Recent Alchemist Farms Experience?

[NatJ]

more than my fill of unintended cockerels, as well as ones that I could pick up instead of worrying about shipping - losses, minimum numbers (I can only have 3 more birds), and shipping stress.

One way to work around that: get twice as many "females" as you want, then plan to butcher or rehome the extras. Some people have good results selling extra pullets to people that don't want to raise them from chicks.

That method does require either butchering or rehoming (which you would rather avoid), but it does make it more predictable, and increases the chance of having the right number of healthy pullets to keep.

When you want fried chicken, males and females and crossbeaks and bullies and escape artists all taste equally good!

(Of course there are other ways to do things. I'm just mentioning this one because it works for some people and hasn't yet been mentioned in this thread.)

 

[cityeggs]

One way to work around that: get twice as many "females" as you want, then plan to butcher or rehome the extras. Some people have good results selling extra pullets to people that don't want to raise them from chicks.

That method does require either butchering or rehoming (which you would rather avoid), but it does make it more predictable, and increases the chance of having the right number of healthy pullets to keep.

When you want fried chicken, males and females and crossbeaks and bullies and escape artists all taste equally good!

(Of course there are other ways to do things. I'm just mentioning this one because it works for some people and hasn't yet been mentioned in this thread.)

Unfortunately, I would find those methods hard. I haven't found rehoming to be very easy around here - perhaps because my cockerels were so young that no one wanted to eat them (and not great eating breeds anyway), and they weren't any fancy breeds that someone would want to breed, and I'm in a city that has a rooster ban. I had them up on Facebook, BYC and Craigslist for two months with no takers and they were extra work to care for, since I only have one coop and integration didn't go well (and then seemed pointless once I knew they were boys and would be leaving imminently).

As much as I intend to humanely cull unrescuable chickens if necessary in the future and would like to be able to stomach butchering on occasion someday, I am not up for it yet. I have a tough time with blood - even for my own kids' injuries, thankfully, my husband has been willing to deal with the ones that have been anything more than minor scrapes etc., so I don't foresee being proficient at this any time soon, and I don't know anyone in the area who would be willing to take it on for me.

 

[NatJ]

Unfortunately, I would find those methods hard. I haven't found rehoming to be very easy around here - perhaps because my cockerels were so young that no one wanted to eat them (and not great eating breeds anyway), and they weren't any fancy breeds that someone would want to breed, and I'm in a city that has a rooster ban. I had them up on Facebook, BYC and Craigslist for two months with no takers and they were extra work to care for, since I only have one coop and integration didn't go well (and then seemed pointless once I knew they were boys and would be leaving imminently).

As much as I intend to humanely cull unrescuable chickens if necessary in the future and would like to be able to stomach butchering on occasion someday, I am not up for it yet. I have a tough time with blood - even for my own kids' injuries, thankfully, my husband has been willing to deal with the ones that have been anything more than minor scrapes etc., so I don't foresee being proficient at this any time soon, and I don't know anyone in the area who would be willing to take it on for me.

That makes sense. In that case, not a good method for you.

 

[Tonyroo]

Unfortunately, I would find those methods hard. I haven't found rehoming to be very easy around here - perhaps because my cockerels were so young that no one wanted to eat them (and not great eating breeds anyway), and they weren't any fancy breeds that someone would want to breed, and I'm in a city that has a rooster ban. I had them up on Facebook, BYC and Craigslist for two months with no takers and they were extra work to care for, since I only have one coop and integration didn't go well (and then seemed pointless once I knew they were boys and would be leaving imminently).

As much as I intend to humanely cull unrescuable chickens if necessary in the future and would like to be able to stomach butchering on occasion someday, I am not up for it yet. I have a tough time with blood - even for my own kids' injuries, thankfully, my husband has been willing to deal with the ones that have been anything more than minor scrapes etc., so I don't foresee being proficient at this any time soon, and I don't know anyone in the area who would be willing to take it on for me.

You still have the cockerels?

 

[Tervuren]

I believe Mount Healthy has Cream Legbars available for this year still. And they have a 3 chick minimum order that starts a bit later in the spring.

 

[cityeggs]

I believe Mount Healthy has Cream Legbars available for this year still. And they have a 3 chick minimum order that starts a bit later in the spring.

Good to know about their 3 chick minimum - I know there are a few out there, but it's hard for me to keep track of which ones! For whatever reason, Cream Legbars aren't as appealing to me. I see you have one - how do you like yours?

 

[cityeggs]

You still have the cockerels?

No, I finally paid Peninsula Feed Store to take them mid-December at 16w, even though I'd known they were cockerels since 6-7w.

 

[Tervuren]

Good to know about their 3 chick minimum - I know there are a few out there, but it's hard for me to keep track of which ones! For whatever reason, Cream Legbars aren't as appealing to me. I see you have one - how do you like yours?

Haven’t update my signature in a long time, Fancy actually passed away about a year ago. She was a very friendly bird and a bonafide lap chicken. She did have a scrappy personality and there was a real kerfuffle between her and my Dorking when they were figuring out the pecking order (Fancy was second). I wouldn’t call her a bully, but she did enforce the pecking order. I would recommend them, Fancy was a real character.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

Good to know about their 3 chick minimum - I know there are a few out there, but it's hard for me to keep track of which ones! For whatever reason, Cream Legbars aren't as appealing to me. I see you have one - how do you like yours?

I know this wasn’t a question for me, but I also own a Cream Legbar. They are one of my favorite breeds! I want more. I own one purebred and one Cream Legbar mix- Kevin. I also had a couple of Kevin’s sisters, and they were super nice.

My purebred, Henri, is a sweet and sassy little thing. She is very mellow too. She is turning three this summer. This is an old picture of her-

Kevin is my favorite hen (her and Shelly, of course). She is very sweet and mellow. I just love her-

I’m not sure exactly what you’re looking for personality wise, but, from my experience, Cream Legbars are very nice birds.

 

[Tonyroo]

No, I finally paid Peninsula Feed Store to take them mid-December at 16w, even though I'd known they were cockerels since 6-7w.

Sorry to hear you had to pay to get rid of them.