WANTED: Canadian-Friendly Hatching Eggs Spring 2017

[Ian Glazier]

I am also in Red Lake. I got my chicks last spring frame Skene in Oxdrift, there is also another supplier in Dryden. There are a lot of chicken folk in town, can't imagine you could not get some eggs to hatch here in town. We hatched a bunch in one of the kindergarten classes last year, I got 5 of the chicks. Unfortunately 3 of them are roosters, so I am looking for a home for 2 if you are interested in 6 month olds.

 

[chickcrack]

My Cochin was bantams, and they started laying at 7-8months I think. I feed high quality feed, a mix of beans and peas that we slow cook on the stove, and kitchen scraps. They are also free ranged in the backyard where its 90% Bermuda grass.

I think this combination of food sources makes them lay early? They also lay throughout winter. We have a 8 or 9 year old hen now that lays once a month or two months a few eggs at a time. It is very strange, as her comb now is mostly "caulky" looking then when she is going to start laying, her comb and waddle go bright red.

Just thought I would pass along a similar site called "Poultry Talk Ontario". I just joined it and theres a lot of breeders on there. Many different breeds...all in our province
Oh this could be a bad thing....very very bad. Lol
Remembered your post so thought I'd pass along. Cheers

 

[SilverLacedMom]

Chickcrack I love you! Thank you for thinking of me! Already on the site looking around! Woohoo!

 

[Wickedchicken6]

I see I subscribed to keep track and this post got burried...lol.

Welcome to Canada! I'm "sort of" a neighbour...I'm from Manitoba.

Best of luck in finding the eggs you're looking for from close proximity from where you live.

I have mostly EEs, some OEGBs, some Silkies, some Maran crosses a couple of Ameracauna and a young pair of Icelandics. Most of my birds have been purchased as chicks from a couple of different producers in the area. The Maran, Ameracauna and Icelandics are heritage birds. I had hatchery birds 23 years ago. Didn't want to revisit that again.

The EEs, OEGBS and Silkies and the crosses do well in winter. This will be the first winter for the Maran, Ameracauna and the Icelandics.

I have EE roosters that have been roosting outside overnight in below freezing temps (silly guys) but now that we've dropped down to -12 at night...I'm making sure they go in under cover. But I hear them crowing at 4-5am in the wind. They were crowing this morning at 4am. I'm not that tough...lol.

Below is a list of some of the heritage breeders I've came across in my searching. I'm not sure if they all ship (it's been a while since I visited the sites) I've puchased eggs from the first place.

http://www.breezybirdfarms.com/
http://briarwoodpoultry.weebly.com/
http://www.hawthornhillpoultry.com/
http://www.performancepoultry.com/index.php

I don't know if this is an American or Canadian site
http://www.littleredhenhatchery.com/

I understand you're not wanting hatchery birds. I'm not familiar with most of the places on this list so I'm including it in case there is something of interest to you.
http://poultryone.com/canada-chicken-hatchery.html

**Murray McMurray hatchery can ship day old chicks to a postal site on the US side of the border. It involves extra in regards to papers etc...the information is on their website.


I wish you the very best of luck!

It sounds like you also have a wealth of breeders and people in your area who can help you make connections, which is fantastic!

.

**Please note this info has been edited to replace incorrect information I posted.
(Apologies to anyone who read this prior to my correcting my oops)