New chicks for 2015
We usually like to hatch our own chicks, but due to dogs, ducks, and other dilemmas, we only have five hens at the moment. And when I tried to hatch the eggs of three of those hens (Red Stars)
last year, there seemed to be some sort of genetic problem that caused
the chicks to die in the shell, so we really only have two hens with
hatchable eggs at the moment. In the end, rather than saving eggs for
two weeks to fill the incubator, we bit the bullet and ordered 25
unsexed chicks from Cackle Hatchery.
Australorps are currently my favorite all-around chicken
for our farm --- they're only okay layers, but they're meaty enough to
make it worthwhile to eat the males as broilers and the birds are heavy
enough that they don't usually fly fences and get into trouble in the
garden. But I couldn't resist trying out four other breeds as well:
Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire Red, Buff Orpington, and Dominique. I
have a feeling the Rhode Islands and Orpingtons might end up being
tractored hens due to flying fences (the former) and being too
people-centric (the latter), but only time will tell. Hopefully next
year we'll be back on track with a quality flock who will allow me to
raise all of our meat chickens and eggs for the year.
By the way, in case you're curious, those chicks on the left do
have a blue dot on their foreheads. The hatchery wanted to make sure I
could tell the two types of yellow chicks apart, so they dabbed some dye
on the Buff Orpingtons. Now, if someone can tell me whether the
reddish-brown chicks are Rhode Island Reds or New Hampshire Reds, I
should be all set with my chick-ID skills....
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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The white one on the far right with its head turned is the cutest think I've seen recently. (I know. I don't get out much! LOL!) S/he looks like s/he's saying Well, what's going on over there?
My brood is about 5 weeks old and just about ready to go into my "new" revamped chicken tractor (which weighs enough that only 3 people are needed to move it!).