Not A Poll Just Curious

[OzarkCountryGirl]

We're just starting out this year but looking at what would be required for making longer-term sustainable flock plans... this sounds really good. Wondering how the artificial incubator system works vs waiting for broody hens to do the work - are you doing it this way to more precisely control the outcomes? Do you sell the hatches?

I do both incubator and broody. I just finshed my last incubator hatch for the year this week (that's the idea anyway, ). I've a little Serama hen that is currently brooding guinea keets she hatched out, and I've another broody girl that I'm getting ready to set a few bearded Silkie eggs under. I do sell, but only locally.

 

[Krazikatlady64]

I love the mixed flock, but don't breed. Barred rocks, buff Orrington, RIR. Easter Eggers, Americana.

 

[Ponypoor]

Do you enjoy/have a mixed flock of different breeds or do you keep one breed? Me, I like to have at the most 2 breeds keeping them segregated and rotating free range. At this time I have Blk Aus but the pull of getting back to some RIRs , my all time favorite is really gnawing at me.

I have some 'pure' bred birds, and many 'mutts' - I enjoy them all and they are all thrown in together and have a merry old time - from the youngest at 6 weeks to the oldest at 7 years.

 

[Mrs. K]

I have tried at different times over the years to pick a breed, and go for a pure bred group. I would find a breed, do the research, be positive, that this just might be the breed for me...only to find not so much.

I do have a hard predator problem, and tend to get the birds I can get. I truly love a mixed flock best.

 

[RisingPhoenixFarms]

I have a mixed bunch mostly because i couldn't decide on just one breed but mostly speckled sussex. I have 5 speckled sussex hens and 1 rooster, 1 Black Copper Maran, 2 Rhode Island Red, 2 Barred Rock and 2 Novogen's. The novogens are my layers, i want to breed the speckled sussex and the others are my dual purpose whom i may breed to create 'largish' barnyard mixes specifically for meat. Except for my black copper maran (my first ever chicken) non of them are safe from the chopping block if their behaviors dictate it.

 

[tangled_yarn]

Mixed! Our original flock, of six pullets, was a mix of Buff Orpingtons, RIRs, and EEs. The next year, I got 12 Ayam Cemani eggs shipped, got 6 to hatch, and kept 3 pullets. That's who we have in our "big girl coop" right now.

This year, I ordered a mix of Silkies and Seramas, 11 total, which I got at the end of March. I ended up with 14, got an extra Serama and two bantam Wyandottes as well. We lost one Serama and one Silkie, so our total of "littles" is 12, 7 pullets and 5 cockerels. They're just about 20 weeks old now, and we are finishing up a bachelor coop for the boys. Hopefully it will work out, I do love my boys!

I can't see myself ever deciding on one breed, or even a few. I love all the ones I have, for different reasons. The big girls are so funny to watch and give us lots of great eggs. I'm thinking of adding a couple of Copper Marans next year to get some more egg variety. The Silkies are so funny looking, I laugh just watching them doing regular chicken things because they look like muppets in my yard. And the Seramas are so tiny and friendly. I'd love some bantam Cochins!

We don't sell eggs or birds generally (the occasional cockerel), and I'm not intending to breed any of them any time soon. They're fun and they make me happy, plus my kids love them and also eggs.

 

[Egg Snatcher]

Do you enjoy/have a mixed flock of different breeds or do you keep one breed? Me, I like to have at the most 2 breeds keeping them segregated and rotating free range. At this time I have Blk Aus but the pull of getting back to some RIRs , my all time favorite is really gnawing at me.

I keep both a mixed flock and purebreds of bantams. With my mixed flocks I love the colors, combs, and different body structures form the mixing. My flock consists of mixed bantams and a few purebred hen that don’t have a purebred rooster to go with them. I also keep a small standard mixed flock that consists of 2 purebred buff laced polish hens, 7 mixed naked neck frizzles, and a Brown red naked neck roo. I do breed purebreds like, Mille Fleur D’Uccles, OEB, and Silkies. I’ve recently started breeding brown red Japanese to save the color.
I keep a mixed bachelor pen of mixed bantam rooster (for mixed flock) several different purebred bantam Roos, rooster I’m going to sell and project roos.

I do mix all my hens into one pen if I am going to be leaving for vacation so it make i easier to take care of them for the person taking care of them.

 

[Chicalina]

I love hearing about all these experiences.
Like others, I keep a rainbow flock. No two birds ever the same. I've got a few breeds, adding more, and still looking to next year and what I might have then!

 

[Tahai]

I like a rainbow egg basket, and I like to get to know each individual hen well. Having mixed flocks allows for both.