I miss my chickens I had only hens. I first built which I thought was a very strong pen, with a coop along the outer wall with a door that open horizontally so you can reach all the nest boxes to gather the eggs, without having to go in the pen. I ordered 100 day old mixed breeds hen chicks from one of the breeders to be split with an acquaintance from work. Two didn't make it through Transit, the remainder I put in a homemade brooder, and gradually decreased the temperature until they could do without the heat. I built a portable pen out of some old screen doors that I hinged together so I could move it around the vegetable garden so the hens could eat weeds and bugs, of course they did dig up a few worms, especially after rain when they're shallow. Nothing like a fresh egg. We had so many eggs at the peak that I was giving them away and a few times I barter some for garden plants. We also had 2 Bantoms a white and a black one, that had the run of the property at that tme. It was most enjoyable for me, great period of time in my life. like I said in the beginning I miss my chicken wish I was physically able to do it again.
Tony we like having them too but it is a little bit of work and sometimes Jake ask me to feed them when he isn't feeling good. I use to clean the pens but now he does it. We order ours from Ideal out of Texas. Where do did you like to order from? We have 10 now but won't keep but 3 or 4, will give the rest to my daughter.
It is work but I didn't mind it back then it was a while I had them back in the 80s. In the mix I got leghorns Rhode Island reds, the Easter chicken I can't remember it's name, but it layed green, purple, bluesh eggs, I can't remember all the different breeds I had, there was a beautiful white speckled black chick I really liked. The breeder I got them from I got there name from a magazine, I think it was McGregor. I'll have to research it.
I really liked the ducks we had except for their poop, it was really messy. We had 2 Peking white ducks, Aflac and Sassy the female 'who never shut up'. 'Heckle and Jekyle', Muscovy's The only chicken we had that laid green eggs was a Bannon named 'Chiclet' we had10 of those and Leghorns and RIR's. It was fun watching the ducks play in their pool and they would follow us around. One day the Moskovy's decided to take flight and fly. I told Jake," there goes your ducks", but they just flew around the yard and came, then came back down.. We use Ideal Poultry for most of our poultry and never had a problem with them, ordered the new Barred Rocks, they came in the mail 2 days old, Sept 8th,2022.
I had two Peking Ducks also, 2 guinea fowl, 6 quail, my daughter was also breeding lionhead rabbits, I enjoyed my menagerie. Over the years I've breed hamsters, I tried Flying Squirrels no success, guinea pigs, chameleons got eggs but no hatching, Koi, shubunkin, and on and on.
I made a lot of money from age 8 up to around 14 with my egg-laying business. I had a large totally chicken-wired pen with two units so I could rotate pasture. I planted things and tossed in vegetables and fruits that would eat and also draw grasshoppers. With just a little protein feed, grain, and oyster shell they thrived. I ordered new replacement chicks every year and never kept a laying hen for more than two years. Mainly White Leghorns that I bought locally after having bad luck with postal service-delivered chicks. For the last few years, I kept a rooster and hatched my own from my Blue Ribbon State Fair-winning hens. One year I used an incubator and then used game hens for hatching and raising chicks. I had chickens again as a young adult but had the Araucana colored egg layers. They were free range by day and in a secure pen at night. They provided me with eggs plus some to sell for eating or hatching. In this day and time, backyard chickens for eggs is not a profitable endeavor. The only advantage is you have control of the egg quality. Dual-purpose chickens are popular for urban types but if they penciled out the cost of a dozen eggs, it would be a losing situation. The meat off those birds wouldn't be worth a lot either. I am lucky to have several local free-range egg farms and can buy GMO-free (most of our NW grain is) organic vegan-fed brown shell eggs for $7 for an 18 carton. The price is rising just like everything else. I don't eat enough eggs to make it worth having chickens.
We sold some of our eggs too, donation for food actually. Even the Peking duck eggs were taken by a lady who said her two boys in college were eating her out of house and home. She said they didn't know the difference in duck or chicken, which I'm sure they just thought it was cooked differently.
We have had all kinds of poultry over the years. At the moment, we only have 8 layers and one old girl left over from previous batches. We bought ten from a local hatchery but lost two to hawks before I got fence over the top of the pen. We have never had hens lay throughout the winter here, but these do. We keep our sons' families supplied with eggs as we cannot eat them all. When we raised larger numbers of poultry, we usually ordered them by mail or online. I don't find them much trouble, as they only require once-a-day feeding, watering, and egg collecting even here in the cold. We have heated water dishes though. We usually have a house-sitter, so they take care of things when we travel. The hens pretty much feed themselves in summer with bugs, seeds, and weeds. Toying with getting another rooster, but haven't decided if we want to deal with the problems and benefits they bring.
Tony we had a rabbit named Smiffer who was always pestering the dogs. He would lay there till they got right at him then take off. They knew not to hurt him Sniffer liked to make them chase him. the lady down the street sold meat ducks but her biggest customer was feeding them to their snake which I don't think any foreign reptile should be allowed, they have destroyed all the wildlife in the Everglades, wiped it out.
We still have the 3 old hens and 10 pullets we raised from mail order. 4 yr old hens are laying everyday so we're good now for eggs. We won't keep but 4 or 5 of the pullets.
Ok that's a pretty bird. The one I had who laid green and colored eggs were Bantams,unsocialble little things.