Hope ya'll don't mind, but I'm looking to talk about anything besides politics this morning!! We have 2 pullets and 2 young roosters(speckled sussex) left over from the fox attack last month. Hoping those young pullets will start laying soon. Also, 12 new pullets, about 3 weeks old. We deliberately ordered the breeds which will set, because I love a broody hen. How about you guys? Are you "set" with poultry? What kinds of birds do you have? Will they be self-sustaining if the time does(or has) come that we can't get chicks in the mail?

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), September 17, 2001

Answers

I have ameriaricanas(murraymcmurray) both hens and roosters, i also have langshans, australorps, and silkies. I love them all. the ameriaracans are the best of the layers, but the silkies are the best brooders and I use them to hatch out the others.I ended up with show quality roosters of the langshans and aracanas and so kept them. then I set up separate quarters for each breed. I will be able to supply babies locally or eggs if the shipping gets into trouble. I did have all on free roaming, until some hungry hawks moved in the area. and right now all are put up. I hope it doesn't come to a local chicken only time. what area are you in mary? I am in north Ga..

-- terrymcmillan (tmcmi@hemc.net), September 17, 2001.

We have Light Brahmas - roosters and hens - 20 all together - they should begin laying anytime this month. We only plan on keeping 12 hens and a rooster and the rest are for the freezer. We are looking forward to those eggs!

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), September 17, 2001.

Because we're only renting our present home and there's only my wife, two year old daughter and I to eat the eggs we're keeping just four hens at the moment. Two Barred Rocks and two Gold Laced Wyandottes. Until this week when I think they're going into molt they kept us in more eggs than we really cared to eat. Other than that they're quite healthy.

Next month now we're *finally* moving into our *own* place! I'll have nine acres to do with and plan to put in a grass-raised free-range layer operation gradually growing it to about 350 hens, mostly Barred Rocks but with a sprinkling of anything that takes my fancy when I'm ordering chicks. I've kept hens for years but never that many so I'll ease into it gradual like until I've developed the necessary skills. Been reading old poultry books for the last month to learn what I need to know. Free range is still something of a novel idea to umost here in the twentyfirst century but until about the 1950's it was the standard way commercial layer operations operated so the ag schools of the day put a lot of research into the business.

={(Oak)-

-- Live Oak (oneliveoak@yahoo.com), September 17, 2001.

Hello Mary, My chickens are raised in a "chicken Moat". If you want to know what a chicken moat is, just check out the pictures on my website. I have Arconias, Buff Orpingtons, and Rhode Island Reds. We have about seven or eight that are almost ready for the freezer that we hatched in the late spring. The Buffs are molting, so our egg supply is down right now. But, for awhile we were getting a dozen a day. Sold the surplus, plus Meli pickled about a dozen dozens and stored them in the cellar for winter. We culled three about two weeks ago. They are already in the freezer. These and the other seven or eight should be enough chicken to get us through the winter. We feed them egg pellets and as a treat give them a scratch mixture. They like the scratch a whole lot and run along the fence and jump up in the air whenever they see me getting it to them. We have a table set up near the chicken moat and sometimes for entertainment we go out an sit at the table and watch the antics of our chickens. Sometimes they make us laugh with the way they chase insects around. When they catch the insect, the rest of the chickens try to take it away from the one who caught it. It looks like a football game! Funny, how something as common as chickens can be more entertaining than TV. Sincerely, Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), September 17, 2001.

Thanks, gang, I've enjoyed reading about everyone's birds. Ernest, thanks for the look at the moat. I had read about your idea before on Countryside, and like it so well hubby and I are planning to implement it with our new coop.(The grasshoppers here were unbelievable this year--I thought they were bad in Texas!!)

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), September 19, 2001.

Ernest, my husband says that the chickens are the most personable animals we have on our homestead. (Of course, that doesn't keep him from eating them!) My favorite sport is chicken hornworm scramble. You pull the hornworms off your tomato plants, then toss the lot into the hen pen and watch the scramble. They like nothing better! My kids will drown Japanese beetles, then love dumping the bucket in the hen pen. The girls know what's coming and run to the fence the minute they see the bucket coming. Those waterlogged beetles disappear in seconds!

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), September 19, 2001.

I had 3 silkes until a couple weeks ago when I had my own fox attack. Does anyone know where I can find some so late in the season. My one girl sure is lonely. J*ermaine

-- Jermaine (jstar1975@mac.com), December 30, 2001.

well you can order some chickens from murray mc murray they are great and the chicks are really healthy! i get some from them every spring! just go to www.MurrayMcMurray.com

-- ~`katie (jjjjjjjjjjjjjj@hotmail.com), March 14, 2002.

I would like to know how to order from the Murray McMurray web site but it won't let me go there. We had a recent animal attack on our White leghorns and we would like to replace them,our 2 year old daughter likes to "check on chickens" and we no longer have our layers. any one with any help or suggestions. thanks, lori

-- Lori Hood (corky7998@yahoo.com), July 15, 2002.

Hi I 'm trying to get on to the murray mcmurray site and it wont connect, any suggestions. Also my married children and g/children have chickens and I would like to buy a cast iron or black plastic one for my yard,can anyone lead me to ta place to purchase this Thanks Jini

-- Jini Garry (aggarene@aol.com), August 11, 2003.

do you feed your chickens dried blood?

-- shamsheer (sorrynothingdoing@greenspun.com), August 11, 2003.

Try going

Here

-- Little Bit Farm (littlebit@brighterok.net), August 11, 2003.

No I don't feed dried chicken blood.

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@brighterok.net), August 11, 2003.

My sons chicken flock is doing great. He had some fun selling eggs this summer. I just wanted to let you know that the reason you may not be reaching the Murray Mcmurray website is because the website is listed as www.mcmurrayhatchery.com I was also trying to reach it with no success but found out that I needed to spell out hatchery. Hope this is helpful.

-- Karen (Dkn3n2@aol.com), September 20, 2003.

I currently have 8 Buff Orpingtons,5 partridge rocks and 1 barred rock rooster in my laying flock. I also have a silver polish rooster and a buff laced polish hen just for fun. My rooster "Pretty Boy" is 3 yrs.old and is a real sweetheart. I also have a black sex link, and 3 rhode island reds that are the same age. I am getting an egg every other day from the older hens and I am starting to get eggs from my new girls on a steady basis. We are finally getting some cooler weather here and they all seem to be enjoying being able to catch the slower moving grasshoppers and other bugs without having to work so hard at it.

-- Wendee (nrohloff@tctelco.net), October 26, 2003.