2023 Testing with a Few Different Breeds

Collage of the breeds we ordered for 2023

This year, we will have a few traditional breeds of chickens, but also some that we have never raised before. The breeds that we have the most experience with are the Heritage Breeds of Rhode Island Red and the Barred Plymouth Rock.

Last year, we also had the Silver Laced Wyandotte, the Easter Eggers, Black Australorp, and the Lavender Orpington, but we didn't get a chance to raise any of them into layers since they were so popular that we sold all of them as young pullets. So, while these breeds are repeats from last year, the hope is to be able to keep some for our flock.

The Splash Laced Wyandotte and the Cuckoo Marans are totally new to us. Also, we picked up a few special order chicks for a family that we may get to try out. The Cream Legbar and the Olive Egger. We only picked up one extra of each of these last two breeds, so health, gender, and survival will be the key to us having the opportunity to try them out in our flock.

At the moment, the only two breeds we have left in our flock this winter are Golden Comets and French Black Copper Marans. We will put these girls up for sale in the summer months. The Golden Comets are super sweet hens and they are laying extra large brown eggs. The Marans lay a medium to large egg that is very dark brown.

Last year we ended up with four roosters from the 45ish layers we started. We shall see what we end up with this year with the 60ish we will raise.

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