OH NO ... at the very least he'd DEEEEE-VORCE me! LOL More than likely he'd just wring my neck too! 
OH NO ... at the very least he'd DEEEEE-VORCE me! LOL More than likely he'd just wring my neck too! 
Haven't had much luck with the TSC or Atwood's birds. Figure in the cost of the chicks, the feed, 50% mortality, and half are roosters. Researched and found a supplier for bulk / wholesale chicks. Around $1 per bird, reach maturity in 6 weeks. Son bought some turkeys and ducklings. Great company to deal with. Guaranteed birds. He had 2 arrived deceased. Called them, they said call back in 48 hrs. When he called back, 4 more had died. He told them he had 6 dead adn they sent him 10 replacements. Got our order in. Looking at an incubator next.
Oh, man ... that's a bummer. Guess we've been really lucky. Bought 11 laying birds last spring. All survived, one was a rooster. Off with his head (we live in town, otherwise I'd kept him). Only birds we've lost (we are down to 6 hens now, which is actually about right for us) have been to dogs (and once lost her head to me
), which was my fault.Of the 6 meat birds we bought, one died within 24 hours. I started to take him back but ... ehhh ... too much trouble. Other 5 are fat as ticks. We just moved them outside. They will be in the freezer come the end of April. I can hardly wait ...
This may sound really stupid, but when we bring our chicks home for TSC, they go in a big wire dog crate in the garage. Radio plays music (but not too loud) all the time 24/7. They see me and the dogs several times a day. We played with the laying birds, but the meat birds, not so much. Everybody moves outside at 30 days. (We just moved the meat birds outside this afternoon.)
No muss, no fuss, no stress. My dad played a radio in all of his bird houses (breeding parakeets and macaw parrots) 24/7. He had an almost 0% mortality rate. He swore it was because his birds didn't stress when folks came in and out, or we had to mess them (like weaning off babies) because they were accustomed to some level of noise. I kinda think he might have been onto something.
You will enjoy hatching in that incubator. Seems like we were turning eggs every 5 minutes! Haha! I remember us having a bazillon baby quail hatch all at once ... It was a RIOT! LOL
First batch we got was 14 chicks, had them in dog kennel in garage for a month. Moved them out, lost 8 in the next month. Of the remaining 6, 4 were roosters put in the freezer. Bought 12 more, pretty much same thing. Now have 4 good laying hens and 2 roosters, get 3 - 4 eggs everyday. Main problem is the girls will be 2 yrs old in May.
Just got a little Cochin pair, she isn't laying yet. Really hope to incubate her eggs.
Just got a little Cochin pair, she isn't laying yet. Really hope to incubate her eggs.
I used to have laying hens, got out of the backyard chicken business because my neighbor bought a prey driven retriever after my ex left his rottweiler in my backyard after I told him NOT TO 
so they all died and I didn't want to take a chance on replacing them since I can't be home to watch out for my neighbor's dog.
I really want meat chickens again... why oh why did she have to get that dog?
so they all died and I didn't want to take a chance on replacing them since I can't be home to watch out for my neighbor's dog.I really want meat chickens again... why oh why did she have to get that dog?
With a cochin you don't need an incubator. They just love to brood, they'll sit on anyone's eggs. Good mothers too.
