I'm currently trying to decide which chickens to keep and which to sell to make room for my colored egg layers come spring.
This seems like a good time to 'take stock' and put my thoughts in writing and get an idea of what my plans are going forward.
The ones that are safe are:
Sweety is staying and I'll keep
Pot, whether she's fertile or not, since her and Sweety are buddies.
5 Buff Orpington Pullets - I plan to get a male for them
4 Black Jersey Giants (1 cockerel, 3 pullets)
Buckbeak my EE cockerel
(6) Zombie maker chicks - I might get pure ACs and/or WLHs once I know my male female ratio in that batch.
I'm struggling with making a decision on these
* S for Sweety's chicks, P for Pot's Chicks
From the last hatch there's Cookie's bunch and Sweety's brood (12: 3 Pullets,
9 cockerels)
I'll be keep the 3 girls;
KitKat (S), Reese (S) and Tamale (P).
The males in that bunch are Cookie (S), Snickers (S), PayDay (S), Oreo (S), Biscuit (S), Biscotti (S), Brownie (S), Dutch (P), Moon Unit (P). Of the three black and white males (Cookie, Biscuit and Biscotti)
Cookie (S) has the least red leakage and the other two are a bit feral. I also love Cookie's character, he'll keep things interesting, lol so I'll likely keep him. I'll attempt to rehome the rest of the males, but BYM cockerels aren't in high demand in my area.
The bantam bunch: 6: 1 male, 5 pullets
I love the
4 Cochin bantams so I'll likely get a Cochin bantam male to go with them and sell/rehome the Self Blue Old English Game Bantam cockerel and the White Laced Red Cornish Bantam pullet.
The rest are pullets which I could sell once they're laying:
2 Black Sex links
1 Red Sex link
3 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes
1 Blue Jersey Giant (I could put her with the Black Jersey Giants ?)
Oh and
Kettle . . . . he's started attacking me recently; and he went after Brutus my little Maltese mix dog just for being there when he was in a mood, so . . . . I may be working on my culling/processing skills for Thanksgiving.
Let's do a tally of Females to Males:
Females: 1 Sweety, 1 Pot, 5 Buff Orpingtons, 3 Black Jersey Giants, 1 Blue Jersey Giant, 3 BYM pullets (SP), 4 Cochins . . .
18 Females
Males:
Buckbeak: 1 EE Cockerel
Cookie: 1 BYM Cockerel
Andre: 1 Black Jersey Giant Cockerel
Additions> 1 BO Cockerel, 1 Cochin Bantam Cockerel, 1 AC
or 1 WLH Cockerel
6 males
Unsexed:
Zombie maker chicks
6
That seems like a good base going forward. I'll make a different post with the breeds I plan to add and the ratios I'm hoping for.