Chicken breeds

[TheSeedObsesser]

@baymule I weighed a chicken yesterday and it was about twelve pounds. Sorry that my update took me so long.

@catjac1975 Yup, we kept all of the layers for eggs and breeding. They just started laying a few weeks ago, a mixture of dark brown and light brown eggs. Instead of drowning in our usual wave of duck eggs, we're now getting battered with a tsunami of duck eggs and just as many chicken eggs - they are great layers!

 

[baymule]

@TheSeedObsesser that is a big chicken! You will have to post some more about your Delawares. That is the breed i want!

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

More? Anything in particular that you'd like to hear? I know that they are (for the most part) skittish birds, but that could be changed if you raised them differently I guess (not half-wild).

 

[canesisters]

Hey @SeedObsesser - would you consider selling some hatching eggs in the spring???????

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

Maybe @canesisters I'd have to talk to my parents (I don't think that they'd be against the idea). We'd have to figure the whole packing and shipping thing out, can't have the eggs getting beaten up too much or else they'll never hatch.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Use an egg carton. Individually wrap each egg in bubble wrap, the stuff with small bubbles, and tape those so they don't unwrap. Do not try to fill the egg carton but alternate them to give more room. Tape the carton closed.

Wrap the egg carton in more bubble wrap, then put that in a box filled with crumbled newspaper, wrapping paper, something like that. Cushion them well. Write fragile and this end up on the carton. That's about the best you can do.

I've had 100% hatch rate with shipped eggs like this, 5 out of 5 turkey eggs. I've had horrible hatch rates with shipped eggs prepared the same way from the same person and turkeys, I out of 4. You normally don't get great hatch rates with shipped eggs but you often do OK. A lot of that depends on how they are treated during shipping. It's not just how rough they treat them to shake them up, but if they are left outside in the sun for a long time on the shipping dock.

It's probably illegal to ship eggs across state lines unless you have certain tests run. You might enjoy reading about NPIP, the National Poultry Improvement Plan. It's one of those government programs that has worked. Each state has different requirements, with Virginia being fairly strict. Some major hatcheries don't ship eggs or chicks to Virginia because of one of the tests they require. With all that said, the post office is not a police department. They are likely to deliver the package no questions asked. The State is not likely to be looking out for something like this. They will be more likely to be looking out for the big boys, the commercial hatcheries.

While it may be illegal across state lines and maybe even within the state (individual states control that) I would not hesitate to send eggs this way. The eggs will almost certainly go through and even if you are caught it will probably involve a warning and confiscation of the eggs. If you are NPIP certified it is probably even legal, unless the individual State like Virginias has tougher requirements than your state.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Hey you guys (doesn't that sound like the beginning of Electric Company - kids show on T.V.) we have only one rooster here at PlayStation and I don't have a clue as to what kind he is. He is very large, very nice to the girls, and friendly. I'm thinking maybe Delaware but I don't know.

 

[catjac1975]

A self professed expert that I spoke to said bubble wrap will kill the chick. He said that the eggshell needed to breath and plastic would prevent this. He seemed to know a lot. I have had poor luck with shipped hatching eggs. 4/12 hatched the first time and 0/15 the next. They were Lavender orpingtons which I have since found are difficult to hatch.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Could be a Delaware but I don't think so with that brownish color showing up. A pure Delaware should be more white and should not that many black spots on the body.

That one is barred like a Delaware should be. You can tell by the dark feathers. It's got the general appearance a Delaware should have. I think that is a rooster that had one Delaware parent where the other parent was a red chicken. Either parent could have been a Delaware, either could have been the red one.

Nice looking rooster.

 

[canesisters]

Agree. He's a HANDSOME fella - but possibly a mix.
Both of mine are mixes - still GREAT roos!

Benzo (Cane) - main roo


Cali-co (Cane) - the new kid