucky to have two pop doors, so I sectioned off part of the run, too. I leave everything open and connected if I have no birds to separate.

The dumbest thing I did was not making a human door between the coop and run (there is a separate run door outside). If I want to access the run in the winter, I have to shovel. And if I need to access the run while the birds are in it and I want them to stay locked up, I have to slide my arm into the tiniest crack of open door and throw a bunch of seed to distract them!

 

[Clover Run]

I'm assuming you want chicks, but incase you wanted pullets... Avoid Empire Acres in Poland. Lots of sick birds when we were there earlier this year. Treatable, but...
I don't know much about the online hatcheries, but I have heard good things about Cackle and Ideal.
Tried to visit your FB page but it's saying page not found.

Thank you - yes I do want chicks. Thank you for the warning re Empire Acres. That is a little disturbing considering that Jim Green - Empire Acres is listed as the Director of the Maine Poultry Growers Association. http://www.mainepoultrygrowers.org/who-we-are


Also - here is link to my facebook farm page - I tested it so it should be good - Thanks! https://www.facebook.com/CloverRunFarm


I will look into Cackle and Ideal.

 

[ashandvine]

I agree with SCG this time around. Mc Murray has had some good birds so far but I also buy local and from breeders as often as possible, no matter what. There is a breeder of rocks in here that I know will ship eggs here in Maine or you can go pick up. Look up luvmygoats for white rocks and maybe for barred. Can't remember her long list.

 

[gracejr]

Ok, so you guys would stick with the divided pen, even though it leaves less space overall? Despite the same size in the picture, Option B gives less than half the space that having one big pen does if I'm dividing them. Or I suppose I could build the top option and add a dividing fence next year once we need it? Maybe something lightweight that I can roll away and remove when not needed? I don't plan on raising anything out in winters, so the dividing door/gate wouldn't be as big an issue since the plan is only needing it in spring/summer and maybe into the first half of fall.



Clover, link is working now. Looks nice!

 

[Clover Run]

Ok, so you guys would stick with the divided pen, even though it leaves less space overall? Despite the same size in the picture, Option B gives less than half the space that having one big pen does if I'm dividing them. Or I suppose I could build the top option and add a dividing fence next year once we need it? Maybe something lightweight that I can roll away and remove when not needed? I don't plan on raising anything out in winters, so the dividing door/gate wouldn't be as big an issue since the plan is only needing it in spring/summer and maybe into the first half of fall.
Clover, link is working now. Looks nice!

Thank you! Also - I agree with divided pen based on my limited experience. I have already had dividing issues pop up.


Ash: I sent luvmygoats a message re: rocks - thank you for letting me know. I will always support local over commercial.

 

[buckabucka]

Ok, so you guys would stick with the divided pen, even though it leaves less space overall? Despite the same size in the picture, Option B gives less than half the space that having one big pen does if I'm dividing them. Or I suppose I could build the top option and add a dividing fence next year once we need it? Maybe something lightweight that I can roll away and remove when not needed? I don't plan on raising anything out in winters, so the dividing door/gate wouldn't be as big an issue since the plan is only needing it in spring/summer and maybe into the first half of fall.



Clover, link is working now. Looks nice!

Why can't you make a divided pen using the larger dimenisions? It may be that something temporary will work best for you, but the reason I would suggest something more permanent is that you never know what may happen down the road.

I never would have anticipated seeing birds that really interested me on Craigslist in early December. After quarantining them, I was glad to have my separate area in the coop to slowly integrate them with the others. Just make it flexible (like with a door you can prop open), so that you can utilize all the space when you are not growing anything out.

Just my opinion. Have fun planning it out!

 

[gracejr]

The top layout doesn't leave me extra fence panels to divide the pen with. To have those two panels to use as the divider, the pen has to be smaller. But if I can figure something different to use as a divider, I can use all the panels I have to make the bigger pen. I have a total of eight 10' long panels and six 6' long panels to use.

 

[ducklucky]

They will hook right back up with you, when you get back, just take that bag of treats out to them, you'll be a-ok the first day. Nothing they love better than seeing those goodies coming, the reconnect right quick. Stay safe.

 

[ducklucky]

We've used McMurray for over ten years, and have always been happy,. They are more than accomodating if you have a problem. We had close to 100 at one time from them and their offspring, and this spring started Pekins. The first batch or 12 arrived with 11 DOA, and they immediately replaced them the next week, free of charge, all arrived healthy. They corresponded with us for a week or so to make sure all was well. Know there are a lot of locals who will trade or supply you with what you want, but if you are looking for something that you can't find locally, McMurray may have it. Think over the years we have ordered over 100 chicks, and only lost 2, just due to the fact they were either runts or defective, but never, ever had another issue. Really healthy chicks, you just have to use common sense and order at the right time of the year so they are not subject to too much cold or heat during their journey. You can still get a selected few even now, check their site, they let you know what is available. Many of their breeds are blue ribbon winners in various shows. Good luck and happy peeping! Just writing this makes me want to order a few, we are without a rooster right now...