Hens

[angeloahu1]

Would anyone know where to purchase some hens? My husband and I are building a coop and we'd like to raise chickens for their eggs. We don't intend to eat the chickens. We just want them for their eggs and fertelizer. We bought some chicks, but their not the laying kind. They're mostly for show. If you guys could help that would be much appreciated. Mahalo.

[angeloahu1]

I didn't know chickens didn't need a rooster. Well thanks for that insight. I have no neighbors around me. I don't hear any roosters around here either. We do hear peecocks and pheasents though and they are quite the noise makers. Thanks for the heads up.

[missydog1]

for a chicken expert here, I recommend Hotzcatz! She knows a lot. (and so do several others).

But from my experience, an unfertilized egg tastes as good as fertilized. I've had cartons from the store with both kinds in it, and couldn't tell the difference. Most of us who eat store eggs eat unfertilized eggs. If you don't know what I mean, fertilized eggs have a spot of blood in them where the embryo will develop.

Without a rooster, your eggs will not hatch into chickens, but if you want eggs for food and not to start a chicken ranch, you don't need a male screeching its head off all night.

[Hotzcatz]

Some folks I know swear fertile eggs are much more nutritious than non-fertile eggs. To the extent that they wouldn't swap fresh non-fertile for week old fertile eggs at an even trade. I finally started keeping a rooster around so I'd have a source of fertile eggs for my incubator. He does crow but he crows quieter and less than the other three we had. (Chicken soup does cure crowing, guaranteed!) Eventually, I would love to breed a quiet rooster but until then we have him in the upper chicken coop further away from the house.

What makes the most difference to the nutrition of the eggs is if your chickens can free range. I have a cage full of hens who are being acclimatized to our area so they are kept penned up and fed laying mash. Their eggs have a very pale yellow yolk. The eggs from our free range hens have an orange yolk and a much better flavor.

For quieter chickens, you can try bantams. They actually make cute dove cooing sounds and the rooster's crow is much less than a full sized rooster crow. They do lay eggs, but it will take about five of them to make an omelet for one person. I have some black tailed Japanese bantams which are really cute. They are fairly new and they haven't been set out to free range yet. It will be interesting to see if they can survive the mongoose or not, they have really short legs but hopefully they can fly away far enough if necessary.

How many chickens would you like? We have some young laying hens, some young roosters, a few older hens and some just hatched chicks available. My friend and I have been hatching out chickens and ducks (no ducks at the moment, though, both incubators are full of chicken eggs) so we have a variety of chickens available. Most of these chickens are either mixed breeds or half breeds but they are all from farmyard laying hen varieties, no fighting chickens. Most of them have some Araucana/Americana in them so the hens could lay either a light blue or light green egg. There is also a lot of barred Rock in them so they could also lay light brown eggs.

In several months, we hope to start producing purebred Rhode Island Reds, pure bred Buff Orphingtons and some hybrid sex-link laying hens. (Sex-links come color coded by gender when born so hens can be told apart from roosters) Email me through the forum or at hotzcatz@yahoo.com if you'd like more information about which chickens we have available at this time.

[missydog1]

I just knew Hotzcatz would have the answers on this one. []

[pslamont]

I will have hens for sale soon dependin on what you are looking for...

Pam

Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!

[angeloahu1]

Stillhope, I just found out that you don't need a rooster to have eggs so I got rid of him.

[angeloahu1]

Pam, I would just like some laying hens and maybe some chicks too. I'm not really sure what kind. My husband is more knowledgeable in the chicken catagory. What are the kinds you have and how much?

[pslamont]

I currently have some pullets that are mixes... roosters were jungle fowl and mom's Americauna, Rhode Island Red or Plymouth Barred Rock. I will have pure Rhode Island Reds available when I return from Thailand the end of August.

You are welcome to come see them. Canh Le has first choice on the mixed chickens, and I think he is coming over tomorrow to get half a dozen or so. Call me and come up after that and we will see what is available.

808 345 8440
I live on N. Glenwood Rd.

CHEAP on the mixes. We can talk.
Purebreds will be around $12 each as sexed pullets.

Pam

Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!

[angeloahu1]

Thanks Pam. I'll see if my husband is interested.