Moving - Chickens Still Available!

Well, we have almost finished moving! We still have the garage and shop to clean out (although Neil says a lot of the smaller stuff has been moved from there now) but there's lots of time before we put the "farm" up for sale. There are still some things at the house to move but we'll have to rent a van or truck in the spring to finish everything up.  First we are going to have an "Estate Sale" in the spring at which time we hope to empty things out to the point where there will just be donation things left.

 

That being said, we do still have some chickens left and lots of chicken supplies. I will be posting a huge advertisement for the remaining chicken related items & birds after Christmas. Some of the chickens we have left were sold but the people never showed up to pick them up and aren't responding to our emails. Some of the chickens came down with a cold due to the terribly damp, rainy weather throughout the fall so I didn't sell them in order to make sure they are all healthy and happy before moving on to their new homes. Neil goes to the house at least once a day to water, feed and clean the birds and check on the house and we have several neighbours keeping an eye on the place too.

 

Offhand we have LOTS of roosters for sale! Most of them are show/breeding quality but there are some that are just pet/barnyard quality. At the very least these birds could be processed as they are almost all Heritage breeds so they are great dual purpose birds.

 

Just to start we have the following:

 

I have about a dozen Barred Rock roosters. Some are exceptionally nice and would be suitable for breeding stock. There may be a few show quality roosters left. The Barred Rocks are calm, curious birds and would make nice flock roosters and, as you may know, are great dual purpose birds (read 'stew'.)  I have a few hens, not many, and won't sell a hen without a rooster. Hens are $18 and roosters are 1 for $12, 2 for $22, 3 for $30, 4 for $36, 5 or more only $8 each.

 

These photos were taken quite awhile ago but they are must bigger and better now!

 

This fellow is a father to some of the younger ones that are available.

 

One of the possible father's to some of the available birds.
This photo was taken when he was quite young.

A bunch of the birds when they were younger hanging around the "man cave."

 

Just resting in the garden (aka known as the weed bed) this spring.

A young pair in early summer.
He looks a little "wild" in this photo but turned out very nice!

Waiting in the garden for some insects.
The young Mottled Houdan rooster you see here is also available.
He is VERY respectful... comes from Les Farms, NB lines.
Justine breeds Houdans for quality and temperament.
 He is $25 and would be perfect for a breeding program.

One of the hens when she was a young pullet.

Lots of pet quality Silkies (obviously not meat birds!) Most are roosters and some are very nice looking birds. Right now I am selling all Silkies (and a few cross-bred Bantams) for only $8 each and will give discounts for multiple birds.

 

Two very nice white Silkie roosters. These are spunky fellows and excellent with the ladies.
Fertility rates have been very good (well over 98%) this year.
I threw 60 eggs in the incubator that were over 2 weeks old just to fill up space in late spring.
I ended up hatching 58 of the 60!
Both of the other eggs were fertile, but didn't hatch - probably due to age.

 

I have 3 breeding pairs of Silver Spangled Hamburgs. These are STUNNING birds and not only do they look great running around on your lawn/in your yard they eat very, very little prepared food and LOTS of insects. They are especially great at keeping the ticks under control. My Hamburgs are rarely inside, are EGG-cellent at protecting the girls and they prefer to nest in the trees during the nice weather. My Hamburgs are exceptionally strong and healthy birds - seemingly disease resistant. They are one of my favourite chickens. The gals lay a very nice sized white egg and are good layers. They can go broody if you let them and the boys are very watchful of the young. I am selling these breeding pairs for only $40 a pair. For someone interested in having some nice ones to begin a breeding program I will sell all 3 pairs for $100.

 

Here are some photos of some of mine...

 

This is a pullet who has turned out to become an incredible and consistent layer.

This is my oldest Hamburg rooster and he thinks it's his duty to be keeper of the flock.
If he sees danger he will warn everyone and if some of the silly gals ignore him he
will leave his "safe place" and chase them under cover!
He's not afraid to take on anything that appears to be dangerous to "his gals".



As I said... these are simply stunning birds!

 

My primary breeding birds up in a tree last year.

 

This is a younger pair... very sweet. This fellow is absolutely my favourite Hamburg rooster.
His lady friend is a year younger than him, shy but sweet, and oh, what a layer!

I think this is my youngest hen when she was a pullet.

 

I also have a fair number of Red Shouldered Yokohamas to re-home. They, too, lay a nice white egg. It's a bit smaller but they lay almost every day like clock-work! I have seen no signs of broodiness in my birds but their fertility and hatch rates have been near 100% so they'd be good for someone to start with the breed. These are gorgeous birds... classified as ornamental. The cock's tail feathers can grow quite long if they have nice high roosts to prevent damage.

 

I find my Yokohamas to be strong, tough and hardy birds and they it is difficult to find nice looking birds that conform to the SOP (Standard of Perfection) because they are still quite rare. I am desperate to rehome the ones I have as I have no indoor space for them so I have reduced my price to only $15 each and there are more roosters than hens so no hen will be sold without a rooster (however roosters can be sold in any quantity.)

 

This was one of my foundation birds. He was too hard on the girls and not very nice to his people.
Sadly we sent him to freezer camp and hired his brother instead.
Regardless, he did father to some of my birds. Luckily none of them are nasty.





Here is the brother of the bird above.
He is respectful and tolerant so although he wasn't quite as good 'show-wise'
he was more suitable to ensure I bred birds than weren't mean.
His hen had been battered & torn by his brother but this guy is gentle and tolerant.
He can still be protective though, so he shouldn't be under-estimated.



Two pairs of 1 year old Yokohamas.



This is a gangly young lad taken in the spring. He looks part "Road Runner" in this photo!

 

I also have one Silver Laced Wyandotte rooster available. He is two years old and doesn't tolerate other roosters very well, even if given lots of room. He should go to a home with no other roosters. His fertility rate was excellent this year and he's good with the ladies. I would like $12 for him. Sorry, I don't have any recent photos of him.

 

This was his father, Sir Hugh, in his prime...

 

This is when he was just a young lad learning all about girls... :)
 

I have one Golden Laced Wyandotte rooster. He was slow to show me his breeding potential but once he started he was about 95% fertile with a 100% hatch rate. He came from hatching eggs I purchased from Alberta in 2013 and I would like $15 for him.

 

Shakespeare is a big fellow.
Photos were taken when he was about 10 months old.

He is a respectful fellow and sweet with the girls.

Shakespeare is a little afraid of dogs. He has good form and would
be a good rooster to bring new blood into a flock.

 

Anyhow, those are the birds I am most anxious to rehome as I just don't have appropriate indoor space for them this winter and they are such nice birds I don't have the heart to cull. If you or anyone else you know might want some of the birds PLEASE get in touch! Sorry, I will not ship them... they are available for farm pick-up only... although I may be able to deliver to a mutually convenient meeting place between Bridgetown and New Minas areas. I am hoping to rehome before we call in the fellow to process all of the birds that haven't been placed.

 

Very soon I will post some photos of the new house!