The Big Red Broiler cockerels have been growing steadily and I was getting curious as to their actual weight. I caught one and weighed it. It was surprisingly easy. These birds are far more docile than the hens and pullets. The bird I selected weighed in at 5.3 pounds. If he were dressed, he would […]
The Broilers Are Growing Read More »
The Big Red Broilers are about a month old and are now so big that they are getting crowded in the partitioned area of the coop. So, I moved them into the larger area and moved the rooster and hen to the partitioned area. It was not as simple as that sentence makes it seem.
Another Moving Day Read More »
Today, I finished partitioning the coop. I found a few pieces of fence and fastened them to the walls so that the pieces could be opened or closed in the middle of the coop. The fence was sagging a bit, but that was remedied by wiring a piece of lath in the center. The fence
Moving the Broiler Chicks Read More »
In the first few days after they arrived, we lost two more Big Reds, a Pearl White, and a Maran. In the last few days there have been no mortalities so we may be past the worst of it. In past years, we have had a much lower percentage of mortalities and few losses after
The Post Office had a delay delivering the chicks from the hatchery. Unfortunately, there was a tornado in MI and that affected the shipping from that area. So, the chicks sat in boxes in the MN post office for three days before leaving for AK. It was frustrating to check the tracking number and see
The Chicks Are Doing Well Read More »
We hatched a few eggs from the Ideal 236 and Australorp hens. At present, we have only a small tabletop incubator. It is enough for the experimental stage of our business. It holds 20-22 quail eggs, but only 6-8 chicken eggs. Building a cabinet-style incubator is on my to-do list. Our rooster is a very
Our current laying flock is made up of Delaware, Ideal 236, Black Australorp, Buff Orpington, and Cream Legbar hens. The Delaware hens are calm and lay medium-sized putty-colored eggs. However, for their size and appetites, they aren’t good enough layers. The Ideal 236 hens are excellent layers and the eggs are large and white, but
This Year’s Lineup Read More »