NY chicken lover!!!!

[happyhensny]

Hello, this will be my first time raising chikens, I have gotten tons of ideas for coops...I wanted to know what is the best laying breed to start with? I had chickens many years ago but I cannot remember what we had. (they were all black) I found some helpful tips on rasing happy chickens. Any help anyone can give would be great.. We live in North Central Pennsylvania...so we get snow and rain and hot summers...Thanks!!!!! 

Black Australorps. They lay the best out of all the birds I own. And I own quite a few.

Shipping out eggs on Monday for the swap. Thinking about what to send, depends on who decides to lay. The BA's always seem to come through but I want to send something "funner". Just have to wait and see.

Ducks are so totally cute and fun. But boy-o-boy are they messy. I tried to have them in with the chickens but they slobber water all over inside the pens. Then the shavings turn to ice blocks. Wish I had a different set-up or knew how to deal with them better. We only have 3 Mandarins. No quacking out of them either. Strange drumming an squeaks.

 

[horsekeeper]

There is a lot of information in this site and the internet about muscovies. They are a South American tree duck unrelated to farm duck breeds that are Mallard based. If you breed muscovies with other ducks the offspring are infertile mules. Muscovies are not as eager to swim as other breeds and are more of a shore bird. In the wild they lay their eggs in hollows in trees. They also fly way better than other ducks and can climb well with the clawed feet. You have to be careful when handling them because of the razor sharp claws. Even little ducklings can get you and it is like being clawed by a cat. Nevertheless, they have great personalities and seem way smarter than other ducks.

Here's Hunk the head drake:



And Brownie, the first hen to hatch a surprise batch of ducklings. I didn't think the eggs were fertile

.



Both are very friendly and wag their tails when they see me coming to visit their pen. They did well this winter outside in their small house with an enclosed run. A moderately sized rubber water pan kept them happy and was easy to break the ice out of. I feed them 16% chicken layer pellets. The ducklings are big enough to process at 8-10 weeks and the males are huge by 3-4 months.

When the babies were small I had to go away for a week for work and when I got home the babies in the picture had doubled in size.

 

[rancher hicks]

hummm, i have always read that muscovies were a breed seperate and unto itself, where did you read that, i would be very interested in exploring that source, thanks

Storey's poulty breed book.

 

[stonykill]

Storey's poulty breed book.

in the old timer circles and threads the Storey's books have a reputation for a ton of bad and wrong information.

 

[rancher hicks]

in the old timer circles and threads the Storey's books have a reputation for a ton of bad and wrong information.

Well now I don't know who these old timers are so I'll have to go with Storey's. I would think Storey's has done some research? I don't have time to research these things myself.

Quite frankly It doesn't matter as to whether or not I get ducks.

 

[stonykill]

Well now I don't know who these old timers are so I'll have to go with Storey's. I would think Storey's has done some research? I don't have time to research these things myself.

Quite frankly It doesn't matter as to whether or not I get ducks.

just passing along what I'm told. Thought that might be helpful information. Just because it was put in print does not mean it is accurate. Lots of stuff that makes the front page of BYC in their articles are seriously void of real world facts

 

[mderby48]

Hi everyone! Happy Friday! Does anyone have a white leghorn rooster they want to get rid of? I have 25 leghorn hens and would like a rooster or two so next year we can hatch our own chicks rather than buying them. Thanks in advance!

 

[Tab's chicken obsession]

I will answer for her

...it could be awhile before she is back on.. I believe it is the 1st of Oct. Let's all hope for a beautiful and handsome boy!

You're right it is Oct. 1. My first appointment is monday at just over 9 weeks along.

 

[Tab's chicken obsession]

Going to call TSC today and see if they have any leghorns in. The few production girls we have are 2 years old now so we're looking to get a few younger white egg layers for the general layer flock.

The girls aren't meeting the demand right now with egg orders and us wanting to set another hatch. I don't want to wait any longer for spring. I'm ready right now.

 

[Lapeerian]

Going to call TSC today and see if they have any leghorns in.  The few production girls we have are 2 years old now so we're looking to get a few younger white egg layers for the general layer flock.

The girls aren't meeting the demand right now with egg orders and us wanting to set another hatch.  I don't want to wait any longer for spring.  I'm ready right now.

Think we are heading to Cortland this morn to get some primer at Lowes. Make a stop at CM to pick up seed starter while it's on sale, then may just stop at TSC to take a look. Just look, must not bring any home. The chick pic Travis posted on FB is so tempting, those gold-blue cuckoo maran are cute and would add a dark egg layer to the flock.
Our girls have been laying great, got little over 3 doz sitting in our fridge right now. And our sole customer said he would buy as many as we got. His hens are laying too, but he buys ours also to give to his grown children each week. Had egg salad sandwiches for lunch this week too, yummy.
Spring can show up any time now. We had ideal temps for the sap to flow last week, but the ground is still too frozen. Maple producers need a good run this month, Maple Fest is April 13 & 14.