Why am I hatching more eggs?
Alright. It sounds crazy. I love my chickens.
I have chickens though right? Why hatch more than you can keep?
Totally! Especially mixed breeds! I get your skepticism. Here's why :
1. The brown hens I have are not actually mine, Corey brought them over from the neighbor and I want to phase them out. In the fall, I will be replacing them with the ones I've been hatching now. The replacements likely won't be laying eggs yet but seriously, the browns always quit on me during the winter anyways.
#wontbemissinganything
2. The Columbian Rocks (white with back on their necks) are my broodiest hens! The ones that are broody this year will stay again and they will have to get some special treatment because they will be 3 years old I think. I try not to keep my laying hens more than 2 years because I was told it helps to prevent disease so if anyone will want them I will sell them. Or I'll eat them. Either way, they won't be wasted but it's time for them to move on.
#Ididntkeeprecordsbefore, #nowIhaveaspreadsheet
3. It's getting a little too related here. My barred rock rooster is from a different farm (hatched here but the egg is from a friend.) I only have two other barred rock chickens, one is unrelated to him and the other might be his sister. Either way, I have new barred rocks from somewhere else and once I see the quality I will decide which rooster will stay. I may not be hatching eggs from my own farm this year which will spare me my rooster. Most of my chickens are daughters of previous years and the roosters were also chicks born here. We need some fresh blood, at the very least in the rooster section and I don't want jerks. I want sweet and kind roosters, like the ones I have kept.
4. I wanted chickens to keep eggs for my family. I'm not about production, I'm about happy, healthy farm animals. And also pretty. And also tame. And also I like hatching eggs. If at any time someone would like me to hatch them some chicks for their own farm, I am happy to sell you some chicks! NEXT year I will have separate pens for a few purebreds, but this year it's a mix breed style called Barnyard mix. Those are fun. I will sell anything extra that I don't want to keep but those that stay I will be responsible for them.
5. Although I incubate a lot of eggs, this is still a farm and farm life is rough. Our first batch had 18 chicks and I'm down to 16 and maybe 15 (we haven't decided about Nikki's chick yet). Over winter I lost a few as well, not many this year they did surprisingly well, but still lost some. You just never know. In the fall, if I see I have too many I can always send some to be butchered and sell them. They won't be forced into an unhealthy situation. We are currently eyeing up our pig barn to turn it into a better chicken barn.
So. That's why I do it. I know others have programs and ideas and business plans but I don't do it for that. I want happy and healthy and that does need some organization but I'll get there. In the meantime, if you need some eggs, let me know. We are selling our eggs right now. As of today I have 15 dozen in my fridge. 0_0. I need some room to put my groceries.
#eggsanyone? #Ineedtomakemoneytopayforincubator
Batch #2 is 41 eggs of varying breeds of purebreds from another farm and are due the 25th of May. (ish)
Alright. It sounds crazy. I love my chickens.
I have chickens though right? Why hatch more than you can keep?
Totally! Especially mixed breeds! I get your skepticism. Here's why :
1. The brown hens I have are not actually mine, Corey brought them over from the neighbor and I want to phase them out. In the fall, I will be replacing them with the ones I've been hatching now. The replacements likely won't be laying eggs yet but seriously, the browns always quit on me during the winter anyways.
#wontbemissinganything
2. The Columbian Rocks (white with back on their necks) are my broodiest hens! The ones that are broody this year will stay again and they will have to get some special treatment because they will be 3 years old I think. I try not to keep my laying hens more than 2 years because I was told it helps to prevent disease so if anyone will want them I will sell them. Or I'll eat them. Either way, they won't be wasted but it's time for them to move on.
#Ididntkeeprecordsbefore, #nowIhaveaspreadsheet
3. It's getting a little too related here. My barred rock rooster is from a different farm (hatched here but the egg is from a friend.) I only have two other barred rock chickens, one is unrelated to him and the other might be his sister. Either way, I have new barred rocks from somewhere else and once I see the quality I will decide which rooster will stay. I may not be hatching eggs from my own farm this year which will spare me my rooster. Most of my chickens are daughters of previous years and the roosters were also chicks born here. We need some fresh blood, at the very least in the rooster section and I don't want jerks. I want sweet and kind roosters, like the ones I have kept.
4. I wanted chickens to keep eggs for my family. I'm not about production, I'm about happy, healthy farm animals. And also pretty. And also tame. And also I like hatching eggs. If at any time someone would like me to hatch them some chicks for their own farm, I am happy to sell you some chicks! NEXT year I will have separate pens for a few purebreds, but this year it's a mix breed style called Barnyard mix. Those are fun. I will sell anything extra that I don't want to keep but those that stay I will be responsible for them.
5. Although I incubate a lot of eggs, this is still a farm and farm life is rough. Our first batch had 18 chicks and I'm down to 16 and maybe 15 (we haven't decided about Nikki's chick yet). Over winter I lost a few as well, not many this year they did surprisingly well, but still lost some. You just never know. In the fall, if I see I have too many I can always send some to be butchered and sell them. They won't be forced into an unhealthy situation. We are currently eyeing up our pig barn to turn it into a better chicken barn.
So. That's why I do it. I know others have programs and ideas and business plans but I don't do it for that. I want happy and healthy and that does need some organization but I'll get there. In the meantime, if you need some eggs, let me know. We are selling our eggs right now. As of today I have 15 dozen in my fridge. 0_0. I need some room to put my groceries.
#eggsanyone? #Ineedtomakemoneytopayforincubator
Batch #2 is 41 eggs of varying breeds of purebreds from another farm and are due the 25th of May. (ish)
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