***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Ginger Assassin]

Silkies have to have a completely enclosed pen. They have a hard time seeing because of their fluff on their heads. You also have to trim their nails. Also if you are breeding you have to trim the males rears so they can do their job. I have some of Betsy's hens and they are just beautiful. They are not a cheap breed to breed. I personally feed my flock very well. Oats fodder egg shells. Egg pellets and fancy scratch. Plus they get to free range and have a grass area in their pen.
Hope that helps

thank you

 

[ceocka]

here is a pic of my blur roo emitt who is being shy

 

[ceocka]

fezzik \ ruby butter cup wesley indigo candy corn rufio candy corn and carmel some of my guys and galls.

Beautiful polish. I love them and have some myself but you have way more than I do. So jealous

Here is a bad pic of one of my girls.

 

[NanaKat]

these are the chickens my DH and i are thinking about. in addition to these we would like some olive eggers as well.
what is everyone person experience with these breeds? where would be a good place to get these breeds? i would like to stay more local, but if i cant, well then i cant. also how well do these breeds do in a mixed flock? and if i were to add a roo into the mix what would be the best kind of roo to get? added note: we are planning on getting 2 of each breed, possibly 3 of each breed.

Ameraucana
Australorp
Barnevelder-maybe
Delaware
Leghorn-my Grandfather in law says it is a must
Transylvanian Naked Neck- still trying to convince the DH
New Hampshire Red
Russian Orloff-(they are sooo pretty and i have Russian ancestry)
Orpingtons
Sussex
Welsumer
Wyandotte- maybe

I have Australorps...make great layers, good mothers and get along with other breeds.

Delawares are hard to find....KathyinMo has some beautiful Delawares that she "re-invented" by starting with the original breeds and followed the old timers "recipe" You can see her birds on the Heritage thread. I loved the three I used to have. Very calm

Welsummers are good egg layers and make a lovely meat bird. Several folks her in Oklahoma have them.

I love my Wyandotte. Nice egg layers, calm disposition, good meat birds. They also get along with other breeds.

Depending on what you are doing with them...just a nice bunch of layers/pets...and you don't plan to show or sell chicks, then you will wnt a rooster from a breed with a nice disposition.


Atwoods in Shawnee has an excess of chicks in and this is their last order for the season from Ideal. They have a variety of hatchery breeds including RIR, Australorp, Red Sex Link, and many others....about 250 or better in number. They also had white and bronze turkey poults, Bantams, ducks and geese.

 

[KHaws]

I have Australorps...make great layers, good mothers and get along with other breeds.

Delawares are hard to find....KathyinMo has some beautiful Delawares that she "re-invented" by starting with the original breeds and followed the old timers "recipe" You can see her birds on the Heritage thread. I loved the three I used to have. Very calm

Welsummers are good egg layers and make a lovely meat bird. Several folks her in Oklahoma have them.

I love my Wyandotte. Nice egg layers, calm disposition, good meat birds. They also get along with other breeds.

Depending on what you are doing with them...just a nice bunch of layers/pets...and you don't plan to show or sell chicks, then you will wnt a rooster from a breed with a nice disposition.


Atwoods in Shawnee has an excess of chicks in and this is their last order for the season from Ideal. They have a variety of hatchery breeds including RIR, Australorp, Red Sex Link, and many others....about 250 or better in number. They also had white and bronze turkey poults, Bantams, ducks and geese.

thank you for the information. i probably will not sell any of them.. mainly just for eggs for my family and extended family. and some for the meat. i know they will not get as big as meat birds, but i like the sound of DP birds better.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

these are the chickens my DH and i are thinking about. in addition to these we would like some olive eggers as well.
what is everyone person experience with these breeds? where would be a good place to get these breeds? i would like to stay more local, but if i cant, well then i cant. also how well do these breeds do in a mixed flock? and if i were to add a roo into the mix what would be the best kind of roo to get? added note: we are planning on getting 2 of each breed, possibly 3 of each breed.

Ameraucana
Australorp
Barnevelder-maybe
Delaware
Leghorn-my Grandfather in law says it is a must
Transylvanian Naked Neck- still trying to convince the DH
New Hampshire Red
Russian Orloff-(they are sooo pretty and i have Russian ancestry)
Orpingtons
Sussex
Welsumer
Wyandotte- maybe

I have 5 Ameracuanas. My laying hen is one of my sweetest birds and squats for me everytime I get near her. She is great with my kids and lays at least 4 large eggs a week. The other 4 are juveniles and one is a roo so we will see. Australorps and Orpingtons are great and are some of my favorites. They both lay well (Australorp is a little better). They don't fly very well if at all and are vunerable to predators (my neighbors dogs). My Wyandotte is a little standoffish but she was already laying when I got her so I don't think she was socialized. I have 2 juveniles that are much more tolerant to being handled. I have a pair of juvenile Delawares and so far they are great. They had them at Atwoods early in the season. I also have 2 juvenile Speckled Sussex that I like a lot. They seem to be a little undersized or slow to mature but are sweethearts. My brown Leghorn is a great layer but it very skittish. I may sell her when all the juveniles start laying. She's very pretty and lays almost daily but I prefer a bird I can interact with and that I don't have to chase around for 20 minutes to give her a check-up. All of my Roos are juveniles so I can help there yet. I can keep you posted on how they turn out if you like. I have 6 or 7 I think lol.

While I was writing this my wife was out with the birds and found one of my Sussex had died. Not sure why. She didn't have any injuries or anything. She was one of my favorites too. You always seem to lose the best ones.

 

[artsyrobin]

sadly, we can lose a bird and have no clue, they are very good at hiding illness- you can have a necropsy done and try to figure it out- look for listless underweight birds and start watching for anything else that might be out of the ordinary- i loved my one wynadotte and still am clueless, except i got her as a rescue 4 years ago and nursed her back from paralysis, she never consistantly laid eggs, but like to believe she was and sang with the best of them- that is a breed i would never hesitate to have again

 

[jcatblum]

So I am 230 post behind! Building a house is consuming my life! I will work on catching up now. Sitting at the Hampton in Tulsa, hoping the storm goes around, because the last thing I want is to cram into a room with 100+ strangers that have never been through an Okie storm.

My call ducks are now out on the ground now & learning how to swim. So cute watching them play. Also have dozens of keets coming out of the hatcher when I left the house today. Not sure if I will take them to the sale on Saturday. Kids will be at Grandmas for the wk, so not sure.

Going to read my way through all I missed, hope to read bunches of happy post & see lots of cute pics. Tired of sad tornado coverage! Happy thoughts!!!!

 

[jcatblum]

Broken Arrow Tornado was in view from our hotel!!! Kids were swimming & a lady ran in screaming for everyone to take cover, thankfully it went the other way! How close are the storms to Coral, Robin, Joe??? Who ever else lives this way??? Hope everyone is ok!

Cement Auction--- I don't have any solid info, other than 2nd & 4th Saturdays 6 fairgrounds. Sad to say we will miss the first one since Grandma will be in town returning our girls.

 

[our 5acre farm]

Is chupps auction the only poultry auction this Saturday?