I know I am probably going to get much more information than I need, but hey, that is how we learn.
We have been raising goats for over ten years, now we want to put out some (4 - 6) chickens. Just the wife and me so don't need too many eggs.
Have lots of plans for the hen house, so should be good there.
We live in central Texas, hot summers and usually just a few cold winter days.
What breed would be best for what we want to do?
How long will a hen lay eggs, meaning at what age will she become a roasting hen and need to be replaced?
Any other good information to help us get started and stay out of trouble? This is where I opened Pandora's box. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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A laying hen should never become a roasting hen. Just ain't palatable!
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Yep, but cooked in the pressure cooker, they make good chicken and dumplings or chicken soup or can be ground up for chicken salad sandwiches. So ours never went to waste.
When I was a kid, we had a variety of chickens because every year Dad bought a bunch of chicks that the post office couldn't deliver quickly enough so they sold them cheap. But Dad's favorite for laying hens was the White Leghorns.
But the Domineckers and Rhode Island Reds were plumper, made better fryers, and weren't bad layers either. But of course, my personal experience with chickens is only a little over 50 years outdated. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
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But of course, my personal experience with chickens is only a little over 50 years outdated.
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Sounds like mine. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Reminds me of one thing though. Cleaning the Hen House. A job It would be nice not to be able to recall! [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
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Reminds me of one thing though. Cleaning the Hen House. A job It would be nice not to be able to recall!
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I would not want to do that job now, but I didn't mind a bit when I was younger than my teens because that gave me an excuse to drive the tractor. I learned to back the trailer up to the hen house door, shoveled and raked and cleaned out the floor, then pulled the trailer to the garden and unloaded, then from there down by the creek for a load of sand and back to the hen house to spread the sand in the floor and back under the roost. It was just about an all day job, but for a 12 year old, not a bad job at all. Not nearly as bad as hoeing in the garden and pulling weeds. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
You're almost right, Jim. I was 5 years old when my granddad sold his last team, and have you ever seen a John Deere L? I'm afraid today it would barely be considered a tractor. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] The attached picture is one I found on the Internet some time ago, but it sure looks like the one we had.
Bird,
I am just a bit younger than you,our teams were sold about 6 years before I was born. I have seen tractors like the one you cut your teeth on, but we were poor dairy farmers and had to settle for Allis Chalmers tractors. I live here in John Deere's home territory and we get to see many of the original tractors. The picture you posted is of a great little workhorse. I had a friend in Cedar Falls Iowa who still had the first JD he started farming with in 1941. He passed away in May of this year.
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