Which came first: the Chicken or the Egg? A Visit to the Chicken Breeder with @mountainjewel
Today was an exciting day visiting @mountainjewel! We went to visit Debbie the Chicken breeder. @mountainjewel has decided to add more chickens to their existing flock and they invited me to tag along.
I have never visited a chicken breeder before.
It was quite an adventure, so much to see and learn.
As we see which comes first: the Chicken or the Egg?
This was a very impressive Chicken breeding operation.
She had birds of all types and ages and actively hatches eggs that the chickens propagate.
It was very entertaining to watch everyone catch the chickens. She had men who were her helpers who were chicken catching experts and of course Ini helped too!
@mountainjewel was looking to get about 10 birds that are already laying eggs- they love eggs, you see!
Here are a couple of the breeds that they got:
Ini with black australorp- look at that healthy comb! They have two of these already and love the breed.
This bird, a Buff Orpington is a classic breed which is a hardy and prolific egg layer!
They also picked up some more Americaunas as they currently have one and are impressed with her vigor and consistency of laying!
Next Debbie gave us a complete tour of her setup. She has been breeding fowl (and dogs and cats) for years and is very friendly and knowledgeable.
Check out these geese, she said they were very friendly!
Also, check out these CUTE kittens!
And the runt, who looks like a cartoon character with an oversized head!
She then showed us around her cages. As I mentioned above, she has birds of all ages and varieties and she actively breeds them on her land.
Next, some chickens escaped, so my hippie homesteading daughter (check out that outfit!) got to work! It was hot out; she was dressed appropriately!
.JPG)
Debbie then showed us her indoor breeding setup. She keeps the breeds divided in their cages with a rooster of their variety so all of the eggs are fertilized. Then she puts them incubators
After this stage when they’ve hatched in the incubators, they’re put under an infrared heat lamp
This is the next size:
She raises Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps, Silkies, Persians, Americaunas, Wyandots, German Bevenfelders and other mixed breeds, as well as Ducks.
Bring em Home!
Next, we successfully took them home in a cage:
And set up a larger pen for them beneath a native persimmon patch. We watched as they slowly familiarized with the space and came out of the cage:
The existing Rooster, Logain, came over to check the girls out:
And then they starting eating grass and the rest is history! They love their new home and so much greenery to forage on!
I had so much fun going out with @mountainjewel and getting a peek into their homestead life. Wren wandered around their pen and found a nesting spot already with two eggs in it!
Tomorrow’s breakfast!
check out the #ecoTrain tag for more inspiring content!
Such a fun day! Glad u could join us and help us catch hens 😊 now more eggs for breakfast!
So fun! Love sitting with them and "bird-watching" So many delicious eggs to come! ox
We loved your great content so much we wanted to showcase it in our weekly curation report where you will be paid from the post payout. Thank you!
You can find the post here;
https://steemit.com/helpie/@helpie/helpie-s-homesteading-curation-report-13-by-helpie-curator-llfarms
Wow, this is so kind of you! Glad you enjoyed the post! We certainly had a fun experience with the chickens! Thank you so much @llfarms!
This post was a fun read.. Reminds me of the days where my in-laws had chickens and a peacock in their backyard.. so fun for children too! Thanks for sharing
I know, I had so much fun watching them. They are like tiny dinosaurs...and the sounds they make, it is great! Really a great experience! Thanks so much!
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by birdsinparadise from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.
What an interesting day and experience!! I've never heard these facts before and was very interested.
Question - how do you know if they've mated? So in other words how do you now which eggs to put in an incubator and which not to? And wouldn't it be gross to open an egg with a chicken embryo in it? That's always been one of my gross fears. lol.
Does your daughter use the chickens for eggs only or does she eat them too?
This truly was a fascinating day! So much to learn. Actually the eggs are incubated and then checked for viability on day 4, 10 and 17. In a dark room, the egg is candled (light shined) on the large end of the egg. You should see a dark dot inside the egg with veining. If you crack and egg which has been fertilized you will see a white circle within a white circle, kind of a bullseye. That means the egg was fertilized and could be viable. You don't know if they have mated the egg may be laid a couple of days later. She does love the eggs but if the chickens stop laying or if they're mean she may eat them at some point. She had 3 red chickens last year that would eat the other chickens eggs...those she chose to eat. Really an adventure! Thanks for asking :)
You know what I found out? If chickens stop laying or producing eggs, they will eat other chicken's eggs and the thot is is that there are some nutrients they may need. Or maybe they are jealous lol.
Your daughter is brave. I couldn't do it.
Thanks for taking the time to give me all this information. I find things like this very interesting. :)
Yes, they are braver than I. My daughter doesn't kill the chickens her husband ini does it. I couldn't do it. I would become a vegetarian really fast lol! I think you are right about the jealousy side of it. They're funny birds...quite beautiful though, majestic!
amazing!!!! I am rather jealous.... we need to get more chooks but we haven't made it fox proof since they got eaten.
Nice outfit hippie daughter @mountainjewel ...
They look like good chooks. I am going to get buff orphingtom for my next flock...
It was so fun. I love learning from other farmers and homesteaders. Debbie the chicken breeder was so kind, and so educational. Her homestead was a maze of different breeds and types of birds. We were able to learn so much from her. Thanks so much!
aw! the chicks!!! so cute!
I hadn't been this close to chickens and they are beautiful. So interesting to watch. We placed chairs inside the fence and watched them for a while. Really fun! I understand why you enjoy taking pics of them! They really do talk to you! Thanks so much!
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.