[AndersonRanch]

As any poultry lover knows it’s chick season!
I thought it would be fun to make a post about what everyone has going on in the poultry department. What are we ordering? Hatching? What do you have right now? Hopefully just a fun little topic and maybe pass the time for those that are waiting on eggs to hatch or orders to get to you.
So I’ll go first. All my incubators are full! Even bought another one but need to spring clean to make room for it lol I have Millie fluers, splash silkies, and anconas baking and hatching. Also have my heritage turkey eggs in there. Instead of keeping all the turkey verities apart I decided to let them all run wild and free together and maybe come up with some unique colors. Also since I’m maxed out on the eggs I have been selling the Turkey eggs like hot cakes.
The order department, I like pretty chickens and sweet chickens. Everything that I wanted to try was so far out, so on a bored night I looked into the bargain deals (stay away from those unless you want sucked down a rabbit hole!) so I thought hatchery choices would be fun, it would be fun to figure out what I end up with and worse case chickens are selling for so much right now I could just sell the ones I don’t like. So I ordered rare breed hatchery choice, hatchery choice and a surprise box. The surprise box is where it’s not just chickens they throw anything in there so that one should be super fun. I already got the first try on the rare breed but only 3 of them made it it ended up taking 4 days to ship. But cackle made it right and I will get my next try shipped out may 17. My hatchery choice should ship out tomorrow and my surprise box will be here in July, hopefully when my husband is not home because he has no idea about that box!
So what does everyone else have going on?

 

[MissMiniNubian]

We have some Tolbunt Polish that we ordered that are in an incubator right now. They are kind of rare I think and it’s our first time doing this so we are super excited! We also just got a second incubator so that we can hatch our own Mille Fluers. It’s about 2 more weeks until the Polish are supposed to hatch. Love spring!

 

[Kass]

I'm getting some auracona (?) Chicks from a friend soon.
I have a question. I was going to make my own thread ( tell me if I need to) but I figured I can ask here.
A friend has a few extra quail chicks and she asked if I wanted them. Does anyone have quail? What do you think of them? Pros and cons?

 

[LittleGoatMama17]

We have polish cross with Buff orpington, Rhode Island Red and 8 more in our incubator! This is our first time incubating our flocks eggs! Also, I see that @AndersonRanch has a Nurture Right 360 incubator?? We're using that bator too!!
To @Kass, just so you know, quail are pretty small, so better for predators if you free range them, so I would think you would need to keep them confined.

 

[FizzyGoats]

I ordered rare breed hatchery choice, hatchery choice and a surprise box. The surprise box is where it’s not just chickens they throw anything in there so that one should be super fun. I already got the first try on the rare breed but only 3 of them made it it ended up taking 4 days to ship.

Sorry to hear that. Glad you’ll get more. This scares me. We have notoriously unreliable and slow mail here and I ordered (from Cackle) 11 Bourbon Red Turkey poults and 4 chicks. I’m so worried the shipping will take too long or my local mail people won’t get it to me in a timely manner and it’ll be a box of horror when I get it.

Do they deliver to your house or does the post office contact you for you to come pick it up when it gets there?

We have some Tolbunt Polish that we ordered that are in an incubator right now. They are kind of rare I think and it’s our first time doing this so we are super excited! We also just got a second incubator so that we can hatch our own Mille Fluers. It’s about 2 more weeks until the Polish are supposed to hatch. Love spring!

How fun! You’ll have to share pics once hatching begins.

So as stated above, I’m getting some heritage turkey poults end of this month. Excited and nervous. Turkeys will be something I learn as I go. I’m also getting a few Rhode Island Red chicks. Nothing flashy. I actually choose them because they are, for whatever reason, my most surviving chickens (aerial predators). I think they’re a little more camouflaged in all the brush and leaves or something. Or maybe they run faster. Not sure. Or maybe it’s pure coincidence.

ETA: I have the brooder ready to go and just got a camera in so I can monitor the babies. Gotta have my nanny cam, lol.

 

[SalteyLove]

@FizzyGoats I am convinced those true RI Reds (the deep red color, not the production crosses so may people try to call RIs) are smarter than other breeds! I know, it's a little crazy. But they are so much more dinosaur-like in my experience. Mine definitely had higher survivability. And they were astonishing hunters in the small wetland near our house. I'm sadly chicken-less the next few years but had to chip in on the reds here!

 

[MellonFriend]

Oh man, your poultry chick happenings are way more exciting than mine! We got 10 (11?) buff orpington chicks from our local feed store. They are supposed to be all hens, but we are suspicious about a couple of them. We got them because we are trying to add a little more egg production, size, and hardiness to our flock.

 

[FizzyGoats]

Oh man, your poultry chick happenings are way more exciting than mine! We got 10 (11?) buff orpington chicks from our local feed store. They are supposed to be all hens, but we are suspicious about a couple of them. We got them because we are trying to add a little more egg production, size, and hardiness to our flock.

Mine aren’t exciting either, lol. Those are my mom’s favorite chicken. She had great luck with them for years when we lived in Colorado.

@FizzyGoats I am convinced those true RI Reds (the deep red color, not the production crosses so may people try to call RIs) are smarter than other breeds! I know, it's a little crazy. But they are so much more dinosaur-like in my experience. Mine definitely had higher survivability. And they were astonishing hunters in the small wetland near our house. I'm sadly chicken-less the next few years but had to chip in on the reds here!

That’s so funny. We call ours the little T-Rex’s. They are the most curious about everything (and into everything). They are great bug eaters (greatly diminishing our tick population) and know enough to stay near my big dog (not an LGD) who watches over them when he’s out. Also my reds are the only ones who, without a rooster around to warn them, seem to realize their only real threats come from the sky. We have one cross who is still with us, but the darker red they are, the longer they’ve lived, the more eggs they’ve laid, and they’ve seemed more resilient against injury and sickness as well. We just thought it might be a coincidence, but we’re sticking with it just to be safe. I’m sure there’s absolutely no science behind it.

Now our Bourbon Red turkeys will match our chicken flock, lol. We didn’t do that on purpose though. Just picked one we liked and clicked purchase.

 

[AndersonRanch]

We have some Tolbunt Polish that we ordered that are in an incubator right now. They are kind of rare I think and it’s our first time doing this so we are super excited! We also just got a second incubator so that we can hatch our own Mille Fluers. It’s about 2 more weeks until the Polish are supposed to hatch. Love spring!

I had to look those polish up and I want those! People also call them candy corn polish, at least around here. But they are on my bucket list, not this year but one year. You will have to share them when they hatch.

 

[MissMiniNubian]

I had to look those polish up and I want those! People also call them candy corn polish, at least around here. But they are on my bucket list, not this year but one year. You will have to share them when they hatch.

I will!

 

[AndersonRanch]

Kass yes quail are very small and not.....fully domesticated like a chicken. I do not have any but a friend bought some. She thought they would just stick around if she had them free range but they packed up and left. I think quail are so cute! But with my cats, the snakes and everything else I’m not sure how I would keep them contained and alive. Although if someone offered me eggs I sure would give it a shot lol
Little goat mama, that one is actually some knock off one, I forget the name but I got it from Amazon and it holds 12 eggs. I wanted the 360 last year before I got these since it had such good reviews especially with turkey eggs. So this year I picked up 2 of them. They have the turkey eggs in them so will see how they do.
Fizzy goat the post office will call you when they come in. Our post office is slow too but to be fair to the post office and cackle this was the first time this happened and I think for some reason shipping has just been super slow a few times. That’s normally not how it is. I THINK maybe because it’s tax season so they are flooded because of that ????? I’m honestly not sure. And you will LOVE your turkeys. My chickens just kinda do their own thing and leave me alone but those turkeys follow me very place. Speaking of T-Rex I call mine my baby dinosaurs lol they are not overly smart and people say they have a hard time keeping them alive because of it but I have had great luck with them. Maybe it’s because I have had broad breasted turkeys and those are a whole other level of stupid lol

 

[FizzyGoats]

Fizzy goat the post office will call you when they come in. Our post office is slow too but to be fair to the post office and cackle this was the first time this happened and I think for some reason shipping has just been super slow a few times. That’s normally not how it is. I THINK maybe because it’s tax season so they are flooded because of that ????? I’m honestly not sure. And you will LOVE your turkeys. My chickens just kinda do their own thing and leave me alone but those turkeys follow me very place. Speaking of T-Rex I call mine my baby dinosaurs lol they are not overly smart and people say they have a hard time keeping them alive because of it but I have had great luck with them. Maybe it’s because I have had broad breasted turkeys and those are a whole other level of stupid lol

Lol. I’ve heard that about the BB breeds. I know heritage ones are a smidge smarter. Even on Cackle’s site they warn that they’re not the brightest. But everyone says they’re super sweet. My chickens don’t really care if I’m around or not, so it’ll be nice to have some poultry who want to hang out. Hopefully I’ll be a good turkey mom. I’ve done a lot of research but it’s always different once you have them.
And thank you for the info on the post office. We have such a tiny little office and they are just slow. Plus we live in the middle of nowhere and have yet to receive a delivery on time. I’ll have the brooder warm and ready for when they get here though.

I love this thread. I have to Google 90% of what people have to see what it is, but that’s fun too. Maybe someday I’ll venture into the rare and pretty birds. Let’s see if can keep my crew alive first.

 

[happybleats]

We have so many brooding mama's of mix variety. My son collects newly hatched babies, leaving moms a few to try to raise. Often they end up with a single by end all..so we raise them. We also got sucked in by TSC dollar a duck day and for 30 mallards lol we love duck eggs. Last summer my son stuck everything from guineas, ducks, turkey and chixken eggs under brooding hens. He did pretty good with hatch rate. He will do that again this year. Funny as I sold my cabinet incubator that sat for 4 years..now he wishes we had it lol. We have buff geese who are trying to hatch babies but sadly she over packed her nest and smothered new hatchling this is her second season so we hope she does better. We are keeping watch.

 

[Kass]

Kass yes quail are very small and not.....fully domesticated like a chicken. I do not have any but a friend bought some. She thought they would just stick around if she had them free range but they packed up and left. I think quail are so cute! But with my cats, the snakes and everything else I’m not sure how I would keep them contained and alive. Although if someone offered me eggs I sure would give it a shot lol
Little goat mama, that one is actually some knock off one, I forget the name but I got it from Amazon and it holds 12 eggs. I wanted the 360 last year before I got these since it had such good reviews especially with turkey eggs. So this year I picked up 2 of them. They have the turkey eggs in them so will see how they do.
Fizzy goat the post office will call you when they come in. Our post office is slow too but to be fair to the post office and cackle this was the first time this happened and I think for some reason shipping has just been super slow a few times. That’s normally not how it is. I THINK maybe because it’s tax season so they are flooded because of that ????? I’m honestly not sure. And you will LOVE your turkeys. My chickens just kinda do their own thing and leave me alone but those turkeys follow me very place. Speaking of T-Rex I call mine my baby dinosaurs lol they are not overly smart and people say they have a hard time keeping them alive because of it but I have had great luck with them. Maybe it’s because I have had broad breasted turkeys and those are a whole other level of stupid lol

Yeah, from what I've read they shouldn't really be free ranged since they are such a predator magnet. They actually love to hide and be in small areas. So I was thinking a large rabbit hutch( 2×3 ) for maybe 4 of them. Then make a predator proof ( is there such a thing? Lol ) chicken tractor for them for during the day.

 

[AndersonRanch]

You will be a great turkey mom! The only real issue I had with them was when they were little, and it was hot, they thought they were ducks. That wasn’t great since they were free and could get in with the goats and their water troughs but easy fix. I just stopped using the deep water troughs and just filled up the more shallow ones where they could reach to bottom if they went in. Sometimes they would fly over the fence and forget how to get back over but they have seemed to have grown out of that. Just spend a lot of time with them and they will be your best friends. They can be a little annoying about what they find they have to peck. For awhile it was my toe nails and any scab I have they have to go after it but they get swatted and usually knock it off.
Happybleats that is the story of my life! I will hang onto something for years and not long after I finally get rid of it I wish I had it lol but it sounds like all the broody animals are doing a great job! I think they hatch out better rates anyways. I was trying to leave Turkey eggs out for the hens so they would go broody but it seemed to only attract issues. First was this fellow

you can see the egg in there, so he got dumped in the far corner of the lower field and today a crow/raven was after the eggs. So no more leaving eggs out

 

[FizzyGoats]

We have so many brooding mama's of mix variety. My son collects newly hatched babies, leaving moms a few to try to raise. Often they end up with a single by end all..so we raise them. We also got sucked in by TSC dollar a duck day and for 30 mallards lol we love duck eggs. Last summer my son stuck everything from guineas, ducks, turkey and chixken eggs under brooding hens. He did pretty good with hatch rate. He will do that again this year. Funny as I sold my cabinet incubator that sat for 4 years..now he wishes we had it lol. We have buff geese who are trying to hatch babies but sadly she over packed her nest and smothered new hatchling this is her second season so we hope she does better. We are keeping watch.

I need to borrow your son until I know what I’m doing, lol. And isn’t that the way it goes? Once you finally decide to get rid of something, you then realize you should’ve kept it. And cute ducks!

Yeah, from what I've read they shouldn't really be free ranged since they are such a predator magnet. They actually love to hide and be in small areas. So I was thinking a large rabbit hutch( 2×3 ) for maybe 4 of them. Then make a predator proof ( is there such a thing? Lol ) chicken tractor for them for during the day.

I would think you could make a small tractor for them that’s predator proof. I’ve seen tons of chicken ones and you could even go smaller.

You will be a great turkey mom! The only real issue I had with them was when they were little, and it was hot, they thought they were ducks. That wasn’t great since they were free and could get in with the goats and their water troughs but easy fix. I just stopped using the deep water troughs and just filled up the more shallow ones where they could reach to bottom if they went in. Sometimes they would fly over the fence and forget how to get back over but they have seemed to have grown out of that. Just spend a lot of time with them and they will be your best friends. They can be a little annoying about what they find they have to peck. For awhile it was my toe nails and any scab I have they have to go after it but they get swatted and usually knock it off.

Oh dear. I’ll have to pay attention to water dishes. I have a big indoor space for them until they’re ready for outside. Then I have an attached outdoor pen, complete with aerial netting (to keep out the big hungry birds around here, but maybe it’ll help keep them from fence flying for a bit) to keep them in for a while. Plenty of space. Once they’re close to full grown, we’ll start letting them have some free time during the day out of their enclosure. But I do have a pond, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on that now.
I’ll make sure I spend lots of time with them. And try not to let them peck me too much.
And that snake. Yikes. We’ve been fortunate not to deal with that quite yet but I’m sure it’s a matter of time.

 

[happybleats]

need to borrow your son until I know what I’m doing, lol. And isn’t that the way it goes? Once you finally decide to get rid of something, you then realize you should’ve kept it. And cute ducks!

Yup. Bought that cabnet..used it one or maybe two seasons..then sat for 4 years in my barn...still In its box lol. Saw a ad where someone was looking for one so sold it. Told my son to keep his brooders happy because I'm not buying another one lol. The pix is of my geese Edward and Eleanor

 

[MellonFriend]

Yup. Bought that cabnet..used it one or maybe two seasons..then sat for 4 years in my barn...still In its box lol. Saw a ad where someone was looking for one so sold it. Told my son to keep his brooders happy because I'm not buying another one lol. The pix is of my geese Edward and Eleanor

Your geese are so pretty. Are they friendly or are they mean ones?

 

[happybleats]

Not really in your face friendly but not mean at all. I got Eleanor to raise as a pet...wasn't wanting to raise geese..but my friend called and said her other boys were picking on a smaller boy and do I want him.. so in comes Edward. So they bonded together and not with me lol. Oh well..we still enjoy them out here

 

[FizzyGoats]

Yup. Bought that cabnet..used it one or maybe two seasons..then sat for 4 years in my barn...still In its box lol. Saw a ad where someone was looking for one so sold it. Told my son to keep his brooders happy because I'm not buying another one lol. The pix is of my geese Edward and Eleanor

Lol. Please don’t tell them I called them ducks. I promise I actually know the difference. This is what it get for talking to my husband while replying to threads. My brain isn’t firing on all cylinders today.