This year I had gotten geese around February.
To hopefully help with mowing when they are older.
As the months have passed. It had come to September.....
I would like to tell a tale of my nutty chickens. You see, I have two greenhouse left over from my fathers parents. I used to help grandma grow all sorts of plants. But, as my grandparents had passed, the greenhouses were left empty.
For a very long time. Even so far as 15+ years ago I had been itching to get chickens. Yup chickens. The roosters/males and hens/females. Like an instinctual pull to become more self sufficient for the future, and for my family, and children's future when the time comes.
I had chickens when I was 9 years old. Barely remember it. Except for having the worst luck keeping them alive outside. Because of coyotes and wild cats and foxes. My mother hated it and quickly got rid of them all.
Then there was another time years later. When I was 16 I think. I had gotten a few chickens from tractor supply. So we could have fresh eggs for my family. I even made sure that half of them were bantams so that they wouldn't take up too much space. At the time one of the greenhouses were empty. But I still had to wait till they were old enough. So I put them in the garage of our family's house. As we never really parked the cars in there anyway. Having bought a large water trough to put them in. With plenty of food and water and heating. They had been some of the most considerate birds I have ever had. Only talking in quiet sweet almost sing song tones. I made sure to keep it really clean. They were truly awesome to watch. It only cost me 11 to 12 dollars to feed them for a whole month and a week.
Then my mother started complaining. Telling me to get rid of them and that it cost too much. And that they were stinking up the garage.
Which wasn't true. And I was stubborn. It was only another month or two after she had started complaining. When it came time that my chickens were almost ready to go into the greenhouse. I brought them out into a cage so I could clean out the garage and their bedding. One of our families dogs sadly broke into the cage as they some how got out. Right when I went to drop off the garbage bag inside the house. I came out and all of the chickens were running around in the yard. With the two dogs chasing a few. I was only able to catch one of them. A lovely golden hen I had named, 'Big Mom'a.' As she had been the only one, when she was younger, who had fallen into a pan of oil my dad left out. Somehow flying out of their trough.When I had bathed and dried her. She had turned out to be the softest, biggest, and fluffiest chicken of them all. Who actually watched out for the others. But over the course of the next couple of days. All I could find of the other 5 chickens that had disappeared, was their bodies, or feathers. Big Mom'a was the last. I couldn't bare seeing her being alone all the time. So I found her a home with our neighbor. Who raised her with the rest of his hens.
I had later found out that coyotes had gotten into his chicken coop. And she was also the last survivor. As she had gone broody (wanting to hatch eggs) a couple days after the attack. Our neighbor saw this and quickly got hatching eggs. Sneaking all 26 under her belly one night and taking out the non fertilized ones she had been laying on. A month later and every single one of those eggs had hatched. And Big Mom'a got her wish to be a mother hen.
I think he still might have her to this day.
It was one or two years after that, that my mother divorced my father, and left us. As we had lived on 48 to 50 acres. With an old barn, two greenhouses, a small natural pond plateau that would fill up every other year, a front house that my grandparents used to live in, and the back house. Which had been designed by my mother and bought & built by my grandfather and father. My family had lived in the back house. But, because of the divorce, we all had to scatter to find a place to live. As my disabled veteran father could not afford the bills for both houses. I had went with my mother. Only because we recently found out about her heart condition.
It was around the time that I had been going to collage. Having saved up for 1 1/2 years of random earnings to get a medium bird cage and 4 budgies. (small parrot like birds). I brought my budgies with me. And she seemed to hate it....
We ended up moving to an apartment near Walmart . 6 months later we moved again to a 'house for rent only' type of place. That had a nice back yard and was two blocks near a school. As I could not have chickens in town. I took care of my little budgies. Till my mother sold them while I went to church one day.
She moved out with her boyfriend and boyfriends two sons 8 months after. While I stayed in that place as my eldest sister moved in. Then she met someone 3 months after getting a job. And 3 months after that she let him move into the place I was renting. Nearly dying a couple of times because of him over the course of two years. I had no choice but to move as my body couldn't take it. I had only stayed to watch out for my sister...
My father said I could move into the back house. And I did, immediatly.
Ironically, a friend of my fathers knew a neighbor who was trying to find two of their hens a home. And my father told me about it.
And so I had two chickens within the first month of moving in. Finding myself getting 5 ducks and later 6 more chickens on the second month. That same month a stray, young male dog, had decided to stay on the property. Being skin and bone I could not ignore him. Quickly getting him food and water. He has ended up guarding the place and my dad and I. With me ending up naming him, Duke. With my fathers dogs teaching him how to hunt.
Those chickens were the most jovial chickens and ducks I've ever had. Chasing mice. Toting bugs and mice around. Going nuts over the grass I'd bring them. One of the hens would hold a bug and chirp 'I got one. I got one. I got one!' as she would run. All the others would follow her around trying to steal it from her.
As it had only been 4 months since I had left that old apartment and were given those chickens. My eldest sister had shown up, up front where our father lived, as I stayed in the back house. She had brought the dog her boyfriend had given her; Keyco. She was in heat and ended up mating Duke. Having a litter of 3 on June 20th 2014.
In the middle of October 2014, the wind had gotten really gusty, and had blown the greenhouse door open. As Keyco had snuck out the door that morning and I had gone to get groceries. When I came back I had found the door open and her tracks all over. Only finding 1 duck, 1 of the hens that had been given to me, and 1 rooster. My missing 2 bantams having hid on the roof of the other greenhouse. I tried hatching 6 duck eggs in an incubator and only 1 hatched. Keyco somehow got into my room and killed it. My surviving duck in the greenhouse still trying to hatch unfertilized eggs as she had become hell bent on hatching them since her family of ducks had been killed. Hoping she would not become depressed. Sadly non of her eggs hatched.
In February of 2015 I had gotten immediately gotten 2 guinea to help protect my chickens and duck. Waiting till March to get two ducks, more bantams, and some standard sized chickens. Since my birds had become melancholy and very depressed. My duck that had given up on hatching the eggs, and had started just staring at the small pond, perked up rather quickly with the new arrivals. My two surviving bantams actually hatching out 3 of their own eggs.
Anyone who has ever gotten chickens comes to a turning point. To stop or to keep going.
Or as some call it,
Hen Fever
Watching eggs hatch, and chickens laying them, and watching the chickens or ducks themselves are addicting.
And something about taking care of them is relaxing and rewarding all in and of itself.
And my mind went to planning.
Feed Consumption Ratio:
8 to 10 chickens = One 50 pound bag of feed a month.
13 to 15 bantams = One 50 pound bag of feed a month.
6 to 7 ducks = One 50 pound bag of feed a month.
6 to 7 guinea = One 50 pound bag of feed a month.
5 geese = Two 50lbs of feed a month. 1 goose=1/2 pound a day/15 to 15.5 pounds of feed in a month
5 turkeys = Two 50lbs of feed a month.
Depending on where you get the feed it will only cost you around $11, $12, $15, $19, $25 to $59 a bag.
Average Egg price in USA and online:
$1 = 3 chicken or bantam eggs (1 dozen $4)
$1 = 2 duck eggs (1 dozen $6)
$3 = 1 goose egg (1 dozen good luck, $36)
$1 = 1 guinea egg (1 dozen $12)
$5 = 1 Turkey egg (1 dozen good luck, $60)
Per Bird/Duck/Game fowl:
Chicken chick, $2.00 to $6.00
Bantam chick, $3.00 to $4.00
Duck duckling, $5.00 to $7.00
Goose gosling, $12.00 to $15.98
Guinea keet, $4.50 to $6.00 to $7.00
Turkey chick, $6.50 to $11.00 to $15.00
Best Foods for Eggs:
-Chickens,
Make the most nutritional eggs with half mixed seeds and half layer pellets, or just mixed seeds, or just bugs and grass and seeds from outside. Fruit and veggies.
-Bantams,
(some breeds are even smaller then the standard small sized bantams.) Normally are so small it needs to be partial broken up layer pellets and mixed seeds, or just the seeds, or bugs and grass and seeds from outside. Fruit and veggies.
-Ducklings,
Fish, bugs, plants, lots of water. Can have layer pellets when laying eggs. Can also have mixed bird seeds. So long as they do not have sunflower seeds, because they can not digest it well. Fruit and veggies.
-Geese,
Mostly grass. Not just the same grass. Needs to be at least 2 to 3+ different types of grasses. So they can have good egg production. And so they can get a little more nutrition from the different types. They can have bugs, frogs, fish, water plants like duckweed ect. Can have layer pellets for waterfowl. Can also have lots of mixed seeds. Fruit and veggies.
-Guinea and Turkey,
Lots of bugs, meat, grass, seeds. Can have layer pellets/game bird feed and the mixed seeds.
Uses,
-Duck eggs have a high fat content and sometimes more of the same stuff chicken eggs have. Are best used in breads, cookies, and dishes like that. Needs to be cooked at a lower temperature or it comes out rubbery. Is highly prized in bakeries because of a richer flavor.
-Geese eggs are highly prized in bakeries and large families.
-Chicken and Bantam eggs can practically be used for all cooking type recipes, and on its own.
If you are allergic to Chicken and Bantam eggs, you can eat Duck eggs.
If your allergic to Duck eggs you can eat Guinea and Turkey eggs.
If your having difficulty with nearly all of them you can eat Quail eggs.
Geese eggs are like a bigger version of duck eggs. Guinea eggs are like chicken eggs almost. And turkey eggs I have no clue. Probably like chicken or quail eggs. Maybe someday I might have a few turkeys.
So what breeds do I like most and which ones would work best with me?
It also varied greatly on how many eggs they may produce.
Ranging from 60 to nearly or sometimes even at 365 eggs a year!
Green vs Blue
Brown vs White
Dark Brown vs Nearly Black
Plum vs Pink
Speckled vs Cream
Yup you read right, they can lay those colored eggs, and some varying in hues!
- The color of the egg does not change anything except for the color and thickness of the egg shells.
- Not all eggs are created equal, they can be tiny, small, medium, large, jumbo, extra jumbo, and some funny ones called a 'fart egg' that do not have any yolk. A 'fart egg', is normally only lain when a hen (female bird) lays their first few eggs, or right after or before a molt.
It is rare but some female birds can lay more then 1 egg a day. I have one hen that likes to lay 2 eggs in the same day and skips one day then gives me 1 egg and skips one day then gives me 2 again.
I started doing my research. The best breeds for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Laying Periods,
In the USA
Standard sized Chickens and Bantams and Ducks - depends on breed, I am compiling a list.
Guinea - Start laying around the end of May to the end of August
Geese - Start laying near the end of January to April (normally 1 egg every other day)
Turkeys - Start laying around March to June
Oddity Of Quail,
They literally only have a life span of 2 years,
Normally laying nearly 1 egg a day their entire life,
-takes up to 8 to 12 boiled quail eggs to make a salad. That's how tiny they are.
Enough about my planning mind to be continued.... I have an Emotional Rooster
I got him a little while back. He was a frustrating one, the horny nut. All lovely pitch black with flecks of white scattered about. In my opinion, this breed of his was not really standard sized, or bantam sized. More like in between. The Ancona chicken breed reminded me of the stars at night. But they were annoyingly flighty and aggressive. Even raising a group of 8 of them with a bunch of others and handling them daily. Ranging from 180 to 270 white or cream eggs a year. Depending on which hatchery or breeder you got them from. Put two or more males together and they were aggressive with each other and the females. Out of 6 males only 1 was nice mostly. This is in a large greenhouse with a bunch of lady hens. As I have found out his breed was not for me. Ironic that I ordered 5 females and 1 male and got the reverse + some. Even though I fell in love with their feather coloring and the medium to large white eggs from the only two that turned out to be females in that batch. No worries, I separated the males and females before the ladies started or the males got horny.
Though one female was not too smart and climbed into the air vent, got stuck, and died during a heat wave. O.o Crazy. Though a sad day as I missed her eggs and her also wild bird like call. She was a very sweet hen.
As it were; Most of the males became dinner and dog food. Keeping only 1 male and 1 female. In 2017 I decided that I would love to have more females of that breed. Because I didn't fancy the other white egg layer breeds much...
The white leghorns looked too bone-y,
Brown leghorns look too much like Welsummers- I like the Welsummers dark eggs better.
California white looked like they couldn't make up their minds and might make me dizzy in a flock,
California grey's and Barred Holland's look too much like the original breed, Plymouth Rock,
Egyptian Fayoumis are also a bit flighty too small,
Buttercup and Campine look too much the same,
The Black Minorca are literally completely pitch black like the La Fleche and would overheat where I live,
Sumatra are a little small so no,
White faced black Spanish no,
Buff Catalana look too similar to the brown egg layer Buff Orpington,
I did think of the Blue Andalusian's but read they were flighty,
The 4 pound Norwegian Jaerhons are a little small,
Then the Silver or gold Spangled Hamburg. I somehow accidentally gotten a single silver Spangled Hamburg and she acts like a wild bird and sounds like one so no more of those. Too loud and flighty. Even if she lays lovely medium white eggs.
I did some how also end up with the 4 to 5 pound golden Lakenvelders, that are not too bad. A bit small and not as flighty as the other white layers I've had. Got me wondering about the other white egg layers,
like the 5 pound Penciled Egyptian Fayoumis or the 5.5 to 7 pound cream or gold Brabanters with their funny head Afros. Sadly the afros can actually cause a lower hatch rate. Meaning more chicks could die in the shell before they hatch because of it.
-sigh- Why were they all so small? Only three or four of those breeds get up to 6 to 8 pounds
I had gotten the Lakenvelders around the same time as the Ancona chicks.And those chicks reminded me of that very sweet Ancona hens. So I put my little Ancona rooster, 'Lieutenant' into the Aviary inside the greenhouse with my last remaining Ancona hen and a few other hens. In hopes I could hatch more females!
Thus it was not to last.....
That nutty horny rooster Lieutenant snuck out of the Aviary when I went in to feed them and back out.
Immediately he soon ended up bumping into my little Rhode Island Red bantam rooster, "Mister Sweets". Turning around in surprise and flaring out his feathers around his neck to look intimidating. Challenging, "Mister Sweets" to a mating rights dual. Intimidation style of course. Jumping around about three or four times. Keeping, "Mister Sweets" smaller body in front of him at all times. "Mister Sweets" unflaired his neck and backed away. Being one of the kindest roosters I have unless he's guarding his favorite female.
In a cocky air, my Ancona rooster "Lieutenant" started to strut in a slow casual manor. A small skip in his step. Deciding to go down the ile (middle of the greenhouse most walked between) and headed for the small pond (or mud hole my dad nick named it). Taking a tiny sip of the cool water "Lieutenant" turned his head and jumped in shock. Startled to find one of my female geese standing right there. She just turned her head gracefully and looked at him like, "what?". He moved towards her as if to inspect her a bit and she tilted her head. Giving him a small honk.
He jumped again, but this time flaring his neck feathers, to intimidate her, the goose. Giving her a slight tone in challenge.
I watched, near the front of the green house.
My goose brought her head back affronted with a slight tone in questioning. When "Lieutenant" bobbed his head and jumped towards her. The goose hiss at him. Angry that he would challenge her. She turned her head with a couple of honks to the other two geese behind her and stared "Lieutenant" in the eyes with a hiss. She opened her wings slightly. The other two geese quickly hissing and running to her side. She went to bite the end of his feathers in reprimand and all three of the geese started hissing at him. "Lieutenant" ducked and high tailed it with a sharp shriek. The three geese chasing him all the way to the other end of the greenhouse and into a corner. After a few flaps of their wings to scare him as he made sure to say clear of them.
I watched with great humor, as that one female goose gave him one last hiss and grumble, and the three shuffled as they slowly made their way back to the pond. The geese left him alone.
A little cow-tailed and humbled, "Lieutenant" started to wonder around after a little while. As I went to fill up the last container of food for them. I turned my attention back to him when I heard a ruckus from the hens. Apparently, "Lieutenant" had bumped into another bantam rooster. My sebright bantam, "Mister Seabright". Lieutenant was cocky, but Mister Seabright was a bantam rooster who refused to give up. They flared their neck feathers and jumped around. With Lieutenant just barely getting Mister Seabright cornered next to the large flower pot. When Mister Seabright had enough and flared his wings also. Scaring and startling Lieutenant who quickly backed away. Having lost this dance, "Lieutenant's" head hung low as he sulked. Making his way back towards the watering hole, the pond. And in his melancholy he forgot he had pissed off the geese. As the geese saw him coming and quickly hissed him away from the pond.
In an 'Oh shit' motions, "Lieutenant" quickly jumped and half flew and glided to the other side of the pond. Making one last jump to the small tree branches that hung low. Deciding to duck his pride under a wing and take a nap. He needed to keep a low profile for a while.
All of this took a little under 15 minutes. And I couldn't help but laugh lightly that my rooster challenged my goose. But I also wondered how in the world was I supposed to catch him to get him back in the aviary so I could breed the two. It took me another two more days before I caught him.