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Well today was a fruitful one. Not only did we find two chicken eggs (the first time we've had two in one day) but we also found a duck egg! Unfortunately the duck egg was broken, but I honestly was not expecting any duck eggs until Spring.
ETA: make that 3 chick and 2 duck
 
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Well i finally have something good to post! I have two new chicks! SS chicks. I would post a picture but my phone acts all funky when i try so i will get on my kindle later and post a picture. :) Hopefully we will get some more chicks soon. I had two broodies one had her eggs hatch and the other one is still working on it.Lol.
Anyways i wanted to say thanks for the kind words after loosing so many of my birds. My numbers have really gotten down and i don't like it at all! I want more ,i want more i say!!! Lol Don't know, unless i find someone who wants to get rid of some birds, i might have to wait till spring and buy some chicks... Not the route i was hoping to go but.... Oh well..... Anyone want to decrease their flock size? I'm interested....
 
I need some advice.
I just sold about 45 roos/cockerels for literally $0.50-$0.75 each in the last 2wks. I don't make any money on my MFCs (funny, I made a typing error and originally typed KFCs... irony or not...?). Actually, I don't make money on ANY of my bantams. No one around here wants bantams. Only birds I make money off of are my Wheaten Ameraucanas. Which, I sold and hatched out over 4 dozen eggs and now have 15 girls growing out to start again. Anyways... I am considering axing a project again. I love my MFC, but cost effectively, I am getting no place with them. No improvements because I can't get new birds and no money off what I have to improve. I just got my black bantam Cochins a couple months ago and I want to start breeding a chocolate/mauve bantam Cochin project. I bred pures so far (with ONE MFC x Choco Orp accident baby!). I am about to start the chocolate project since I have a couple young cockerels about ready to have their own girls but now I wonder if I want to. Is it worth the aggravation? No one buys my MFCs which is a project and I am going to have the same issue with the chocolates. Or... is there a bit of a demand I am not aware of? I know locally no one will spend an extra couple bucks because it's a rare/new color to Cochins. I don't mind dumping black F1 cockerels at the auction, though. Even at only $0.50 each. The good thing about the chocolates is I already have 6 different origins in my black bantam Cochins, so line/inbreeding isn't an issue. I also got US SOP BBS bantam Orps, too. I already have diversity there. And it's a solid color that's sexlinked! MFCs don't have that.

So. Something has to go. Reason being, I don't have room for so many projects and I can't afford to feed the offspring until they are grown out enough to decide who to keep. Should I sell the MFCs? Sell the chocolate project? Sell both and replace them with a LF breed that will make me a bit of money to help defray the near $200 I spend in feed a month? Oh, money I put in and I get nothing but poo out. Literally. I am not even getting eggs right now. From anyone! Everyone is broody or to young.


I am already eliminating the ducks. No one wants them either. I was going to eliminate the geese, but I like them. I did add turkeys, but of the 7, 5 are BBBs, so they will be in the freezer in less than 3 months. I am axing the LF chocolate/mauve project I have going. I axed the bantam Ameracaunas. I only have the bantam Orps (B/B/S/C), bantam Cochins (MFC & black) and the Ameraucanas. And, Ameraucanas are a project, too. I couldn't go with a normal color that's established. No. I had to go with a color that needs work. I like the sexlink color and ability to tell gender by 6-8wks.
 
400


:) Walked downstairs to check on her and BAM! Egg laid.
 
Reyvaughn said:
I need some advice.
I just sold about 45 roos/cockerels for literally $0.50-$0.75 each in the last 2wks.  I don't make any money on my MFCs (funny, I made a typing error and originally typed KFCs... irony or not...?).  Actually, I don't make money on ANY of my bantams.  No one around here wants bantams.  Only birds I make money off of are my Wheaten Ameraucanas.  Which, I sold and hatched out over 4 dozen eggs and now have 15 girls growing out to start again.  Anyways... I am considering axing a project again.  I love my MFC, but cost effectively, I am getting no place with them.  No improvements because I can't get new birds and no money off what I have to improve.  I just got my black bantam Cochins a couple months ago and I want to start breeding a chocolate/mauve bantam Cochin project.  I bred pures so far (with ONE MFC x Choco Orp accident baby!).  I am about to start the chocolate project since I have a couple young cockerels about ready to have their own girls but now I wonder if I want to.  Is it worth the aggravation?  No one buys my MFCs which is a project and I am going to have the same issue with the chocolates.  Or... is there a bit of a demand I am not aware of?  I know locally no one will spend an extra couple bucks because it's a rare/new color to Cochins.  I don't mind dumping black F1 cockerels at the auction, though.  Even at only $0.50 each.  The good thing about the chocolates is I already have 6 different origins in my black bantam Cochins, so line/inbreeding isn't an issue.  I also got US SOP BBS bantam Orps, too.  I already have diversity there.  And it's a solid color that's sexlinked!  MFCs don't have that.

So.  Something has to go.  Reason being, I don't have room for so many projects and I can't afford to feed the offspring until they are grown out enough to decide who to keep.  Should I sell the MFCs?  Sell the chocolate project?  Sell both and replace them with a LF breed that will make me a bit of money to help defray the near $200 I spend in feed a month?  Oh, money I put in and I get nothing but poo out.  Literally.  I am not even getting eggs right now.  From anyone!  Everyone is broody or to young.


I am already eliminating the ducks.  No one wants them either.  I was going to eliminate the geese, but I like them.  I did add turkeys, but of the 7, 5 are BBBs, so they will be in the freezer in less than 3 months.  I am axing the LF chocolate/mauve project I have going.  I axed the bantam Ameracaunas.  I only have the bantam Orps (B/B/S/C), bantam Cochins (MFC & black) and the Ameraucanas.  And, Ameraucanas are a project, too.  I couldn't go with a normal color that's established.  No.  I had to go with a color that needs work.  I like the sexlink color and ability to tell gender by 6-8wks.
Click to expand...


Hmmm...I guess it comes down to you deciding what you want to get out of the whole "experience". I don't know much about anything but I think you have to decide if you want to make money or just enjoy what you are doing. If you want to make money, you should get rid of the bantams or figure out what the national market is learn how to safely ship them. Sounds to me like for a financial reason, you should ditch the bantams because shipping would be a pain in the butt. If this is a side income for you, concentrate on the large fowl. I know for me, I wouldn't want any type of bantam bird really because their eggs are too small and my chickens aren't really pets to me.

With all of that said, if you just simply enjoy them and the challenge of perfecting your own breed, per say, and you can afford to feed birds that will give you no financial return on investment, then keep whichever ones are your favorites!
 
I hear you about the Mosquitos. Out here in my Long Island place the local Mosquitos are being replaced by Asian Tiger Mosquitos. I don't think any regular mosquito has gotten me all summer... These guys are vicious... They move fast, like flies, and are Out All Day, Thicker in the woods but I can be standing watering the garden in full sun at high noon and get eaten! It stinks to wear bug spray All Day, Every Day! The only good news is that while I'm still immediately itchy I don't get a huge puffy goose egg, just a small bump...we'll see what happens by next year when my immune system has had awhile to create more antibodies...
 
Hello all you out there--------------I need to hear from you on this
My New Hampshire Red is 10 months old and new to me................had her for one week. She had been laying at her previous owner.

I feed her grower feed because I have 6wk old chickens together with her..............and have provided oyster shell, grit also.
She has eaten well...............watermelon, greens, even worms today.

Today she is making REALLY LOUD vocalizations.................so I am thinking this must be what an egg song sounds like.

she has done this 3-4 x today

no egg

I am wondering if she is having problems..................could the egg be stuck in her?

please talk to me about this.............I am so new at this and really would like to hear from you all! thanks!
 
The stress of the move will cause her not to lay for awhile. She should begin to feel more comfortable and begin layimg soon. The egg song is loud bawk bawk bawk BAWK bawk.
 

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