My australorp flock

9 happy hens with their protective yet docile rooster. 

My australorp flock that I purchased back in march is laying fertile eggs and I am ready to start selling them.

The australorp is the australian's version of an orpington. They are black with green, similar to the color of a beetle. Their egg-laying is one of the highest rated (5/week on average) and they are large meaty birds so they are a dual purpose breed.

The australorp is rated as a "recovering" species on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy's list (meaning it was nearly extinct!). http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/poultry/chickens/australorp/index.htm

Here are some more external links:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/breeds/australorp/14027
http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/Australorp-B14.aspx


Hatching eggs for sale 


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Hatching eggs and incubating

Another new page! Look for it under livestock/animals>chickens>hatching eggs and incubating

Incubating e-book--by My Pet Chicken
Candling eggs--excellent article by University of Nebraska
Feedback on Delaware hatching eggs that I sell
Video of chick hatching
Newly hatched chicks
Candling eggs--my first experience
Hatching eggs I received in the mail
Breeding and selling poultry
My experience purchasing eggs from Mcmurray hatchery

Hatching eggs I received

I ordered some Dominique hatching eggs about a week ago. They came yesterday.

Lordy I hope the eggs I send out don't ever end up looking that bad. 

Hatching eggs

Delaware egg

This page is dedicated to individuals that I've sold hatching eggs to and their feedback. Thanks everyone!

Australorp eggs (coming soon!)

Murray McMurray hatchery

For whatever it's worth, I wanted to let anyone who is thinking of ordering from McMurray my experience.

I ordered a rare hatch of turkey eggs at the beginning of march. They weren't available until two months later, when I was told they would ship out on the 26th. I called in about the 1st of May, when they told me the real shipping date was from the 26th to the 6th of May. As in, it would anywhere inbetween those two times. They couldn't verify that the order  had gone out or when it would go out.

Today is the 13th, and I still haven't seen them. I called in today. They put me on hold for 10 minutes, then hung up on me. I called back, and the woman that I talked to was very nice but she could not answer my question. She said that she has no way to tell me whether or not they have gone out. She looked for the person who could, but wasn't in the office. Evidently that person has to call their supplier to find out. I was told that I would get a phone call back. I told them that if the eggs have not gone out to forget it, just refund my order.

I did not hear back from them. Maybe I will hear something tomorrow.

My first chicken hatching!

I got a "pip" this morning! The chick has been pecking at it all day and was just born a little while ago. It's been wobbling around inside the incubator. I am waiting for it to completely dry off before I put it into the brooder that I have set up.

In the meantime, another of my chicken eggs has pipped and a duck egg! Cool. The following are some videos of the hatching.

Candling eggs

Well, hatch time for my eggs is coming up. I candled them again last night just to see what was up inside those little mysteries. They still look like dark cloudy masses with bright red veins. In one, I saw a beating heart! How cool. Some of them you can see moving around inside the little eggs.

I've learned quite a bit about egg incubating, which I am glad I learned on my homegrown eggs versus the expensive turkey eggs I have coming. It does seem to be going well though. About 30% of the eggs I've put into the incubator have been infertile. One was rotten. I caught it just before it was about to explode. Yucko.

Last night I found a really cool 4-H website that shows very detailed photos of candling eggs. It shows what exactly you should be looking for. There are also some neat videos of chicks hatching.

Guy watched one of them about 50 times. He sure loves baby chickens. Unfortunately he tends to love them a little too much... yesterday he managed to pick up one of my buff orpingtons by the head. Lucky he didn't kill it.

http://lancaster.unl.edu/4h/Embryology/candling.shtml

Breeding and/or selling poultry

I bought an egg incubator a few weeks ago. I tried to make my own, but had a hard time getting the temperature consistent. Evidently poultry needs a very specific temperature to hatch. I would love it if my ducks/chickens would lay their own eggs, but after finding a huuuge nest of eggs in my duck run and realizing that my hen was never going to sit on them, I decided I should incubate.

Many poultry breeds have had their broodiness (their instinct to nest) bred out of them. This is because they stop laying when they are broody and it is hard to get eggs away from them.

I have about 25 Cayuga duck eggs in the incubator. All but one so far has appeared to be developing. I posted an ad up on craigslist a week or so ago that said I had duck eggs in the incubator I think the majority are spoken for omce they hatch! I guess it helps that I have a jillion eggs just before Easter.

I also have about 15 of my Delaware chickens in the incubator. No one has spoken for the chickens yet but am not worried about that. I sold 4 laying hens about three weeks ago for $20 each.

Evidently people really want the hatching eggs for themselves. I posted an ad up on craigslist a week-ish ago and sold a dozen eggs for $9 and the next few dozens are spoken for. I also sold three started Araucana pullets.

Poultry is a hot commodity around Portland. I never intended to do any sort of side biz with eggs/chickens but thought I would just offer any extra for sale. Except that right now I don't have any extras! And three of my Delaware hens are my mom's christmas presents.

So I've decided to expand a little and add three additional breeding chicken flocks. They are all different breeds with differing characteristics. Australorps, which are supposed to be very big and heavy layers. Easter eggers, which are docile and will lay all sort of different colors from blue/green to pink. And Stars, which are sex-linked, meaning the males and females are different colors when they are born.

Also, I have ordered a batch of Blue Slate turkey eggs. They are a rare, heritage breed that is supposed to have very good flavor. They breed naturally unlike most commercial turkey strains, which have to be artificially inseminated because their breasts are bred to be huge and are too large for them to hold themselves upright. I've read that turkeys can be a pain to rear, but I really like turkey and would think it would be nice to maintain my own breeding flock and sell any extras.

So that will end up being a lot of birds. But, I will need the fertilizer they create. Not to mention they have been eating the sod that refused to die after Ed tilled it three times last fall. And eating cutworms and whatever bugs. And if people still want the hatching eggs or just eggs for eating I could have a bit of extra cash.