Spent part of the day yesterday sorting birds into breeding groups. Theoretically, I'm not planing to get any new kinds of birds this year. That won't last....
I have salmon faverolles - they started as hatchery birds, but I've been working on them for a few generations. I'll never show, so the finer points or appearance are lost on me, but I always want meaty birds and hens that lay regularly. I do try to keep the standard in mind so I have pretty birds with no glaring faults. Last years birds are not laying yet, and the older ones are soup.
Last spring, I hatched a lot of marans from different sources, black, blue & cuckoo. This year, I am selecting for size and egg color, and have couple pens separated, with more needed.
My other project is playing with blue & splash Ameraucanas, but I'm not sure if I'll just hatch my own, or bringin some new stock. If I do decide to get new birds, heatherscooby is close by.
Yesterday i got the idea to try Delawares, maybe crossing with marans as meat birds. All because I was price shopping on red sex link chicks. I see huge feed bills in my future.
