Surviving Minnesota!

[Bogtown Chick]

@bantiesrule is there any magical number of roo's you can keep? I have 22 chicks and at this time I am estimating I have 7 definite roo's so far? (and you know there will be more...it's inevitable) Can that large of a number get along? I just don't know how I am supposed to choose who I cull

I love what Banties said below: You'll figure it out. Everybody is different. Alot of broodermate roos will get along great. What happens though is the hens suffer to bare backs with the boys competing. You'll need to watch your flock and make those tough decisions as they come. My first roo cull was not a tough call to make though. oooch he was aggressive with the hens. They Hated him completely. He was timid of us...not aggressive to us...just to his flock mates. Fighting Roger. Etc. So he went bye-bye. The other little bantam was great but he just made Roger overmate the hens. Poor girls -- no feathers for 6 months until their first molt replenished them. Beginner lessons.

I have an old established patch of winter onions. I love them but am real stingy on eating them. I want it to get bigger....BUT others here give my onions away to relatives, that I would just as soon not give anything too......

They are more of a green onion than a bulb type onion. I have a 16x16 onion patch. it has winter onions and Walla Walla's in it.

Hey!-- my old garden is full of weeds but the onions that looked like a no show last year came up this spring!!! So will let them go and see what happens.

There is no magic number in anything chicken related....remember chicken math?!! What works for me might not work for you or vice/versa. I usually try to keep rooster/hen ratio around 1 rooster for 5 to 10 hens. As I said before alot depends on area.

Correct me if I am wrong - PLEASE - fellow chickeners - but if all I want is eggs what does it matter whether the hens are hatchery or bred?

No if all you want is eggs that's fine. Hatcheries actually will buy from breeders to update their stock at times. The more popular breeds and the production breeds however run into ovary type issues from being 'bred to lay' meaning that is probably the only trait they are selecting breeding stock for. And what happens is that your favorite hen that is 2 years old and sort of a pet is spent and not laying eggs any more...or she has developed fallopian infections that block eggs from coming down the tube and then drop into her abdomen (egg yolk peritonitis) or ovarian cancers. The latter two are not nice and there is only one way for these birds and that's an axe at 2. I tend to like having my girls around for a bit longer, in my own personal style of raising birds. I have a hatchery mutt wyandotte who is 4 still giving me eggs (not like she used to) but she is a lead character in my flock and she has a place there. She is more of an exception to the norm. What Jerry says below is correct. But it's usually a two-year deal with more popular breeds. I've found that the more exotics or maybe less popular have longevity in laying.

It does not matter if all you want is eggs . Actually hatchery bred egg breeds will usually lay more eggs .

Rain this morning . We needed it . Planted some cucumber , squash , honeydew and okra yesterday . Peas are starting to bloom . Peony's are in full bloom . My bantam EE laid a double yolk yesterday . Green beans are coming up .

Jerry my Poppies are blooming. Wild strawberries with blooms on them. Turtles are crossing the highways. and June bugs are starting.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

My girls are slowing down in laying too. I think it was the muggy weather that has put them off, also.

 

[duluthralphie]

She is beautiful! I am going to try this method of attaining more birds IF I ever need more birds. I will buy fertilized eggs when I do it as I am sure I will have no more roos by that time.

Beautiful?? Duck??



Oh wait, I get it you were being nice...

Nathan, that is a great looking piece of,,,I mean duck!!

 

[duluthralphie]

Rain this morning . We needed it . Planted some cucumber , squash , honeydew and okra yesterday . Peas are starting to bloom . Peony's are in full bloom . My bantam EE laid a double yolk yesterday . Green beans are coming up .

I am so glad to hear this, I was feeling way behind in my planting, if you are just planting now, I am right on schedule....

 

[duluthralphie]

I love what Banties said below: You'll figure it out. Everybody is different. Alot of broodermate roos will get along great. What happens though is the hens suffer to bare backs with the boys competing. You'll need to watch your flock and make those tough decisions as they come. My first roo cull was not a tough call to make though. oooch he was aggressive with the hens. They Hated him completely. He was timid of us...not aggressive to us...just to his flock mates. Fighting Roger. Etc. So he went bye-bye. The other little bantam was great but he just made Roger overmate the hens. Poor girls -- no feathers for 6 months until their first molt replenished them. Beginner lessons.
Hey!-- my old garden is full of weeds but the onions that looked like a no show last year came up this spring!!! So will let them go and see what happens.



No if all you want is eggs that's fine. Hatcheries actually will buy from breeders to update their stock at times. The more popular breeds and the production breeds however run into ovary type issues from being 'bred to lay' meaning that is probably the only trait they are selecting breeding stock for. And what happens is that your favorite hen that is 2 years old and sort of a pet is spent and not laying eggs any more...or she has developed fallopian infections that block eggs from coming down the tube and then drop into her abdomen (egg yolk peritonitis) or ovarian cancers. The latter two are not nice and there is only one way for these birds and that's an axe at 2. I tend to like having my girls around for a bit longer, in my own personal style of raising birds. I have a hatchery mutt wyandotte who is 4 still giving me eggs (not like she used to) but she is a lead character in my flock and she has a place there. She is more of an exception to the norm. What Jerry says below is correct. But it's usually a two-year deal with more popular breeds. I've found that the more exotics or maybe less popular have longevity in laying.



Jerry my Poppies are blooming. Wild strawberries with blooms on them. Turtles are crossing the highways. and June bugs are starting.

I am moving the quarantine birds outdoors. We set up the first fence the other day and Judy noticed the wild strawberries and said she wanted to pick them when they got ripe...


I had to tell her the wild birds and chickens would have them gone long before they got ripe enough for her.



Yeah, that means roadkill turtle soup soon!!!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

That's what I told DS about the strawberries. Tootsie and the girls will have them before we get to them. I guess I could fence them with some snow fence or something. But wait all of that and fence posts is over at the neighbors' septic mound protecting their grass seed....

from Tootsie and the Girls. Free-rangers. Hood-chickens.

 

[Siggie]

Wow! I am feeling a little better now too knowing I am not the only one who hasn't planted everything yet! The only thing I have planted so far are my Elderberry Trees...My veggies, herbs, blueberries, strawberries and potatoes are still sitting, waiting for me to plant them....I have got to get this dang coop done and then everything else will fall into place!

Spent the entire morning with the Equine dentist....My teeth are fine (ha ha) but my horses needed some work...plunged my checkbook into the poverty pot again. No worries.... I don't really need to eat for the next week anyhow.

 

[duluthralphie]

Wow! I am feeling a little better now too knowing I am not the only one who hasn't planted everything yet! The only thing I have planted so far are my Elderberry Trees...My veggies, herbs, blueberries, strawberries and potatoes are still sitting, waiting for me to plant them....I have got to get this dang coop done and then everything else will fall into place!

Spent the entire morning with the Equine dentist....My teeth are fine (ha ha) but my horses needed some work...plunged my checkbook into the poverty pot again. No worries.... I don't really need to eat for the next week anyhow.

Retirement savings accounts are over rated anyways.......

 

[Siggie]

Retirement savings accounts are over rated anyways.......

exactly!

 

[MinnesotaNice]

You folks into motorbikes, this is the bike my DH has been restoring since November in his spare time. It's almost done and I think it looks dang good- even if I'm not into bikes!

I love it! I wish I had those skills. I have a thing for the cafe racer style bikes. I was just telling DH how my next bike will be a Triumph or *clears throat* a Norton.

My hubby rides a 1800 VTX although he's bee eyeing up a new Victory. I have Honda Shadow 750, but it's been ripped apart, painted, and modified. Last summer, I finally got the Cobra pipes I've been drooling over for years. Unfortunately, I'm too pregnant to ride at the moment. I should be able to get some Fall runs in after baby comes.

I hope they hatch! I don't know, I'm guessing she would give up on the unhatched too. Thank you for the hard-earned pics! But do you think you could maybe walk on the other side of the coop next to the house and get some pics from there?

One duckling has hatched, hopefully more in the morning! It's a Buff/Runner mix.

And my Old english hen hatched 7 healthy chicks out of 7 eggs! One chick is under her on the photo.

Yup, I'll walk around to his house later today and get some close-ups. You can pick me up at the Anoka county jail anytime after 5pm.

Congrats on the new hatches!

My girls are slowing down in laying too. I think it was the muggy weather that has put them off, also.

I've noticed a change as well. Yesterday I had to have a talk with them all. Also, my two best laying hens have gone to the dark side....a.k.a.......they're broody.