The Middle Tennessee Thread

[Clabbergirl]

Hello everyone,

I'm new here and excited about keeping chickens. I've been looking at the options for ordering chicks, and am running into the issue of different hatcheries having the breeds I want, but at different shipping times. I'm afraid to mix chicks of different ages in with each other, and would like to avoid that if possible. I read a thread that suggested I look here for people in my local area who might have some chicks to sell. So here goes...

I want to keep chickens mainly for the eggs, secondly as pets, and thirdly because it's something I've been interested in trying for ages and until recently was not able to pursue. Of the breeds, I'm considering:

2 White leghorns, 2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Easter Eggers (Americanas?)
considered Rhode Island Reds too.

Anyone in the area have these chicks any time soon, hatched within a few days of each other?

Thanks!

 

[lemuckley_flock]

Gosh, I don't know....how many do they usually sit on? We've never hatched before. I was thinking like three or four....we've got 25 chickens already, and I'm afraid that once our rooster gets big and we can hatch our own we're going to end up with too many. Unless, of course, you need a good amount of chicks for warmth and whatnot. I have no idea - open to suggestions! And thank you - this will be fun!!

 

[Countrypunk92]

I have a hatch the first week of next month, got Amerecaunas. But dunno how many will hatch.

 

[soroco]

How large are the hens that lay the colored eggs? I just finished my Pheasant pen and have started 2 more they are
side by side. I like large birds not giants, but large 5 lbs plus. I get 2 light shades of brown from my Dom and
Buff Orp. Would like to get a trio of Brown Leghorns for white eggs. Can you help me figure this out? My
pens are inside a converted rabbitry with dirt floors and will have room for 2 more pens after these two.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Large fowl have been known to cover up to 20 or so. You probably don't want that many. Of course, chicken math is at play too. If you set 12 eggs you can assume that some won't hatch for whatever reason. So let's say you get 8 chicks. Of those at least half will be roos. So now you are down to 4 pullets. No biggee, right? Just four pullets is nothing.

To do it in reverse, figure up how many girls you want, multiply by two and then again by a random number that represents your fail rate (which can be affected by all sorts of things and whether you had the eggs shipped or not plus however many extra chicks you are secretly hoping you can keep). If you get more girls than you want you can always sell them off with the extra roos you hatch. Plus, you never know when you might have a cool color or fun pattern that you will, of course, HAVE to keep. Chicken math is the best!

Let's plan to connect on Friday. I'll bring somewhere between 8 and 12 for you. You can see how many you can sneak under the hen before your husband gets cranky. Remember the phrase "honey, we can always sell them off". HeHe!!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

My ameraucans are a nice midsize hen. The boys are a decent size, but the girls aren't as big as my buff orps or welsummers. They are round and fluffy though. I would guess that most AMs fall into that category too.

My EEs tend to be bigger than my pure AMs. Probably because most are mixed with buff orp, wyandotte or welsummer.

In about a month I should have blue and splash ameraucana chicks. I'm tossing eggs in the bator on Friday. Whoohoo!!

If you are content to wait until March, there will be chick days at TSC and the co-ops. I know the Murfreesboro co-op does barred rocks and production reds. I tend to time a hatch to come out at that same time of either EEs or AMs so I can brood them all together. Both barred rocks and production reds are sex linked, so you can tell which ones are girls right off the bat. Sometimes TSC has sexed chicks as well about that same time. You might be able to get all three breeds you want at about the same time. Of course, it does mean waiting until March.

 

[DMRippy]

Hello everyone,

I'm new here and excited about keeping chickens. I've been looking at the options for ordering chicks, and am running into the issue of different hatcheries having the breeds I want, but at different shipping times. I'm afraid to mix chicks of different ages in with each other, and would like to avoid that if possible. I read a thread that suggested I look here for people in my local area who might have some chicks to sell. So here goes...

I want to keep chickens mainly for the eggs, secondly as pets, and thirdly because it's something I've been interested in trying for ages and until recently was not able to pursue. Of the breeds, I'm considering:

2 White leghorns, 2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Easter Eggers (Americanas?)
considered Rhode Island Reds too.

Anyone in the area have these chicks any time soon, hatched within a few days of each other?

Thanks!

I am guessing you want pullets.... I don't know if anyone can sex them at hatch.... unless they are sex links. I can hatch you... Easter Eggers, Leghorns and RIR but I will have to grow them up some to sex them. I can hatch some sex links too. I have 2 barred rocks in with my EE roo so they would technically be EE, but you could either have blue or brown egg layers with that combo. I would thing they would all be pretty good egg layers. I have some Leghorn maybe EE crosses, Olive Eggers and Marans in the incubator now. I will be setting again the first of Feb. so you can PM if you are interested. I have Lav and Lav Splits true Ameraucanas I can hatch too. You can look at my main page on BYC and see what I have, they are not all laying.

 

[lemuckley_flock]

Ooh, don't count on the TSC in Murfreesboro. I was in there asking about their chick days a couple of weeks ago, and the manager said he doesn't know if they're going to do it this year. They said that the salmonella outbreak last year is being partly blamed on some hatcheries, and they were nearly 100% certain they wouldn't be selling rabbits this year. They said that if I wanted chicks I should order them pretty quickly and to not count on TSC for them - and that if TSC shuts it down for everyone this year there might be a run on the hatcheries. Of course, I don't work there or anything and am just passing on what I was told there....have a backup plan if you're counting on TSC for your chicks this year.

 

[DMRippy]

Sounds like my incubator is going to be running full tilt this spring!!!!

 

[CarolJ]

Remember the phrase "honey, we can always sell them off". HeHe!!

My favorite phrase! It works every time.