What were your worst mistakes when you first started?

[aliciaplus3]

This makes me feel better about the hours I’m putting into reading, looking up, etc. It’s like going to school to prepare for getting my chickens. I’m hoping to bypass some mistakes.

Sometimes we like to look at folks that have ideal situations and think we can do things that way when in reality our environment and what is available to us is very different and requires a whole different approach...... when I started I knew a gal not too far from me that free ranged her girls...... with minimal issues, so I thought I could follow suit.....nope. I live much closer to running water than she does so way more predators. I went from 80 chickens to 0 in just 2 weeks.... after that I spent 3 months ramping up my defenses before I brought more birds into my coop..... this time with a closed run that included digging protection and wire over the top! It's been almost 7 years and my losses since then are due to selective pot training..... at my choice

 

[paintedChix]

Would you expand on “auto sexing breed” please? I am really concerned with getting Roos

I named the auto sexing breeds - i think all of them. But I'll detail!

These are breeds that are different colors at hatch for male and female. They are consistent and breed true, unlike, sex-linked breeds that will not breed true. I believe, but could be wrong as I don't have my research pulled up, that all auto sexing breeds are barred type breeds & several have the "bar" in their names (cream/crested Legbar; Rhodebar. Older breeds now thought to be extinct or no longer in existence were used to help create these current breeds - such as the Wellbar, Cambar and a few others that I can't remember the names of at the moment.). Most of, if not all of, these breeds were developed many years ago overseas and all have been imported in the last few years. There was someone breeding different breeds together to get Rhodebars (yes, they have Rhode Island Red in their bloodlines & crossing back to RIRs will get better body type BUT lose the auto-sexing feature for a couple of generations while body or feather type is improved)here in the US, but I haven't been able to find any current info on that. Understand, I'm still just a few months into my own ownership of auto-sexing breeds (4 of the 5), and I'm still learning myself.

Again, I could be wrong - but the main importer of the auto-sexing breeds in recent years has been Greenfire Farms (linked to their explanation of auto-sexing breeds) out of Florida. They have all the original lines AND every few years they go back overseas and bring in some new lines. Because they have been importing and selling these lines for at least 7 years now, they are no longer the only breeders of these breeds - in fact - several hatcheries now offer some of them. The day old chicks can still be on the more expensive side, but now and then you do find good deals.

CREAM LEGBARS
Here in NC, I've found several breeder of these breeds. I now belong to the Cream Legbar Club - there are 3 accepted color varieties. I have what are known as the Production Line and also the Jill Rees show line. I want to breed to do a couple of things - get a prettier blue egg(my girls are really light, most no more than tinted blue - which isn't the color they should be); an earlier laying time frame and maybe a slightly larger/heavier frame - however - they aren't huge birds and don't think they were originally bred to be a true dual purpose bird. I also will be keeping my lines separate and crossing them. Mine are GREAT foragers but do well when confined and OMG - the personalities!!!! I never thought I'd like the crested breeds, but these are so FUN. The roosters, so far, are VERY easy to deal with, too. The ones I've processed so far, are on the smaller side and were much older than the typical 2-3 months as they were 8 months old roosters. LOTS of feathers - very pretty.

With losses at free ranging - I currently have a quad & a trio of production line CLBs. Some were laying, if they are now, we haven't found the eggs.

I have 2 roosters, both of the Jill Rees lines, that don't have standard combs. Right now they are all I have - so one will go over a mixed batch of pullet/hens - to get pretty egg layers (most won't be auto-sexing, 2 are 1/2 CLB so might have chicks that are?). The better one will go over 3 pullets of the same lineage.

With all groups - I will keep the resulting chicks w/o selling them. Then I will choose which ones I will keep - some will become my new breeders, some will join my egg laying battery, some will go into freezer camp - THEN - some of the ones i feel are breeding quality could be for sale (or gifted to family/friends/others).

Here is what my 2nd batch of chicks looked like, I didn't get them as day old chicks (first ones were pullets only). In first pic, cockerels are lighter in color (not always true, though, some of my pullets have been lighter, too), have NO chipmunk marking on head, but a "white" spot, some do have partial eyeliner but usually not. 2nd pic - good example of partial eyeliner on him & his "white" spot, the closest to the green block & the 2nd chick is a pullet but is of the lighter color (she is maturing lighter than her sisters as well) w/ full eyeliner & her chippy stripe. 3rd pic is the 3 cockerels together w/ the tails of 2 of the girls to the far right. 4th pic is a pullet.




5th & 6th pics are of a pullet @ 2days & @ 30 weeks - Jill Rees show lines - 1 generation removed from GFF lines (I was told).



And one of the JR line cockerels.



This coop currently has 10 chickens - 3 purebred JR lines CLB pullets, 2 purebred cockerels. 2 MalineXs, 2 CLBxs (not sure what with), 1 Bresse pullet. I will be splitting them up - the 3 purebred & Bresse pullets w/ one cockerel & the other 4Xs with the other cockerel. The Bresse girl will lay either brown or white egg, have to look up (again, LOL).



Separate posts for 55 Flowery Hens, Bielefelders & Rhodebars (that I have and have pics of)...

You can also go to Greenfire Farms' Auto-Sex chickens page for list of breeds & their pics and what they charge for day old chicks.

 

[paintedChix]

55 Flowery Hens - (is the name of the breed).

Developed in 1955 by Martin Silverrudd, the pullet/hens are "spotted" like flowers & the cockerels/roosters are white w/ some red "leakage" on some... They lay HUGE white eggs (I've gotten a handful from our 8 pullets, so far, and it's unbelievable.). I will have to do some pics later, don't haven them size adjusted yet. These birds, again, are smaller - based on the Leghorn breeds. They are also my most flighty birds of our auto-sexing breeds. At least they don't try to kill themselves or each other when you enter their pens (like our blue Ameraucana do). Not really friendly - won't take treats or even feed from your hand. Supposed to be great foragers, but I was so afraid of losing these "flighty" and good flying birds, that I've not let them out.

Again, I didn't get these girls/boys as chicks. They were already about 3 months old when I got them and well feathered in. The cockerels are supposed to be lighter colored and the girls are brown w/ not as distinct chipmunk pattern as the CLBs.









I am down to 1 (out of 4) roosters. Had originally planned on 3 breeding groups w/ the 3 best roosters, but Mama Nature changed that plan. 3 of the roosters passed between Hurricane Florence &/or after Hurricane Michael. Still have the original 8 pullets - just now starting to lay. "Solo" is a VERY lucky guy, LOL. I wish these girls were friendlier - they sure are PRETTY and their eggs, JUST WOW. Can't wait to see how they hatch out once they are laying this coming spring and I learn to incubate. Just like with my CLBs, I will be going through and keeping what I deem to be the best - and will be getting some more roosters so that I can get a couple of different groups going that aren't directly related.

 

[paintedChix]

Would you expand on “auto sexing breed” please? I am really concerned with getting Roos

Bielefelders

These are a german breed. The breed SOP is in German, but I now have a copy in english. Haven't gone through it yet, to be honest. Good sized, good foragers & VERY friendly as well. 2 of my girls have just started laying and lay a medium to large light brown/dark tan egg.

I got 12 originally from a breeder. Would have been 3 quads (1 cockerel/3 pullets). They weren't day old chicks - about 6-7 weeks old. From pics, the boys are lighter in color & have the typical white dot on the top of the head as well as indistinct chipmunk pattern on body. Girls have eyeliner & chipmunk pattern, generally darker than the boys. I gifted one quad to a girlfriend. Then I purchased another quad. After Hurricane Michael, I lost one of the pullets from the younger quad. Then on December 11th, during the day while free ranging in our front yard (!!), a coyote got 2 pullets from 1 quad and the rooster from the other. So now I DO have 2 full quads again - still have to combine the younger trio w/ the one pullet from the "roosterless" quad. Moved two pullets from the "roosterless" quad into the other one... Whew... The younger pullets aren't laying at all yet, and of the older girls (4) only 2 are laying so far.

 

[paintedChix]

Would you expand on “auto sexing breed” please? I am really concerned with getting Roos

Rhodebar
Another sexable chick at hatch due to barring or lack there of. The girls have chipmunk pattern & the boys the white dot on top of the head. These have the laying abilities of the Rhode Island Red while being able to tell apart at hatch. Both boys & girls are beautiful!

Ours have been friendly BUT they also seem to be a favorite of different types of predators - feral cats (not ours), neighbor's dogs, coyote, hawk(s) & maybe an owl (not sure what got the 3 pullets 2 days after putting them outside in a rabbit hutch)? I have two almost fully mature roosters left from my original 3 purchases (just lost the last pullet who was laying - ). And 3 of 4 pullets left in my barn coop... They will go with the younger roo (JR) and the older roo (Rhodi) will go out to the coop that has the last of my hatchery, laying hens... (darned coyote).

The three younger pullets aren't laying yet, but should be soon. We are building a new hoop coop for them this week. I don't have a lot of pics of them at all and didn't get any as day old chicks. They were all a bit older. I plan on breeding the one quad I have but also getting more chicks from a different breeder this year, hopefully.









****************
I'd like to get some Smaalands (from Greenfire Farm), but that is on hold for now.

New coops, runs, repairing existing coop/runs & doing up tractors for 2019 take precedence over more and more expensive birds. I will learn to incubate from the stock that I have, though.

 

[paintedChix]

Would you expand on “auto sexing breed” please? I am really concerned with getting Roos

55 Flowery Hens, Bielefelders, Cream Legbars, Rhodebars & Smaalands

If there is no one in the state that you live in with these birds for sale, you could order from a handful of farms that ship(there are more than Greenfire Farms now); order some from some of the hatcheries (namely CLBs); or learn to incubate and get your own hatching eggs (BYC, breeders, Ebay).

Rarebreedauctions.com seems to have reputable breeders (the farm I got my 55 Flowery Hens & JR line CLBs uses that for his stock) - both day old chicks & hatching eggs.

I haven't done that yet myself, will be learning to incubate in 2019. Don't believe I'll be shipping eggs/chicks or birds yet, may be doing that in 2020?

 

[HennyPenny2019]

I named the auto sexing breeds - i think all of them. But I'll detail!

These are breeds that are different colors at hatch for male and female. They are consistent and breed true, unlike, sex-linked breeds that will not breed true. I believe, but could be wrong as I don't have my research pulled up, that all auto sexing breeds are barred type breeds & several have the "bar" in their names (cream/crested Legbar; Rhodebar. Older breeds now thought to be extinct or no longer in existence were used to help create these current breeds - such as the Wellbar, Cambar and a few others that I can't remember the names of at the moment.). Most of, if not all of, these breeds were developed many years ago overseas and all have been imported in the last few years. There was someone breeding different breeds together to get Rhodebars (yes, they have Rhode Island Red in their bloodlines & crossing back to RIRs will get better body type BUT lose the auto-sexing feature for a couple of generations while body or feather type is improved)here in the US, but I haven't been able to find any current info on that. Understand, I'm still just a few months into my own ownership of auto-sexing breeds (4 of the 5), and I'm still learning myself.

Again, I could be wrong - but the main importer of the auto-sexing breeds in recent years has been Greenfire Farms (linked to their explanation of auto-sexing breeds) out of Florida. They have all the original lines AND every few years they go back overseas and bring in some new lines. Because they have been importing and selling these lines for at least 7 years now, they are no longer the only breeders of these breeds - in fact - several hatcheries now offer some of them. The day old chicks can still be on the more expensive side, but now and then you do find good deals.

CREAM LEGBARS
Here in NC, I've found several breeder of these breeds. I now belong to the Cream Legbar Club - there are 3 accepted color varieties. I have what are known as the Production Line and also the Jill Rees show line. I want to breed to do a couple of things - get a prettier blue egg(my girls are really light, most no more than tinted blue - which isn't the color they should be); an earlier laying time frame and maybe a slightly larger/heavier frame - however - they aren't huge birds and don't think they were originally bred to be a true dual purpose bird. I also will be keeping my lines separate and crossing them. Mine are GREAT foragers but do well when confined and OMG - the personalities!!!! I never thought I'd like the crested breeds, but these are so FUN. The roosters, so far, are VERY easy to deal with, too. The ones I've processed so far, are on the smaller side and were much older than the typical 2-3 months as they were 8 months old roosters. LOTS of feathers - very pretty.

With losses at free ranging - I currently have a quad & a trio of production line CLBs. Some were laying, if they are now, we haven't found the eggs.

I have 2 roosters, both of the Jill Rees lines, that don't have standard combs. Right now they are all I have - so one will go over a mixed batch of pullet/hens - to get pretty egg layers (most won't be auto-sexing, 2 are 1/2 CLB so might have chicks that are?). The better one will go over 3 pullets of the same lineage.

With all groups - I will keep the resulting chicks w/o selling them. Then I will choose which ones I will keep - some will become my new breeders, some will join my egg laying battery, some will go into freezer camp - THEN - some of the ones i feel are breeding quality could be for sale (or gifted to family/friends/others).

Here is what my 2nd batch of chicks looked like, I didn't get them as day old chicks (first ones were pullets only). In first pic, cockerels are lighter in color (not always true, though, some of my pullets have been lighter, too), have NO chipmunk marking on head, but a "white" spot, some do have partial eyeliner but usually not. 2nd pic - good example of partial eyeliner on him & his "white" spot, the closest to the green block & the 2nd chick is a pullet but is of the lighter color (she is maturing lighter than her sisters as well) w/ full eyeliner & her chippy stripe. 3rd pic is the 3 cockerels together w/ the tails of 2 of the girls to the far right. 4th pic is a pullet.


View attachment 1624696 View attachment 1624699 View attachment 1624700 View attachment 1624701

5th & 6th pics are of a pullet @ 2days & @ 30 weeks - Jill Rees show lines - 1 generation removed from GFF lines (I was told).

View attachment 1624704 View attachment 1624705

And one of the JR line cockerels.

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This coop currently has 10 chickens - 3 purebred JR lines CLB pullets, 2 purebred cockerels. 2 MalineXs, 2 CLBxs (not sure what with), 1 Bresse pullet. I will be splitting them up - the 3 purebred & Bresse pullets w/ one cockerel & the other 4Xs with the other cockerel. The Bresse girl will lay either brown or white egg, have to look up (again, LOL).

View attachment 1624720

Separate posts for 55 Flowery Hens, Bielefelders & Rhodebars (that I have and have pics of)...

You can also go to Greenfire Farms' Auto-Sex chickens page for list of breeds & their pics and what they charge for day old chicks.

Thank you so much for this, I didn’t see a list of breeds but I think I miss a good bit on the site sometimes. I’m getting better at navigating the website but still struggle a bit.

This is what I envisioned when I read “sex-linked” but never having heard of it I figured I was probably wrong.
I won’t be involved in breeding or showing as you are, but I am interested if there is a better way to insure I get hens rather than Roos if possible. I did the breeding for show with my French Bulldogs for 15 years .. I’m just too old to do that now. Thanks again for the help, I really appreciate it. -Beth

 

[HennyPenny2019]

Sometimes we like to look at folks that have ideal situations and think we can do things that way when in reality our environment and what is available to us is very different and requires a whole different approach...... when I started I knew a gal not too far from me that free ranged her girls...... with minimal issues, so I thought I could follow suit.....nope. I live much closer to running water than she does so way more predators. I went from 80 chickens to 0 in just 2 weeks.... after that I spent 3 months ramping up my defenses before I brought more birds into my coop..... this time with a closed run that included digging protection and wire over the top! It's been almost 7 years and my losses since then are due to selective pot training..... at my choice

I had thought that I would free range until I read so many posts about the carnage of doing this and I’m thinking “ not MY feather kids”. So I’ll try to come up with the safest method I can that will provide the best life I can give them.
I’ll never be a serious chicken farmer (I’m thinking 6 hens) but I’ll be real serious about caring properly for them.
Just FYI, I’m on the eastern (Ohio River) side of West Virginia)

 

[paintedChix]

You are welcome Beth, no problems. I enjoyed doing all the "little" write ups. I don't/haven't shown chickens - but am interested in getting birds that meet breed standards &/or breeding them to a standard that will work well/mesh with the "homesteading" we are doing. That's why I'd like to aim for a slightly "meatier" bird if/where possible. For me, it's a learning process. I don't have a whole lot of individuals for each grouping. Still trying to figure out how to tell who is doing what - that may be a whole 'nother ball game.

Was so disappointed that we lost so many birds - not during or right after the first hurricane - but after the 2nd. Figured it was too much stress for some of them - I know that several developed "sniffles" and then...then were "gone". Literally overnight...

The one thing that has caught me by surprise is how long these auto-sexing girls are taking to lay. I never realized it would take this long. Having hatchery bred hens - some actually production type crosses - when I started spoiled me. They laid early, but then their laying stopped (literally) at 3-4 yrs of age.

 

[HennyPenny2019]

55 Flowery Hens - (is the name of the breed).

Developed in 1955 by Martin Silverrudd, the pullet/hens are "spotted" like flowers & the cockerels/roosters are white w/ some red "leakage" on some... They lay HUGE white eggs (I've gotten a handful from our 8 pullets, so far, and it's unbelievable.). I will have to do some pics later, don't haven them size adjusted yet. These birds, again, are smaller - based on the Leghorn breeds. They are also my most flighty birds of our auto-sexing breeds. At least they don't try to kill themselves or each other when you enter their pens (like our blue Ameraucana do). Not really friendly - won't take treats or even feed from your hand. Supposed to be great foragers, but I was so afraid of losing these "flighty" and good flying birds, that I've not let them out.

Again, I didn't get these girls/boys as chicks. They were already about 3 months old when I got them and well feathered in. The cockerels are supposed to be lighter colored and the girls are brown w/ not as distinct chipmunk pattern as the CLBs.

View attachment 1624728 View attachment 1624729 View attachment 1624730

View attachment 1624735 View attachment 1624732

View attachment 1624740 View attachment 1624739 View attachment 1624738

View attachment 1624742 View attachment 1624745

I am down to 1 (out of 4) roosters. Had originally planned on 3 breeding groups w/ the 3 best roosters, but Mama Nature changed that plan. 3 of the roosters passed between Hurricane Florence &/or after Hurricane Michael. Still have the original 8 pullets - just now starting to lay. "Solo" is a VERY lucky guy, LOL. I wish these girls were friendlier - they sure are PRETTY and their eggs, JUST WOW. Can't wait to see how they hatch out once they are laying this coming spring and I learn to incubate. Just like with my CLBs, I will be going through and keeping what I deem to be the best - and will be getting some more roosters so that I can get a couple of different groups going that aren't directly related.

They are lovely!