Chickens

[Blondie]

I know, I know! Chickens are not an essential part of building a fine "log-ma-hal," but for those of us who want to live a little out of town and perhaps save some money. It might be worth a thought. I came into the poultry world unblemished by previous experience. There seems to be a breed fairly new to the US that has come to my attention. The French call them Bresse. The seems to be fairly hardy and produce a large egg. They seem to be fairly calm and easy to manage. If the are fed and finished off the French way the meat is some of the most delicious on earth. A butcher shop in France can sell these birds for $150.00 each Christmas week. You can get the eggs on ebay..................If you want more info, see Greenfire Farms description.

Blondie

[rocklock]

Several questions...
Do you have the chickens?
Can you buy chicks?
Are the eggs ready to hatch or just to eat?

[Blondie]

Hi "rocklock,"

Unfortunatly, I am not yet set up to sell them. You can pick up the eggs up off ebay. I am sure in the spring there should be some young available. Hatch eggs is something I had never seen. I hatched some for a friend this fall and it was fabulous! I picked up an inexpensive incubator off the net. I read the notes on how to incubate from Backyard Chickens.org. The birds are usually harvest 16 to 20 weeks after hatching. The ones you don't harvest will start laying very large eggs for their size in about 16 to 18 weeks.

Blondie

[jrdavis]

<cut>...... The ones you don't harvest will start laying very large eggs for their size in about 16 to 18 weeks.

Blondie


Blondie,

Thats incredible.
I have been raising chickens ( Australorps, RIR's and White Rocks ) for a few years and the soonest I get eggs has been about 24-28 weeks and those are 'pullet' eggs. soem about the size of a quarter. My kids called me at work, they were so excited about that egg.

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/day_old_baby_chickens.html

I bought a 3 egg 'small scale incubator' that i'd like to try...... maybe I'll give them a shot.

JD

[Blondie]

JR,

Please read info on them from Greenfire Farms. There is also some info on them from Backyard Chickens. They are large fowl and produce a larger white eggs.

Blondie

[Blondie]

In the back of my wandering mind, I have the rare thought of how fun it would be to pull up to the local farmer's market and sell cartons of eggs. But not a usual carton. The eggs are all super sized. They are also different colors and perhaps only one or two are white. They range in color from the darkest chocolate (Black Copper Maran), medium chocolate (Barnevelder) through a pale green(Easter Egger) to light blue egg (Cream Legbar). The eggs are so big they may require a different kind of egg carton and of course the price for the carton is pretty good. lolo There are enough big chicken varieties to make it kinda fun!

Blondie

[Blondie]

For those of us who have never incubated eggs before. It is pretty fascinating, I purchased a Janoel 24. It keeps the eggs at the right temp and rolls them side to side constantly, so that the chicks do not develop deformities from being on one side through out the incubation. I chose to do 'Dry" Incubation. The Dry incubation process is supposed to yield the highest hatch rate by keeping the humidity at 40%. After following the instructions, an army of question on the the morning of the 21 st day....little chicks began to hatch!

Blondie

[jrdavis]

WHAT!!!!
auto rolling? thats cheating. :)
no getting redressed after going to bed and forgetting the twice daily 'rolling'
.... then being wide awake for the next 2 hours because of it :+(

hearing that 'peep peep' is pretty rewarding after 42+ rollings.
some eggs took up to 3 days longer.
and then there's the two that DIDN'T hatch.

-- You can never throw those far enough away. WHEW!!!

[loghousenut]

I can still smell the rotten one that my Mom cracked into the skillet for breakfast when I was in the 1st grade.

It was even worse than the stink of that maggoty coyote that turned up behind the spare tire in Bro Bo's '46 Chevy Fleetline.





Now don't go getting off subject here. I'm developing an interest in these big bottomed chickens we're talking about.

[Blondie]

JR,

The Backyard Chickens suggests "candling" the eggs on day 8 and day 12 so you kinda have an idea who is going to hatch and who isn't. They also instruct you how to monitor the air/fluid level in the egg for a greater hatch rate. They even give hints on how to deal with a floating air sac.

Blondie

[ChainsawGrandpa]

Consider ducks. Anconas produce for years, chickens produce for a very short time.
Ducks are more aware of predators than chickens.
Ducks lay on a 24 hr. cycle.... usually between 04:00 - 08:00.
Chickens lay on a 25 hr. cycle.
Free range Anconas provide long-chain omega 3 fatty acids. Chicken eggs should have a phytosterol precursor.

The neighbors must not like their chickens crowing early in the morning, so they put the chickens over closer to my property.

[Blondie]

G'pa,

I had thought about ducks, but I live out here where water is a very scarce element and don't have splashes of it sitting around for them to play in. Ya, I know that you don't need to have water to have ducks. But ducks without a puddle isn't logical........

Blondie

[rreidnauer]

A small hobby farm near me keeps ducks. They too have no natural water, but have a small kiddie pool set up which seems to keep the ducks happy.

[Kola]

I have 2 layer chickens, I just lost one during a bad cold streak here. Last year I had ducks for eggs and I had a small plastic pond for them. Big mistake... as the eggs tasted like the pond water. I traded the ducks away for something better: ammo.

As for chickens, I prefer the old traditional heritage types (much like the veggies I grow)

[thoner7]

I have heard rumors that duck eggs have twice the protein and half the cholesterol compared to a chicken egg. Not sure if its true or not.

[jrdavis]

Hey KOLA ---
Did you wash them in the pond water. :) heehaw.

I never noticed that from some we raised for a few years... and had that same type of "pond".

Thoner7 ---

Thats about right.
Mother Earth News has that breakdown they have a few times.
MUCH better then store bought cage raised eggs
and they taste much better also.

[Blondie]

I know, I am an ostrich and really do not know what is going on in the rest of the world.....lol There is a new mobile chicken coop that is coming out of the land of Oz. It is a "Chicken Caravan." You can find the video ad on You Tube. They seem to come in several different sizes. I can't wait until they are imported here. Take a look, tell me what you think.

Blondie

[Blondie]

Dear "grometluowe,"

For documentation of egg size please see Backyard Chickens Blog on American or French Bresse. The Bresse to be finished off properly start off free ranging and then the last month or so in a crate on milk and corn. This higher fat diet produces the tender, flavorful meat. Please see Greenfire Farms notes on the Bresse. If the Bresse were not to be harvested then as far as I am concerned they may be kept with the rest of the flock.

Blondie

[Blondie]

Well, It is Jan 8. There are two ads on ebay for the white (American or French) Bresse. There is one ad for the slightly less meaty black Bresse. They are running about $20.00 per half dozen. You could get the eggs now and be gathering your own eggs by May or harvest in May as well. Without the story behind them, no one will look over your fence and see anything but a common white chicken. You neighbors will be less likely to mis-appropriate a rare chicken.

Blondie

[Kola]

that's a dang good price for fancy chickens. I'd love to get a few. Do they sell pullets?

[Blondie]

I am sure that someone is. Try ebay, Backyard Chickens and Greenfire Farms.

Blondie

[Blondie]

Hey Guy's

The breeders on Backyard chickens report that they are winter layers, have a high fertility rate and hatch well after mailing.

Blondie

[rocklock]

Now if we can just get them to poop in a litter box, life will be good.

[Blondie]

I am Still laughing!!!!!!!

Blondie

[Blondie]

One of the new Bresse growers from Backyard chickens just emailed that he processed his first 26 wk rooster today at 4.2 pounds dressed out.

Not bed!

Blondie

[jrdavis]

blondie --

I don't know about that breed, so it may be a "good weight", but
Out here in the midwest, White rocks and cornish X rocks dressing out at 8 weeks between 8-10lbs.
There is a lot of extra feed going into a bird for 26 weeks.

McMurray hatcheries has a great reputation here in Iowa.

Just MHO. YMMV.
JD

[Blondie]

You are right!

Blondie

[blane]

As far as chicken tractors, my friend made his out of pvc pipe and put wheels on the back so he could easily move the tractor by himself.

[Blondie]

Quote by Bresse breeder, "plumcreek" on Backyard Chickens:



The Bresse suprised us. We got them as a gimmick to try the "kobe of chicken" and found an amazing dynamic breed great for the city. They are EXCELLENT layers. We were not expecting the 5-7 eggs per week we get from each bird. They also have the lowest feed to meat ratio of any of the breeds we tried. Their feeders stay full twice a long as any breed we have owned and yet the males are VERY substantial and hefty. They are not autosexing but it is easy to tell by the comb size within the first few weeks.

The bresse will dress out at 3-5 pounds by 16 weeks (females 3-4lbs, males 4-5lbs) and do start learning to crow at about 14 weeks. By 18 weeks the males can be up to 6+ pounds. Their weight will really depend on how they are raised. If they are free ranged and fed slowly they will take longer than if you confine them and feed them as meat birds. They do take longer than factory meat birds but they also take less feed to get there, especially if allowed to range.

Blondie

[Septemberwheat]

I have chickens on my farm (Buff Orphingtons), and in my opinion the finishing process is key for a good tasting chicken. Finishing on grain and dairy for a few weeks really does wonders for the meat. I feed mine a corn/oat mixture with raw milk from my Jersey cow before harvest. They always turn out awesome!