Firing Up The Incubators

[airedale]

Nothing better than a good broody hen to hatch out eggs, the only problem is having a clutch of fertile eggs at the time your hen goes broody. I have had real good luck hatching eggs with gamefowl hens, they are the best mothers and will fight a buzzsaw to protect their chicks.

Al

[airedale]

The Royal Palm Turkey poults are coming along nicely and so are the Geese.

Al

[First-light]

Can't wait to do this next year! Went my buddies 70th birthday part Saturday. He has some beautiful ponds on the property and his own ducks. He takes real pride in them. They were pretty friendly and the kids had a ball swimming with them. 

[airedale]

An update, these guys are growing like weeds, especially the Geese. The chickens are feathering out pretty good and I can tell what breeds I ended up with. Have a nice Belgium Liege Fighter stag and some really nice Asils.

Al

[airedale]

The fowl are pretty much grown up now with the exception of the Belgian Giant Fighters which take almost 18 months to attain their full size.

Took a couple of photos of the morning feeding with the Soay Sheep.

Also a photo of "Kevin" my Varmint-Hawk guard, he has done a good around the clock job keeping them away with no problems with aerial or ground varmints. Weather is starting to get pretty cold I will have to put a coat on him.

Edited December 26, 2023 by airedale

[First-light]

45 minutes ago, airedale said:

The fowl are pretty much grown up now with the exception of the Belgian Giant Fighters which take almost 18 months to attain their full size.

Took a couple of photos of the morning feeding with the Soay Sheep.

Also a photo of "Kevin" my Varmint-Hawk guard, he has done a good around the clock job keeping them away with no problems with aerial or ground varmints. Weather is starting to get pretty cold I will have to put a coat on him.

Looks nice. 

[airedale]

My young chicken hens have started to lay eggs, what has been surprising is my young Turkey hens have been laying and laying a lot. I have been collecting and eating them, taste no different than a chicken egg except they are a bit larger, a comparison with a large chicken egg below.

Al

[First-light]

46 minutes ago, airedale said:

My young chicken hens have started to lay eggs, what has been surprising is my young Turkey hens have been laying and laying a lot. I have been collecting and eating them, taste no different than a chicken egg except they are a bit larger, a comparison with a large chicken egg below.

Al

When I had ducks we would eat the eggs. Big and thick! Sure the cholesterol was triple than a chicken egg! lol

[Enigma]

Updates? Pics of the flock? How are they all doing?

[airedale]

All is well with the poultry, I am getting eggs up the ying yang. My favorite is the giant Leige Fighter, I call him "Big John" he is broad in the shoulder and narrow at the hip and none of the other chickens give any lip to Big John. He got into a battle with an Asil Stag earlier in the spring and killed him so he is not anyone to mess with. He will weigh around 10 or 11 pounds and tall, I would say and still has a little growing to do as they do not fully  mature until they are around 1 1/2 year old.  I will take some more pics when I get a chance.

Al

[Doc]

2 hours ago, airedale said:

All is well with the poultry, I am getting eggs up the ying yang. My favorite is the giant Leige Fighter, I call him "Big John" he is broad in the shoulder and narrow at the hip and none of the other chickens give any lip to Big John. He got into a battle with an Asil Stag earlier in the spring and killed him so he is not anyone to mess with. He will weigh around 10 or 11 pounds and tall, I would say and still has a little growing to do as they do not fully  mature until they are around 1 1/2 year old.  I will take some more pics when I get a chance.

Al

Does Big John ever get it in his mind to chase people? I remember a rooster when I was a kid that used to chase me around the yard at times......lol.

[airedale]

20 hours ago, Doc said:

Does Big John ever get it in his mind to chase people?

Thankfully Big John is pretty mellow, friendly and not aggressive, I have had Roosters that I categorize as man fighters that will not hesitate to attack, if they have longer sharp natural spurs they can be dangerous. I had a Rooster put a Pearl harbor hit on me once and his spur went right through my rubber boot and puncture my leg. Those kind I keep penned up and trim off their spurs until it is time for them to end up in the pot.

Al