Hi, my name is Kasey. I'm new to this site (kind of, I made a profile a while back, but never really had the time to look around) I live in Harvey county and I have been looking for somewhere to be able to talk with like-minded people, ask questions, compair notes, that kind of thing.
I recently (just over a year ago) started my little farm and am working it up one thing at a time, first chickens, then goats, and this coming year my fiance and I are putting in a large vegetable garden. Except for the last couple of years, I have always had a vegetable garden, and I am sooooo excited about putting one in for this spring.
I grew up in Michigan, so if anyone has any tips on gardening in Kansas, I would love them! In Michigan, drop a seed on the dirt, spit on it, and trust me, it WILL grow. The climate is so different here I am very nervous that I won't be able to grow anything. lots of people have gardens around here, but I know the problems I run into in Michigan (mostly, your garden flooding out, moles, and hurrying to get all your produce harvested before frost) Any advice would be more than welcome.
I am also looking to enlarge my flock. Right now I have a dozen hens and one rooster. Now that I have the basics of mixed breed (honestly, I don't think you could actually pin down a breed on my girls) chickens mastered, I am hoping to introduce some desired traits into my flock. That's why I got the rooster I did. Wellsummer is a breed I like. The coloring is nice, But I like the egg production and color. In a year or two, I will get a different rooster. I have a couple of breeds in mind, but have not decided.
Right now I have one hen who decided to brood her nest, so I gave her several more eggs to brood in the hopes that she sees it through. If she does, I'm keeping her until she dies of old age and letting her brood as many nests as she wants. I am hoping to be able to set up a nice rotation. I have been told by several people (including my grandfather, whose family survived the depression with their chicken farm and their apple orchard) than hens will only lay reliably for about two years. If I can get a couple of hens to brood each year, I can hatch out a couple dozen eggs each year and keep a running rotation. Once a hen is two years old and egg production will start going down, into the dinner pot she goes. (Some people would say harsh here, but I am a practical person, once and animal is no longer useful, there is not room for it here, devoted affection counts as useful)
... sorry, I'm rambling.
So... finally, does anyone know where I can get chickens? I have a long list of breeds I would like to own, but at the top of my list are
Australorp, Easter Egger, Favaucana, Rhode Island Red, Orpington, and I would love a Jersey Giant rooster.
Thanks for listening to me ramble, my family alternately wishes me good luck and leaves it at that, or thinks I'm crazy for trying to set up a sustainable farm. I'm "unambitious" and "worth so much more than that." With commercial food being the unknown entity that it is, the biggest reason I want to do this is so I know exactly what my children are eating (I have two boys ^_^). That, and I grew up doing farm-work, and it gave me a good grounding in the real world, and a strong work ethic, and I want that for my boys as well. That, and I love the life. I grew up working with animals and gardens and spending all of october preserving everything in every way, I miss it, lots of fond memories, and the work was fun because we did it together. I want those fod memories for my family.
I recently (just over a year ago) started my little farm and am working it up one thing at a time, first chickens, then goats, and this coming year my fiance and I are putting in a large vegetable garden. Except for the last couple of years, I have always had a vegetable garden, and I am sooooo excited about putting one in for this spring.
I grew up in Michigan, so if anyone has any tips on gardening in Kansas, I would love them! In Michigan, drop a seed on the dirt, spit on it, and trust me, it WILL grow. The climate is so different here I am very nervous that I won't be able to grow anything. lots of people have gardens around here, but I know the problems I run into in Michigan (mostly, your garden flooding out, moles, and hurrying to get all your produce harvested before frost) Any advice would be more than welcome.
I am also looking to enlarge my flock. Right now I have a dozen hens and one rooster. Now that I have the basics of mixed breed (honestly, I don't think you could actually pin down a breed on my girls) chickens mastered, I am hoping to introduce some desired traits into my flock. That's why I got the rooster I did. Wellsummer is a breed I like. The coloring is nice, But I like the egg production and color. In a year or two, I will get a different rooster. I have a couple of breeds in mind, but have not decided.
Right now I have one hen who decided to brood her nest, so I gave her several more eggs to brood in the hopes that she sees it through. If she does, I'm keeping her until she dies of old age and letting her brood as many nests as she wants. I am hoping to be able to set up a nice rotation. I have been told by several people (including my grandfather, whose family survived the depression with their chicken farm and their apple orchard) than hens will only lay reliably for about two years. If I can get a couple of hens to brood each year, I can hatch out a couple dozen eggs each year and keep a running rotation. Once a hen is two years old and egg production will start going down, into the dinner pot she goes. (Some people would say harsh here, but I am a practical person, once and animal is no longer useful, there is not room for it here, devoted affection counts as useful)
... sorry, I'm rambling.
So... finally, does anyone know where I can get chickens? I have a long list of breeds I would like to own, but at the top of my list are
Australorp, Easter Egger, Favaucana, Rhode Island Red, Orpington, and I would love a Jersey Giant rooster.
Thanks for listening to me ramble, my family alternately wishes me good luck and leaves it at that, or thinks I'm crazy for trying to set up a sustainable farm. I'm "unambitious" and "worth so much more than that." With commercial food being the unknown entity that it is, the biggest reason I want to do this is so I know exactly what my children are eating (I have two boys ^_^). That, and I grew up doing farm-work, and it gave me a good grounding in the real world, and a strong work ethic, and I want that for my boys as well. That, and I love the life. I grew up working with animals and gardens and spending all of october preserving everything in every way, I miss it, lots of fond memories, and the work was fun because we did it together. I want those fod memories for my family.
Last edited: