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We had a bit of a scramble this past weekend as we had the opportunity to expand our flock!
Up till now we’ve had a big Easter Egger Rooster, who we call Buddy! Mother Hen, a Buff Orpington who we call Henny Penny and her two chicks Chicky & Picky who were born Sept 28 & 30, 2020. Plus, Jack and His Gang who’s Father was a White Orpington and their mothers were Brown Layers. Jack and his Gang members were incubator hatched about Sept 11th. In addition to these we had 4 Young Buff Orpington who were hatched from a hen, a sister to Henny Penny. These 4 comprised 2 Pullets and 2 Cockerels. So, for those of you who count, we had a total of 19 Birds.
That is till this weekend! When we saw an add listing 6 Sasso Chickens! The picture they included looked like Brown Layers or Buff Orpington and they were well priced. So, we called and were told there were 8, 6 Pullets and 2 cockerels. Then when we got there they were 12.
The price was right, so we went and got them! We waited till after dark, went and got them from their Roosts, boxed them, and brought them to our new Chicken Coop.
This of course meant some of our Cockerels went to Freezer Camp and the Table Fair! It’s always with sadness and reverence and respect that we do this but it is a necessary part of farming. After all, if too many Roosters are allowed to exist, they fight! Sometimes to the death! So, it becomes necessary!
Thus the Cockerels and Roosters get replaced with Pullets and Hens. In fact, with rising feed costs and pretty much stagnant egg prices, it becomes necessary to develop more dual purpose birds. Which then means good meat, from the Cockerels and Roosters, and eggs from the Hens.
So, bringing in Pullets and Hens, especially Dual Purpose Birds, makes sense! So, we’re quite happy that in these new birds are some of the earliest, heritage breeds, like the Buff Brahmas and Wyandottes.