The chicken maths got me!

[cluckitall]

Okay, I admit it -- I have no impulse control when it comes to chickens! Started with 9 in June -- two NH red, 6 assorted rocks, and my lovely cuckoo marans roo. Well, clearly that was nowhere near enough chickens, so I hatched out some marans/rock mutts on Aug. 22 (great, sweet birds and OMG, they're HUGE! I'm hoping they'll lay the same enormous jumbo eggs mama white rock does...) And, since I was going to have baby chicks anyway, I got six more pullets from Meyer and a NH roo so I can make sex-links next spring to go with my new hatchlings

WELL! I still didn't have a speckled sussex or any delawares, both of which I really wanted to try, and I just HAD to get a couple of cuckoo marans pullets for my big handsome roo... LOL! I think we all know how this story goes. Just went to pick up my last batch of chicks for this year (plus I have eight more marans/rock crosses just breaking into their air sacs in the incubator.) So now I have 43 chickens of 18 assorted breeds. ACK!

But but but, see, when I went to pick the chicks up at Meyer hatchery, they had extras from last week still, including 3 Welsummer pullets (I got two of 'em), an ancona, and about eighteen black copper marans pullets -- for $1.50 each! So if you're in the Ashland/Polk OH area, it might be worth dashing over there to grab the remainders ;-) I could only take two of the BCMs, much as I wanted more -- out of money for the day and WAAAAY out of room!


Hens
2 partridge rock
2 barred rock
1 white rock
1 speckled sussex
1 white jersey giant
1 golden lakenvelder
1 buff brahma
1 NH red
1 silver spangled hamburg
1 ancona
2 delawares
2 australorps
2 cuckoo marans
2 welsummers
2 RIRs
2 columbian wyandotte
2 silver-laced wyandotte (although one of them is looking suspiciously roo-ish)
2 BCM
3 marans/rock cross

Roos
1 cuckoo marans
1 NH red
3 marans/rock cross

Chickens and chickens and chickens, oh my! Now I just need some exchequer leghorns, a couple polish or maybe some houdans, some GLWs , maybe a faverolle or two just for fun, and I really, really want some chocolate orpingtons -- and coronation sussex! Gotta get some coronation sussex... I mean, how do I know which breeds I'll like the best until I've tried 'em all, right???

Just got a bigger cooler to make another incubator. Should hold about 4 dozen eggs come spring

Two of my marans/rock crosses at 2 days old. Now, at six weeks, they're nearly the size of my full-grown rocks!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I have been sucked into the chicken math also.. And plan to hatch more next spring. It is so addictive and its like my son says I am like a pokemon ranger and I gotta catch em all Lol

 

[cluckitall]

EXACTLY!!!!!

I'm sure eventually I'll decide on one or two (maybe three) favorite breeds for my main flock(s) -- but I suspect I'll always have at least one motley crew band running around!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Yea I dont know if I can decide that is so tough I like all my breeds so far and have 5 new breeds (2 of each) coming this week actually

 

[cluckitall]

I'm having such fun watching my new baby chicks (and slowly sorting out which one is who...) on the left side of the couch, and watching the first pips appear in the eggs in the incubator on the right side of the couch! Who needs TV???

Maidenwolf, how have you enjoyed having turkeys? We tend to bake at least one a month (turkey pot pie, turkey stew, turkey and noodles with cheese sauce... I'm all about the leftovers!), so I'm seriously considering raising a dozen for butchering. Can you let them free range, or do they need a run?

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I'm having such fun watching my new baby chicks (and slowly sorting out which one is who...) on the left side of the couch, and watching the first pips appear in the eggs in the incubator on the right side of the couch! Who needs TV???

Maidenwolf, how have you enjoyed having turkeys? We tend to bake at least one a month (turkey pot pie, turkey stew, turkey and noodles with cheese sauce... I'm all about the leftovers!), so I'm seriously considering raising a dozen for butchering. Can you let them free range, or do they need a run?

I love having the turkey. I have heritage breeds and these wont be for butcher but for eggs and breeding. I want to do afew whites next season for butcher. Mine live with my chickens and freerange with my chickens. Same idea with them and the chickens keep them in the run for a few weeks so they learn home. my turkey are the last to roost and they start getting on top of the coop so I usually herd them in at that time because I have a tarp on top to shed water better and I dont want it ripped. But I have never had a problem with them not coming in for roosting time. I raise them like I do my chickens and I spend alot of time with them so when I call they come running lol.

 

[cluckitall]

Oh, that's wonderful to hear! I didn't know you could let them run with chickens. I'd like to build a self-sustaining flock eventually, too, but I think I'll start out with a small round for harvesting, to get my feet wet so to speak Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

When keeping them with chickens you need to know if blackhead disease is prominant in your area. Sometimes contacting game and fish they can tell you. If it is high in your area then you will need to house them seperate. Black head is shed by chickens which it doesnt hurt but if the turkeys pick it up it can kill them. Other than that there are no big issues.

 

[cluckitall]

Thank you for mentioning that!

I've got a lot of studying to do before I take the plunge into turkeys -- I read and researched on raising chickens for almost four months before I finally got my first nine, and at that I started with an already-adult flock. So there's a lot I need to learn yet, but my biggest question was whether or not they could be raised with chickens, since at this time I don't have a separate space available for them. Now that I know it's possible, I'm going to have to start looking into it further!

 

[Nelson-90]

omg me and my girlfriend we were suppose to just get 5 chickens and now we got 120 with a couple of eggs incubating under a very broody hen