Anybody here raise farm animals?

For years when we were raising our family we had a small hobby farm with horses, dairy goats, rabbits and chickens. We did the 4-H and horse show thing for quite a few years. As our children grew up and left home so did the animals. It was just too much work for me to do on my own. I SOOO miss my horses but at this stage of my life I wanted more freedom, but I still raise chickens....purebred blue egg laying Ameraucanas.
I might be getting a few ducks or geese this year and was toying with the idea of raising some turkeys but I'm not sure I want to take on anymore animals at this time.
Any other farm animal owners here?

Heres a pic of one of my blue Ameraucanas

I did when I lived in Mi. Here is an old thread.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/368952/
I would love to see more pics of your birds,I miss having birds.

doc, per your request....

My black Ameraucana rooster

hen n' chicks

chicken pen

Ameraucana Eggs

Cottagerose,

I love your chickens and pics! After we move in 2008 I would like to raise some chickens. You will have to help educate me on how to care for them. Right now I wouldn't know which end of the chicken to milk. :) :) Love the blue eggs. Do they taste the same and have the same nutritional value as white eggs? I've been buying brown eggs from Farmer Jack lately and like the taste of them. I do think they cook up better but maybe it's my imagination.

Brenda

I have 100 egg laying chickens and raise Alpacas. One of five chicken tractors I move each day.
Ken

Some of my alpacas

Hey pondview, those Alpacas are so cute! What do you do with them? Raise them for fiber? What kind of chickens do you have and what do you do with all those eggs?

Loon I will be happy to help. There is alot of online information on raising chickens.
One place you might want to check is The Feather Site:
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html
Fantastic site with tons of info and links.
All chickens eggs taste the same no matter the shell color. The myth about brown eggs tasting better is typically because brown eggs that you buy off the farm are fresher than white store eggs. Store eggs can be in storage for up to 6 MONTHS!
Plus they are laid by hens kept in tiny cages that never see the light of day, eat a bug or blade of grass which certainly doesn't help the quality of the egg either.
By the way I find Ameraucanas ideal for our cold climate with their short pea comb and lack of wattles. They can withstand temps of 15 below with no problems.
Oh heres a picture so you can see their built-in "muffs" and "beards".
So they are all set for winter. ;)

We sell the eggs and the alpacas. This is my back yard.
Ken

Cottage Rose,

Thanks for the link. I have it bookmarked. I love the pic of the Ameraucanas.! They are so cute! We have an old barn that has an upstairs (forgot what you call it now) that we are not using for much of anything. Would that make a good place to raise the chickens if I add a doggy door and fenced in yard for them to run around in? It will be a few years before we're up there full time so I have time to get things prepared and read up on this stuff. :)

Ken,

I love your backyard! We'd like to have a pond dug for fish eventually also. Our son is planning on taking a heavy machinery course and we told him he can practice on our pond site. :) What do people do with alpacas? Are they pets or dinner?

Loon the upstairs of the barn is called the "hay loft".
They are usually quite large so you might want to partition off a side area to house your poultry in. Those lofts are usually quite drafty so you might build a big stall with side walls say at least 4 ft. high to cut the draft and put wire on the top portion.
The birds will need perches too to sleep on at night. It doesn't need to be fancy just secure to keep critters (Coons, etc) out.

Love all the pictures.

We have 24 Bantam Chickens. I've lost count of how many are Roosters, but too many. We still get more eggs than we can eat ourselves.

We've got several varieties, and a few "hybrids" too ...............

I plan on getting some Guineas this Summer.

This picture is not the best, very grainy, but it's all I have handy right now.

This is our Black Tailed Japanese Rooster.

Cottage Rose,

I had a friend that had what she called Arucanda's I think (excuse my spelling). They laided eggs of different shades of green and blue.

These must be different from yours .............. she tried to convince me that what she had is what I should get, but I did not think her chickens were anything special to look at. Your's are beautiful! Love the Beards and Muffs.

Thanks TC
Cool Japanese! :)
Most people will say they have "Araucanas" but usually what they have is a mixed breed now more correctly referred to as an "Easter Egg Layer".
These are the most commonly seen and what is typically sold by commerical hatcheries and backyard breeders. The hatcheries even refer to them as Araucanas/Ameraucanas but 99.9% of the time they are EEL.
Real Araucanas are actually quite rare and hard to breed due to a lethal gene.They are tailess birds and have tuffs of feathers that come out of the sides of their heads by the ears.
Ameraucanas have only been recognised by the American Poultry Association for the last 25 years and they come is 8 colors:
black
blue
silver
white
buff
brown red
wheaten
blue wheaten
They lay pastel blue-green eggs, have pea combs, slate (blue) or black shanks/feet, horn (neutral) beaks, bay colored eyes (reddish brown) and white skin.
Most of the Easter Eggs Layers will be any number of non-standard colors and they often don't sport muffs or beards and will sometimes have single combs. Quite often they have yellow or willow (green) shanks and feet and yellow skin.
This indictates they carry a brown egg layer gene.
Now you know more than most people about these 3 different breeds. ;)

This message was edited May 3, 2005 6:14 PM

Rose
I have a stupid question, are those blue eggs the same as white or brown eggs?

Now I know where Dr Suess got hios green eggs.

Paul

Cottage Rose, I have black star sex-links, araucana, black australorps, barred rocks, black giants, leg horns,
and a few bantams.
Ken

Cottage Rose,

Thanks for the education, I'm sure what she had was the Easter Egg Layer. They deifnately didn't have the beard or muff, and were to my eye very ordinary looking chickens.

PV
I have raised Black Australorps in the past and really like them.
I liked the production reds too.

TC now you can educate others. ;)

Ameraucana is a all time Fav! Crestedchick here,has Samatras,another great breed,Good lookin birds you have there!

Cottage Rose,

Do you know how I could introduce some baby chicks into the same coop as the older chickens?

I don't know of a souce for fertilized eggs (other than our own chickens and we already have some hybrids ...). If I could get some eggs, we have some broody Hens right now.

I'd be interested in adding some Ameraucanas sometime.

T_C
The chicks should be 4-6 months old or so before you try because the hens will really beat up on them especially if you don't have a rooster to try and keep order.
I will PM you about hatching eggs.

Thanks RD! Sumatras are very cool looking too but I think they are kinda wild acting.

My chicken experience http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/464331/
We only have one hen left and she's a fantastic layer, but she'll peck also. DH just reaches out, real quick, and scratches her back. I don't get near her!!

-------
Just traveling around to all the Forums this morning.

Judy

Wood Ducks, I'm trying them as extended pets,
they require a special house outside
and are very shy. hard to photo. I have
about 6 who visit me now. they are
more like wildlife than a farm animal
but will show up for food. And look
much better than a chicken.





This message was edited May 23, 2005 12:01 AM

Wood Ducks! Now thats interesting!

Judy if you whack that hen with a broom a few times shes will learn to respect you, especially if she tends to go after you. You just have to let her know whose top hen in the pecking order...you! ;-)

This message was edited May 23, 2005 10:02 AM

It would be just my luck that I would accidently kill her and Bob would never let me live it down!!!

Have a good day you all

Judy

Well, if you can't bring yourself to wack her, wear a pair of heavy gardening gloves when you gather the eggs. If she pecks at you then, you won't feel a thing. ;-)

NAAAA...you won't kill her. I have booted roosters as hard as I could in the butt when they got aggressive with me and they learned to respect me right quick with nary a limp on their part. You just have to let them know whose boss. Thats just the way it works in the chicken world. Its all about the pecking order.
Chickens who continue to be aggressive should be served up with biscuits and gravy. Mmmm! ;-)

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/464331/

Cottage_Rose you're going to like this thread I wrote about the male chicken

Judy that is a funny story! LOL Thanks for sharing it.

But it is not true that a rooster has to be aggressive towards humans or Bulldogs in order to:
~protect a flock of hens
~breed hens

My rooster is a perfect genteman (thats him 2nd photo from the top) and keeps watch over his hens and sires lots o' chicks.
Even aggressive roosters can be taught to respect their owners by some firm kicks in the pooper. If that don't work...like I said....chickens & biscuits comin' up! ;-)