Because I needed something from the chicken getting place, I just happened to be there on the same day their shipment of baby chicks arrived. I saw Rhode Island Reds, Longhorns, some bantams and adorable ducks. But it was over when I saw the Golden Comet pullets and Buff Orpington pullets. They both were pullets only, so I was bringing 10 baby hens home with me THAT DAY! I ended up with seven Golden Comets and three Buff Orpingtons. I knew both breeds were docile and do well in a free-range situation. So, I bought a few extra things to get them all through their first months of life and we all went home.
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Since I had modified the previous cage to accommodate Nae-Nae's enclosure, I had to think outside the box and come up with a new nursery situation. Re-purpose is what I do best! So, my form hamster cage became their first new home.
Because I had been "googling" all about different types of chickens and realizing we have a lot of hens to produce eggs, but no "meat birds", I learned everything I could about the Cornish Cross which are bred just for meat and only to be born, eat, and be processable by 8 weeks. They cannot live any longer because they are plump and short. Their legs will not support their bodies after 8-10 weeks. At this point, I was just thinking about how we need meat chickens, and this is what everyone else is doing, so I will try my hand at the Cornish Cross breed and "chicken tractoring". (That is how these birds are raised.) So, I went on the website of the chicken getting place and made an order for the minimum amount of 10 birds. Once the birds were hatched, I was told I would be notified and to keep my phone on me at all times to alert me of their shipping date. They can only survive three days after hatching before they perish from starvation. I would have to be available to pick them up at the post office once they arrived. I was a little apprehensive, but ready to take on this challenge of raising meat chickens.... I made my order and waited...
"Growing the Vision"
Right now, my girls are producing 20 eggs a day from small pink, small tan, medium dark brown, large white and large brown. They all seem super healthy and happy as hens can be. I have a great steady diet of pasta, kale, corn, layer feed, blueberries, oatmeal, blackberries, crickets, meal worms, black soldier fly larva (harvested from contraption in our yard), flax seed, wheat germ, red pepper flakes, oats, and a few secret ingredients as well as a big hanging head of cabbage that is obliterated in one day, so only about three in a weeks' time is sufficient. All the groceries are from local sources or from the store and "organic". I have a steady supply of layer feed and meal worms available, and I feed them their special food every evening before its time to roost. I let them out to forage and roam every day when I get home. I have a special way to call them in when it is time to eat. They come running and take turns trying to steal the food from my bin as I'm getting their bowls ready. It is funny to watch them grab their favorite pieces and run from any other chicken that will pursue. The piece will get dropped and picked up and run by another hen over and over until someone gobbles it up. They all have different personalities: "Cruella" is defiant and likes to be the last one in the pen at night. "Little Bit" is a small mischievous little girl who will hide from me when I call her name. One of my older girls "Ruby Red" is my biggest complainer. She is very vocal and seems to be letting me know she does not appreciate all these new hens into her home. She was one that watched "cat tv" as a pullet. She is Spoiled rotten! "Scarlett" has recently began teasing the three Barred Rock cockerels in the adjacent pen. Unfortunately, these boys are plumping up for the time being. We plan on keeping one of them just as a back-up breeder if needed.
New Update: Right before moving to our new home, we decided to keep "Rocky" as our 2nd breeder/protector for the hens and the other two were going in the freezer. So now we have 21 eggs a day and in the Spring we will raise more chicks for more eggs and any cockerels will be meat for the summer. At my new job, I have found one person who is taking all my eggs. So, I definitely need more laying hens. I have neighbors to feed! Of course, I always have my "Buff-Buff" who lays an egg a day just for Paul and me to eat on Saturday mornings.
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