With the state of the world and the rate of inflation, it would probably be a smart thing to look into, raising my own chickens. I’ll just purchase 2 to 12 books on chicken rearing and read up on whats involved. Once i do my research i’ll know whether or not this life move is worth it.
How can you not purchase an animal that shits breakfast? You could use the eggs to barter with friends and coworkers for all the vegetables that the biblical amounts of grasshoppers keep rendering non-existent in the garden.
I’ll just go to tractor supply and see what they have. Im just going to look.
Okay so what happened was, i was at tractor supply and they had this box of chicks who were too old and so they’d marked them down to 50 cents a piece, and i thought, “oh my God, how can you pass up 50 cents a piece? When are you ever going to find live animals for 50 cents each?! This is a steal. We have to get them.” So, there’s a car full of chicks i need help unloading, but just know, i only spent $15.00”.
Okay so you know how i was going to tractor supply for more feed crumbles and electrolyte mix? Well, so what happened was, they had this box of chicks they were putting in the dumpster because they had dried poop on their butts. Like they were still alive but they were just going to throw them away like trash. So they said i could take them for free if i wanted to try and get the poop off, so ive got them all in solo cups of warm water in the bathroom and i need you to grab one of these cutips and start rubbing. We’ve got a lot of work to do.
Okay so remember when my friend Beth came over and she said that it looked like Sofie and Reba and Mabel were possibly boys? Well this morning about 40 percent of my flock began crowing at the arrival of dawn so i figured i had better remedy the situation since none of these roos are going to be laying eggs anytime soon. But don’t worry, i learned my lesson with tractor supply (who will not take any of the roosters as returns, i already checked) im not buying anything else from them. They lied to me and told me all those chicks were hens. So i got on google and read that hatcheries are generally more accurate at sexing day old chicks so i went ahead and ordered some hen chicks from the best rated hatchery i found online.
Hey, did you know theres chickens that lay blue and green eggs? Wouldnt it be cool to have blue eggs? I’d better just get a few of those…oh, they have a 15 count minimum before they’ll ship the order. Apparently there have to be enough to huddle together to keep warm in transit. Well, i dont want them to get cold. Better get twenty just in case.
Hey did you know theres chickens that are all black? Like their skin and their feet and comb and everything? That looks cool! We should get just a few of those! Oh, they only sell them in a straight run… well, i’d better get twice as many as i was going to in case half of them turn out to be roosters.
Hey, did you know chocolate orpingtons can get to be up to 10 lbs and basically look like a walking feathered fudge bar? Look at this! They’re bigger than most possums. They’d probably be great at predator control. I had better get a few of those.
Ugh. My experience with that hatchery was awful. They sent chicks with birth defects. Sick chicks. And one that got crushed by the heating pad. They lost them in transit for an extra day on top of it, and they forgot the thermometer, twice. I know nothing about breeding chickens but i bet i could do a better job than they did.
Hey, look at all these people on this chicken forum looking for chocolate orpingtons and easter eggers that lay pink speckled eggs. It seems like theres a market for certain types of chicks in this area.
So i bought an incubator, i’ve watched 22 videos on hatching your own eggs on youtube, and im going to breed chocolate orpingtons and americaunas in the bathroom now.
So i dont have many hens in my small operation but i read somewhere that you could store eggs between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit while collecting others for 7 to 10 days and then put them all in the incubator at the same time and they’ll all hatch around the same time because it pauses the growth and development of fertilized eggs. So i bought a cosmetics refrigerator and im having it shipped to your house. They wont do PO boxes so they wouldnt ship it to me. Let me know when it gets here.
Okay so one of the two rooster chicks died so i need to find another rooster, but its okay. This morning i was on ebay and i realized people will sell you fertilized chocolate orpington hatching eggs on ebay and ship them to you in the mail. I can try to hatch another rooster but they only sell them in batches of 30 so id better get another brooder.
Okay so i was watching this video and i saw this lady explaining how her geese were kind of like guard dogs for her flock. I have a bunch of foxes and raccoons and hawks in the area. So i was thinking i should get some geese. I’ll just run to tractor supply and get another enclosure.
So i went to pick up the geese but the lady was also selling baby turkeys and she said if i wanted she’d give them to me half price because i already bought the geese. I need to run by tractor supply. We’ve got to build another enclosure.
Oh my gosh! Look at this! Okay, i need to look up if its legal to raise emus in this area. I mean, theres no hoa. They cant tell me what to do out here if theres no hoa right?
Okay so my bird raising operation is kind of getting big now. I think i need to invest in a livestock guardian dog to protect against predators.
So what happened was that the livestock guardian puppy just wasnt learning anything and my friend told me i needed to get an older already trained dog and use that one to train up the puppy. It worked to an extent but see the people who sold me Duke swore up and down that he was neutered. And he was not neutered. And now my nearly grown puppy is out on maternity leave, but dont worry, i solved the problem. I read somewhere that donkeys kick mountain lions in the head and protect herds of animals from them. So i got a donkey, but then everything says they’ll get depressed without a companion, so cookie got delivered yesterday and is still settling in as Dusty’s companion donkey. Dont worry. I checked. They’re both boys. Learned my lesson this time.
So i was thinking, with all these extra birds to clean up after and puppies to train, i dont really have time to mow the grass. I got a couple kune kune pigs coming tomorrow. They’re the only pig that actively eats grass. So i figure i’ll just let them roam and i wont have to mow the grass.
Hey so, incubation is going really well. I think i have a system figured out now. I have about a 70 percent hatch rate. I was going to sell them all but these buff and chocolate crosses came out so cool! I should keep some of them for future breeding projects. I should go to tractor supply and get another pen.
So i was looking at the catalogue and theres this mixed bag called “hatchery’s choice” where they just pick whatever and throw an assortment of chickens into your box. Wouldnt it be cool if i just put a rooster in with all these different kinds of chickens and crossbred everybody and see what feather patterns result? I should go to tractor supply and get another pen and coop. I’ll be back.
HEYYYYYYYY!
What?
Didnt you say we were going to get chickens because of the price of eggs? We were going to save so much money by raising our own chickens and collecting our own eggs. And we’ve now spent money on several pens, several coops, a crap ton of feed, shipping fees, dogs, vet bills, donkeys, pigs, kiddie pools, incubators, make up refrigerators, extra brooders, and various tinctures and powders for all sorts of chicken ailments that i didnt even know existed? We’re paying for all that in lieu of supermarket eggs?! This seems more expensive!
No my love, we are paying for all that in loo of antidepressants, adhd meds, supermarket eggs, therapy, hospital bills, and the divorce lawyer you are gonna need if you touch one feather on any of my crucially necessary new babies that can definitely stay here well into menopause because we know ladies dont cease to be valuable as living beings the moment they stop dropping eggs.
🤦🏻♂️. I’ll see you when you get back.