Baby chicks are hatching!

[Camouflaged]

Woohoo! Got a slew of babies hatching. They started pipping tonight. Their due date is right on schedule.
I'm hatching Astrolops, Barred Rock, Buff Orpingtons and Waynedotties. I'll have a nice fresh flock of layers this Summer. I hatched 10 Buff Orpingtons a month ago. My already established Barred Rock are laying like crazy right now. We're gonna have plenty of meat and eggs for a while, until I get ready to process some of these and hatch more. Our pork and Turkey supply is plentiful as well, so we are good on meat. With this supposed meat market shortage, I wanted to make sure we will have our supply fresh on the feet/hoof.

[explo72]

same here
one of our momma buff orpingtons hatched 7 chicks about two weeks ago and has been marching them around the farm yard.
that's unusually early, most times our hens go broody in June
got two more hens setting on eggs already

I wanted to make sure we will have our supply fresh on the feet/hoof.

same here

[Camouflaged]

The ones hatching right now are in the incubator. My hens aren't broody yet but I wanted to get a head start so I used the incubator. The chicks I hatch a little over a month ago all turned out to be pullets. What are the odds! That was a pleasant surprise! Don't know what this new batch of hatches will be yet. I have a hard time sexing them as new hatches. I have to wait until they are at least a couple weeks old before I sex them to be accurate. I could use at least one more rooster now that I know what I have in the chick pen outside.

[explo72]

chickens are a huge part of our shtf food plan
ours free range and we have planted lots of things to produce food for them (mulberries, hardy kiwi, elderberry, indigobush) as well as I plant annuals like sunflower.
eggs every day are pretty good nutrition and then the meat as well is bonus
right now we have about 20 hens which supplies plenty of eggs for us as well as to give away / barter.

but this season I want to get up to about 60 hens which is all my current coop could hold.
I have a feeling eggs will become real valuable as things play out, we can always give to food pantry

and this season are going to experiment with freeze drying eggs as two of our mag group have the harvest right units.

[flock6]

I have 7 ducklings the oldest 2 mos the youngest 1 mo and 2 more given to us that have just feathered out. We just hatched over 30 guinea keets from eggs given to us. 2 of them appear to be chickens but the eggs for sure looked like guinea eggs. I also just planted 10 triple crown thornless blackberry bushes, 5 pear trees, and 15 various apple trees. This fall I'm picking up 5-10 pecan trees.

[Camouflaged]

It's gonna be a long wait for those pecan trees.

[Camouflaged]

I thought about getting ducks but I really don't want the hassle. They are harder to keep than chickens IMO. I've had them before. They are messy! Cute and tasty, but MESSY! I don't have time for messy...
I also had 56 guinea. They drove me nuts with that constant "buckwheat" so I got rid of them.
I als raised Peafowl and Pheasant. I'd like to have them again someday but right now, I have my hands full with what I've got already.

[beowulf]

Guineas sure make great "watch dogs" though. Anything or anybody comes around you'll know it immediately. Always sounded to me like they were saying "pot-rack, pot-rack!"

[Camouflaged]

Mine made noise all day long! I HATE THEM! I moved to the country PARTLY to get away from the constant noise! LOL

[flock6]

I absolutely love our guineas, they have great personalities LOL. The 4 adults will come and peck on the back door when they want corn lol. The ducks are absolutely messy once they feather out they will be turned loose to do whatever ducks do lol, they're good layers and 1 egg will fetch the same money as a dozen chicken eggs. That's our reasoning anyway. Yes I don't expect fruit for at least 3 years and pecans about 7-10 yrs.