NY chicken lover!!!!

[Beer can]

Devona, they're black straight through, meat, organs, tounge. GFF calls them the 'Lamborghini' of the chicken world. About five yrs ago they were selling $5,000 for a breeding pair. I think until last yr they were $2,000. Now chicks I think are $200. Not something you want a predator or neighbors cat to eat.
Silkies have black meat also, not as black as cemanis. The one I processed the other day, a rooster had black meat but the organs were not, gizzard partly black. Pretty neat and they say the fibromelistic meat has health benefits.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Oh no worries! Spending that much on chickens is definitely not for everybody, and anyone who's used to seeing chicks at $2 each would be startled by the $200 a chick price I just knew I had to have them as soon as I saw them and I don't have any kids or anything that I would spend the money on otherwise so I indulge myself with my birds

And yes, they are completely black, feathers, legs, combs, wattles, toenails, meat, organs, and bones.

budget wise I love the $2 birds, I do have 5 kids though. I do plan on getting 1 rare breed eventually though. I have no clue which though.

You do the cemanis, PhoredaBurds and someone else have the spitzhauben. So I want to get something not already being brought back by this group. Maybe if enough of us take on one specialty breed we can bring back a lot of the great ones and bring prices down a bit.

 

[rancher hicks]

Hmmmm.... An incubator. Hatch my own..... Don't put such ideas into my head! My husband would have a fit! There are already too many critters here. All I want is two hens. Just to keep chick company and give us some eggs until the babies are old enough to lay in the summer. Did I mention my backyard is tiny? With concrete on the bottom? Nowhere for the poor creatures to forage. I do have a raised garden bed and that's where I put chick to scratch around. My mom is around the corner and has a bigger yard with real dirt and weeds and bushes in the garden. I would like to take my chickens over there in the spring, but she's somewhat resistant to the idea. She is envisioning smelly chicken poop all over her yard. Plus it would be a lot of work to fetch them back and forth each day. She's afraid if I leave them there at night, people will steal them.

Well now I hatch and what I don't want in chicks I just sell cheap or give them away. This past hatch I kept two out of seven. I'm sure you'll find takers in Queens.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

At one time I'd hope to get a pullet to add to my EE's.  They do lay nice colored eggs. 

I want EE in my flock. I have a friend who wants a colorful egg basket. Plus I "need" more variety in my flock until I can decide on just 1 breed.

 

[Devona]

That's why I wanted the Ameracaunas chicken girl. For the colorful eggs. I would love to pick up different colored eggs every day from various chickens. Maybe some day....

 

[BakerzDozen]

@BakerzDozen Don't quote me on this, I'm no expert, I'd go ahead and feed them the scratch. I did for awhile once to save $. Fermented the scratch, three days. They had oyster shell free choice and I gave them whole ground fish and condensed whey for extra protein and dandalion greens for vitamins, have kale now. I didn't notice any change in growth in the dozen cockerels or egg production/quality in the pullets.
You can get two pound bags of dry pinto beans for a dollar at real dollar stores for added protein, soak and cook them first, I've done this also.
None of this is recommended I'm sure, but do what we have to.
I hear too much corn makes them fat and not lay good, winter time though I don't think the extra carbs will hurt.

I ordered fish protein, kelp for micro nutrients, and bulk split peas. additionally I read a bunch of blogs about homemade chicken feed.
The scratch isn't actually that bad... the worst is the cracked corn but it has groats (whole oats) shelled BOSS, whole wheat seed too & a couple I couldn't identify maybe millet.
I'm getting out my old food processor and pulsing them into a better consistency. Then putting it in a glass jar on my counter to ferment. I use chlorinated tap water but it only take 24hours for the chlorine to evaporate out of it since my girls eat FF everyday I end up feeding half of what they normally would eat.
A few of the toxic garden plants I have found in my yard and was surprised by were Hydrangeas, Irises, morning glories, sweet peas any of the night shade plants like white potato, tomatoes, eggplant, Azaleas rhododendron, daffodils, philodendron, and of course foxglove. I think my chickens that were poisoned it happen with the neighbors sweet peas. .

We lost 2 of the 4 chicks that were recently hatched but the other 2 are strong and full of vigor. The 2 that passed didn't seem as healthy from the get go. They were much tinier even though I used all the same size eggs 2 from each chicken and one of each has passed and the other remains alive and thriving so much so they are driving their broody mom crazy... she gets one tucked and the other runs away then the process is repeated.
My husband is through the surgery but they have kept him another day because his pain is unmanageable even with alternating 4 different narcotics...hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Welcome to the newbies. And hello to everyone else, I am off to bed now as I am exhausted.

 

[Beer can]

budget wise I love the $2 birds, I do have 5 kids though. I do plan on getting 1 rare breed eventually though. I have no clue which though.

You do the cemanis, PhoredaBurds and someone else have the spitzhauben. So I want to get something not already being brought back by this group. Maybe if enough of us take on one specialty breed we can bring back a lot of the great ones and bring prices down a bit.

PhoredaBurds posted a couple weeks ago cemanis IMO at a decent price, half the price of chicks, chicks can up and die, eggs are cheaper but a crap shoot. I begged dw but she thinks a vacation for the kids is more important, (she said more than that, like I paid less for the car I drive...who cares! it runs!) dw complains about the feed bill, we spend a lot on three dogs, they ain't giving us any eggs, we can't eat them!...
'Specialty breed' why I chose white giants and red sussex, to help save the breeds and supply good eggs and meat for the family, not $ makers, they are not the 'new fad' nobody wants them, but I'm not in it for that. Nobody has them, not good ones anyway. The red sussex I've only found two places that have them, SandHill where I got mine and Waltz's Ark Ranch, was going to put up the link to Waltz's Ark but it was a page...on my laptop...why? Waltz's Ark has some great rare breeds and I think their breeding practices are good. I plan on buying another line of red sussex from them next yr to add to the ones I have.

I want EE in my flock. I have a friend who wants a colorful egg basket. Plus I "need" more variety in my flock until I can decide on just 1 breed.

I bought EE, welsummers, B leghorns, and a variety from Meyers, only kept one polish from the 'mystery chickens', rest were cockerels except for one dark cornish pullet a predator ate. Believe it or not the EE are the best layers out of them. The only ones I plan on keeping, focusing on the giants and sussex, I can't get rid of my best laying EE that lays olive, or the two EE/welsummer cross pullets she hatched out this summer, they are super pretty.

 

[Gramma Chick]

That's why I wanted the Ameracaunas chicken girl. For the colorful eggs. I would love to pick up different colored eggs every day from various chickens. Maybe some day....

Your welcome ....Do you have a pic of them ? tell him old hens are worth 5.00...it is less of a gamble that way .
The chicks... could keep Chick company . longs they are not in the same pen .

 

[Devona]

This is the pic he has on the ad.

 

[Devona]

Not the best pic. I managed to enlarge it a bit