The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Fleecewife on February 12, 2016, 10:31:11 am
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Do you hatch your own - from your own eggs or bought in? Buy them from the mart? From a neighbour? Or do you buy them from one of the big breeders?
Are you pleased with your choice or still trying to find the perfect hen?
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It's not cost effected to produce hens .You need vaccinated stock and long lasting the onley one for you is http://www.johnstonspoultry.com/sussex.html. (http://www.johnstonspoultry.com/sussex.html.) the very best hens and sell local to you .
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The worst batch of POL I ever bought were "fully vaccinated" from a big hatchery. They dropped like flies.
We buy ours from Craigievern Poultry http://www.craigievernpoultry.co.uk/. (http://www.craigievernpoultry.co.uk/.) I buy 30 or 40 POL each spring and I get my day-old meat birds (Sassos this year) from Jane too.
Very happy with the quality and service.
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I bought my latest 5 pullets from a big hatchery, nice leghorns bought about 8 weeks before they started laying at christmas. Fully vaccinated too. After buying from a farmer with unvaccinated stock and losing all 6 birds within 4 days of each other no more than a month after coming to live with me, I won't ever buy unvaccinated again.
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We've sourced our hens from every conceivable supplier and at prices from 2-30 pounds with varying degrees of success. Hatching our own resulted in all cockerels, expensive private purchases that look lovely but lay when they feel like it, ex caged birds which vary in quality but leave us feeling warm inside etc. To date our best buys was a cage of 6 pol warrens that my oh bought at market simply because no one else bid. They cost £2 each and 18 months on they are all going strong, laying like billy oh and to cap it all are just delightfully tame girls
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I buy mine off trusted suppliers, usually local breeders. Having said that though I bought two hens from the smallholders show in Builth and they were very good :) I suppose with markets it can be hit and miss, but even local breeders can sell bad stock.
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I breed my own, I don't sell eggs for profit though. I would never buy in commercially reared, vaccinated PoL again.
tbh if I were to sell eggs in a meaningful way, I would buy in LF Minorca. Of all the pure breeds I've had, they've been far the best.
whats the perfect hen? for me, where I live its something hardy, that can fly a bit, forage well and with the common sense to go to bed at an early time.
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whats the perfect hen? for me, where I live its something hardy, that can fly a bit, forage well and with the common sense to go to bed at an early time.
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Agree totally with this and by selective pressure it is what I have. I breed my own from my own eggs. Non are vaccinated but they seem a hardy bunch and lay well.
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whats the perfect hen? for me, where I live its something hardy, that can fly a bit, forage well and with the common sense to go to bed at an early time.
I know what you mean, my second oldest hen is a leghorn cross. Nicknamed "Wild Hen" - stays well away from people, flighty, never any bother and lays plenty more than any of the others. I think 'flies a bit' also corresponds nicely with 'eats less than heavy breeds' ;)
But: boring white, medium sized eggs, never broody (because a light breed), no cuddles or feeding from my hand, so horses for courses.
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I usually buy from local breeders/rearers or other TAS folk, mostly successfully tho one friend brought me 4 pols that were 2 white leghorn and 2 Menorcan (or so I surmised, the breeds he didn't know as he'd bought from the breeder without asking!! And 3 of those were stupid, refusing to go in the coop, roosting in too low bushes rather than with the other outdoor roosting hens up in the Scots Pine, and the fox got 3 in one weekend when I was away. The last hasn't laid since, and is a very light hen compared to all my various other breeds/hybrids, and despite being very flighty (probably what saved her) she is the one that can get in the cat hole and roosts on my kitchen surface/pan rack if not found and booted out at night!
Oh, I also bought a pen of 4 POL Copper Black Marans at Lanark mart 18 months ago and the 3 that I still have are really nice birds. I'd tried many times to get Marans from TAS and locally with no success so just went overboard and bid which is something I enjoy but am probably best not doing too often!
I tried hatching with broodies here a few times but mostly without success in terms of getting POLs for free. So am going to try rearing from day old next, if I sort out the practicalities and costs. Other than that I'll go back to past sources for more when I need them.
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I had 6 day old sussex last year and put under a hen to bring up. Lovely birds laying at 22 weeks and have 3 hens and 3 cockerels but kept one. Not had vaccinated stock for a few years and my hens are all healthy. I would put eggs from our local auction under a broody if l want to increase my stock, having said that its hit or miss with what you get. The LF leghorn eggs turned out to be bantams and only 2 girls in them, but excellent layers and very friendly though flighty if the mood takes them.
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Many years ago I unwittingly bought in a vaccinated cockerel which promptly spread Marek's through my flock despite being quarantined. Learned that lesson the hard way. Now hatch my own and presently breed SIlver Grey Dorkings and Blue-, Buff- and Gold-Laced Wyandottes, and have a few Welsummers, Wheaten Marans as well as Welsummer x Legbar crosses which are laying olive eggs. Crossing gets over the slightly smaller size of the Legbar egg whilst retaining the ability to come into lay a few weeks earlier than most heavy fowl. If anyone out there has a line of Speckled Sussex that are good layers I have a superb cockeral and I'd like to buy some eggs from you! My last SS hens were poor layers but they're one of my favourite breeds.
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Many years ago I unwittingly bought in a vaccinated cockerel which promptly spread Marek's through my flock despite being quarantined. Learned that lesson the hard way. Now hatch my own and presently breed SIlver Grey Dorkings and Blue-, Buff- and Gold-Laced Wyandottes, and have a few Welsummers, Wheaten Marans as well as Welsummer x Legbar crosses which are laying olive eggs. Crossing gets over the slightly smaller size of the Legbar egg whilst retaining the ability to come into lay a few weeks earlier than most heavy fowl. If anyone out there has a line of Speckled Sussex that are good layers I have a superb cockeral and I'd like to buy some eggs from you! My last SS hens were poor layers but they're one of my favourite breeds.
What colour are your welsummers eggs? Also will you have hatching eggs available from welsummer and gold laced wyandotte towards the end of summer?
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Worked out costs and POL are better value for us. We buy ours from Cyril Bason fully vaccinated and have been delighted - cant quote on price just cant remember. I wont buy from anyone and would never risk bringing in anyone elses hens onto my farm. Be stung on ducks from market and other peoples dodgy breeding. Personally I dont know any local breeders around here.
Never hatched my own - dont have a clue or the time.
The farm has a High Health Status and I feel I need to be assured what I bring on here.
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Lots of options then, and we each seem to have our favourite. Thanks for sharing :thumbsup:
Another question then....if you mix vaccinated stock with unvaccinated, what happens. I can't find the reply just now, but someone says above that vaccinated stock passed on Mareks to their existing birds.
I bought some hens from a well known breeder so presumably vaccinated, but the rest are home bred and not vaccinated. Is this a dodgy mix, and were I to buy more from a known breeder would I be putting my home bred hens at risk? In sheep, I believe that if you introduce Orf-vaccinated animals in with non vaccinated, then you get Orf throughout your existing flock - does this apply to hen diseases?
I'm realising that although I grew up on a farm with very large numbers of poultry, and have kept hens here for 20 years, I actually know not a lot about keeping them on a small scale ::). I think that's often the case with backyard hens which are so widespread.
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Some diseases will be shed intermittently by the animal or bird, especially when stressed (e.g. going to a new home) and be picked up by naive stock they come into contact with or if strict biosecurity measures (boot dip, etc.) isn't being observed by the new keeper.
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What colour are your welsummers eggs? Also will you have hatching eggs available from welsummer and gold laced wyandotte towards the end of summer?
I kept only a Welsummer cockerel to run with my Legbars and then sold the parent stock so now have only the crossbreed hens laying. We've kept Welsummers in the past but I wasn't that keen on the temperament and the colour layer on the dark brown shells was much more susceptible to being scratched than that of the Marans we've kept. We have some excellent Laced Wyandottes - utility type but they also won a 1st and 3rd at the Royal Three Counties last year. All being well we should have some hatching eggs this Summer.
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yes you are right the unvaccinated passes on any disease to the vaccinated but depends on what risks you think may happen and the numbers. If you are relying on the eggs as a business then you cant afford to have sick hens. Bar mycoplasma I've never had an issues with either types of hens whether vaccinated or not.
Ive gone down the vaccinated route as we are more commercial hence our hens are crosses more than pure.
You can do as much biosecurity however unless its a closed shed you cannot stop wild birds (which bring myclo)
In the past we have had some beautiful hens here costing over £20 each however, after losing a few (fox, jack russell pup, myclo and odd drop dead) we couldnt justify having these beauts here wondering around the yard freely not laying and then dying. Our reason for hens was purely egg driven and decided to opt for a commercial breed at a lower price (which allows for losing the odd 5- 10 over a year). Ours are pasture raised with electric fence in the summer.
I love to see a beautiful hens however it depends on what you want to do with them.
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We have less than a dozen, which are kept purely to supply ourselves and the postie with eggs. They free range wherever they want but are shut in at night. You're correct in that we cannot keep wild birds away, from tiny songbirds to large corvids. We worm the flock with Flubenvet regularly but we've not needed other meds.
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yes you are right the unvaccinated passes on any disease to the vaccinated but depends on what risks you think may happen and the numbers.
As far as I am aware it is the vaccinated hens passing on the diseases they carry from being given live vaccines and causing not only unvaccinated stock to get the diseases such as Mareks but potentially the wild bird population as well. A friend of ours had three vaccinated hens and one when about three came down with Mareks. The vet said the vaccine could eventually wear off. Of course if rearing commercial birds they wouldn't last that long but I prefer to keep a closed flock of unvaccinated birds and so far touch wood haven't had any problems.
Helen
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Another question then....if you mix vaccinated stock with unvaccinated, what happens.
depends on which vaccine is used and I am not sure which (if any) are live these days and its the live ones that carry a small risk of transmission.
The main 'problems' with vaccinated stock as I see it are:
If you do end up with something you've vaccinated against on your property you might be less likely to see it early with vaccinated stock. Remember vaccination doesnt prevent infection, just (hopefully) prevents full blown disease. So vaccinated stock can still pick it up and pass it on to non-vaccinated but not show any signs themselves and the vaccine isnt to 'blame'. And then there are those animals with which vaccination will be less successful anyway-its biology, nothing works 100% a 100% of the time.
The other problem is imho many of these commercial birds are pushed very hard from the outset and (apart from the odd one) seem to die quite young or not lay much after their second year. My last hybrid died at the weekend at 4.5 years old. The rest of that batch died or were culled in their second year.
The only way to keep them disease free is to keep wild birds away from them-and pheasants.