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Raising Chickens: Tips to Raising Chickens

Raising Chickens: Tips to Raising Chickens


  • Tag Archives barred rocks
  • Hatching Chicken Eggs Incubator VS The Hen!

    Hatching Chicken Eggs Using an Incubator Instead of A Chicken can be a great learning experience for you and your family. Just 21 days from the Egg to the Chick if you do it correct.

    Hatching Chicken eggs

    Incubators:  So here is 2 of my current incubation systems for hatching chicks. First one is an older model 1202 Sportsman cabinet incubator and then when they are ready to hatch they move to my forced air Genesis Hovabator.  First time I have tried this system. Eggs in hatcher right now are first trials. 2nd method is a Light Sussex Hen. Wonder who will have the best success rate:)

    I find that every time the Broody hen will win but I usually have good hatch success rate with my fresh eggs I collect from the different breeds of Chickens I raise. I have a lower success rate from eggs I purchase online and have shipped through the mail. Many things can happen to the egg that is being shipped so if you choose to purchase your eggs and have them shipped just understand you usually will end up with a %50 or even lower hatch rate. Sometimes it will be better when the best of care has been taken in packaging and shipping of the eggs.

    It is an excellent way to get many other breeds you may want to try that are hard to locate at places like your local farm store such as Tractor Supply, Farm Fleet, or Family Farm and Home. Usually these stores will just carry your basic heritage chickens such as Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons, Ameraucanas, and newer sex link breeds.

    Whatever your method of hatching eggs using an incubator make sure you follow the instructions very carefully that come with your incubator. hatching eggs leaves very little room for mistakes and can lead to disappointment.

    One of my favorite places to visit is My Pet Chicken.  They have a great guide that you can read  if you really are serious about hatching your won eggs.  Check it out.  It is also a great place to pick up day old Baby chicks if you do not want to hatch yourself, or to buy hatching eggs to try your hand at hatching.

    Happy Hatching!

     


  • Backyard Chicken Coop Chickens

    Chicken Tender with the Backyard Chicken Coop News

    Chicken Tender with the Backyard Chicken Coop News

    Hey Chicken Tender here and I thought I would share a few pictures of some of my friends from the Backyard Chicken Coop.

    The pictures below are just some of the other chickens that Jeff has.  He had just let them out of the coop to enjoy the evening scratching for some grain that he just scattered out on the ground.  This is my favorite part of the day… Out of the Chicken Coop where I feel free to strut my feathers.

    The hot speckled chick in the lower middle of the picture all by her self  is Tilly.  Tilly is a 4 year old Speckled Sussex that I have been crowing for ever since I first set my eyes on her.  What a chick!

    I have to keep my eye on the big black fellow in the bottom left picture… that’s Big Black.  he is a Jersey Giant crossed with an Ameraucana chicken, which is called an easter egg chicken that lays shades of blue, green, and pink eggs.  He takes after his Pa and just kept on a growing.  The Standard weights of a Jersey Black Giant at maturity are males-13 lbs. and hens-10 lbs, but they grow kind of slow.  The hens do lay nice big brown eggs though, and are good looking chicks.

    The other guy on the right of Tilly is Wyant.  He is a  Silver Laced Wyandotte…Wyant and I get a long much better. Wyandottes are a nice docile chicken and the hens are a very good layer of brown eggs.

    Now the big fellow down below they call him Jake.  He isn’t really part of the Chicken flock as you really should not raise Chickens and Turkeys in the same coop because of diseases.  Jake is a Narragansett Turkey.  He thinks he is pretty good looking because he is always strutting around, Gobbling, and drumming his wings for his mate.  The pattern of the Narragansett turkey is similar to the Bronze, but bronze is replaced with steel gray and the brown in the tail is a lighter tan. The gray has a slightly golden or brown tint. . . . My preference for the Narragansett is based mostly on a calm disposition and size.  Calm and not to big :)

    The nice looking building right next to Jake is his coop.  My chicken coop is just like it only we have a little bigger chicken run attached to our 8 X 10 shed that Jeff built in just a day.  We enjoy the wild grapevines growing over the top of the building as it gives us nice shade during the hot summer days.  Jeff comes out and trims them back every year so they do not grow to wild and spoil the view of looking at the nice variety of day lillies that he planted just outside the coops.

    Well thanks for stopping by the Backyard Chicken Coop.  I will be sharing some more great tips on how you can get the most enjoyment out of raising chickens!

    Backyard Chicken Coop Chickens

    Backyard Chicken Coop Chickens

     

    Narragansett Turkeys The Backyard Chicken Coop

    Narragansett Turkeys The Backyard Chicken Coop



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