Meyer Hatchery

Oh-oh Meyer sent me a catalogue...

LOL..gonna hatch my own Orps hens..got breeder pens ready but it is raining...darn..

I want some Brabanters in spring

I do worry about Porkpal, and Donna. They cannot be trusted behind our backs...LOL. Hay

Got Meyers catalog too. Lizzie (DD#!) wants Sebrights, I want bearded Quail belgian d'anver...(spelling really?).... now we have to convince the husband that it's ok.... and get the chickens out of the garage!

tamberlin if you get Sebrights make sure to have them vaccinated for Mareks. They are very prone to it and the chicks are very delicate

Glad to see a post about Meyer here. I hope they are a good source for mail order chicks. I got the chicken itch so I recently placed an order for 25 brown egg mixed production chicks to be delv'd Mar 22.

Now I have to get it in gear and finish the hen house and pen.

DonnaB - We are going to the Poultry Confrenece (?) in Springfield next weekend. Hopefully we can find a local breeder and bypass the whole post office route. I will definitely ask about Marek's vaccinations. That is a good thing to know - Many thanks!

oops might not be getting Gold Brabanters in Spring. I found a trio of Real Silver Ameraucana about 1 yr old out of John Blehm lines and bought them a couple of weeks ago. Now to get a coop built so I can send for them. Lady has never shipped but i explained it to her. Wow buying a single box is expensive. I bought a quad box on line and had it sent to her 25.00 whew!!! but that included the shipping charges too.

This message was edited Jan 11, 2011 10:26 PM

Bah, Meyers Hatchery! I've changed my order twice. There are so many beautiful chickens and not enough room. I'm going to throw away the catalogue so I'm not tempted to change the order once again.

Everyone who is ordering chicks for spring - what breed and how many?

Rita, guess you won't be ordering from them! What's cooking in your bator now and how are all your chickies doing?

We get our chicks in October so they will be laying good by May 1 when Farmers Market opens. 300 this year, hope we have enough eggs.
Also found some mixed chicks from a lady not far away. Looks like we may have about 9 Americanas. Got to have a few blue eggs for the kids.

Meant to add pic & hit wrong button.

Wow, 300 chicks! Are they Golden Comets or RSL? Cute chicks, looks like they're fat and sassy.

holy cow 300!!!!

Gold Star layers. Another sex link version.

Oh boy. I just ordered ten straight run Marans chicks from a breeder (due in April). I also have an order (end of March) from Meyer Hatchery for 14 chicks.
I need another coop(S)!!! I'm going to place our two Welsummers. They're from a hatchery and lay a very small plain brownish egg.

Donna, my lavender Ameraucanas are from a girl that was on a waiting list for them from John Blehm for a year! I have a trio that I might be looking to rehome... * a thought * ;)

ZZ I would take them but I really don't care for Lavender not even in my Araucana. I sold 2 of them already. Have to see what I get with tufts in the new babies before I get rid of any more. Tinker Bell has the best tufts and is rumpless but is lavendar grrrr

Where can I get a meyers catalog? I'm new to this.

Hey, Donna, how are you? Is hubby's hand better?

love, julie

You can also place a custom order at most TSC's. Our local TSC gets their chicks form Ideal. I think they try and get local so it might be a good deal.

Generally speaking how many years do hens lay enough eggs to warrant keeping them? How often should I plan to replace my flock?

Thanks so much! Got my catalog ordered. julie

If your really into high egg production, I would rotate them every two years. I think Countrygardens rotates every year from what I understand but just my opinion, I would do every two years. I found I actually make more money raising day old chicks, and selling them as pullets at two-five month olds. I also sold eggs but enjoyed selling the chickens as fresh layers most...Now I only raise seramas and pheasants...Hay

I have a method to my madness. Get baby chicks the end of October. They start laying the end of March. Nice big eggs by the time our Farmers Market opens May 1. No eggs to get rid of during the winter.
Chicks cost me $1.75 each & I sell the layers in the fall for $4.
We get $3 a dozen for eggs. The reason we increased to 300 hens was we couldn't keep up to the demand! Feed here is up now because of grain prices. $9.70 for 50lb bag.

We expect 23 dozen eggs a day for $69 a day. They will probably eat a couple bags a day, so that is a good return. We have very easy to follow rules in this state.
Bernie

What do you do with the eggs between March and May? Nice method, love your madness!

We sell them at Farmers Market.

Ohhhh, I'm a bit slow on the pick up this morning =). Sorry, I though you didn't sell the eggs until May, but you can store them until then right? I think I'll get some caffeine now! I'm trying to give it up for New Year, but some mornings are better than others!

I gave up smoking, drinking and wild women, coffee is all I have left. lol

ROFL Ken

I have no idea why anyone in their right mind would give up wild women Ken. Well I guess I just thought all women were wild...LOL. Honest I'm slapping my hand. My dear wife tells me I just can't behave myself...Hay

Texasrockgarden: I sold my week olds for four dollars, and one month olds for seven, up to two months old nine, from two months up to four were twelve, and four to six months were fifteen. Anything over six months old I kept as my own egg layers and sold the eggs. I went through anywhere from five hundred to seven hundred from March-Sept. It was a lot of fun and I tried probably sixty percent of the available breeds. The only breed I would never have again is the Minorcas. I had only about fifteen regular egg customers, but, I had chicken customers from as far away as a hundred fifty miles which surprised me. I only used craigslist as advertisement but word of mouth became my most valuable asset as I did what ever it took to make sure the customer was happy. That really paid off big time for me. It was not uncommon to have strangers tell me they trusted me due to knowing people I had dealt with. TRUST is our greatest asset. I hope you succeed and make lots of money for your efforts...Haystack.

Wow! Method in Madness ..sounds very logical to me!!
Hmmm... Seems all the men around here have given up on "Wild Women", (says one crazy wild woman) ;+)

Not me!

Well, DH often says I'm insane! Hope that counts as "wild" =D. Caffeine + insomnia = not good!

How many hens will a nest box support?

texasrockgarden, I have nine Buff Brahman hens and five next boxes. They all want to use the same nest box =8~D! Go figure.......

I've always provided one nest box for every five or six hens, but as Terri says mine usually pick one or two favorites and they all push and shove their way in.

We have some nest boxes my DD's FIL gave us. They were built by his father way back when. We are using one now & it works great. All it is, is a box about 3 FT wide by 7 FT long by 18" high in front, 24" in back. Completely closed in with the front 18" of the top on hinges. In the center front is a hole 12" x 12". Inside there is a board on each side of the hole extending towards the back. It's high enough so the top covers it when closed. The boards end about 12" from the back.
Leave the hole area clean & put straw in the rest of the nest. Hens will go in & lay their egg in the straw. They like dark areas to "hide" their eggs. Works great & the best part is they never "dirty" the nest box.

Years ago I had a roll away nest box that had the same principle. It had a hole towards the back in each end. The hole had strips of cloth hanging over it. A 3ft x 5ft unit took care of 300 hens.

We had the same trouble last year with conventional nest boxes. They all wanted to be in the same one. Lots of broken & very dirty eggs. Also they would roost in them at night. We are hoping these "new" boxes work out. So far no hens in them after they have laid their egg.
Bernie