Planning next year already. . .

[phoenixrises]

Well I lost 4 of my hens last week, due to a carelessness on my part. That currently leaves me with:

2 - Barred Rock roosters who know their job and are very good at it (4 months old)
1 - Jersey Giant, whom we love, her buddy is one of the 4 we lost (7 months)
2 - GLW (4 months)
2- buff orpington's (4 months)
2 - EE (these are older, will be 2 in spring)
1- Blue copper Maran (6 months and not laying)
3 - marans (5 weeks, Black copper, cuckoo and golden cuckoo (or something like that)
2 - wellsummers (5 weeks)

I also have 4 silkies for pets, and maybe broodies.


space is NOT an issue, I have a large coop, plus three smaller pens in case I want to breed next year to ensure I have the right mating, and they have free run of approximately .5 an acre (It's big). We have 5 acres total but they are in a .5 acre fenced lot.

I already have an order in with a local breeder for 15 straight run Jersey Giants. My son wants to breed these for 4H so I'm hoping to get one decent rooster and maybe 2 breeding hens out of the 15. The rest will be sold, go into the egg pen or the freezer.

From the same breeder I'm getting 5 SR amaracauna (sp?) NOt EE as well.

I'm definitely going to order more Barred Rocks as they were the other 3 we lost to my stupidity (and they are my favorite). I'm planning on getting 5 of them, but trying to think of what else I want to get to make up my order of 15. . .

I was looking for a nice selection of egg color and I think I have that, but do you think I should do white as well? Is there a stigma attached to white eggs in selling?

I'm also toying with the idea of getting the cackle special and just see what I end up with. . . I have the pens and sheds to handle different species (just processed our turkeys today).

So what do you think, what should I get. Any good ideas, anything glaringly missing?

 

[Kelsie2290]

If you are assorted colored eggs I think that one or two white ones always give a nice contrast to the other colors. If you don't like the Leghorns, the Anconas are a nice white egg layer that are pretty productive, Minorcas might be another choice.
Maybe another EE or two since your two are older, that would probably give you more green and hopefully you would get blue from the Ameraucana.
Maybe a couple production brown egg layers like a red sex link, they usually lay fairly medium reddish brown eggs and they do lay a lot.
The specials are always such a gamble, if you want egg laying chickens, you will wind up with a mix of geese, bantams and peacocks or something.

 

[DallasCriftins]

Your missing something a bit more entertaining and polkadot!
I bought four Apenzellar Spitzhaubens recently they are great wonderful little characters



Vorwerks add good colour as well



Cream Legbars for Blue eggs?



On my Shopping list next year are breeding my current birds and adding some Silver Spangled Hamburghs, Silver Duck Wing Welsummers, more Araucanas and possibly some Green Legged Partridge like these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-8-Green...1st-line-/310801812836?_trksid=p2047675.l4066