Oregon

[LeslieDJoyce]

Leslie im on a few lists with you in FB and i think id be lucky to get a bird give me a couple of days if they are not sold find out weight i do nto need hens laying would be nice but id put them with my heritage bronze male OK Marks Bronze male heritage should be a winning combo hes already trying to breed the water bottle LOL the bird not mark 

Awwww. That's a lonely bird. The toms are so funny. Our hens are Broad Breasted Bronze ... So the super sized turkeys.

 

[Tammy N]

Quote: My male is a Heritage bronze if i let him mate a BBB then i will get Medium brested and that is perfect for me .

 

[dusky]

They said that they would build me a run and coop - their birds free range though.

 

[Karenmyrrh]

I got my approved permit for keeping my hens. Finally. From the city of Newberg. But no call or inspection. Just the application back stamped approved and a letter saying they could revoke it at anytime. Pretty anticlimactic. But official!! Yeah!!

 

[AmyWho]

Has anyone in Portland gotten the permit for more birds? I have a sturdy coop, well built, plenty of room...but it doesn't have an actual floor. It's just dirt covered by about 6 inches of bedding.

I've heard rumors that I need a floor to get the permit...

 

[PtldChick]

I got mine a few months ago - #$%^ neighbor complained while I was away - I had a freaky polish mix that got on a scare and cackled for a couple of hours straight (I have since gotten rid of her, not friendly, not a great layer and caused me problems). Neighbor came into my yard, looked over my fence/gate and saw I had very little straw down, mostly just dirt (I was planning on digging out the dirt - really a compost layer of old straw and chicken s**t - before putting new straw down and hadn't had a chance yet).

I got a letter from the city that there was a complaint with a permit app, which I ignored, then the city showed up at my door unannounced a week or two later. He looked at my chicken yard and made two suggestions - put down more straw (which I was planning on doing anyway, I just had for my friend to dig out the existing six inches of compost), and only give enough feed they would eat in 20 minutes (to prevent rats - I've killed all mine). My coop is a chain link dog kennel with a couple of tarps for wind/rain, dirt floor, real low tech. He didn't care about any of that and was very nice/accommodating, said he wants to give permits.

I sent the app. back once I had the straw down and no return visit, just got a permit in the mail for 12 birds (what I requested) with the two improvements above listed as requirements. I keep my chickens in a fenced off portion of about a third of my city backyard in case you're wondering about space.

So my advice is: once you send the permit in, keep your coop/area clean with lots of straw/bedding and don't fill up any big feeders until after the inspector visits. Feed your chickens once/day, so if there is any leftover food when the inspector comes, you can say you had fed them 20 minutes ago and hadn't had a chance to come remove the extra food - ha!

 

[AmyWho]

Outstanding. Thank you!

 

[PtldChick]

Yes, totally freaky. But so yummy. I hate to be so gluttonous about it, but that's the truth. I'd better decide on an alternative before I cave into cravings and buy more.

Have you looked into the Sagitta? I don't know if it's considered a true breed yet; it's a hybrid that is supposed to breed true and is feather sexable - - RIR/NH/Cx. They are red with black and/or white highlights. My pullet is red with black in her tail like a RIR, but rounder, fuller body, and definitely is going to be a good sized hen. They were specifically created to be dual purpose - the high egg laying of the two red breeds with faster growth and larger size due to the Cornish cross influence (they don't grow fast like a Cx, but a bit faster than dual purpose breeds). I don't know where you can get them from source, mine came from a feed store where there were only pullets.

She tried to go broody when the eggs piled up in the nest while I was gone for a week, but after three days of me taking her our of the nest a couple times a day, she gave up. So they can go broody, at least if there are enough eggs to make a clutch, but are easy enough to break the broodiness if you want to. Mine is very food motivated, one of the tamer girls I have; she will eat out of my hand.

I realize some breed folks will probably turn their noses at a hybrid, but that's what most breeds really are anyway - hybrids that breed true.

Here's a link to a pdf from the company that created them - it looks like it's geared toward hatcheries that are going to raise chicks to be parentstock to lay and/or hatch eggs.

PARENT-STOCK - Centurion Poultry, Inc.

www.centurionpoultry.com/default/download_pdf/53‎

 

[PtldChick]

I will respectfully disagree here. Most respiratory poultry diseases create carriers out of survivors. I suppose that if you want to close your flock and never sell another bird, and you practice excellent biosecurity, which, as you yourself point out, most people don't, then you could keep survivors of illness in your flock for breeding, etc...but for what purpose? If they are carriers, they can never be sold to anyone else, they can never be taken to a show, and you always run the risk of cross contaminating to chicks, etc...
Not worth the risk, IMO.

Ok, here's a question from an outside perspective. Some respiratory infections have high mortality rates, others do not. Some birds build immunity to those diseases and so even if exposed, won't get sick or die and can pass those antibodies onto their chicks and their higher natural immunity. Rather than trying to keep EVERY flock isolated to prevent EVERY kind of disease, why not let birds get exposed to the less severe infections to cull out the weakest ones (that don't respond to treatment), make the overall population stronger by reproducing birds with natural immunities, and reduce the time and energy put into keeping flocks sterile from outside influences (which is almost impossible anyway given wild birds often carry these diseases). If everyone's exposed, it doesn't matter who comes into contact with who.

If certain RI's have low mortality rates, what does it matter if your flock has one of those, has carriers, or passes it on? It's unlikely to kill other birds that are exposed. It's kind of like the human flu or common cold. Get sick then get well. High mortality rate diseases are another story. Vaccinating for those, if a vaccine is available, could be the answer there. Vaccinate all birds until it's wiped out, like what happened with polio.

Seems like there ought to be easier ways to combat diseases than completely isolating every flock. If I were a poultry farmer, I'd be interested in finding a way that birds could be kept healthy regardless of exposure - that would be a lot easier in the long run.

If NPIP requirements weren't an issue (thosecould be changed if a better method were devised), what would be the problem(s) with this approach?

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Have you looked into the Sagitta? I don't know if it's considered a true breed yet; it's a hybrid that is supposed to breed true and is feather sexable - - RIR/NH/Cx. They are red with black and/or white highlights. My pullet is red with black in her tail like a RIR, but rounder, fuller body, and definitely is going to be a good sized hen. They were specifically created to be dual purpose - the high egg laying of the two red breeds with faster growth and larger size due to the Cornish cross influence (they don't grow fast like a Cx, but a bit faster than dual purpose breeds). I don't know where you can get them from source, mine came from a feed store where there were only pullets.

She tried to go broody when the eggs piled up in the nest while I was gone for a week, but after three days of me taking her our of the nest a couple times a day, she gave up. So they can go broody, at least if there are enough eggs to make a clutch, but are easy enough to break the broodiness if you want to. Mine is very food motivated, one of the tamer girls I have; she will eat out of my hand.

I realize some breed folks will probably turn their noses at a hybrid, but that's what most breeds really are anyway - hybrids that breed true.

Here's a link to a pdf from the company that created them - it looks like it's geared toward hatcheries that are going to raise chicks to be parentstock to lay and/or hatch eggs.

PARENT-STOCK - Centurion Poultry, Inc.

www.centurionpoultry.com/default/download_pdf/53‎

I'm looking at Delawares. I like so many things about the breed ... dual purpose ... fast-ish growing ... big ... good winter layers of big eggs ... broody enough ... eager foragers ... smart ... sweet ... and pretty (though that last thing doesn't matter so much to me). Delaware is a heritage breed, and it is in need of restorative breeding. I know zilch about breeding, but am hoping to work with someone else who does.

With a true Dual Purpose breed I don't really need to run different flocks. I'd have a breeder setup for sure, but the hens in my main egg production flock could brood and raise the chicks, then the cockerels would be put in a grow-out pen when they become jerky, and the pullets would stay with the egg layers unless they are selected for breeding. Sounds "simple," so I hope it is!

There are a lot of interesting alternatives to the Cornish Cross available ... (but it bears repeating that raising the few Cornish Cross that I raised was just about the easiest chicken experience I've had, and the results were HUGE and DELICIOUS!)