Monday, February 18, 2008

Chicken Shopping

The chicken coop is ready. It's clean and waiting for the new hens to make themselves at home. Trouble is there are no hens to be found. I decided I wanted to get young hens and not raise chicks. It would take too long to start getting eggs. The two banty hens "The Ladies" are laying but I need more eggs than two wee eggs a day. Especially since I have people asking for eggs and my plan is to sell enough eggs to pay for their feed. A student at school's mother has been asking me, for the longest time, if I am ready for some hens. I told her the coop wasn't ready because Hubby filled that great space with firewood. Last weekend we got the wood out and I body blocked the entrance so Hubby couldn't fill that great space back up with wood. I called her and said I was ready for the hens and, wouldn't you know, she doesn't have any ready. Her husband sent a chick catolog over and said he was doing an order and I could add to it.
Wow, chicken overload. I have never seen so many interesting chickens. I wanted three of this and three of that. It was hard not to go chicken wild. I decided I wanted a rare, old breed, a heavy breed that does well in the cold, a calm friendly chicken and was pretty to look at. The chickens have a rating like, Recovering, Endangered, Threatened etc. So then of course I wanted to choose a threatened hen.
I chose....drum roll please...

The Light Brahma..........
and the Speckled Sussex......



I don't know why I chose these, they caught my eye and fit all my criteria, but so did many others. If I was going to order chicks I wanted something unusual. I like the idea of using old breeds and the Speckled Sussex is very old. So we shall see. In the meantime, I will look for some young hens close by. I would still like a few Araucanas and Buff Orpingtons. I don't like to have to wait but someone once told me that an intelligent person can delay gratification so I'm working on that.

9 comments:

Marigold said...

In my humble, goatly opinion, delaying gratification isn't all it is cracked up to be and certainly isn't a sign of intelligence. Why just imagine if I delayed getting my Peanuts! Do chickens like Peanuts?

goatgirl said...

Marigold, I'm sure that is only for people. Delayed gratification for a goat is most foolish. The Peanuts would be all gone if you waited.
And yes, I do believe chickens like peanuts.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

In my own experience, you are choosing well by going with the Speckled Sussex. If I didn't enjoy variety so much I would just have an entire flock of them. They are so beautiful and extremely friendly and calm. We love ours!

I've thought about possibly ordering 50 chicks next year and raising them just to sell as laying hens. They go for anywhere from $10-20 each around here.

My problem is that we'd probably get to attached to them. We already invest way more into our chickens than just feed. We like to hand-feed as chicks and spend time petting and holding them to make them tame.

Might be nice to make a little money though. Seems there are alot of people who want to start out with instant laying gratification. hehe

goatgirl said...

I am so glad you like my choice of the Speckled Sussex. I can't wait to get them.
I think it is a good idea to raise some chicks and sell them as laying hens. I can't find them anywhere close by. I did find some about 2 hours away. I may have to take a road trip.

goatgirl said...

I just ordered some Buff Orpingtons and Araucana chicks from the feed store to go with my Speckled Sussex and Light Brahmas. I am just going to wait for my eggs and get more intelligent by the minute.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the birds! Sounds like you made great choices. I've raised the brahmas and the orpingtons. Bith, good, calm, friendly breeds. And the size of the eggs! Especially the brahmas! Sometimes they wouldn't fit in the carton!! :)

Danni said...

Ok, how in the WORLD did I completely MISS this post of yours?? And about chickens, too. Only seeing it for the first time just now, but boy-oh-boy, I'm so excited for you. (Hey, didn't you promise me a picture of your coop once all the wood got cleared out?) And...good JOB on the body block manuever - I'll keep that in mind as my husband keeps trying to move some of his stuff (junk) into MY barn! :-)

I have heard wonderful things about the speckled sussex hens...how exciting. You're going to have quite a variety. When will they all be delivered?

Can you feel yourself getting smarter? :-)

goatgirl said...

OK OK but I'm not ready for a picture yet. I lied I still have a bit more work to do.
The chicks won't be here until the first part of March and then will go into the brooder for awhile.
I do feel smarter. The old me would have taken the first 4 year old Leghorns that came along.
That's a chicken joke...I think.

goatgirl said...

farm mom, I am second guessing my decision to get the brahmas so I'm glad you like them.