I like brown-egg hens best, a especially the black-and-white Barred Rocks, or Domineckers, as they’re called around here. When I go looking for new hens, those will be the ones I hope to find. But I'll settle for any brown-egg layer.
Try these chicken riddles—answers below):
What looks just like half a chicken?
Where do hens come from?
Where do chicks come from?
Which side of a chicken has the most feathers?
Why did the chicken cross the road?
What do you get if you cross a road with a chicken?
Why did the chicken go halfway across the road?
Why did the turkey cross the road?
Why do hens lay eggs?
What’s a chicken’s favorite holiday?
(the other half, Hennessee, Chickago, the outside, prove to the possum it could be done, to the other side, to lay it on the line, it was the chicken’s day off, they’d break if they dropped them, Thanksgiving!)
I don't have any chickens right now, mine got old too and a coyote or coon caught the last old barred-rock rooster I had. I may get some more next pring. I usually order chicks from McMurry and start them that way. I like those barred rocks too, they are gentle and not much trouble. But I usually get some RI Reds and black Austrolorps too. Made the mistake of getting 50 white Leghorns last time. That won't happen again. I reckon without a doubt Satan himself started that strain out. Them were the meanest, most aggravating chickens I have ever been around in my life. Even the hawks didn't bother them much. lol
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, Leghorns (pronounced Leggerns around here) were my first chickens. They were rejects from a poultry farm where they were kept in cages and never walked on the ground. They had long curling toenails (well whatever those things are on chickens that look like toenails), and didn't know how to walk, sit on a roost, drink from a waterer or eat from a feeder.
ReplyDeleteBut they learned. They all lost their big red combs to freezing that winter, and I learned to keep a light in the coop to keep them warm and laying (chickens need 14 hours of light a day to lay eggs). I bought a warmer for their water and slowly those long nails wore down as they learned to walk and scratch.
That was a long time ago. Now, like you, Mike, I prefer a mixed flock of Australorps, Domineckers, Rhode Island Reds, maybe some Polish silkies, but always mixing in a few of the cross-links so that I have eggs year-round. Those old breeds are pretty but want to stop laying for a while to moult, and the hybrids are too dumb to know to do that so they just keep laying!
Yup, I think this next batch I get, I am gonna get the makings to hatchout my own sex-linked hybrids. I ordered some of them nd they did well in the cold like you are talking about. I got a light in my old henhouse too, set on a timer to trick them into thinking the days are the right length too. I raise my own corn so feed ain't that big of a concern anymore. But it hard to justify feeding a flock for the eggs you get. People just don't buy eggs like they used too and it's hard to break even if you are buying feed too. Or that is the case here anyway.
ReplyDelete