LFG

I have six roosters, and I love hearing them in the mornings. What amazes me is the multitude of sounds roosters use to communicate. My favorite is when they find a particularly tasty morsel. They have a trill to call the girls, and they won't eat until the girls eat. They screech when a hawk flies over, or a cat walks into the yard. After 7 years I have a Pavlovian response to the screech, I automatically look up. Roosters can teach you a lot about being a man

Awesome!!! I hope the box was in good shape and none cracked

They would, but the fat one has a bad scratch addiction. She keeps missing rehearsal

They do, but the harmonizing on California Dreaming is horrendous

I don't have recent pictures of them, but here are the mamas and the papas back in January. They are much bigger and more colored now. I'll try and get some new pics by the weekend

Oops, I thought they would arrive tomorrow, but the tracking number says Friday. That won't be a big deal, I just hope the box arrives in good shape. You could see in the pictures that I pack them tightly, and the pine shavings act as a shock absorber so they are usually ok, but some drivers are worse than others. I did mark the box "fragile", but didn't note that there were eggs in the box. It has been my experience that USPS sees that as a challenge...

Just don't say yinz guys, call them y'all

And dance. Some of my roosters have got Travolta like moves

Take that, soccermom Arrived in Columbia, SC at 3:59AM. Should be heading north shortly

that's the best part about chickens, they are a low maintenance pet. It costs a little bit of money just to get set up to keep them, but after that feed them and water them and that's about all you have to do

I have been hatching for 7 years, and I have honestly never had that happen. I have had porous eggs from Ameraucanas leak, but never explode. The marans eggs are not porous at all, they are extremely thick. That's why the low humidity incubation works so well with them. These really are awesome birds. Black copper marans are highly sought after in general, and the Bev Davis line is one of the most desirable. Bev stopped selling a few years back, so she recommended the breeder I ended up purchasing from. This breeder got her birds directly from Bev, and never bred another line into them. It's hard to find Bev's birds that haven't been mixed with Wade Jean, Greenfire Farms, Little Peddler, etc... These are about as pure Davis as you can get. I have a 3 month waiting list for chicks. I really hope you hatch plenty for yourself. These are my favorite birds I have ever had. Their disposition is just so docile, even as chicks, and of course they lay those giant chocolate eggs

Ok, now it's between you and the USPS... The eggs are darker than they look in that picture. It was taken under fluorescent light and they look washed out. I'm sending you 2 dozen. The 12 giant eggs are from second year layers, and should be at least 75% fertile. If you have room in the incubator, the 12 medium size eggs are from girls that just started laying a month ago. I don't know if they have learned to stop playing hard to get, and I haven't incubated any, so they may be fertile or they may not. If you have the room, give it a shot, nothing to lose. I'll be setting some myself tomorrow or Thursday. I have cracked 3 of them to eat, and didn't see a "bullseye", so it's a long shot but will be fun to watch anyway The eggs haven't been washed, I never wash eggs for incubating. They are laid in very clean nest boxes and checked frequently. They are just that clean. The oldest eggs will be 9 days old on Thursday, so I recommend setting them by Friday at the latest. I have been turning them twice per day, but after 10 days viability starts dropping No joke, these eggs sell for $35/dozen, plus shipping. It's my little gift to Doo-Bwa for the hospitality you guys have shown me. All I ask in return is you send business my way if anyone asks where they came from, and post pictures of the chicks in 3 weeks I know that you know there are no guarantees in shipped eggs, but I really hope you get at least 6. Oh yeah, one more thing; the giant eggs are from a blue rooster over 5 blacks and one blue, so each of those eggs will have a 50/50 shot of being black or blue. There is a 25% chance that you could get a splash if there is a cross between the blue rooster and blue hen in those eggs. The medium eggs are from a black rooster over black hens, so all of those will be black. Good luck!

Heading to the PO. Will post pics in a bit

They do have a different taste, and they are more lean, but a dressed chicken costs less at the store than I can grow one that size for. Hybrid chickens can get to butcher size in 7-8 weeks, my purebred take 4-5 months. I would still process them just because I always have too many roosters, but my wife ain't having it

No doubt

Mean roosters are easy to process. Sweet pets, not so much...

If you want, I can ship them out next Monday or Tuesday. That would get them to you before the weekend.I'll tell you the number one trick I've learned hatching these black coppers. Of course temperature is important, but I incubate dry for the first 18 days. The eggs are so dark that they don't lose enough moisture by hatch day at 35%, and a lot of chicks will drown after the internal pip. The first time I tried it, I thought it was crazy, but my hatch rates went from 50% or less to 75-90% every time. I've even had one 100% hatch. I don't care what you read online about humidity, trust me. These are my eggs, and the more I hatch the more I sell. Running dry for 18 days will give you a much better hatch rate. On day 18-19, fill up your channels and shoot for 65%+ I'm not very good at sexing day olds, but if you can post a picture at 4 weeks I could give you a pretty good estimate

Hey Petee! My last set was 50% fertile, and that was 3 weeks ago. You got that incubator dusted off yet? Black coppers on the left. Look at the size of them compared to the eggs on the right. Large egg carton will barely close around them

Chickens. Keep chickens in your yard and you will never see another tick

You don't see that much any more, guess it may be kind of inhumane. What that was was ink injected into the egg right before hatch, usually with silkies because their feathers are so soft. When they shed their downy fluff, the color went away

I dispatched a furry critter last week. After the first couple of years losing chickens, my pens are like Fort Knox now. They still try and find a way in, though. I trap, but I'm not real big on relocation. The best part of a Have-a-Heart trap is it eliminates the need for a scope...

I could see hundreds or thousands of chickens making a smell. I used to live near a turkey farm, and it was horrendous. Small scale flocks can be almost odor free by composting. All lawn clippings and leaves go directly into my pens. Even with as many birds as I have, customers always comment on the lack of odor

I'm the new guy. I didn't even know she was missing until she told me

Killing my business, too. How are you going to be my spokesperson when no one can buy aigs?

That's odd, I usually have the opposite effect on people. Maybe it's the accent...