If you want some of the rarer breeds of chickens in time for the spring/summer, you have to order in the middle of winter. I just ordered 10 chicks of five different varieties. Most of these are of rarer breeds. Some of the reasons I chose them are because of their color, the abundance of eggs they lay, the color of eggs they lay, their personalities (all must be gentle and friendly), and a few because of how unusual or unique they are!
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| Black Copper Marans |
Between seed catalogs and chick/poultry catalogs, I get very excited during the winter. I try to hold back and order just what I need to replace hens that no longer lay....
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| White Sultans | |
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This year I needed 6 hens. I ordered 10! When my husband suggested Turkeys, I was all for it! He was thinking one or two for the freezer, but I was thinking the threatened Narragansett Turkeys that can still breed naturally and have babies, so we can have lots of turkeys - every year! He said maybe we should wait and think it through. :(
Though, I understand his reasoning. After all, we have three small coops/pens. It is here I
must be very careful not to covet my neighbors poultry arrangement. He has several HUGE, immaculate poultry barns with runs. In fact, it is there that I sent my beautiful Sebastapol Geese to live when I was mistakenly sold more males than females and could not bear the fighting that entailed. I had no room to separate the poor fellows.
Thank God for Bruce who has the same passion for poultry that I do! Every time I drive by, I crane my neck to check out his "spread" of barns, runs, recycled, yet pristine shelters, and perhaps a glance of Petrov or Rechenka....that's not really coveting is it? I imagine our 40 x 60 foot barn turned into a poultry haven with a center aisle and outdoor runs that could house numerous varieties of chickens, ducks, geese, pheasants, and perhaps a few guineas to keep the ticks at bay!
O.K. back to reality. Perhaps I ordered a few more hens than I actually needed. Maybe my dream of poultry heaven must be pulled in to match my reality on earth, but one can dream! That's what seed catalogs and poultry catalogs are for, right?
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| Buff Orpingtons |
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| Silver Spangled Hamburgs |
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| Dominiques |
O.K. back to reality. Perhaps I ordered a few more hens than I actually needed. Maybe my dream of poultry heaven must be pulled in to match my reality on earth, but one can dream! That's what seed catalogs and poultry catalogs are for, right?
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