Thank you! I just put the Storey's guide book on hold at the library yesterday. Looking forward to getting it. Do you know or would you suspect that the NY State Fair has some young birds for sale? I know they've got the big poultry building with all sorts of different breeds. It sure would be fun, after reading about all these different breeds, to go and see them and it would be a bonus if we could find some birds to start our flock with.
--- In CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com, "Old George" <barnmanager@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Liz. most hatcheries suspend shipping during the hot months and don't start again until early spring. Baby chicks are very tender. A good resource for information is hatchery web sites. Here's a couple:
> http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html
> http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
> The best bet in the fall is local aggy fairs or Poultry shows. 4H or FFA youngsters frequently sell off their poultry projects before returning to school. These are usually very good chickens and beyond the critical chick stage. Be very careful when buying adult chickens. Some chicken merchants are less than honest.
> I have used Kite string strung across the top of a run to keep competing birds on their own side of the fence, so to speak. Most young chickens can fly well enough to clear a 7 foot fence. This ability is diminished as the chickens grow heavier. Clipping wing feathers is a safe and humane way of keeping them on the ground.
> A good book will help. 'Storeys Guide to RAISING CHICKENS' or 'Raising chickens for Dummies' are both good and in rural communities can be found in the local library and farm stores, usually. Amazon caries both.
> Ol' George
CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com
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