I, Paula – the “P” in “LP”, am going a little chicken crazy! I wanted to know what sexes of chix I would have hatching and this is the year, 2018, that I decided it was time to get going!
When I found a breeder who had not only CLB (Crested Leg Bar) but also RB (Rhodebar) chix for sale, I got them. The CLBs are from her stock directly from Green Fire Farms (GFF) out of Florida. The Rhodebars are from her parent stock that are from another breeder who has worked with them for several generations now, but also originated from GFF.
We currently have 10 Crested Leg Bars – 7 pullets & 3 cockerels. 3 of the pullets were hatched on December 26, 2017; so they are currently just under 4 months old. The rest (4 pullets/3 cockerels) were hatched on March 12, 2018 which makes them about 6 weeks old today.
The start of our Rhodebar flock now currently totals 7 pullets & 3 cockerels. I lost 3 nice pullets to a predator that got into their brooder hutch 2 days after they arrived at our farm. We aren’t sure if it was actually a wild animal (possum or racoon), a feral cat or even one of our outdoor cats… Just know that I had 3 carcasses on that sad afternoon when I arrived home from work. So, 1 pullet was hatched 14 January 2018. 3 pullets & 1 cockerel were hatched 24 January 2018 & the last 2 cockerels were hatched on 12 March 2018. We will eventually have a few more pullets AND will be adding some heritage Rhode Island Red pullets/hens to the group to bring in some outside blood & solid breed characteristics…
I had missed the blue Ameraucanas that I had before we moved to our Cameron property in 2015… So I was able to get started with a mix of BBS Ameraucanas, too. These will not be auto sexing – in fact the 8 that we have, we don’t know yet who/what is pullet or cockerel. We do have 1 black, 4 blue and 3 splash. These are derived from Paul Smith lines & will become our own. EXCITING to have such pretty blue egg layers again! So looking forward to how these birds develop.
THEN, I found another breeder with Beilefelders (another auto sexing breed – lays brown eggs). I came home with a full sized flock! 12 chix total – 9 pullets & 3 cockerels (3 sets of 4). We’ve only had them 1 week, only a couple of pics and am going out now to separate them and tag them. May even get some pictures!
That same breeder had lavender Orpingtons. I’ve never had Orpingtons, but they are supposed to be a great dual purpose breed. They are brown egg layers. So, I now have 3 lavender Orpingtons. I will probably get a few more to round out this flock – we don’t know yet what sex these are.
Last but not least, Blackie, our OLD bantam mixed hen hatched out 6 of 9 bantam/barnyard chix mixes. They are all black with some different colors mixed in – it will be fun to see how these little, TEENY guys and gals mature.
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I am not done yet for 2018.
Larry put in a request for lavender Ameraucana. So we will get some of those as well. Not sure when or exactly how many we’ll get yet – from 6 to 12…
With my own interest still in the auto-sexing at hatch breeds, I am seriously looking at investing in both 55 Flower Hen (the actual name of the breed!, lol) and Smaalands. I have found a source for 55 Flower Hen in Parkton, NC that I need to contact. Smaalands I have only found available so far directly through GFF, so will also be contacting them. The smallest order I can do there is 6, may be able to do a few more.
AND we are also getting 12 blue Australorp. The blue genetics work the same with them as with the BBS Ameraucana… So will eventually have BBS Australorp as well. I have liked the hatchery BAs I’ve had in the past, so looking forward to getting these in May. They are coming from Privett Hatchery. In the future, I will look to add BA from heritage bloodline breeders, but for now, I will be happy with the ones I get!
This doesn’t include the meat birds we intend to purchase as well… More on those another time.
