This is the boy cozying up to a juvenile chicken born early winter along with one other bird to a broody and dedicated hen.We raise the birds for their egg production and pest control. They are pretty good at both.
This is the other surprise bird. Likely the former came from a Buff Orpington and the latter a NH Red. Their Papa looks like this...
He is much bigger than his harem and has passed his sidestockings on to his offspring.
We have a couple rounds of chicks hatched out and growing. Sooner than later we'll slaughter this big fella, as his job is basically done and there will be many cocks in the new batches of chicks should we want fertile eggs again. I do hate to see him go. He's a pretty gentle rooster and quite the looker.
We do eat the culls and are not really breeding for birds to eat. We are in it for the eggs.Chickens are a delight to watch. They are curious and social and just plain comical to have around. However, we are faced with the question...how many can we afford to keep? There is a cost in feed and a debt paid by the land. Manure management is a real necessity and the birds are hard on the areas they frequent so rotation is a must.
In the winter we house the birds in a hoop house/silo coop. The confines are getting a bit close and we will be adding younger birds to the mix in the next few weeks and months. We'll need to make adjustments according to the weather and hopefully sell off some birds and cull the roosters.That's the plan. We'll see what actually happens.
