Texas

[Cockle-Dood]

Then im sure you have heard of my home town of leesville/fort polk

 

[PSJ]

Thank you both! Going to finish up the coop and then jump in! I don't want any babies again just yet.. and think I will go with Ideal when we do.. the thought of getting all roos again.. eeeekk!!! Ok ya'll... at what age do they usually start getting tail feathers? Does it depend on the breed? It seems mine are developing different shapes.. does this mean I MAY have a pullet?

From what I've always understood, when the hatchery sends chicks to the feed stores, they are already "sexed". The ppl at the feed stores aren't the ones who do the sexing. Therefore, your getting all Roos isn't on the feed store, but more on the hatchery. At least at the ones around here, that's how it works.

 

[Crooked-Creek]

As

Serious breeders who breed to the Standard of Perfection (SOP) often don't have chicks this time of year.  Some may have already sold off their winter/spring hatchlings already if they DO sell chicks at all.  Or if they are like us, they are growing out the young 'uns so they can decide who to keep for breeding purposes.  Which means they may have some older started birds in the fall.

If you want to "practice" your husbandry skills and see what works and what doesn't work for you, you could get just a couple hatchery birds from someone now,  and then wait until fall/winter to get the standard-bred birds that it sounds like you want.

As bnjrob said, there are many breeders that are raising birds just to select a few for breeding. We started incubating in February and our birds are just now reaching an age to begin to decide who stays and who goes. Mostly we are ready to cull young roosters with awesome heritage bloodline. It won't be long before we and others will be culling back to a manageable flock for the winter. If you are having trouble finding older pullets and you are interested in Buff Orpington's, Cochin's, Dominique's and Silver Laced Wyandotte's please send me on inbox message and we will see of we can help you out. We are located in North Texas.

 

[Cockle-Dood]

Yeah, i dont have a problem having roos and in fact i like having them, and its so hard to even find the str8 runs of alot of breeds for me.

I "lucked" out with a cuckoo marans and slw roo out of sexed pullets though.

 

[Cockle-Dood]

Oh and i buy in 3's so was rockin a 33% roo rate on 2 groups

 

[showbarnmom]

If anyone is selling a good been there horse, let me know. Feed bucket just opened up and in the market for a confidence booster for me.

 

[NickyPick]

Such a mixed bag of feelings right now. I have officially finished the merge of the 8 12 week olds, 24 16 week olds and 12 2 year olds. We took down the pallet brooder pen in the stall that I've converted to a large coop and built a new roost. Last night, I was watching to see where the youngsters would sleep (used to be a pile by the old coop door in the back of the stall, but it's now open all the time), and was surprised to only see 10 on the new roosts. I stuck my head in the old coop and saw all the hens on the top row as usual, but then the second row was crammed with the young pullets! They want to be with the grown ups. How cute! There's still a little pecking of the youngest, but for the most part, everyone is getting along fine now.

Then, in my other coop, that just has Brahma's, I lost Kiwi to something. They were out in the horse pens and she disappeared. Usually we find feathers or a body, but this time - nothing at all. I don't know what to think. Poor Blackberry - he started out with 7 hens, now he's down to 3. I'm going to hatch a couple of the Brahma eggs and see if I can get a couple of pullets to fill that coop back up.

 

[Cockle-Dood]

Such a mixed bag of feelings right now.  I have officially finished the merge of the 8 12 week olds, 24 16 week olds and 12 2 year olds.  We took down the pallet brooder pen in the stall that I've converted to a large coop and built a new roost.  Last night, I was watching to see where the youngsters would sleep (used to be a pile by the old coop door in the back of the stall, but it's now open all the time), and was surprised to only see 10 on the new roosts.  I stuck my head in the old coop and saw all the hens on the top row as usual, but then the second row was crammed with the young pullets!  They want to be with the grown ups.  How cute!  There's still a little pecking of the youngest, but for the most part, everyone is getting along fine now.

Then, in my other coop, that just has Brahma's, I lost Kiwi to something.  They were out in the horse pens and she disappeared.  Usually we find feathers or a body, but this time - nothing at all.  I don't know what to think.  Poor Blackberry - he started out with 7 hens, now he's down to 3.  I'm going to hatch a couple of the Brahma eggs and see if I can get a couple of pullets to fill that coop back up.

What type of brahma do you raise? I wouldnt mind adding a few more to my flock! I currently have one pullet and she is steady growing on me

 

[NickyPick]

What type of brahma do you raise? I wouldnt mind adding a few more to my flock! I currently have one pullet and she is steady growing on me

Just Ideal birds - fell in love with my two darks, so got some more. I currently have 2 dark hens, 1 light hen and a dark rooster (see avatar). He is huge, but so sweet.

 

[Cockle-Dood]

Just Ideal birds - fell in love with my two darks, so got some more. I currently have 2 dark hens, 1 light hen and a dark rooster (see avatar). He is huge, but so sweet.

Love the looks of the Darks. Mine is a light that i got from Little Wing. she is a bit standoff-ish...but quite curious when you arent paying attention, lol. she also like to hang out in their tree, has figured out that if she climbs high enough there are green leaves up there, lol!