Organic Free-Range Fresh Eggs Daily
This is a valuable bit of info I just learned about chickens. (This will only be of interest to people who now have — or are comtemplating obtaining — chickens.)
We have had chickens, in varying numbers for over 30 years. They are the one species left over from the ’70s and ’80s when I put a lot less time into publishing and more time into raising food. In those years we had goats, bees, and chickens. I eventually abandoned goats (SO much work!) and bees (I’ll get them again when I’m 90, I love working with them, they are an 85 million year old species) but we’ve still got chickens, as the time spent is well worth it in fresh eggs daily. This time we have bantams — Rhode Island Reds, and Auracanas, which lay green eggs.
We get day-old baby chicks express mailed by Murray McMurray Hatchery out of Webster, Iowa. This is a great resource, beloved by homesteaders for the quality of their chickens, and their service:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/
1-800-456-3280
I ran into a problem with too many of the bantam hens setting. (This is when genes — in some breeds — kick in, and a hen will go “broody,” fluffing out all her feathers, and sitting on the biggest batch of eggs she can find in the nests. Her intent is to stay on them for 21 days or so until they hatch.) It’s a hassle because the other birds have a hard time getting into the nests to lay eggs. Here’s some good info for people with chickens:
Rhode Island Red Bantams vs. Auracana Bantams
I wrote McMurray 6/03/06:
We’ve been getting chicks from you for 30 years. We could always count on Rhode Island Reds not to set. When we got RI bantams a few years back, we found out that they set like crazy. In other words, the non-setting genes didn’t get carried over into the bantams. Auracana bantams, on the other hand, are like the full sized birds in that they don’t set.
Are you aware of this characteristic in the Rhode Island bantams?
Do you have a list of hens, both bantam and full sized that do not set? (I know white Leghorns don’t set.
I ask this because dealing with a half dozen setters is a major hassle. It upsets the other chickens, you have to isolate them, etc.
Thanks for the great birds through the years!
“Good Setters,” “Non-Setters”
Pat from Murray McMurray Replied 6/05/06:
Lloyd,
As a general rule, bantams do tend to be better setters that their standard
counter parts. I have very little information on bantams as to which birds
are good setters or not.
The hatchery supplies us with some additional notes on birds that are not
included in the catalog. The following standard sized birds are listed as
“good setters”:
Buff Orpington
Partridge Rock
Buff Rock
White Orpington
Turken
Speckled Sussex
Columbian Wyandotte
Columbian Rock
Light Brahma
Dark Cornish
These birds are listed as “non-setters”:
Silver Laced Wyandotte
Black Australorp
Rhode Island Red
Araucana/Americana
Red Star
Black Star
Blue Andalusians
Red Leghorn
Anconas
Single Comb Brown Leghorn
Rose Comb Brown Leghorn
Breeds that are not listed in either group are listed as “sometimes will set”
or have no notes at all regarding setting.
MMH
