Hen Helper Blog

This summer, we pre-ordered 20 chicks with 15 of those chicks being a "mystery" from the hatchery. We think we have the mystery chicks all identified. Rhode Island Reds, Barred Plymouth Rock, and Golden Comets. The hope is to sell most of these before needing to merge them into the flock. However, if we need to merge in order to winter over until they start laying in January, we can do that. We have done it before and have plenty of room in the main coop. 

We ordered Ducks this year for eggs and for sale. We are hoping to keep four Runner Duck Hens for ourselves, and selling the other four.  They are adorable. I had never held newly hatched ducklings and didn't realize that their down is more like holding a brush. Duck down is stiffer than the chick down. Also, they are a lot messier than chicks. Who Knew? 

This year, we are adding some new breeds due to customers wanting some breeds that we don't normally raise. This year, we included Black Copper Marans, Silver Laced Wyandottes, Easter Eggers, Australorp, and Lavender Orpington to our mix.  We also ended up with more roosters accidentally from the hatchery. We ended up with three this spring, after it was all said and done.  Although we did raise a small batch of Production Red roosters for a customer, we tend to have a difficult time getting rid of those "accident" roosters. We had a lot of fun though, this spring, with all the special orders while learning more about the personality traits of the breeds that are new to us.