Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[Chaneys Ranch]

I like your list, i was perusing available chicks tonight too... compiling a list... I would love marans as well ~ i like the cuckoos, love the dark chocolatey colored eggs. I heard both raves and boos about orpingtons... but they are beautiful, esp. the lav's and blue's.
I want more EE's, but those I can breed myself. I really need to get more hens for the # of boys... one of my friends wants to get red stars in the Spring, and was asking if I want to split the order with her... I would be interested in a few, but not 12... started pullets are a decent price at the hatcheries, but I might fare better with someone local. choices choices... I want geese and turkeys too...

ok, had an impulse control issue and momentarily lost my mind, but have already rationalized the whole thing as my Ultimate Birthday Present.


projected shipping date 12/3/12 !

Item Qty Unit Price Ext. Price
Baby Chick Vaccination

15​

$1.00​

$15.00​

Easter Egger ($3.25)
--> Females (+$0.50)

15​

$3.75​

$56.25​

​

Subtotal:

$71.25​

Tax:

$0.00​

Shipping:

$36.95​

Total:

$108.20​

​

so... I will be brooding chicks indoors for a bunch of weeks this winter, but with the coop setup being so easy to modify, I can move them fairly quickly into the apple coop. i can board it off to cut draft, and separate a section of the enclosure for them so they can be beak to beak with the older birds, yet be safe and sound. 15 pullets (hopefully sexed correctly) by Spring will be 4-5 months old. that would give me 21 hens total, 7 for each roo. Royce doesn't have to give up his girls unless I want to change up the breeding pairs, and that would be temporary... plus he'll get one more to add to his harem...​

​

OMG you go WOOHOO!!! that works perfect too!!!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Orpingtons! They have blue Orpingtons! Duh!

OH they are soooo awesome! they look silver, but outside you see it.. wow. I really want them, but i want to be sure the temperment is good. My Mom loves to hold the hens, so i am trying to find pretty and sweet natured too. My RLW hens are pecky, except spike..

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I like your list, i was perusing available chicks tonight too... compiling a list... I would love marans as well ~ i like the cuckoos, love the dark chocolatey colored eggs. I heard both raves and boos about orpingtons... but they are beautiful, esp. the lav's and blue's.
I want more EE's, but those I can breed myself. I really need to get more hens for the # of boys... one of my friends wants to get red stars in the Spring, and was asking if I want to split the order with her... I would be interested in a few, but not 12... started pullets are a decent price at the hatcheries, but I might fare better with someone local. choices choices... I want geese and turkeys too...

I really am looking forward to trying turkeys, can't wait! This will be a first time for me. Considering a trio of mini-whites too. I am looking for someone local, Hatcheries scare me but i may have to go that route.Marans are hard to find around here. I have heard both ways on the orps too. I am a little undecided on them, but barred rocks are my 3rd choice. I have the wyandottes, 1 EE and 1 BR now. I would love to give you my EE, I got her at about 6 months old in Sept and she is still very timid. Very pretty blue & gold little girl, and she lays a green egg (when she lays hehe!) I have tried hard to win her over, and i am guessing she just was never shown any love.
If you haven't had geese before.. Buffs, and Africans are sweet. Embden not so much. I have 2 types of geese now, and they bonded well with my family. My embden gander Big G is flat hateful vicious to strangers! Big G will go dead run after the UPS guy, fluffed wings and head down! i barely grabbed him up before he bit the poor guys leg. My brother wasn't so lucky (oops, erm, sorry) left a big blue welt on his bare foot, i have warned him flip flops are a bad idea at my house..

My africans aren't nearly as agressive. My goose WeeWee likes to be held and petted. She will tug at your shirt, and say weewee LOL, and repeats until you pick her up, she is adorable. On my profile, theres a pic of my oldest holding her, on her back no less petting her belly! if i am sitting on the ground my lap is HERS, If Reds on my lap she will bite him and make him move! I scold her and won't let her on when she does and oh she is sooo mad!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I like your list, i was perusing available chicks tonight too... compiling a list... I would love marans as well ~ i like the cuckoos, love the dark chocolatey colored eggs. I heard both raves and boos about orpingtons... but they are beautiful, esp. the lav's and blue's.
I want more EE's, but those I can breed myself. I really need to get more hens for the # of boys... one of my friends wants to get red stars in the Spring, and was asking if I want to split the order with her... I would be interested in a few, but not 12... started pullets are a decent price at the hatcheries, but I might fare better with someone local. choices choices... I want geese and turkeys too...

ok, had an impulse control issue and momentarily lost my mind, but have already rationalized the whole thing as my Ultimate Birthday Present.


projected shipping date 12/3/12 !

Item Qty Unit Price Ext. Price
Baby Chick Vaccination

15​

$1.00​

$15.00​

Easter Egger ($3.25)
--> Females (+$0.50)

15​

$3.75​

$56.25​

​

Subtotal:

$71.25​

Tax:

$0.00​

Shipping:

$36.95​

Total:

$108.20​

​

so... I will be brooding chicks indoors for a bunch of weeks this winter, but with the coop setup being so easy to modify, I can move them fairly quickly into the apple coop. i can board it off to cut draft, and separate a section of the enclosure for them so they can be beak to beak with the older birds, yet be safe and sound. 15 pullets (hopefully sexed correctly) by Spring will be 4-5 months old. that would give me 21 hens total, 7 for each roo. Royce doesn't have to give up his girls unless I want to change up the breeding pairs, and that would be temporary... plus he'll get one more to add to his harem...​

​

Happy birthday to yoooooooou! Do you have to get all EEs? (Not that I don't love them!) Since you like the Marans, why not try some? Then you can breed olive eggers!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

You are smart to avoid the medication. So many side effects and if you can find another way to lower the cholesterol, that's the best way. Pills save a lot of lives, but should be the last alternative.

When my dad was about 70, he went for a physical and the doc told him he was going to prescribe 5 different medications for him because of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetic symptoms, and some stuff I can't remember. Dad asked for Plan B, and with a huge sigh, the doc said the only other option was to lose 40 lbs, exercise, and change his diet (my dad was a great lover of food, aka glutton

). But doc still wanted to prescribe all those pills because no one ever manages Plan B, and he didn't want the next time he saw dad to be in the ER. Dad refused the pills, and at his check up 6 mos later, the doc was in utter disbelief because Plan B had been accomplished and all blood work tested normal. Dad will be 80 next year and has kept Plan B going all this time.

As far as longevity, I think it's 50% heredity and 50% diet and exercise. You can't separate them.

We only have little over an acre, so the veggie garden is in raised beds. (Is that the same as square foot gardening?) Much easier to amend the soil, and to water in the dry summers. We have a very mild climate, but there are so many crops that don't do well here because of the foggy summer mornings. Too cool for corn and most melons. The effort isn't worth the harvest for some things. Guy down the road brought us a monster pile of horse manure, and the plants were very happy this year. Now the chicken droppings will go in the beds to decompose over winter, but I'm still going to ask the neighbor for another load of horse s**t

in the spring.

W4W well said, plan B is always better to try first. I all but almost gave up red meat and eat a lot more veggies.. but i stayed off that pricey cholestorol stuff.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

5 today! Iwent to my grandmother's house today and baked with her and worked on a puzzle. I love my grandparents

Awesome way to spend the day!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Hahahaa love the guilt trips

I am saving that one for getting me an incubator....

Its so exciting waiting for the new ones to lay. (am still scanning everything i missed hehe...) Hubby WANTS me to get more chickens, I about fell out of my chair! He asked me tonight if we can go get more next weekend and wants "the shiny black ones" (eeeeek, not ready need a bigger coop)He might mean jersey giants too tho hmmm... I love marans, i have seen several this summer, and not a mean one yet. What a beautiful bird. Last spring, he was the one with the horrified look when it all started. He is really enjoying the fresh eggs, and since we had the "food oops" he realized store eggs are "gross looking". I have had no luck finding anyone selling around here. Hmmm i see $$$$ signs!!!!

Hmmm..... Seems like your hubby has caught the fever. Watch out for those incubators. Someone on my local thread is hatching out 50 eggs right now.

Can you imagine? And several folks have had their incubators running continuously since early summer. Quite addictive, but those chickies sure are cute! And I agree about the store bought eggs, they look so anemic. I want to wait a couple of years to get more chicks, when the current girls slow down in their laying, to try to stagger them. Unless, of course we build another coop. Hmmm.......

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Happy birthday to yoooooooou! Do you have to get all EEs? (Not that I don't love them!) Since you like the Marans, why not try some? Then you can breed olive eggers!

LOL sorry HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHEEKA!!! I think that deserves a few marans too!!!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hmmm..... Seems like your hubby has caught the fever. Watch out for those incubators. Someone on my local thread is hatching out 50 eggs right now.

Can you imagine? And several folks have had their incubators running continuously since early summer. Quite addictive, but those chickies sure are cute! And I agree about the store bought eggs, they look so anemic. I want to wait a couple of years to get more chicks, when the current girls slow down in their laying, to try to stagger them. Unless, of course we build another coop. Hmmm.......

Oh my, he sure has...the buildings and land aren't a problem. i told him i want a cow... he wants 3!

We can get "bottle calves" for $50 apeice here. The dairy farmers sell them off to keep the milk flowing.i am running the numbers for feed/vacs to grow them out. This is another "1st" but we have the land, just need the fencing up. AND i talked my no-veggie man into plowing me a garden WOOHOOOO! I love being retired. I finally get to do the things i have dreamed of all my life.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Oh my, he sure has...the buildings and land aren't a problem. i told him i want a cow... he wants 3!

We can get "bottle calves" for $50 apeice here. The dairy farmers sell them off to keep the milk flowing.i am running the numbers for feed/vacs to grow them out. This is another "1st" but we have the land, just need the fencing up. AND i talked my no-veggie man into plowing me a garden WOOHOOOO! I love being retired. I finally get to do the things i have dreamed of all my life.

Sounds like a good deal. For the first time ever, my hubby and I are seriously thinking about leaving California. He was born and raised here and I've been here most of my life, but the kind of lifestyle you have seems to be getting out of reach here. 10 acres and a mule, or a tractor, sounds great! I like the idea of being self-sufficient, but that's hard to do on one acre. Of course growing up in earthquake country, I have an irrational fear of tornadoes.

Do you have them in Indiana? Wouldn't want the fluffy butts to get sucked up into a vortex!