Stephen in WV - Hello world.

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scodyw

scodyw

Hatching
Aug 11, 2015
4
0
7
Hedgesville, WV
I grew up with chickens, until I was a teenage, when we moved in town. Last year I did a lot of research (using this site a lot) and decided to get some barred rocks, because I wanted a dual purpose heritage breed. I got 12 at Chickenstock 2014 in Martinsburg, WV. 5 were roosters, and 7 were hens. I lost 4 hens and a rooster to predators, ate 3 of the roos, and the last rooster recently ran away when I got a new top bird. I have 3 of these hens left.

This year I decided I would look at some other breeds, so I went on Mcmurray's and got some welsummers (3hens, 3 roos), easter eggers (6 hens, 2 roos - I lost one of the roosters, a pretty white one) and silver grey dorkings (2 roos, and 3 hens). I also got 6 more barred rock hens, and 1 rooster. 1 of the hens failed to thrive, and died, another turned out to be a rooster. They "free exotic chick" is a buff polish rooster.

Lastly, I was looking on craigslist and saw a great deal on a chicken house, the catch was that 9 barred rock hens, 5 roosters, 2 cockerels, and a little white mystery hen went with it.

Then I traded 3 of the new hens for 2 guinea keets... for insect control...


I am on the fence to if I want to keep multiple breeds, or stick with one dual purpose breed, but I really like the dorking's personality, so doubt if I would get rid of them at this point.
 
Hi Stephen, welcome to BYC!

It's fun to have a mixed flock and see the variations in personalities and coloring, both in feathers and eggs. How do you like having guineas (I've never had any)? In case you haven't found it yet, there is a forum for guinea owners in addition to all the chicken forums:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/45/guinea-fowl

Good luck with all your poultry, it's nice to have you here!
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. Sounds like "chicken math" has struck big time at your place. We all have OCD (Obsessive Chicken Disorder) here and very few BYC members are immune to "chicken math," so you fit right in. :eek:) Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.
 
NorthFLChick
They are still young, so I have not released them into the wild yet. They are flighty, which I expected, but they are calming down. I was interested in them because I live on about 5 1/2 acres with 5 of it being woods. I want to see how well they can control the insect population around the house. I know 2 can't do much, but it's a start. Thanks for the link.


sourland and [URL='https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/284275/michael-oshay']Michael OShay:[/URL]

I have made a few spreadsheets calculating feed, egg production, population densities, and other things. My brain works in 1s and 0s.
 
Last edited:
scodyw said:
sourland and Michael OShay:

I have made a few spreadsheets calculating feed, egg production, population densities, and other things. My brain works in 1s and 0s.
Click to expand...
You sound a bit like me. :eek:) For a number of years, I did meticulous egg counts on the various breeds and hybrids that I had to determine how many eggs I was getting per hen per breed annually, monthly, weekly, and daily. I wanted to know which breeds and hybirds were the best and most efficient layers.
 

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