Friday 7 January 2011

An update on chickens

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four

So, our current flock stands at:

Chick-De-Ville (Coop one, or the first one we built)
4 Silver Pencil Wyandott Hens
2 Silver Pencil Wyandott Roosters

Taj-Ma-Chicken (Coop Two, the second one built)
3 Chanty Hens
1 Chanty Rooster
1 ISA Brown Hen (de-beaked & de-clawed)
1 Rhode Island Red Hen (de-beaked & de-clawed)
1 Black Sexlink Hen (de-beaked & de-clawed)

Basement (Just picture the looks you get when you say you have chickens in the house)
1 Chanty Rooster
1 Americauna Hen

15 total (well, 14.5, depending on whether the basement roo pulls through or not).

The Chanty's & SPW's each lay a light brown egg, while the ISA Brown, Rhode Island Red, and Black Sexlink lay dark brown eggs.  When it comes time to breed, we can easily tell the Chanty eggs from the others, and incubate them only.  So the three de-beaked de-clawed hens are eating only, not breeding.

By having the SPW's in one coop, and the Chanty's with only the Chanty rooster in the other, we can be sure that we won't have cross bred chicks.  This sounds silly, but the breeds we have are somehat rare, and therefor, the chicks sell for much more than mutt chicks would.

When the Americauna Hen comes out of the basement, she can go with either coop, since she dosen't have a rooster anymore.  Sicne both the SPW's & Chanty's lay a light brown egg, we may try for some mutt chicks from her, for ourselves, and see what colour egg they lay.  The cross may be light enough that the colour still comes through.

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