New Mexico

[WilderSkye]

Hatching can definitely yield lots of boys. I used to hatch a lot of quail and some hatches were 75% boys! It definitely helps if you know to and can process your birds, it's actually healthier for the flock to pull out the undesirables and ones that can't keep up for physical or health reasons.

Black SexLinks and other high production birds don't live much past 2 or 3, and usually die from some reproductive ailment or cancer. 2 years passes very quickly and if you have a lot of high production birds, somebody is always dying. So keep that in mind.

As for taking the crow out of a rooster, it's really not possible to tame down the crowing. Surgery usually kills birds that undergo anesthesia as well. There are some breeds that have the potential to crow less, although every bird is different and crowing is just what roosters like to do. After a while you don't even hear the crowing.

Oh gosh, sorry to hear you froze up last night! We rarely freeze up, I think one time about 14 years ago we have -30 for 3 days straight and we did freeze up then. Good grief it was cold, wildlife died, trees exploded, I had every heater and heat lamps running in the coops, everybody survived!

Well stay warm out there, hopefully this Arctic blast moves on soon!

Crowing doesn't bother me. I was thinking more that if you kept them around, at least they wouldn't bother the hens so much. But I am only coming from a cattle background, where we kept steers with the herd until we processed a few and sent the rest to 'away'. Later I learned 'away' was the auction barn.

I forgot to put the little heater on last night; I thought we only needed it when it was below zero. Apparently below 20 deg will be our new setpoint. A few more nights in teens this week and we should be headed to warmer temps.

 

[WilderSkye]

Btw, that is sad about sex links.

75% quail roosters would be my luck. I would order four hens and get three roosters.

 

[TwoCrows]

I forgot to put the little heater on last night; I thought we only needed it when it was below zero. Apparently below 20 deg will be our new setpoint. A few more nights in teens this week and we should be headed to warmer temps.

Hopefully a bit warmer weather moves in soon, still not happy with the overnight lows of single digits and low teens!

 

[WilderSkye]

Hopefully a bit warmer weather moves in soon, still not happy with the overnight lows of single digits and low teens!

Our aging bones do not like this bitter cold. We have good chance of snow this coming week.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: After weeks on end of studying chickens, hatcheries, etc., we have finally made our purchase......French Blue Copper Marans from Alchemist Farm. We realized we would need and want a rooster so that opened up a load of breeds I really liked. Loved the philosophy of Alchemist Farms and their focus on breeding for quality and good temperaments. We set the June 3rd ship date. This will give us loads of time to obsess over and set up the coop. I am hoping to get 2 or 3 hens and this gives us a chance to choose the best rooster to keep. We won't have any problems rehoming one of these around here. Or keep them all.....oh the slippery slope we land on.

I am so glad to set this part aside and move forward. I refuse to research another chicken breed.....until a later date....

 

[TwoCrows]

Our aging bones do not like this bitter cold. We have good chance of snow this coming week.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: After weeks on end of studying chickens, hatcheries, etc., we have finally made our purchase......French Blue Copper Marans from Alchemist Farm. We realized we would need and want a rooster so that opened up a load of breeds I really liked. Loved the philosophy of Alchemist Farms and their focus on breeding for quality and good temperaments. We set the June 3rd ship date. This will give us loads of time to obsess over and set up the coop. I am hoping to get 2 or 3 hens and this gives us a chance to choose the best rooster to keep. We won't have any problems rehoming one of these around here. Or keep them all.....oh the slippery slope we land on.

I am so glad to set this part aside and move forward. I refuse to research another chicken breed.....until a later date....

I think you will love Marans, lots of people keep them here, and I've heard nothing negative about the breed. Excellent choice! I have never heard of Alchemist Farms and will have to look into them. Where are they located?

 

[WilderSkye]

I think you will love Marans, lots of people keep them here, and I've heard nothing negative about the breed. Excellent choice! I have never heard of Alchemist Farms and will have to look into them. Where are they located?

That is really good hear about the Marans.

They are in northern California. I will link their farm here. She does youtube videos on their chickens that is pretty zen and informative all at once.

I realized today that having the chicks arrive first week of June is advantageous in that the garden will be well and established by the time I can let them in there to bug for me.

https://www.alchemistfarm.com/

 

[TwoCrows]

That is really good hear about the Marans.

They are in northern California. I will link their farm here. She does youtube videos on their chickens that is pretty zen and informative all at once.

I realized today that having the chicks arrive first week of June is advantageous in that the garden will be well and established by the time I can let them in there to bug for me.

https://www.alchemistfarm.com/

June is a great time for getting chicks, gives them plenty of time to mature before winter and they won't get chilled during shipping.

Thanks for the link, I will check them out now!

 

[WilderSkye]

One thing they don't do is vaccinate for Mareks. So, I will look into doing that. I am a retired RN, and spent years owning horses, etc., in the past, so pretty good at giving injections to people and animals, albeit, dogs, horses, and goats. Famous last words: how hard can this be?

Btw, spent the day in Palo Duro canyon yesterday with my husband, it was his 64th birthday. It was warm, windless, sunny, and glorious. We had a picnic of take out pizza, and while eating, there were a ton of cardinals and some sort of little bird with a crest. I need to look it up, chickadee or nuthatch or something. They would come right up to you. My husband is the bird man, birds just flock to him. I do not know what it is he has, but it was amazing gift for him. We don't have cardinals here, they are so brilliantly red right now.

Bird is the word!


Edited: the little birds were tufted titmouse. Or do you say titmice?
Re-edit: black crested titmouse