Thistlewick Smallholding - Chickens & Sheep (for now)

[WingItRanch]

I worry about their happiness, I don't want to crowd anyone. The poop is CRAZY -- but my own personal boundary for dealing with poop is LOW, so to me I'm like THIS IS ENOUGH!

There is now fly management (which I did last year too) and I'm over it.

I am just coming to the determination of:

(1) how many chickens do I actually want to sustain
(2) what breeds do I want to maintain
(3) do I want to breed?
(4) if I sell the eggs, it WILL actually cover the cost of feed and bedding
(5) I've reached out to become NPIP certified just in case I want to sell hatching eggs or breed

What breeds?

I'm kinda keen to do Olive Eggers - but that's because I want Olive Eggs...

When I look at Facebook, people LOVE Silkies and Bantams and I really don't have any interest in either one of those.

I think my adhd won't let me pick just ONE.

I feel ya! It's hard to narrow down.

You don't currently sell eggs? So what are you doing with all those eggs?!

I agree when it comes to silkies, polish, and bantams. They just seem so high maintenance!

 

[thistlewick]

I feel ya! It's hard to narrow down.

You don't currently sell eggs? So what are you doing with all those eggs?!

I agree when it comes to silkies, polish, and bantams. They just seem so high maintenance!

YES I do sell my eggs! That's all I meant is that it does cover the feed and bedding, which is awesome - sorry for the confusion

I just like projects, I think, and I've got nothing else going on. Just chickenssssss

 

[ChaosMom]

I worry about their happiness, I don't want to crowd anyone. The poop is CRAZY -- but my own personal boundary for dealing with poop is LOW, so to me I'm like THIS IS ENOUGH!

There is now fly management (which I did last year too) and I'm over it.

I am just coming to the determination of:

(1) how many chickens do I actually want to sustain
(2) what breeds do I want to maintain
(3) do I want to breed?
(4) if I sell the eggs, it WILL actually cover the cost of feed and bedding
(5) I've reached out to become NPIP certified just in case I want to sell hatching eggs or breed

What breeds?

I'm kinda keen to do Olive Eggers - but that's because I want Olive Eggs...

When I look at Facebook, people LOVE Silkies and Bantams and I really don't have any interest in either one of those.

I think my adhd won't let me pick just ONE.

Fellow AuDHD’er here! I don’t know what forms your neurodivergence takes, but my brain likes novelty but isn’t so good with long-term perseverance. So I would be asking myself questions like:

1) If I want to sell eggs, what’s the local market like (brown eggs, white eggs, novelty colors, etc.)
2) Do I want the ongoing obligation of meeting client expectations when suddenly half my hens go broody, and the egg supply dries up? (Same for winter)
3) Breeding: do I pick breeds that are in high demand and low supply in my area, even if I don’t much care for them? (per your comment about silkies and bantams)
4) If for some reason I saw a need to get out of the poultry business, either completely or dropping down to a flock of 6, what would it be like to unload a big flock? Especially knowing that some would head straight to the pot.
5) Would your brain be happy/ sufficiently stimulated if you micro-specialized in only three or four breeds, perhaps all quite different from one another? - e.g. Olive Eggers, Speckled Sussex, and Cream Legbars? I know that my brain loves to have multiple irons in the fire, but I can tell you that after 70 years, getting overwhelmed yet again is no bueno.

And similar questions.

 

[thistlewick]

Oh man @ChaosMom it is absolutely like you read my mind.

The eggs I sell to a local farm store - they buy as much as I offer, if they need it. They have always needed them so far (except for last holiday weekend as a lot of people go away for Memorial Day).

We have *thought* of making a farm stall to put up, (we would get more per dozen) but the absolute glorious frictionless-ness of supplying the farm store is IT, I love it.

Before the farm store, we were donating to a local food bank - and we'd be happy to do that with any surplus -- but selling eggs to bankroll the feed and bedding is too good to pass up.

My husband and I drove to a swap meet today about 90 minutes away - there are 2 in my area and this was the further one (the closer one is next week, we will check that one out, too). We wanted to get a look at how they worked and what people had.

It was about what you'd expect for a swap meet in a parking lot - a bunch of country folks with sketchy birds and other pets and animals. Some that looked alright. Some that looked like they'd ridden 150 hard miles of road lol

On the way there, and one the way back - we had little chats about what my goals were and I asked my husband what breeds HE preferred, not because I want to do those breeds but it will HELP me to whittle down what I want to do.

He loves Easter Eggers because they are friendly, sweet and look awesome. He loves Orpingtons and Wyandottes bc cute and chonky. He loves our Light Brahma because *beautiful* and he loves our Ayam Ketawa because she is rare and awesome. He loves our FBCMaran's because he loves the dark brown eggs.

In 2 weeks, I am getting:

2 Lakenvelders
2 Silver Dorkings
1 Campine
1 Speckled Sussex

They are being shipped I hope they all make it. This is the last time I will get shipped chicks. I will do hatching eggs for all future chicks.

So

what do I want to do?

You nailed it on the needing novelty part. I want to breed - but I love the idea of just created mixed breeds to 'see what we get' -- I don't think the minutiae of breeding to the SoP for any breed will do anything for me, because the results will be so minimal and then I am needlessly culling birds for no reason. Seems wasteful.

I love the idea of creating Olive Eggers - since I have a beautiful EE roo and an upcoming FBCM cockerel -

So if I wanted to focus on Olive Eggers, I need:

Welsummers (for speckling)
More Marans, which I can breed myself
Ameraucanas or, Cream Legbars (but I kinda like the idea of Ameraucanas)

I have a f1 Olive Egger cockerel coming up as well (Cracker) and him over ANYTHING creates fantastic Olive Eggers. (and brown layers too - not knowing is part of the fun) The only for SURE pairing to get Olive is Maran over homozygous Blue layer and Olive Egger over homozygous Blue layer.

I kind of like the idea of these 3 boys just having a go over all the girls and when I want to hatch eggs (or sell hatching eggs) or whatever, just collect and see. This suits my novelty.

If I wanted to breed Marans, first I need darker eggs to hatch more from. Mine are a 4 at best. Need darker eggs.


I don't necessarily like the idea of separate *permanent* breeding pens. Maybe I can make some sort of temporary "live here for a couple months in sight of the flock while I gather your eggs" area near the henhouse/run/extension that will allow for specific breeding but also allow for them to flow back into the main flock as well.


I cannot just remove roosters because we will have too many hens to get good fertilization. Chuck seems to manage 15 (horny dude!! lol) but we will have a LOT more rolling in very soon. 40-50 laying hens.

See what I mean, too many!! lol

I feel flustered, I need some lunch hahahah

 

[ChaosMom]

One nice thing about breeding Olive Eggers is that since they don’t breed true (yet? aren’t they all F1’s for now?), you build in repeat business. (But what if the sold pullets don’t obligingly produce olive eggs? Etc.)

Another thought (I’m with you about SOP’s) is breeding for local conditions - birds that can handle your winters and summers, birds that have good predator sense for the free-range crowd, birds resistant to Mareks or other common plagues. This sort of breeding is for long-range, though.

With any breeding program, as I understand it, you’ll have to be prepared to eat a lot of chicken as you remove the undesirables from your breeding program.

Sound like you have some fun options going! As for us, we don’t even make serious home improvements that will outlast us (75 and 70.)

 

[thistlewick]

more fun antics today update;

found white egg on the ground;

Absolutely a Custard misfire. She never lays eggs this smooth and pale. But she DOES escape every morning out the top of the extension and this was laid just on the ground under the pallet table. lol She's a nerd.

The babies are SO BRAVE what the HECK

after driving to the swap meet and back (and stopping at a cafe for brekkie) I check on the hen house and I count 9 babies. Oops. I go wandering around looking for dead chicks. Nothing. No peeping. I'm like hmmm what is up with that. But I just carry on with chores - I got a putty knife to easily scrape off the top of the brooder plates.

I know I could buy the cones to keep from from jumping on them, but it's CUTE when they do. It's also fun. Chicks having fun=happier chicks.

I sprayed the AlpinePT. I got some Quickstrike bait for a bucket thing and set that up. Too many F*CK*N flies.

Oh Harriet is Broody... Joy. I gave her 3 eggs, because why not. She picked the nest everyone likes. It will be chaos. I don't care. Broodytimes may ensue.

They are so small, but SO brave. They have figured out to run back in when someone pecks at them. Chicken life.

I leave to look for the 2 missing chicks after all these chores. Et voila, they are on the side of the hen house, quiet as mice. I walked right up to them, picked them up without a squabble, and brought them back inside.

So later this afternoon I go out for another check and I see an active hawk in the sky. This is what I walk into the hen house and see;

Smarty flock

My big girls I do NOT worry about. They will teach them all the hiding spots when they get big enough to join them out yonder, I'm sure.

Sorry about my leg in the pic, I couldn't get it out of frame. Cracker - I have learned by observation that Cockerels do not care about baby/younger chicks. At all. It is only the pullets who peck.

My foot was 'base' for the babies. I sat out with them for a good hour today. Just quiet and relaxing and observing.

I didn't notice Ruby was missing that whole time. I walk out the hen house, hear a LOUD peep from the run and she's sitting on the pallet table in there.

Again - these babies we hatched ourselves are SO tame - is it because I was in their face when they hatched - did they semi-imprint to me??! I just walked in the run and she just waited for me to pick her up and cuddle her and bring her back into the hen house.

They don't run from us like every other batch of babies. Is THAT what incubating yourself does?!? ITS AWESOME

It might be a fluke I dunno. But we're here for it.

 

[Shadrach]

If anyone who sees this can tell me if my girls are being over-mated I'd love to hear your thoughts ^^^ in the post above

But, I am making another post because this morning, we went to the farm store where we sell our eggs and they didn't need any! I guess someone got there earlier to sell theirs first

Anyway so we have 5 dozen eggs.

And I did this;

View attachment 4133173

Because why not? 5 Sophia eggs in there, 5 more Maran x EE olive eggers yeahhhhhh also I plucked every single one of Harriet's eggs out for more EE x CCL

Full 22 eggs this time. Did not have them cold in my wine fridge this time, so expecting less viability.

I have found 2 local small animal swaps & we have a small animal auction in town every week, I can def get rid of spare chicks and keep the ones I want.

now all I need is to make a contact for someone to cull and process my chickens and get some meat!

Have you considered how many chickens you would need to be self sufficient in chicken meat?

 

[thistlewick]

Have you considered how many chickens you would need to be self sufficient in chicken meat?

Oh, no. I don't think I can kill my chickens myself, personally. I could absolutely clean them and butcher them, I just couldn't take the life.

Not yet anyway. I'd probably inure myself to it over time if I *had* to do it. I don't think I'd ever like doing it.

According to some quick calculations, based on how much we eat chicken now, I'd need to cull 3 chickens a month. I don't raise meat birds.

This is an interesting thing to consider. I could just use spare roosters on meat bird feed for this?

 

[ChaosMom]

Oh, no. I don't think I can kill my chickens myself, personally. I could absolutely clean them and butcher them, I just couldn't take the life.

Not yet anyway. I'd probably inure myself to it over time if I *had* to do it. I don't think I'd ever like doing it.

According to some quick calculations, based on how much we eat chicken now, I'd need to cull 3 chickens a month. I don't raise meat birds.

This is an interesting thing to consider. I could just use spare roosters on meat bird feed for this?

I think this is the reality for those with large flocks and fertile eggs. That 50% has to go somewhere.

 

[Shadrach]

Oh, no. I don't think I can kill my chickens myself, personally. I could absolutely clean them and butcher them, I just couldn't take the life.

Not yet anyway. I'd probably inure myself to it over time if I *had* to do it. I don't think I'd ever like doing it.

According to some quick calculations, based on how much we eat chicken now, I'd need to cull 3 chickens a month. I don't raise meat birds.

This is an interesting thing to consider. I could just use spare roosters on meat bird feed for this?

You could have someone process them for you. 36 chickens a year is doable if you've got the room.