Rare Breed Chickens for sale

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Rare Breed Chickens for sale
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Naomi

Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 1945

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 05 4:34 pm Post subject:

Quote:

Your Brahma cockerel is beautiful !

Thanks for that.
Yes he is stunning and I wish I had a camera to take a photo of him now he is mature. He is a really handsome bird and very very gentle and friendly.
Brahmas are noted for being gentle giants and it is really true. The Partridge Cochins are very similar in looks and temperament too. The Exchequer Leghorns are very lively active birds . They lay lovely pure white eggs. I also have some Marans that lay the darkest brown eggs ever. I shall have to take some more pictures with my mothers camera when she visits next!

wizz

Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 561

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 05 4:39 pm Post subject:
Hi Niaomi Would be interested to know what you expect in terms of egg production? We're planning to double our "flock" of 2 (a welsummer & a light sussex) and i think mr wizz would prefer hybrids (presumably because of egg production angle) but i rather like the look of some of yours... I guess he might need persuading...! wizz

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45427
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 05 4:39 pm Post subject:

Naomi wrote:

I shall have to take some more pictures with my mothers camera when she visits next!

Definitely

Naomi

Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 1945

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 05 4:57 pm Post subject:

To answer some questions ,
I have owned poultry for almost 17 years.
I only started to sell two years ago. But previous to that I bred all my own replacement stock plus birds for family and friends.
I do also keep a few RIR ,Light and Buff Sussex,and other breeds for my own egg and meat production.
I feed all my birds locally produced feed and add garlic and cider apple vinegar to their water .The bruised garlic only once amonth to help reduce worm levels and the cider apple vinegar every day, keeps water sweet and is a great conditioner.
If I want to add a bit more condition to a bird, I may add some yeast extract and cod liver oil to their feed with a crushed multivitamin tablet.
I always have available for them insoluble grit .
The only whole grain fed to them is wheat.This they get in the evening.I think the most important thing to remember is to keep water drinkers very clean and filled with fresh water every day. Even if they are still full!
I use movable arks to ensure fresh forage for them and to keep the breeds separate and pure .
In the wettest part of the winter, the feather footed breeds come indoors to pens in a divided blacksmiths forge.
It is important also that silkies are kept dry as they have very little waterproofing in their soft fluffy feathers, so can become chilled easily in the really wet weather.Think that covers most things.
If you have any more questions please ask.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45427
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 05 4:59 pm Post subject:
I like your approach with the garlic and vinegar, is that a popular thing or something you learnt yourself? (non chicken keeper that hopes one day to rear chickens in his yet to be purchased woodland)

Gertie

Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 1638
Location: Yorkshire

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 05 5:01 pm Post subject:
Hi Naomi - when we went to collect our ex-battery hens I asked about worming, was going to order the wormer when we order the wormers for the horse. Am interested in your comments about the garlic as a natural remedy against worms - as a novice, can you tell me more please

Naomi

Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 1945

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 05 5:08 pm Post subject:

Quote:

Would be interested to know what you expect in terms of egg production?

If you want very high yields of eggs then stick to hybrids.
Although I get enough eggs from my rare breeds ,it would not be enough for someone wanting one egg from each hen each and every day!
The leghorns are good layers I do get an egg from each hen almost every day. The larger fowl , brahmas, cochins, buff orpingtions etc are less reliable and amazingly the eggs are not massive.
The little silver laced wyandottes are not bad egg layers, but still they couldnt beat the hybrids which are bred for intense egg production in the first two years of their short lives.
However the rare breeds do lay for longer ,so you may get four or five laying years or even more (I have a nine year old that still lays occasionally) out of a rare breed hen.
Plus they sure are prettier to look at and come in a multitude of colours, sizes, temperaments and feather types! Something to suit everyone!

Naomi

Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 1945

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 05 5:57 pm Post subject:

Re worming etc;

I use garlic as a natural wormer for my birds,but I am not saying you mustn't worm birds any other way .
If you wish to go the conventional route or you have a high worm burden please seek a vets advise and ask for Flubenvet.
You can get samples of your poultry poop sent for analysis at the vets, for a worm count to see if you have a high burden amongst your flock.
It is only that I seem to have good success using garlic that I choose to use it.
I also use it on my dogs,cats horse,rabbits ,guinea pigs etc . We eat lots of it ourselves to!

Another tip; Move birds to fresh ground regularly too or rest land and treat with lime to sweeten it.

I use an organic based louse powder and I clean sheds,arks runs very thoroughly for mites too.

Some poultry lice/mites (there are many types )will need stronger treatment and so you do have to keep your options open.

It just seems worth trying the natural route and seeing the results, as it isnt going to harm your birds anyway.
I bruise or lightly crush a clove of garlic and give them access to that water only for a day each month.
I seem to have very shiny ,well covered birds ,extremely low fatalities and high fertility in my stock, so it must be doing something right????

The cider apple vinegar ,another poultry breeder recommended to me and I have done it ever since . It does seem to make them glossy etc I only use a tablespoon per drinker . Maybe these are just coincidences and if I stopped using it there would be little difference, but I am sure they have looked healthier so I intend to carry on.

Gertie

Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 1638
Location: Yorkshire

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 05 6:38 am Post subject:

Thanks for the advice, Naomi.

I agree with what you said re the wormers - I stick to worming programmes but just thought it would be nice to try a nature remedy rather than pumping them full of chemicals.

Same goes with our horse - some of the yards I have been on in the past have had ridiculous worming programmes where we've overwormed - I hate to think of all these chemicals in his system.

The lady I got our hens from mentioned flubinvet. We use Equest for our horse and worm with another wormer in spring/autumn. We also change our worming programme annually.

ejc-free

Joined: 19 Jan 2005
Posts: 117
Location: Near to Cerizay in la Belle France

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 05 8:06 am Post subject:
Hi Naomi, What sort of apple cider vinegar do you use - from a supermarket or do you get it from a specialised supplier? Cheers ejc-free

joker

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 188
Location: hiding

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 05 9:05 am Post subject:
For those who want a pretty hybrid there is one called a sussex star they look like a light sussex but have a much better egg yeild similar to that of a warren or blackrock

Naomi

Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 1945

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 05 10:30 am Post subject:
You can use any cider apple vinegar! But it would work out cheper to buy whole sale if you have lots of birds. Try a small bottle from the health food store before buying gallons to see if you notice any difference. Good luck.

B.B. Red

Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 3
Location: alabama :D

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 05 2:59 pm Post subject: Hey man
I have to say 1 thing bout them you got there...omg I wouldnt mind having a Pair or 2 of those they are Beutiful... Looks like you done a good Job raising those. Justin

B.B. Red

Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 3
Location: alabama :D

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 05 3:04 pm Post subject:

I need some help Figuring out what this Silikie I got is I just bout like 6 more bantams from a man Yesterday and he told me that he would just give me 1 of those so I didnt turn it down but I know it is big enough were I can tell if its either a rooster or hen But I cant tell does anyone else no any other way to tell if he is a rooster or hen...

Thx Justin

Ps.Nice lookin chickens yall got up in here.

Naomi

Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 1945

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 05 3:45 pm Post subject:
Silkies are fairly easy to sex. The females geta round pom pom feathery crest ,where as the male get a smaller swept back crest . Also the male gets a dark mulberry walnut knobbly looking comb.The female doesnt.

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