I blew off this CV19 thing at first, but when I saw the politically motivated response, my wife and I purchased 20 baby chickens. 19 survived and two are roosters. They should start laying in about a week. They average roughly one egg per day per hen.
It was a “just in case” sort of thing.
I got meat goats earlier than planned, two does and a buck. Paid for them with the stimulus check. Not enough land for cattle which is what we’re surrounded with and I really don’t have much desire to deal with animals that weigh as much as a car. Hoping the goats will eventually become a little retirement income. They were up around $3/lb at the sale barn this past Spring. 50-70 lb goats bring the highest price and they can be tossed in the back of a truck with a topper or I can make my own short livestock trailer. They usually throw twins so we should get 4 kids in Spring. Doelings will be kept to breed back to the buck and bucklings will either be sold or go in the freezer or canned. All depends on how things go between now and Spring.
With 17 hens, you won’t even know what to do with all the eggs... especially if they’re a productive breed like Rhode Island Reds.
Nice!
I have 7 hens, but 2 of them are old enough they don’t lay very often. I’d love to be able to keep a rooster so I could grow my own replacement hens.
For a while this summer, we were the only ones in the neighborhood with access to eggs. All the stores were sold out.