Doc, I just want to thank you for a wonderful thread, sir. I am raising an old line of Tamworth hogs (around here they are "the other red pig). I haven't completely decided on the breed of fowl I will try and steward. I got an assortment from SH. It saved on the price and let me see a few different breeds. I let nature do the culling for me and suprisingly the only pair I ended up with are Polish. I have 2 sumatra pullets. One of these is very nice. I might get 10 more sumatras this year and try and make a couple trios. I really like your asils. I'm in Awe of the station of a good Shamo, but these asils are powerhouses. I've tried to register with UFF but it never went through. I've read EVERY thread on it along with the old AC and NH. You give great advice everywhere. I'm making sure I'm ready before I take on orientals. When I get them, breed won't matter as much as quality. I'm hoping to find someone nearby to mentor me. We have lots of AG's here in Central OH, but everyone replies "Why would you want those slow dinosaurs?", when I ask about orientals. I'll be working on facilities all spring and summer. Hopefully by fall I can find some decent birds to begin this project.
I really like how you are so honest by showing us these beautiful birds and admitting that 90% of your hatch is soup bound. So many people order 5 birds and complain that the hatchery sells junk. Stastically they should only get 1/2 of a show quality bird. Kinda hard to start a trio with that. And $100 for 12 hatching eggs? If they would buy a $100 stag/pullet, they would be ahead of the game. By the time they incubate, brood, raise, and cull to 10%, they still got a $100 bird.
I just wanted to thank you for having the patience and respect to pass along your experience to all the newbies out here.
