Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Chickielady]

So would the results of that be a "Lil' Dicken's" or a "Chuck"?

LOL

God Bless,

 

[Chickielady]

Good to see Illia back to visit with us.
How is the garden Illia ?

Also wanted to post that we are downsizing yet again, and will have Blue Copper Marans, Cuckoo Marans, a few BBS Jersey Giants, and Olive Eggers all for sale.
I am seriously considering letting the Crele Chantecler (albertan) project go in it's entirety with the F-3s also...that would be 2 Crele Cocks and a mess of F-3 young in which to grow out & breed back to the Crele Cocks.
Anyone interested, PM me or e-mail me.I'll

get out there & get a new computer ASAP, thanks for everyone's offers of help !!!

Got a Rx for muscle relaxers, 3 X a day & seeing a chiropractor 2 X a week......we will see how it goes, but so far I am functioning, barely, but at least not wadded in a cramped muscle ball anylonger.

Sciatica is applesauce !

Now, hopefully I can stand up long enough to can up a few cases of B&B pickles...the cucumbers will not waite !

 

[Stumpfarmer]

So, I've made no bones about being a show poultry guy (however one that values production very highly), but admittedly that sometimes puts me out of touch with the more local, mostly backyard/homesteading/pet chicken crowd...my question is, what breeds and varieties do y'all think are the most in demand when you remove the showroom from the equation? Why do you think that?

(No agenda here just hoping for some honest discussion, I have a lot of time to think lately with surgery recovery making it impossible to work normally.)

I think it's a matter of three things: fashion, tradition, and what can be bought easiest. I got BLRWs because they were really fashionable two years ago, for instance. I was going to get SLWs becuse that's what my grandmother raised, as I know a lot of people who keep Barred Rocks, for instance, because that's what their family has always had. And a whole lot of low information chicken people (ie ones who don't post here) just go into the feed store and buy what's there.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

I have, I think, survived the wedding; I'm in a lot of pain because I did something very wrong when getting out of the car last night and my rib cage hurts like double-dipped Hades.

Need to eat breakfast and feed chickens; they like the weather a little cooler, and layed many more eggs yesterday than the past few days.

My I'm glad it's the 28th of July, 2013: no more trying to get everything done at once.

(It was so lovely that Hallerlake and her husband were there!)

 

[Chickielady]

So, I've made no bones about being a show poultry guy (however one that values production very highly), but admittedly that sometimes puts me out of touch with the more local, mostly backyard/homesteading/pet chicken crowd...my question is, what breeds and varieties do y'all think are the most in demand when you remove the showroom from the equation? Why do you think that?

(No agenda here just hoping for some honest discussion, I have a lot of time to think lately with surgery recovery making it impossible to work normally.)

Great idea for a discussion !
As t happens, I am moving directly into this direction, in other words, downsizing & only keeping functionality.

What we value after removing the 'show' from the operation here, is functionality.
Functionality is what has always dictated what breeds have survived the years, and which have been "kicked to the curb" so to speak.
Foundation, heritage breeds have not always been so functional, with more broodiness and less lay especially during winter months, these breeds took more time, work & feed and produced less meat & eggs than alot of other breeds did.
On farms, the RIR, barred Rocks and foundation Orpingtons did the work, feeding the Pioneer homesteders.
I guess "designer" chickens really did not come along until a ways after the depression...who could afford to keep chickens that just did not produce ?

The breeds I keep now that we are downsizing will be the breeds that continue to lay though the winter months, and go brrody less often, they must eat less and take up less space.
These will make less work for me & my bad back.
I suspect at this point, that will be my Marans.
Period.
The Blue Coppers and Silver Cuckoos are still, the best layers year round, that I have had, excpet for a great flock of Barred Rocks I had eons ago.
I look at everything about the bird: egg size, amount of lay, health, temperment, intelligence & 'flightiness' and Marans win.

 

[ChaeBird]

I have, I think, survived the wedding; I'm in a lot of pain because I did something very wrong when getting out of the car last night and my rib cage hurts like double-dipped Hades.

Need to eat breakfast and feed chickens; they like the weather a little cooler, and layed many more eggs yesterday than the past few days.

My I'm glad it's the 28th of July, 2013: no more trying to get everything done at once.

(It was so lovely that Hallerlake and her husband were there!)

Hurray for surviving the wedding! Boo for hurt rib cages. I hope you feel better soon.

 

[AletaG]

Great idea for a discussion !
As t happens, I am moving directly into this direction, in other words, downsizing & only keeping functionality.
What we value after removing the 'show' from the operation here, is functionality.
Functionality is what has always dictated what breeds have survived the years, and which have been "kicked to the curb" so to speak. Foundation, heritage breeds have not always been so functional, with more broodiness and less lay especially during winter months, these breeds took more time, work & feed and produced less meat & eggs than alot of other breeds did. On farms, the RIR, barred Rocks and foundation Orpingtons did the work, feeding the Pioneer homesteders.
I guess "designer" chickens really did not come along until a ways after the depression...who could afford to keep chickens that just did not produce ?

The breeds I keep now that we are downsizing will be the breeds that continue to lay though the winter months, and go brrody less often, they must eat less and take up less space.These will make less work for me & my bad back.
I suspect at this point, that will be my Marans.Period.The Blue Coppers and Silver Cuckoos are still, the best layers year round, that I have had, excpet for a great flock of Barred Rocks I had eons ago.I look at everything about the bird: egg size, amount of lay, health, temperment, intelligence & 'flightiness' and Marans win.

Agreed! This is what I'm planning to do. My HRIR line from Ron Fogle should be will within SOP - they get the Blosl approval, at any rate - and once I get to 'know' them, I will focus on earlier maturity/longevity of production, etc. I did fall prey to CUTE again, though. And "need help". My Bantam rescues are NOT that productive. I signed a contract from the no-kill shelter, however... And it's easier for my children to handle the bantams properly with their short arms LOL. My guess is that they are pretty much past middle age, so they will grace the yard with their entertaining cuteness for only so long. But, it did make me think... So far we've got (outside the showroom):
1. productivity/practicality 2. novelty 3. "cute", personality or entertainment factor 4. convenience (what's immediately available).
Number 4 was what we went for the first 2 times we had chickens. And I couldn't help it. I wanted eggs NOW, not when my chicks mature, not when my as-yet-to-arrive HRIR are old enough! I bought 4 year old production NH and RIR from a local farm! The intention is to send them to freezer camp as soon as the HRIR et alia are laying enough to take up the slack. But we're getting 3 nice BIG eggs a day from those ladies, and 1 to 3 banty eggs every day (not reliable at all!). Keeps me from going crazy while feeding all the young things that won't be laying eggies for a looong time!

 

[richarddhoward]

Just jumping into the thread here, that is very cool stuff you are talking about.

I don't know chickens well enough to tell the show breeds from good layers or meat birds lol. I do know that I am much more interested in production, I just got luck on the pretty part lol

 

[ElleLovesDucks]

So would the results of that be a "Lil' Dicken's" or a "Chuck"?

LOL

God Bless,

Hahahahaha. Laughed to tears on that one!

 

[ElleLovesDucks]

Good to see Illia back to visit with us.
How is the garden Illia ?

Also wanted to post that we are downsizing yet again, and will have Blue Copper Marans, Cuckoo Marans, a few BBS Jersey Giants, and Olive Eggers all for sale.
I am seriously considering letting the Crele Chantecler (albertan) project go in it's entirety with the F-3s also...that would be 2 Crele Cocks and a mess of F-3 young in which to grow out & breed back to the Crele Cocks.
Anyone interested, PM me or e-mail me.I'll

get out there & get a new computer ASAP, thanks for everyone's offers of help !!!

Got a Rx for muscle relaxers, 3 X a day & seeing a chiropractor 2 X a week......we will see how it goes, but so far I am functioning, barely, but at least not wadded in a cramped muscle ball anylonger.

Sciatica is applesauce !

Now, hopefully I can stand up long enough to can up a few cases of B&B pickles...the cucumbers will not waite !

I know that all too well. My chiropractor just took an overseas vacation and instead of seeing her every other week, I haven't seen her for 2 months. I can hardly move everyday! I really hope they help you as much as they've helped me. I always joke that I feel like an owl afterwards. When I get there I can usually only turn my head slightly left and slightly right. When I leave I'm always turning my head left and right (like a normal person can) and I feel like it's a super power.