I'm just hoping to vent a little frustration.
Having had ducks for almost a year now and enjoying their company (and eggs) tremendously, I had big plans for getting some egg laying chickens and a few of those Cornish Xs. Specifically Buff Orps, Barred Rocks for the egg birds. DH, whom shall from now on be referred to as Hal, was building me a house/coop.
Well, in the last couple of weeks we have determined that Hal is allergic to duck egg whites. (The yolks by themselves are yet to be tested). The things egg whites do to him are not nice. We haven't had chicken eggs in months so we don't yet know whether those cause the same problems and he'd like a couple weeks of feeling fine before we try that experiment.
So, now there is no sense in having a bunch of laying hens. I am not going to build a house for Cornish Xs that are only going to around a couple of months. So there I was thinking my chicken dreams were over until I learned of these Dark Cornish chickens, and then read a few posts about them at BYC. hmmmm
I broached the idea with Hal, who is understandably concerned that my dreams were dashed, but after all, if he can't eat eggs (and he really liked fried eggs) what was the point? But this idea of specifically raising hardy meat chickens that don't lay near as many eggs sounded like a good idea. So at this point, unless we determine he can still eat chicken eggs (just not duck, and I can't believe we'd be that lucky) it looks like I'll be getting some Dark Cornish chicks instead.
I am so glad I did not order any chicks at the feed store 2 weeks ago!!! They only sell egg layers and Cornish Xs. But the buffs and BR looked so cute! *sigh* :| And I have to wonder, are there other good meat chickens out there who aren't going to lay 200-300 eggs/year that would get along with DC and forage well (I'm planning on free ranging)?
Having had ducks for almost a year now and enjoying their company (and eggs) tremendously, I had big plans for getting some egg laying chickens and a few of those Cornish Xs. Specifically Buff Orps, Barred Rocks for the egg birds. DH, whom shall from now on be referred to as Hal, was building me a house/coop.
Well, in the last couple of weeks we have determined that Hal is allergic to duck egg whites. (The yolks by themselves are yet to be tested). The things egg whites do to him are not nice. We haven't had chicken eggs in months so we don't yet know whether those cause the same problems and he'd like a couple weeks of feeling fine before we try that experiment.
So, now there is no sense in having a bunch of laying hens. I am not going to build a house for Cornish Xs that are only going to around a couple of months. So there I was thinking my chicken dreams were over until I learned of these Dark Cornish chickens, and then read a few posts about them at BYC. hmmmm
I broached the idea with Hal, who is understandably concerned that my dreams were dashed, but after all, if he can't eat eggs (and he really liked fried eggs) what was the point? But this idea of specifically raising hardy meat chickens that don't lay near as many eggs sounded like a good idea. So at this point, unless we determine he can still eat chicken eggs (just not duck, and I can't believe we'd be that lucky) it looks like I'll be getting some Dark Cornish chicks instead.
I am so glad I did not order any chicks at the feed store 2 weeks ago!!! They only sell egg layers and Cornish Xs. But the buffs and BR looked so cute! *sigh* :| And I have to wonder, are there other good meat chickens out there who aren't going to lay 200-300 eggs/year that would get along with DC and forage well (I'm planning on free ranging)?