I breed Marans (Blue Birchen and Black Copper) and Bresse, along with 2 projects I'm playing around with. We're dual purpose so I phased out the smaller layer types I had (have pretty much tried most breeds at this point) Then there are the Turkeys, in Bourbon Red and Narragansett.
We breed so that we can eat and we eat so that we can breed... extra boys are very much welcome!
The Blue Birchen main roo...
The Black Copper main roo...
Olive Egger experiment group...
F1 Hybrids (auto sexing blue layers)
A Blue Copper Olive Egger pullet from this past season...
The main Bresse rooster eye-balling some young pullets...
The main man on the farm, Red...
The up and coming Narragansetts...
The last two years has been spent on flock development, refinement and expansion... haven't hardly sold many at all in the effort. Super excited about the cabinet incubator that just came though, maybe next year I'll be able to keep up with our freezer needs.
When I first started as a kid I did OE Bantams in assorted varieties, Seabrights, Spangled Hamburgs... the little cute types. Then got into layers, without breeding. Collecting hatching eggs from all over the country into an oddball assortment to find out which breeds I liked the best.
Then I did start breeding heavier birds and we ran into a problem of too many extra roosters and no market for them, grown or not. So then we started inviting them to dinner. Now I can hatch to my heart's desire AND eat the most flavorful and natural chicken I've ever had, while having an ample group of birds to sort through to further the selection on breeding stock. Now it feels like a natural cycle, I HAVE to do at least 3 big hatches to keep us fed, with pullet sales paying for the feed. Sadly, there's been no profit, but that never was the goal. It all gets put right back into them. It gets pretty spendy growing them all out. I'm feeling pretty good about breaking even though!
I can't wait to see what I'm getting from the flock 5 years from now, from one generation to the next!
