Want a mixed flock of laying hens?

[Stephanie739]

Wow!! Such awesome information! Have definitely decidied on EEs and Marans. Don't want Leghorns or Wyandotte...such choices! Will take my time and read every one of your posts with care! Thanks so much!!

Youre welcome! Good luck and have fun. I do love my chickies

 

[chicknadventure]

What about hatchery chicks? Buy the whole flock at the same time so that everybody is the same age and then I can close the flock until it is time to rotate with "young blood"?

Try not to go hatchery. Find some people local that have what you want. Hatchery birds are ok just sometimes not as good at producing etc.and not as pretty

 

[Nicole01]

Quote: Originally Posted by Nicole01 Here are this week's eggs from my d'uccle. I thought my eggs looked about that size. These are eggs from an australorp and my barred rock.

I love your speckled egg. We have a baby maran that should lay dark eggs this summer. Hopefully both eggs will get bigger in time.

To the OP, all birds are boughten locally ordered from a hatchery. I'd prefer this due to not knowing the condition of the local breeders chicks. They have so many breeds available and will swap any pullet/cockerel we don't want. All mine lay nice eggs, except the wyandotte. I will never buy another Wyandotte again. They lay small eggs and mine doesn't lay at all. I'm thinking of rehoming or eating her soon. She's a feather picker to the other hens.

My ultimate favorites so far as eggs go are the EE's, brahma, and rhode island red. We get 5-7 eggs a day from our 7 layers. In the winter we got 4-5 eggs a day. 7 layers is not enough for our family of 5. We love eggs and pass out eggs only when a neighbor runs out.

All my hens are lap chickens. They were handled daily as chicks. Also, they do best when able to free range. They love to be free and look for bugs and eat grass!

 

[chicknadventure]

Tractor supply etc is not locally. Those are all hatchery chicks. Depending on where you live you may find some great breeders in your area. If not then go hatchery. Even If a breeder starts with hatchery birds I would assume that they are picky about who they breed in their program and the quality improves each generation .

 

[Nicole01]

I bought all mine from a farm and garden store. It took a while to find the place, but I'm sure glad we did! We don't have tractor supply stores here that I know of. I've never seen or heard of one around here.

We bought a beautiful weeping willow tree from there too!

 

[Hangtown Farms]

You can check craigslist too. Many hobby farms list chicks on there. with links to there website. or facebook pages

 

[Cindy in PA]

It's fine to tell a person about going to a breeder, however I have had "hatchery" birds for 19 years & they are fine. Many of us do not want to buy 20 birds to get 10 & have to get rid of 10 cockerels etc. It is all about what YOU want. No need to make a person feel guilty for going to a hatchery or farm store. My birds have usually looked like the breed they are & lay nice eggs. That's what I wanted. JMHO

 

[Hangtown Farms]

Yeah agree. I do not think it maters unless you are looking for rarer breeds

 

[Stephanie739]

It's fine to tell a person about going to a breeder, however I have had "hatchery" birds for 19 years & they are fine. Many of us do not want to buy 20 birds to get 10 & have to get rid of 10 cockerels etc. It is all about what YOU want. No need to make a person feel guilty for going to a hatchery or farm store. My birds have usually looked like the breed they are & lay nice eggs. That's what I wanted. JMHO

I am very happy with my purchase from My Pet Chicken. I find myself looking at hatchery offers often. If I were in the market for 25+ chickens, I would probably buy from McMurray. You make a very good point about the chickies being sexed. I think unless you are planning on showing, hatcheries serve a very good purpose.

 

[Georgia Nana]

This is fun!! I am learning so much! Golden Comets are definitely on my list, but only Cackleberry Hatchery and some others I have never heard of have them. Reading this, I think I'll stay away from Morans...at least for a while. I don't want broody at this point in time. So now it's EEs, Comets...what about Welsumer?? Delaware?? Australorp??