I never did make a formal introduction...
Anyways, hello, I'm a youngin, I suppose, just left my teen years behind me, but I have been around and working (raising) with poultry (chickens for the most part) for nearly two decades! I have had chickens since I was in diapers and even have angry rooster pecking scars to prove it! lol
I've had some experience with many types of chickens, but would like to add more breeds into my experience...
I've been selling eggs for a couple years now (and hoarding the rest for incubation) and introducing the clucky world of chickens to people. I was wondering what would be best... and wanted to see if anyone could answer my questions:
I'd really like to have a breed or two flocks of chicken every couple of years, when should I replace them? I was thinking every 3-5 years? I think 5 years is a little too long, and since egg production declines after about 2-2 1/2 years, maybe 3 years would be good to start all over again?
Where would be the best place to purchase eggs? We purchased some chicks last year from McMurrays and well, about 80-something of the 100 chicks we purchased perished... so now we're scared of purchasing from online hatcheries. I'd like to incubate, but I'm scared of spending $X amount only to end up with eggs that don't hatch. What are you experiences with online hatching eggs and do you have a hatchery you prefer?
Also, are there any exotic chicken breeds you like? I've been eyeballing marans lately (those eggs are gorgeous!).
Lastly, does anyone know where we can get red jungle fowl? Or another type of chicken breed that does well running around wild ... Our neighbors STOLE our flock and we just found out and our last hen just passed half a year ago... we're missing our jungle fowls that have lived on our farm for years (we had to relocate due to a bad storm and they ended up being stolen).
Anyways, hello, I'm a youngin, I suppose, just left my teen years behind me, but I have been around and working (raising) with poultry (chickens for the most part) for nearly two decades! I have had chickens since I was in diapers and even have angry rooster pecking scars to prove it! lol
I've had some experience with many types of chickens, but would like to add more breeds into my experience...
I've been selling eggs for a couple years now (and hoarding the rest for incubation) and introducing the clucky world of chickens to people. I was wondering what would be best... and wanted to see if anyone could answer my questions:
I'd really like to have a breed or two flocks of chicken every couple of years, when should I replace them? I was thinking every 3-5 years? I think 5 years is a little too long, and since egg production declines after about 2-2 1/2 years, maybe 3 years would be good to start all over again?
Where would be the best place to purchase eggs? We purchased some chicks last year from McMurrays and well, about 80-something of the 100 chicks we purchased perished... so now we're scared of purchasing from online hatcheries. I'd like to incubate, but I'm scared of spending $X amount only to end up with eggs that don't hatch. What are you experiences with online hatching eggs and do you have a hatchery you prefer?
Also, are there any exotic chicken breeds you like? I've been eyeballing marans lately (those eggs are gorgeous!).
Lastly, does anyone know where we can get red jungle fowl? Or another type of chicken breed that does well running around wild ... Our neighbors STOLE our flock and we just found out and our last hen just passed half a year ago... we're missing our jungle fowls that have lived on our farm for years (we had to relocate due to a bad storm and they ended up being stolen).