What do you do with ALL THESE CHICKS?!!

[gimmie birdies]

Unless the government make a chicken registration mandatory and someone goes around asking why you "NEED" to have so many chickens. I wonder where they will look for chicken owners...

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I have less-than-a-year-old-hens and my spouse wants to bring in some fancier birds. (as the one who feeds, cares for and poo-shovels I am a little slower to want to add to the flock, but I will love any baby you give me)

I wondered if I could swop out their non-fertile eggs for fertile ones under my sleep-with-the-babies leghorn bantam. But she is so small though, I don't know if she could protect them from the others, I hear that the mom-hen has to do the protecting from the other hens or they kill the chicks. She is pretty low on the pecking order.

Am I right to think if the whole flock is bantam my best babies to introduce would also be bantams ?

 

[WallyG74]

I have less-than-a-year-old-hens and my spouse wants to bring in some fancier birds. (as the one who feeds, cares for and poo-shovels I am a little slower to want to add to the flock, but I will love any baby you give me)

I wondered if I could swop out their non-fertile eggs for fertile ones under my sleep-with-the-babies leghorn bantam. But she is so small though, I don't know if she could protect them from the others, I hear that the mom-hen has to do the protecting from the other hens or they kill the chicks. She is pretty low on the pecking order.

Am I right to think if the whole flock is bantam my best babies to introduce would also be bantams ?

There’s exceptions to every rule but what you’re saying seems most logical.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I hatch chicks for a number of reasons. I'm currently hatching 23 (bought 2 dozen hatching eggs, one was not fertile). These eggs are a backyard mix of easter eggers, australorpes, and 'red' birds. Of these birds, I have planned to give six chicks to a neighbor that was unable to provide me with hatching eggs this year as they said their birds were too old. Whatcha wanna bet that their birds aren't too old to provide me hatching eggs NEXT year! hahahaha!

The balance will be raised to replace 'spent' hens (those that eat more grain than their contribution in eggs warrants). I will also select the cream of the crop cockerel (perhaps two cockerels if I choose the alpha and the most submissive one) to replace my rooster which is of a breed that passes along genetic abnormalities (production red). Notice before where I said I'd bought eggs to incubate? That is because I don't want to breed this rooster for hatching eggs, he's welcome until I find a replacement for him to tend to the girls.

All the 'spent' hens, unwanted cockerels, and this rooster will be processed for the freezer.

 

[bill3607]

I've heard some say that in order to incubate the vaccines they need eggs for this. With the virus going on and if that is true then where did they get all the eggs to do the testing and make the vaccines? Probably from the hatcheries and that's why when I made my order it's now been pushed further out. I'm starting all new, but with the hassle of ordering from hatchery and everything I believe I'll start saving for an Incubator again so I can start adding or replacing next year. There's no way to get your money back through selling and raising chickens but if i get in a pinch i want to be able to sell a few chicks or Eggs to get a bag of feed or other things for them. But gotta have limits other wise you can quickly become overwhelmed.

Eggs are not used in Covid vaccines like they are in flu vaccines. At least not in the ones that are out.

 

[Mtnboomer]

We hatch about 40 chicks a year. Our friend uses them for his gene expression research for feather color. Those that express the color he is interested in are raised to maturity. Those that do not are raised for my freezer.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I order chicks and hatch chicks. I plan to process extra males this spring and set up several small flocks to have pure eggs. Hoping after this year (until I move) I only buy hatching eggs and small scale chicks, not hatchery chicks every spring

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I hatch chicks to order mostly, sometimes just for fun. Just started breeding silkies and most people know that they can only be sold straight run (unless the breeder offers DNA gender testing), so they all get sold.

 

[lovesfarms]

I hatch chicks to order mostly, sometimes just for fun. Just started breeding silkies and most people know that they can only be sold straight run (unless the breeder offers DNA gender testing), so they all get sold.

Good planning!

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I have planned to give six chicks to a neighbor that ... said their birds were too old. Whatcha wanna bet that their birds aren't too old to provide me hatching eggs NEXT year! hahahaha!

you are an evil genius, I humbly bow to your obviously superior planning skills.