OHio ~ Come on Buckeyes, let me know your out there!

[RunningRabbit]

Hello, all! Add Lancaster to the list of BYC Ohioans

Am just getting started incubating button quail and hoping to move up to chickens, as I plan of gifting them to an uncle, who had his entire flock of chickens taken by foxes. But quail first. I will shamelessly admit I am smitten by button quails. Love at first sight type of thing.

Any chicken breed recommendations? His chickens were a bunch of mixed breeds, but laid eggs like champs. I'd like to find some birds that really stand out from his previous flock, and lay just as consistently as his previous birds.

 

[blessedchick]

My layers are a beautiful group of Buff Orp, Austrolorp, Brown Leghorn, Barred Rock, and EE. My Buff Orp and Barred Rock have been the most consistent layers, starting young and laying just about every day. And they are crazy friendly, too! (but then...all my girls are crazy friendly...crazy spoiled...)

On another note...Does anyone know of any local backyard chicken groups in Ohio? It would be so fun to get together with fellow feathered friends to socialize and compare notes on raising chickens. Anybody know of some??? One???

 

[loanwizard]

Anytime y'all want to come out to Coshocton, our little 4 acre farm is open. Just be prepared 8 dogs, 85-100 layers, 100-200 meat birds in the summer and 10 or so hogs at any one time, plus a goose.

Breeds are just personal preferences. Most of the breeds are hardy enough for Ohio winters with no heat. Water can be a pain but it is what it is.

If you get Buckeyes and want contrast, Rhode Island Reds look about the same.

Barred Rocks look different, Buff Orpingtons are nice, Golden Comet/Sex Link are great layers, I have eggs, I incubate, my eggs are fertile but I only market straight run hybrids as all my birds free range.

Thanks,

Shawn

 

[KirstenJL]

My layers are a beautiful group of Buff Orp, Austrolorp, Brown Leghorn, Barred Rock, and EE. My Buff Orp and Barred Rock have been the most consistent layers, starting young and laying just about every day. And they are crazy friendly, too! (but then...all my girls are crazy friendly...crazy spoiled...)

On another note...Does anyone know of any local backyard chicken groups in Ohio? It would be so fun to get together with fellow feathered friends to socialize and compare notes on raising chickens. Anybody know of some??? One???

I don't know of any groups, but I think that's great idea. I just went to the Southern Ohio Poultry Association's fall show last weekend in Lucasville, and everyone was so nice and friendly. Plus, they served a free lunch to everyone on the grounds. I'm somewhat new to this, and I have only one other "chicken person" in my life to compare notes with, so I'd love to hear how others do it. And I think I'm just up the road from you!

 

[blessedchick]

I don't know of any groups, but I think that's great idea. I just went to the Southern Ohio Poultry Association's fall show last weekend in Lucasville, and everyone was so nice and friendly. Plus, they served a free lunch to everyone on the grounds. I'm somewhat new to this, and I have only one other "chicken person" in my life to compare notes with, so I'd love to hear how others do it. And I think I'm just up the road from you!

Cool! Where are you, Kirsten??? I'm in Cardington/Marengo area. I would love to work at getting a group together or a social meet-up for people to get together to compare flocks!

Any volunteers??

 

[Marengoite]

Ok! Buckeyes are definitely on my list to get this spring. I like their temperament and ability to handle the 'buckeye winters'.
We want a bit of variety also. Right now we are looking at 2 buckeyes + 2 others + 2 others. Any suggestions? We're thinking maybe some RI Reds or Wyandottes or ??
There are too many choices.
Calm quiet friendly layers for us.

Right now I have 6 Buckeye hens and a Buckeye roo, 2 Barred rock hens and a BR roo, 1 Golden comet hen, 4 Silver Spangled Hamburg hens and 5 SSH roos. If I were limited like you were, I'd do 2 Buckeyes, 2 Barred Rocks, and 2 Wyandottes or Buff Orpingtons for a nice mixed flock of brown egg layers. This will give you a nice colored flock and mostly good girls that will get along with each other and not be too fussy, depending on the individuals. If you want to order from a single source, you might look at Meyer since they handle small orders. The trick would be to find all three breeds available at the same time. I suggest Meyer because I like to keep dollars in the state and they're good folks. If you wanted to buy from breeders, you might check Craigslist and see what's available. You might have to drive around a bit to find what you want. But, if you don't mind spending the money, you can get some very nice birds, and probably well started at the Ohio National Poultry Show next month. Just google Ohio National dot org.

 

[Marengoite]

My layers are a beautiful group of Buff Orp, Austrolorp, Brown Leghorn, Barred Rock, and EE. My Buff Orp and Barred Rock have been the most consistent layers, starting young and laying just about every day. And they are crazy friendly, too! (but then...all my girls are crazy friendly...crazy spoiled...)

On another note...Does anyone know of any local backyard chicken groups in Ohio? It would be so fun to get together with fellow feathered friends to socialize and compare notes on raising chickens. Anybody know of some??? One???

Hey, Leslie, we still haven't had a meet-up yet, have we? I think we should just all come over to your house, LOL.

I'm thinking of building a home made incubator this winter out of some spare cabinets we have lying around, using some of the plans here at BYC. I'm going to try my hand at hatching out some Buckeyes and Buckeye x Barred Rocks. If I get it up and running and if I manage to hatch out some chicks, would you be interested in some next spring? I would have to sell the Buckeyes as straight run, but the Buckeye X BRs should be sex-linked at hatch and I would be able to (hopefully) guarantee you hybrid pullets, that if all goes according to plan, will be good layers of brown eggs.

 

[blessedchick]

Hey, Leslie, we still haven't had a meet-up yet, have we? I think we should just all come over to your house, LOL.

I'm thinking of building a home made incubator this winter out of some spare cabinets we have lying around, using some of the plans here at BYC. I'm going to try my hand at hatching out some Buckeyes and Buckeye x Barred Rocks. If I get it up and running and if I manage to hatch out some chicks, would you be interested in some next spring? I would have to sell the Buckeyes as straight run, but the Buckeye X BRs should be sex-linked at hatch and I would be able to (hopefully) guarantee you hybrid pullets, that if all goes according to plan, will be good layers of brown eggs.

Absolutely!!! Everyone is always welcome at my farm to talk chicken/horse/llama/anything! If anyone is heading past Cardington/Marengo on their way south to Nationals in C-bus please feel free to stop by! Just PM me for directions...WOO-HOO!

Keep me posted on that incubator and if you need any test eggs I've got plenty. And I just might entertain the idea of some Buckeyes joining my layer flock - they need a bit of the OSU spirit!

 

[CSYohman]

Hey all, I'm from Jefferson County, near Amsterdam. Currently raising 9 hens, but looking to add a roo and maybe another hen this weekend as I'm in Lucasville for the Fall Swap Days. Nice to meet some fellow Ohioans!

 

[KirstenJL]

Cool! Where are you, Kirsten??? I'm in Cardington/Marengo area. I would love to work at getting a group together or a social meet-up for people to get together to compare flocks!

Any volunteers??

I'm right near Pulaskiville. I drive through Cardington everyday on my way to work. We should definitely get a group together! I have a mixed flock of hatchery birds, and I got started in true Araucanas this past summer.