FergusonK's journal - Goodbye Java Jewel.

[Ferguson K]

Funny story time!

Yesterday I was at the feed store getting feed. The friend of the owner was there, certified “city slicker” as she called herself.

Saw all my feed being loaded up. Had questioning eyes. “How many chickens do you have? That’s a lot of chicken feed!”

Me: “I don’t count them. Chicken math is not in my favor but well just round it to around 200 or better”

Had a heart attack when she asked about how many chickens I had. “OH MY GOD HOW DOES ONE PERSON HAVE THAT MANY CHICKENS!!”

Feed store owner laughed and said well someone has to raise them! She’s one of those someone’s!

“City slicker” says “I have four and that’s so many! Sometimes I don’t know what to do with all the eggs!”

So I gave her some pickling recipes and some ideas on how to feed them back to her girls.

I used to keep them by the 1000s. I feel like I hardly have any these days but her face reminded me that not everyone is as obsessed with chickens as I am.

I raise rare, endangered species to help get numbers back up and raise awareness. Some people have never even heard of Kraienkoppe or Lakenvelders but fall in love when they see them.

 

[Baymule]

My husband was dead set against me getting chickens, but I cajoled him into two hens......just two.....for fresh eggs. Those eggs made him a believer! He recently counted up and we currently have over 50 chickens. No where near what you have, but I am not a breeder, just have them for my pleasure. He does like the Polish, so maybe at some point I'll get a few from you for yard ornaments.....for his pleasure!

 

[Ferguson K]

John tried to convince me once to sell everything. Early on too. I don’t think we were even married yet. Should have been sign #1. Hah!

Robert is like “Oh you got a new breed? How many pens to I need to build this time?”

The difference is amazing.

I just acquired three new breeds. Ayam Cemani (chickens) , Blue celadon quail (a breed of coturnix that lay BLUE eggs), and Crested Cream Legbars.

My incubators are running HOT right now.

 

[Bruce]

With all those chickens you don't have any broodies to hatch the eggs??

 

[Latestarter]

With that many birds, trying to keep track of brooding hens and chicks would be a nightmare I'm thinking. Especially with rare, expensive birds, may be better to have a bit tighter control.

 

[Ferguson K]

Both of you are on point.

I let my hens hatch out some chicks but keeping track of whose hatching what can be a nightmare in prime hatching season. Hens tend to steal each others chicks and if I've got 6 broodies going at the same time who hatch only a few days apart with breeds that are all black at hatch it can be a little bonkers.

I have nine hens dedicated to doing nothing but raising chicks for me.

One hen, a Brazilian hen, who successfully raised about 75 for me this year. Her biggest brood was 15 when it started out and she raised up 13 of them successfully. She's a good mama.

Her daughters are doing well as broodies too... but again, it can be a NIGHTMARE trying to keep up with whose raising what and when they hatched when I've got that many hens and incubators going. SO I've got toe punch and as soon as every one hatches they get punched. Then I write it down and typically forget until a few weeks later when I've got someone coming to get them. HAHA. Then I have to catch 8million(I kid) chicks running around and a majority of them are all BLACK.

This year I'm investing in leg bands in chick sizes. That should make my life a little easier. All my adult birds wear leg bands, and my juniors too.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

The toe punch is a good idea! Back when we had 250 chickens (17 verities) we used small zip ties on young birds and just had a schedule on when to change them. Will you be using bands that expand as the birds grow?

We ended up buying a GQF cabinet incubator. Love that thing, but the genesis 1588 hova-bator is still the best hatcher ever! (Other than actual, good momma hens)

So excited follow this new journey. I'm glad that you went back to poultry.

How are the horses doing?

 

[Latestarter]

Completely makes sense. Not sure where or how you find the time. Are you still working at TSC? Sorry if I missed the answer to that. Not even sure now where you're physically located You were moving south down near the border, but with all that's happened...

 

[Pastor Dave]

I don't have an issue with does stealing kits from each other, but I do even up litter sizes in the case one doe has 4 live kits and another doe has 8. Yah, she can nurse all 8, but I will give them a better chance putting 2 in with the smaller litter for the doe to raise.

When weaning time comes, I generally will put even amounts in grow out pens even if it means combining bunnies from separate litters of the same age. I saved a doe and buck that had bonded because a couple of kits had been fostered over to the other's litter. They were littermates, but not biological. So, it works out fine by keeping good records.

 

[Ferguson K]

I think I over do it’s little when it comes to keeping track. Much like with the goats, each breed has their own binder. Each binder has leg band numbers and hatch dates (if known). The book well then give me a quick reference on lineage, but I have a completely different book for leg bands in lineage.

Some people look at my books and their eyes cross but it all makes sense to me.

I have different colors for different things in the books too. When I write down legbands I put them in black or red. Red are Broody hens and black is self raised. It can get complicated if you don’t know what you’re looking at I suppose.

Each year I start a new binder and rotate leg band colors. of my head I can tell you that green leg bands are almost all one-year-olds. OFf the top Of my head I can tell you that green leg bands are almost all one-year-olds.

now to answer your question about the growing leg Binns, I just change them out as the birds grow. On the quail are use zip ties until they get big enough to put an actual legband on that will stay with them for the rest of their life however short. But I do not man the quail that are intended for the freezer there’s no point.

Like I said if you don’t know my system it gets a little hectic but I know it well enough to keep up with it. After all I’ve been using the system for almost 15 years. Young me got serious about showing and needed a way to catch up.

When I get home I’ll take pictures of some of my books so you can see.