NY chicken lover!!!!

[marquisella]

 


Lynzie how is your pool working? I know you did a lot of work on it. I live on a limestone bed, and we had, they say, 5 hand dug wells on the property, long ago for the cow farm, We found one under the patio, and the water height was higher than the top of our cellar ceiling. So, I'm thinking if I can convince hubby to connect the back hoe to the tractor, we could dig a little pond and it would fill up with water naturally. Only thing is it would have to have some kind of run off contraption...dunno.

This is just what mine does, I have water  that runs off from the spring in the mountain, never stops running, never freezes and this is what comes into the pond and exits the pond. The pond is going to need some updating this Spring. Lots of mud has sunk into it from the edges, it's become wider because of this and has caused rocks to fall in, edges to droop, it's just a mess right now. I've already done a temporary fix on it once. :/  

What I know about ponds and it's not much is they need rocks. Around the edges to stop the ducks from eroding the banks just from going in and out. Also I read that the edge should be straight down without any slope so they don't erode. You could put a ramp in it for them to climb out on instead of ruining the edge trying to get out

 

[stonykill]

I guess it depends on the breed. I have Indian Runner and Khaki Campbells. the KC's are suppose to lay as many as 300 eggs per year while the Indian Runner can vary anywhere between 100-300. (this is according to efowl.com's website) There is another site that lists the breeds better and gives you their personality rating, egg laying, broodiness, etc side by side. Just can't think of it right now. I got my ducks last year and they hadn't begun to lay yet before winter. I got 3-4 from my KC hen but then that was it. I'm sure they're waiting for warmer weather. I'll be able to answer the egg laying question better when mine start laying. So as far as your questions about hatching eggs, no I do not sell them because I have not gotten any yet. LOL But once I gather some for my own incubator I would probably consider it seeing as how we probably wont eat them as often as we eat the chicken eggs.

Here is the breed comparison chart I was referring to:

http://www.metzerfarms.com/DuckBreedComparison.cfm?CustID=2119561

You'll see also that the egg laying estimate is different on this site than what I read on efowl.com. I really think it all depends on the bird, where they are housed, what their lifestyle is like, what they are being fed, etc.

from my experience that chart sucks eggs. My Fawn and white are EXCELLENT mothers. Listed as poor to fair. They lay more eggs, at least mine to than stated. My Pekins are egg laying FOOLS!
We eat duck eggs just like we eat chicken eggs. Sell as many fawn and white hatching eggs as I can and sell the balance as eating eggs locally.

My experience has been the so called "experts" who have these massive farms or hatcheries have absolutely NO CLUE as to what a breed of bird can do or does.
My ducks haven't restarted yet either Lynzi. They will soon enough. The days are getting longer. Mine usually start back up very late January or early February. My lone Khaki girl laid like a fool this fall. She is not yet a year old. Can't wait for her to start in again.
During peak egg laying time last year I had 9 laying runners. Got 7 to 9 eggs a day. Those girls made me a nice chunk of $$$$$$$. $22 plus shipping for 7 hatching eggs. Gotta love it.

 

[Glasshen]

Seven eggs today! That means half the girls made eggs today! Very exciting. I met a chicken person at JaAnn Fabric! She is the sewing machine manager...I think my machine is toast. May have to buy a new one. I've only had it since 1976.

 

[Lynzi777]

from my experience that chart sucks eggs. My Fawn and white are EXCELLENT mothers. Listed as poor to fair. They lay more eggs, at least mine to than stated. My Pekins are egg laying FOOLS!
We eat duck eggs just like we eat chicken eggs. Sell as many fawn and white hatching eggs as I can and sell the balance as eating eggs locally.

My experience has been the so called "experts" who have these massive farms or hatcheries have absolutely NO CLUE as to what a breed of bird can do or does.
My ducks haven't restarted yet either Lynzi. They will soon enough. The days are getting longer. Mine usually start back up very late January or early February. My lone Khaki girl laid like a fool this fall. She is not yet a year old. Can't wait for her to start in again.
During peak egg laying time last year I had 9 laying runners. Got 7 to 9 eggs a day. Those girls made me a nice chunk of $$$$$$$. $22 plus shipping for 7 hatching eggs. Gotta love it.

That why I have to kinda chuckle at the charts because I know some a greater layers than stated, and some are greater mothers than stated - yours being a perfect example. And I've also seen on youtube some are not so nervous as stated. So there ya go...another reason NOT to follow the "experts".


Stony - how do duck hatching eggs do when shipped?

 

[Cass]

When the day comes and we build our next home, I have plans to have a barn built along with it! THEN I can hatch out more because I'll have the space for it. I can't imagine what I'd do with 25 chicks if I had that many hatch out and I couldn't sell them. But yea if I had the space, then I'd be all for hatching that many at a time.

My dream barn is long and low with pens for each breed of chicken I want to keep. Outside each section of the barn, corresponding to the width of the indoor pens would be a large run. Then I would do like Annie does. Let one breed out each day to free range. Kinda like true breeders must have. Then I would have 6 or 7 breeds of chicken and several breeds of ducks. And maybe an Emu. Or two.

 

[Cass]

Ducks, they like to bathe! A dog to protect the chickens, maybe a horse. The goal isn't to raise and sell animals, it's to raise animals to be able to cook and sell the cooked food. One cow for milk, but idk, cows terrify me, they're huge and scary. I can't imagine trying to help a cow give birth to a calf. I got close to an Alpaca once and was shaking in my shoes! They are scary big animals too. I was praying the whole time that it didn't bite me. We planned to start slow, see how it goes with a chicken first and move forward from there. So far, we really love the chickens! We're new to this whole farming thing. We tend to be more of indoor people. Any advice is great. I read all those replys about dirt. Looks like our Dyson's will be working overtime!

All the folks on this chicken forum have been wonderful! Fabulous people here!

There are miniature versions of almost all animals. Try goat's milk from a goat farmer and see if you can wrap your taste buds around it. If you can, then that might solve the cow problem. Remember cows have to be bred to have milk....which means you now have one of two things, either another animal to take care of, or one you have to sell/butcher. (A lot of male calves become veal) Vet bills are smaller for goats and even goats come in miniature versions.

And goats have droppings that look like berries, not huge plops of poo. And if you get the right breed of goat, you will have no problem selling the offspring....goats are IN right now.

If goat's milk doesn't turn you on there are minature cows. Seriously. About half the size of regular cows and twice the cost to purchase. (I want one soooooo bad. Ray says "and who is going to milk it, cuz I am too tall to get down that far. LOL ) FYI: http://www.bigpictureagriculture.com/2011/10/ten-miniature-cattle-breeds-for-your.html And cows don't bite, but they will step on your foot....they make it look like an accident, but I am sure they do it on purpose. First thing I learned about cows was to stay away from the back end.

And if you are going to bake, then you definately want ducks. I understand that duck eggs are the cat's meow for cake making. Ask Stony what breed of ducks lay eggs for the longest part of the year. (Some are seasonal layers, some aren't)

 

[Cass]

Well trying to learn how to crochet and so far I don't think I'm doing it right. I can make a straight line like no other but let me try and link it back and build another row and eh not so good. So if anyone needs straight lines let me know im your guy lol.

The trick to turning is to make an extra loop or two at the end of your chain to allow for the height of the return stiches. ( l love to use a double crochet stitch so I have to chain 2 at the end of each row to turn otherwise I wind up with a triangle. Good trick of you are making a shawl, not so good for a scarf)

 

[Lynzi777]

There are miniature versions of almost all animals. Try goat's milk from a goat farmer and see if you can wrap your taste buds around it. If you can, then that might solve the cow problem. Remember cows have to be bred to have milk....which means you now have one of two things, either another animal to take care of, or one you have to sell/butcher. (A lot of male calves become veal) Vet bills are smaller for goats and even goats come in miniature versions.

And goats have droppings that look like berries, not huge plops of poo. And if you get the right breed of goat, you will have no problem selling the offspring....goats are IN right now.

If goat's milk doesn't turn you on there are minature cows. Seriously. About half the size of regular cows and twice the cost to purchase. (I want one soooooo bad. Ray says "and who is going to milk it, cuz I am too tall to get down that far. LOL ) FYI: http://www.bigpictureagriculture.com/2011/10/ten-miniature-cattle-breeds-for-your.html And cows don't bite, but they will step on your foot....they make it look like an accident, but I am sure they do it on purpose. (

!!!) First thing I learned about cows was to stay away from the back end.

And if you are going to bake, then you definately want ducks. I understand that duck eggs are the cat's meow for cake making. Ask Stony what breed of ducks lay eggs for the longest part of the year. (Some are seasonal layers, some aren't)

I want goats, but I would LOVE a mini cow!

Edited to add - One that is on my Must Have List is the Scottish Highland Cow - that's one I really want some day! Love 'em!

 

[stonykill]

Stony - how do duck hatching eggs do when shipped?

as with any shipped eggs it is a gamble. I have had people hatch 6 of 7 and had people ball me out saying I sold them infertile eggs cause none hatched. When I had hatches going on. Depends on distance traveled. each individual PO , temps, far too many variables. My personal thoughts are if you get a 30% hatch on shipped eggs you did good. AND DO NOT LISTEN to that Fresh eggs daily chick who CLAIMS to get 100% hatches EVERYTIME because she uses xyz bator. She is full of egg yolks. I finally had to block her from my chicken page. She kept spamming me from page after page after page.

 

[Lynzi777]

as with any shipped eggs it is a gamble. I have had people hatch 6 of 7 and had people ball me out saying I sold them infertile eggs cause none hatched. When I had hatches going on. Depends on distance traveled. each individual PO , temps, far too many variables. My personal thoughts are if you get a 30% hatch on shipped eggs you did good. AND DO NOT LISTEN to that Fresh eggs daily chick who CLAIMS to get 100% hatches EVERYTIME because she uses xyz bator. She is full of egg yolks. I finally had to block her from my chicken page. She kept spamming me from page after page after page.

Well that's reasonable. Just like these silkie eggs I had shipped to me. I'm down to two and I'm happy with that because if the two hatch - that's less I have to find homes for! Would I have liked to have hatched more? Sure, but they were shipped so I'm lucky to have gotten those 2. If it weren't so cold out that week I probably wouldn't have lost that many but that was a risk I was willing to take.