***Chickens ***
Friday, September 5, 2008
Posted in Serenity Garden
Robert E. Lee had a chicken he took with him the whole time the Civil War was going. Many a soldiers tried to cook the chicken, but he managed to rescue it saying, “Boiling the hen will give us one fine meal, but keeping her alive will feed us every day.”
So, as I said, not only are we preparing to buy a home, we'd like one with land so we can have our chickens. Today I emailed our county law division and asked them stipulations pertaining to keeping hens and the local zoning laws pertaining to the subject. I am awaiting for more information so we can keep in mind those stipulation while we look.
In the meantime, as you may have already noticed, I'm looking at both city coops and plans for regular ones. I have an idea of what I'd like for a bigger one if we find a place in the country. I'll share those plans later. Right now, I'm picking out which chickens we'll order once we move.
Let me just say that there are lots and lots of chickens out there. Bantams which are smaller in size and tend to lay eggs with more yolk than whites, then there are the common chickens, the specialty and the Cochins which have the cute feathered feet but have a reputation for being poor layers (please, all jokes aside here, I'm having a chicken breed crisis). There are crested breeds with feathered crowns and heavy breeds which are used for meat.
With all those breeds, I felt more and more confused at choosing exactly which ones would work for our area with cold Northeastern snow and wind. Ones that were well mannered, lay eggs quite often, and are good setters. (now I'm starting to sound like a singles add.haha)
Murray McMurray is a hatchary with good, healthy chickens. Not only do they sell chickens, but other game birds like turkeys, ducks, geese. Lets not forget about pheasants, quail, peacocks, and guineas. If your ever in the market, I HIGHLY recommend Murray McMurray at www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html
One decision I do know, we are looking for brown egg layers. So, that trims the list down a bit. The best part of Murray McMurray is they have "assortment" options for different breeds and egg colors. So we have now decided to order the BROWN EGG LAYERS ASSORTMENT.
How easy was that? We know we wanted brown egg layers, we just weren't sure which ones to choose because we've never had any of them. Choosing the assortment, Murray McMurray throws in an assortment and you'll only know once they get to you which breed they are. I like that alot because we don't have to choose just one breed, but can see which ones we really prefer for our next order. In the Brown Egg Assortment, they guarantee 5 of the following breeds:
Black Australorps; Lt. Brahmas; Dark Cornish; Black and White Giants; Buff and White Orpingtons; New Hampshire, Rhode Island Reds, Barred, White, Partridge, Buff Rocks;Deleware, Sussex, Turkens; White, Silver Laced, & Columbian Wyandottes, Red Star and Black Star.
A couple other breeds we were introduced to from our homestead friends, and plan to also purchase are Araucana and Dominique Chickens. They produce green and blue eggs. Our friends called them "easter eggs". They're both pretty friendly and by exeperience with our friends when we were there, they are pretty good natured and do well in the winter months. Check out a Youtube video above that I found on the breed.
How exciting to have made our choices. We hope to introduce them late summer, early fall when we close on a home of our own. Woohoo!
Comments
Friday, September 5, 2008 - Brown Egg Layers
Posted by MtAiryMom
This assortment you chose is one of the better choices. We have some of these varieties ourselves, the Speckled Sussex and the Black Australorp are my favorites among what we have. The Black Australorp was bred for its laying abilities and holds the record of laying 364 eggs in 365 days. I'm sure you'll get a lot of enjoyment and have great success with your choices. If you order the free catalog from McMurray, there's a page of instructions inside which assist in preparing for the arrival of the chicks. The catalog itself is highly informative and an enjoyable read. Wishing you all the best with your chicks :)
Sharon
Saturday, September 6, 2008 - chickens
Posted by sassyfras
We got a mixture this year so we could pick out what we wanted, I have already decided to keep all of them and to have a mixture. Each one has it's finer points and is worthy to us, so come spring, I hope they nest and we have our new family that will feed us well.
Saturday, September 6, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by MtAiryMom
Thanks for visiting my blog! It's always nice to know that I get a visitor once in a while :) While you were there you left these questions for me:
How many chickens do you have? We had 25 until the dogs got to them, now we have 8. More will be here sometime this winter. I have family in the mountains who raise chickens so I can get them pretty much whenever I need more :)
How big is your coop?
Our coop is 8' x 12' with two doors, two large wire mesh windows, two perches, a small tree growing naturally within it and 6 nesting boxes.
How much run do they have?
The run isn't complete yet. My husband is still working on that as time allows. With the design of the coop, they're still getting the natural sunlight and vegetation which will do them until their run is finished.
What are you feeding them to keep them looking so healthy and beautiful? We feed them regular laying mash that we get at the local farm supply :)
Oh, company just pulled in the driveway, I'll visit your blog again after while :)
Monday, September 8, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by jocelyndixon
That is funny... I've never heard that about Robert Lee before! LOL
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