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dheltzel said:
The first big hatch of the year went into lockdown this morning - 138 eggs
70 of them are Legbars

In other news, I've been working on the website. I now have a blog and an email list to send out a list of what hatched each week and is currently for sale.
I appreciate feedback and ideas.
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what's the website called?
 
Lelanae said:
I have heard a one to 12 (or even 1 to 16) ratio works best with some overly enthusiastic roo's.
A good friend of mine re-homed her absolutely gorgeous BCM rooster because he was a "thug and a violent rapist". He had a harem of only 5-6 hens--she said there was blood and it went way beyond ruffled feathers. The more I read, the more I think that roosters vary tremendously by breed and by individual. Wait and see--if there is going to be a problem, worry then!
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It depends on the individual roo as to how aggressive they are with the hens. Some part must be genetic. I believe we could breed for gentle roos, just like we breed out aggression with people. My BCM roo has just 4 hens in a small (4x6) pen and they all get along great. I would more expect them to beat up on him, except that he's so large. Same with the Welsummers. The Black Ameraucana has 7 hens, and has had as many as 15, and they all look more tattered than the BCM hens. He made sure every eggs was fertile, even with 15 hens, I'm not sure every roo would be up to that.

For "best fertility", the recommendation is 8 - 10 hens per roo (heavier breeds service fewer hens, apparently). This is a guideline used in commercial operations because they don't have much financial tolerance for low fertility. Our Welsummer pen has about 32 hens and so I put in 3 roos, but one did not get along and so there are only 2 in there now. Fertility is better than last year when I had 2 roos over 16 hens, so it definitely depends on the roo.
 
I'm getting nervous about the storm coming our way. I added on to the main coop and turned it into a Woods-style, open-air coop, but I think I'm going to cover the lower part of the open side to prevent drifting into the coop. It's supposed to stay open at all times, but I am afraid of what I will find if I don't.

Anyone else making preparations?

Today a customer emailed me a picture of a "purple" Welsummer egg. Made me think of the pink eggs discussion we were having.
 
I did a lot of preparations yesterday, tarped all runs West and North sides, tied down and straightened up existing tarps, also raked out the runs and put in new leaves and hay for them to scratch around in. Still have more to do. :barnie
 
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dheltzel said:
I'm getting nervous about the storm coming our way. I added on to the main coop and turned it into a Woods-style, open-air coop, but I think I'm going to cover the lower part of the open side to prevent drifting into the coop. It's supposed to stay open at all times, but I am afraid of what I will find if I don't.

Anyone else making preparations?

Today a customer emailed me a picture of a "purple" Welsummer egg. Made me think of the pink eggs discussion we were having.
Click to expand...


I'm particularly intrigued by the quotes around "purple." Would you be willing to post the picture here? If you're not comfortable sharing someone else's picture that's understandable, I'm just curious.

I finally have all the ducks going into the barn at night. They'd prefer to stay out in their open-air pen but I'm afraid they'd get snowed into their modified rain barrel shelter if they did. The chickens are ok in the coop, and my turkey hen goes in with them. If it gets too bad I'm sure I can put the tom in, too... For those who free range, what's your policy with deeper snows? I'd read that the turkeys fare better in cold weather if they can range (movement/core temperature, etc.) but I don't know how that works with snow. Can you tell that this is my first year with them? :P
 
If it's not too cold tomorrow morning, I may go out and put plastic around the last open panels of the run (there would still be plenty of ventilation) just to keep the snow from blowing in. Other than that, there's not much else I can do for everyone except keep a path shoveled to them.
 
brightpennies said:
dheltzel said:
I'm getting nervous about the storm coming our way. I added on to the main coop and turned it into a Woods-style, open-air coop, but I think I'm going to cover the lower part of the open side to prevent drifting into the coop. It's supposed to stay open at all times, but I am afraid of what I will find if I don't.

Anyone else making preparations?

Today a customer emailed me a picture of a "purple" Welsummer egg. Made me think of the pink eggs discussion we were having.
Click to expand...


I'm particularly intrigued by the quotes around "purple." Would you be willing to post the picture here? If you're not comfortable sharing someone else's picture that's understandable, I'm just curious.

I finally have all the ducks going into the barn at night. They'd prefer to stay out in their open-air pen but I'm afraid they'd get snowed into their modified rain barrel shelter if they did. The chickens are ok in the coop, and my turkey hen goes in with them. If it gets too bad I'm sure I can put the tom in, too... For those who free range, what's your policy with deeper snows? I'd read that the turkeys fare better in cold weather if they can range (movement/core temperature, etc.) but I don't know how that works with snow. Can you tell that this is my first year with them? :P
Click to expand...

To be honest, my turkeys weren't closed in. I didn't have them through a whole winter, but I never saw a thread or article that diverted from "heritage turkeys prefer the open air. Offer a roost with a cover to get out of the rain, but don't be surprised if they don't use it."
I had a covered area with a complete wind block on three sides, and a partial one (it went down to four feet from the ground, and when they roosted on the highest roost, it blocked snow from hitting them) in the front when it snowed.
 

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