New Chicks

After much debate about eggs vs cost of feed we've decided to get some more chicks and sell some of are other girls. Bee our hen who keeps going broody is our biggest eater. She goes broody about once per month and is insistent with it. Bee would be best kept with a rooster where she has the opportunity to hatch her own babies. When she goes broody, even though we 'break' her of it within 3 days, a switch is thrown in her body and she doesn't produce eggs for at least 1 week after she is broken of it. So 3 days of broody 7+ to get back in egg gear. Bee is eating that whole time and not producing eggs... she is eating more than she is giving. So I posted an ad for her on craigslist, desperately trying to find a farmer with a rooster for her. Once she hatches her own chicks, for the rest of the season she will continue to lay eggs. Making her worth her feed cost because she raised X number of babies for the future. I don't have that option, or am I looking for a 'breeding' flock.

Now WB or white back, has lately started laying better eggs but they are still only passable. The shell is still soft no matter how much oystershell and eggshell I set out or add to the food. She produces about 5 eggs per week. Pretty good all things considered, so we may keep her. If she can not get her egg shells in order she becomes dinner. Not for me but for someone who may raise meat birds for themselves. All of my girls have been raised organically so they can fetch a good value for there meat. Buff Orpington's are "dual" purpose birds meaning eggs and meat. The only one of my chicks that has consistently laid good eggs is Curious. We would keep her, the feed to egg ratio for her is excellent.

That brings me to our decision to get more chicks. This time we went with a breed called Red Star a "sex-link" breed meaning that the males and females hatch different colors, so you know who's who! They are a cross between a Rhode Island Red and/or several other birds depending on color. They have a mellow temperament, and lay up to 300 eggs per year (per bird). Buff Orpingtons by contrast lay between 160-200 eggs per year. So our feed to egg ratio is much better. A Red Star is not a heritage bird, they are a "hybrid" so I feel somewhat weird raising them. But, when we get our land we will choose a hardy heritage bird for a breeding flock.

Some pictures:

Adult Red Stars

picture from A Windy City Gal.

Our baby Red Stars