tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220057250271426855.post4618932339829572094..comments2023-06-08T10:14:58.258-04:00Comments on The Yeoman Farmer: Chickens: The BasicsTYFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14507074580402175405noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220057250271426855.post-86218237632099668032009-02-11T09:09:00.000-05:002009-02-11T09:09:00.000-05:00Thank you for this post. We are planning to get o...Thank you for this post. We are planning to get our first flock this spring and every bit of info helps! I would like a mix of layers and meat birds, so your "option 3" sounds pretty good.benedictushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01849318955059683538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220057250271426855.post-82160746364241374132009-02-02T10:19:00.000-05:002009-02-02T10:19:00.000-05:00Jeff - a hatchery that allows less than 25 birds i...Jeff - a hatchery that allows less than 25 birds is news to me; I had the impression that 25 was almost the law. Perhaps they made an exception because you and they are in the southern part of the country? I doubt they'd send a box of 12 chicks to Michigan or Maine any time but July or August. Those 5 cockrels were probably surplus that would've been killed/discarded, so that was very thoughtful of them.<BR/><BR/>In terms of cockrels being less than ideal for eating: I mostly meant that by the time a standard breed cockrel gets big enough to eat, and big enough to easily differentiate from his pullet sisters, they are usually quite a bit older than the six-to-eight weeks in which Cornish Cross chickens are butchered. And they're still going to be much smaller than the big meaty Cornish Cross that most people are accustomed to.<BR/><BR/>I've never raised baby birds in freezing temps. If I was, I wouldn't withdraw supplemental heat until they were fully feathered. Even then, I'd step the heat down: from a 250 to 125 Watt infrared heat lamp, then a plain 100W incandescent bulb, making sure that the chicks remain happy and are not bunching up/shivering for their lives.TYFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14507074580402175405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220057250271426855.post-67781225162317274192009-02-02T01:54:00.000-05:002009-02-02T01:54:00.000-05:00A good and informative post, Chris! Thank you. I d...A good and informative post, Chris! Thank you. I didn't know that cockrels were less than ideal for eating. What's the difference? Taste? Toughness? <BR/><BR/>By the way, we ordered 12 hens from Ideal Hatchery in Texas, and they sent us 5 cockrels in addition just to keep the pullets warm. There was no 25 bird minimum. <BR/><BR/>We received them in December and can tell the cockrels apart now, but we're waiting for them to get a little bigger.<BR/><BR/>A question: at what age can you begin to deprive chicks of a heat lamp when temperatures are below freezing?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com