The 2011 Egg hustle.....

Yep, it's that time of the year again, when I start freaking out about hatching eggs and breeding birds. I've had the turkeys cooped up for a few weeks now (to keep them out of the trees and get them laying a bit earlier in the season) and have been giving them some home milled high protein/high calcium feed to get the fertility rate up as well as leaving a light on them 24/7.

The finally started rewarding me today with a scant few eggs, but the coop will have to be checked numerous times a day as the toms often destroy the nests in a desperate effort to maintain their dominance over the hens.

The guineas won't start laying until late April or Early May....thank god. That gives me a good jump on all the other birds/hatching that needs to be done.

Not the least of my concerns this season is working with my Coturnix and amplifying stock with exemplary traits (Jumbo x Texas A&M) for meat and egg production.

I'm always way short on incubator space, because no matter how well I manage my money I never can find the extra cash to buy a proper sportsman or two, perhaps I do have the money, but the price tag often scares me away. Maybe this spring....tax returns are coming!

Luckily our awesome friend Blanch Perkins had a hovabator genesis she no longer needed and passed it along our way! Hovabators are absolutely fantastic little incubators for hatching quail and chickens and guineas though I have never had much luck with turkeys in them.

I dug out an old storage shelf and stuck it in the back of the hallway for a makeshift incubation center for this spring, compete with a date/note book to keep track of all the hatch dates, humidity ranges and temperatures.

I'll also keep track of the rabbits in this little book.

Blanche also had a nice flock of guineas which her dogs were using for quick snacks that she passed our way, giving us access to a whole new range of genetics we didn't have before including buff and chocolate as well as what appears to be bronze :)

For those living locally and interested in poults, keets, chicks, and coturnix this spring, shoot us an e-mail or give us a call to put in your request.