Over a month ago a friend of mine and I started hatching out baby chicks to sell. That's going over really well! I've enjoyed it so much. In a little over a week we might even have some geese hatching, and a week after that, more chicks. Plus, someone asked if we would try to hatch out two swan eggs, but they're not due to hatch for awhile.
We've both had so much fun with this, and found that selling the babies can bring in a little cash, that we decided to order some more chickens to have several purebreeds. My friend's chickens that we've been hatching these babies from aren't pure. The hens include two pure types - 4 pure silver laced wyandottes & 7 pure rhode island reds. Then there are several "mutt" hens, and a "mutt" rooster. For a dollar a piece, no one has cared that they're mixed up babies. :) But we'd like to do better next year, and offer purebreds. So my friend Kay ordered 17 silver laced wyandottes (hens & roosters), and 17 rhode island reds (hens & roosters). She'll sell off the mutts next fall so that she has all purebred next spring for hatching. I've got my partridge rocks, and my husband said he wanted to be the one to pick our second breed. He wants to experiment with making our own hybred Cornish X Rocks, so I ordered white rock hens and then some dark cornish. We figure if the experiment doesn't work we can always replace the cornish roosters with white rock roosters.
I just ordered the new babies today - and they're going to come as fast as next Monday or Tuesday!! This babies won't be ready for hatching out purebreds this year, but will get us fully set up for next spring.
And an update on MY chicks..... oh boy! The cornish hybreds are doing fantastic. All the chickens are really. Haven't lost a ONE of either breed! They're all so strong and beautiful. But the cornish X rocks are so amazing - 7 weeks old tomorrow, and already weigh 10 pounds on the roosters, and 9 pounds on the hens! We're going to go ahead had put the 5 roosters to the freezer tomorrow, then wait to do the hens next weekend. In the end, the cornish ones will have only cost me an estimated 60 cents per pound of meat to the freezer. That's including the cost of the chick and the shipping too. Not bad at all. (Hope all this wasn't too horrendously grafic to the vegitarians out there.)
That's it..... just wanted to share in what's up in my little world. :)
Beth