What Comes First The Egg, The Chick, or The Started Bird?

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<v Carey Blackmon>Hi, and welcome to the Poetry Nerds podcast.

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<v Carey Blackmon>I'm Carey Blackmon, and I'm here with my co-host for the show, Jennifer Bryant.

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<v Carey Blackmon>And we are here to help you figure out how to raise the healthiest, happiest, and highest quality birds possible.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>We're gonna talk about if you wanna order hatching eggs, or do you just wanna order chicks or do you wanna wait and order started birds, like the pros and cons to all three of those options?

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<v Carey Blackmon>I guess that would depend on what comes first, the egg, the chick, or the started bird.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>The breeder comes first.

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<v Carey Blackmon>There you go.

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<v Carey Blackmon>We've already talked about breeder selection, right?

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<v Carey Blackmon>That's in a previous episode that people could go pick up.

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<v Carey Blackmon>So where do you get your bang for your buck?

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Personally, I think it just depends on your infrastructure.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>If you are already set up with an incubator and a brooder and you know what you're doing, and I think hatching eggs would probably be the best bang for your buck at that point.

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<v Carey Blackmon>So I am very pro.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Started bird even though I have two large cabinet incubators, two barns 16 different breeder pens, all that good stuff I'm more believable with started bullets or some type of started bird period for me.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So when I got the cochin, I started with, a started Trio, they were four months old.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So I think that each category has its own pros and cons depending on what you wanna do.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Like for me, I like reds and I had found some really good looking reds.

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<v Carey Blackmon>But they were not standard reds.

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<v Carey Blackmon>They were close.

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<v Carey Blackmon>But when you order hatching eggs if you're just starting out and you did not go through our selecting the breeder and follow those, you're still trying to figure it out and.

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<v Carey Blackmon>When you look on the internet and you see what people have, they have pictures, but is that what you're really getting when you order hatching eggs?

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Let's just talk about hatching eggs for just a minute.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Okay?

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So you're going to get quantity for your monetary investment.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Gonna get the least amount of shipping cost.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And you're.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Chance, like a lottery ticket to have more chicks.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So when you order hatching eggs, the industry standard is a 50% hatch rate.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>You could get zero and you could get a hundred percent.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>I have had people do both from my eggs because there's so many variables.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>The shipper handling, how much does the post office guy mad at you that day?

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<v Jennifer Bryant>The heat cold isn't necessarily such a problem, but the heat in the summer is an issue.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Your incubator quality and skills.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>What else?

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Hatching eggs is a gamble.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>It's like pulling a lottery ticket in a lot of ways.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Yeah, I agree.

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<v Carey Blackmon>When you're, when you buy hatching eggs, it's a gamble from everything.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Are you getting what you think you bought?

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<v Carey Blackmon>Is half of'em gonna hatch is more than half.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Because if you, so let's say you want to get a decent amount of chicks because you know that roughly, if you're looking for a standard bird, something that's really good quality, a lot of breeders will suggest 10%.

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<v Carey Blackmon>So with that in mind, you're gonna order a hundred eggs.

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<v Carey Blackmon>You're going to hatch out 50 of them.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Out of that 50, you're gonna select five keepers.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>If we're talking about chickens, I agree with you.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Yes.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Yeah, with, I'm talking about chickens on that part now, obviously with quail, most people are into your meat and eggs and if it hatches and it grows, they'll be able to do something with it, even that, if, if you're wanting to start your farm off and so you order a hundred eggs, 50 of'em hatch out of that 50, you're gonna have a hen-roo pull it, a hen-roo mix.

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<v Carey Blackmon>That's again, like the lottery.

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<v Carey Blackmon>You could be like my most recent hatch of pharaohs and it was over 80 per 80% rooster on that.

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<v Carey Blackmon>And I was like I put 200 birds in my incubator'cause I needed some hens and I got a lot of dog meat.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Yep.

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<v Carey Blackmon>A lot of animal food.

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<v Carey Blackmon>And so

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<v Jennifer Bryant>if we're talking about quail, for those listeners, if we're talking about quail, yes.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>We talk about quail eggs in the hundreds.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>At least when I ship we talk in the hundreds Now if we're talking your standard bread chickens.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>No, you probably would only order maybe a dozen, two dozen eggs if you are even lucky enough to find a breeder to share hatching eggs with you.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>I, for one, do not offer hatching eggs off of my chickens.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>I will offer chicks and started birds, but I don't do hatching eggs

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<v Carey Blackmon>well, and that, that also depends.

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<v Carey Blackmon>For the listeners what kind of bird, because if it's one of your dinosaurs or no, not necessarily the dinosaurs, but one of your Cochin's, they have an exorbitant amount of feathers and unless the breeder know even if the breeder knows that they have to trim some of those.

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<v Carey Blackmon>The fertility is still correct.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Usually not good.

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<v Carey Blackmon>A reputable breeder is not gonna sell 12 eggs knowing that the fertility may only say two or fertile'cause it's gonna make'em look bad and they're not

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<v Jennifer Bryant>gonna do it.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Which is why I don't do it right.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Lemme see how I got started with the Cochins.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So I found a breeder and I liked the pictures of her birds.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Looking back in hindsight, I'm glad I didn't get birds from her.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>I ordered very expensive,$300 a dozen hatching eggs and none of them hatched.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>She, she replaced them.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>I paid for shipping.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>She sent me 12 more.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>I got one to hatch and it didn't make it two days.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So I had zero chicks for over$300 in investment.

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<v Carey Blackmon>What kind of incubator did you put him in?

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Those 1502.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>I was a 1502.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So

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<v Carey Blackmon>You did go, you did stick them in a good cabinet incubator and still had awful results.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Correct.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Because right after that, all of her birds went broody, so fertility was already dropping anyway.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So then what I did was I went back to.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>To ground zero, found another breeder with exactly what I wanted.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And he offered me a STARTED trio.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And so what that means is they were four months old.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>In this particular case, they were four months old.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>He assessed them for any dqs that you could find at that age, and made sure to send me birds.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Two females in a rooster for, with no apparent DQs to start me off the best I possibly can.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So in the hatching egg side, I spent over$300 and had zero birds.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And on the started bird side I had four month olds.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And with shipping it was$475.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>At the time, I don't know what it would be now.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>But I had three healthy birds that started laying, of course, the next spring.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>But they were already, had been critiqued, had been started.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>They were past the super fragile stage and I was on my way and I had a reputable breeder assess them for me.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And send them to me.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So not only did I get birds and shipping, they were off-heat.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>They were started disease-free, healthy, and assessed by, and he's an APA judge also.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And so they were already assessed by him to be DQ free at that age.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So that was well worth the money for

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<v Carey Blackmon>me.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Most definitely.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Yeah.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Definitely worth the money.

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<v Carey Blackmon>So for me, the ones that I got I bought my 40 chicks and after talking to some people that have been breeding longer, I've been alive.

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<v Carey Blackmon>I knew that what I had was decent, but I also knew that.

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<v Carey Blackmon>I was anywhere from five to eight generations from getting a bird that I could enter into a show and have a chance at winning.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Which, that can be done.

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<v Carey Blackmon>And you know these chicks, I got'em as chicks.

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<v Carey Blackmon>And the, when this statement was made, they were four or five months old.

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<v Carey Blackmon>And I know that's still young, but who you got yours from?

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<v Carey Blackmon>He was an APA judge and he was able to say, Hey, at four months, these are defect free.

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<v Carey Blackmon>The person that looked at mine.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Started telling me, the issues and the things that I needed to work on and how I needed to find a pullet to put with this cockerel and with these traits and that traits to be able to breed that out.

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<v Carey Blackmon>And once I bred one thing out, I'd have to breed another thing out and going on down the track like that.

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<v Carey Blackmon>And for me, I essentially hit the red lotto with the bloodline that I have and.

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<v Carey Blackmon>I was able to come across some really good birds that somebody, an APA judge said, Hey, these birds right here, you could put these in a show.

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<v Carey Blackmon>And they don't have any disqualifications.

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<v Carey Blackmon>But here's the issue with your cockerel, your two pullets.

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<v Carey Blackmon>They have these traits when these breed.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Their offspring will not have that issue.

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<v Carey Blackmon>And I was excited about that.

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<v Carey Blackmon>And when I bought 20 No 30 chicks, what I spent on those 30 chicks is less than what I spent on the trio.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Unless you include gas and drive time to go somewhere that I was going already.

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<v Carey Blackmon>To bring them back.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Let's order, let's talk about ordering chicks then.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So chicks, I would say would be just a step above ordering hatching eggs.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Is, there's no real way to assess them.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Typically you're going to get.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Just hatched chicks sent to you.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Now, I personally don't do that.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>I try to send mine at about a week old.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>But hatcheries and post office guidelines, they're supposed to be just hatched.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>But I guess I'm the rebel.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So if you order chicks, just for general purposes, let's say they're straight outta the incubator.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Then you're getting a certain number of live checks.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So if you wanted say 20, you order 20, you're probably gonna get twenty-two, most people will send you an extra one or two.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>I send one extra for every 10 ordered.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And so you'll get what exactly what you're paying for, and at that point, it's up to you.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>To keep them alive and get them going.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>But now keep in mind that they have been stressed and the yolk, they're living off of the egg yolk.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So you are making an assumption that egg yolk was healthy to begin with and full of nutrients, and then.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>That the post office was quick to get them to you, and the verge are not stressed to the point where you can't bring them back, which is why I started shipping at a week old.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Kind of weeds out the weaker ones, gets them good and started, and they can handle the stress of being in a box for a day.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Which is typically what I have found is just takes about a day for stuff to get there.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And the post office has never once asked me how old the birds were inside that box.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And I don't prep the information, so that's the way that I handle it, but I, you can't assess.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>A week old check for anything other than does it have three toes and two wings?

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<v Jennifer Bryant>That's pretty much the end of it.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So you get what you get at that point.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>You will get more bang for your buck with chicks.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So if you wanna just do numbers with hatching eggs, let's just say for the sake of.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Of the conversation, you pay$2 an egg for hatching eggs and only 50% hatch, then you paid$4 for that chick, right?

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And so if you can order chicks that are already hatched and healthy and are going at$5 a chick, then that, but for sure is a better deal in my mind.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And then if you can order sexed chicks, you're even doing even better.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Especially if you live somewhere where you can't deal with a bunch of roosters.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Yeah, that's true.

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<v Carey Blackmon>So for me I like chicks.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Obviously they're cute.

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<v Carey Blackmon>But like you said, when you order a chick.

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<v Carey Blackmon>You at least know that the hatchability of that egg was a hundred percent because it's there and it's walking around.

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<v Carey Blackmon>So you eliminate that part of the gamble.

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<v Carey Blackmon>And at that point, it's really a matter of genetics and nutrition.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Bird has to have vigor to be able to survive that trip, and then you have to provide it with adequate nutrition.

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<v Carey Blackmon>To rehydrate itself and carry on with life.

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<v Carey Blackmon>To me, that increases the odds.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Now, I do know that getting chicks shipped is more expensive than getting eggs shipped.

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<v Carey Blackmon>It is less expensive than getting started pullets or cockles shipped.

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<v Carey Blackmon>But isn't that what you pay for is the odds

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<v Jennifer Bryant>I would say my average shipping cost on hatching eggs is somewhere in the$16 to$20 a box.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>The chick orders are gonna be somewhere in the$50 to$60 range because, but you also have to keep in mind it's not just the shipping cost, it's also the cost of that shipping box.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Because it's a box feed gro gel shavings, everything, heaters.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Them heater pads are expensive.

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<v Carey Blackmon>They are!

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<v Jennifer Bryant>I need some more of them.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And I was like I need to find a deal on those.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>'cause they're like$3 a piece on Amazon.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So I'm gonna try to look somewhere else but.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So I probably just in a box shipping out before you even put chicks in it, I probably have$20 in that box.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So just keep that in mind.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And then started birds would be about the same thing.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>I've shipped, started birds out and I still put grow gel in there.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Still put shavings and feed.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>But obviously for size.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Zing, you can put less birds in there.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So I shipped a trio out to Oregon last fall, and it took two boxes, the cockerel filled up box, and the two pullets went in a box together.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>So she had to pay for shipping for two.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>But typically the.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>That stuff is gonna run you about$80 a box.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>For that third, and then that's about what I paid to get the coachings down here.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>And I would pay it again in a heartbeat because it got my program started on a foot that would've taken me two years and the shipping for But, all right, so the shipping on the started birds, let's just say you have 150 in two boxes for a trio.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>Oh, that is significantly cheaper than a brooder feed, heat, a nd time.

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<v Jennifer Bryant>You're gonna have more than that in eggs or chicks.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Yeah, I was, that was fixing to say, you started off, when you started with the hatching eggs, you had an incubator that was a thousand bucks.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Right?

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<v Carey Blackmon>Which, obviously a lot of people go with a$200 or$300 incubator, but still you're$200,$300 for the incubator.

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<v Carey Blackmon>$100,$200 bucks for a brooder setup, depending on what route you go.

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<v Carey Blackmon>Even if you go cheap with a storage container, by the time you get your heat plate and all that, you're in it a hundred bucks.

00:19:05.329 --> 00:19:11.699
<v Carey Blackmon>So you're looking, like$300 for an incubator,$100 brooder, that's$400 bucks.

00:19:11.849 --> 00:19:18.329
<v Carey Blackmon>And then you got let's see, 10 chickens will eat a bag of food in two weeks.

00:19:19.589 --> 00:19:21.459
<v Carey Blackmon>So you're looking.

00:19:22.538 --> 00:19:29.109
<v Carey Blackmon>Another a hundred bucks in feed, easy for a trio to get'em to three to four months.

00:19:29.109 --> 00:19:32.859
<v Carey Blackmon>So you're at$500 to$600 bucks right there, right?

00:19:33.429 --> 00:19:40.054
<v Carey Blackmon>And you could have sped the process up four months and saved a few hundred dollars.

00:19:40.869 --> 00:19:41.349
<v Jennifer Bryant>And got'em

00:19:41.349 --> 00:19:42.159
<v Carey Blackmon>judged.

00:19:42.909 --> 00:19:43.239
<v Carey Blackmon>Yeah.

00:19:43.239 --> 00:19:46.119
<v Carey Blackmon>And got'em from somebody that knows what they're getting.

00:19:46.449 --> 00:19:47.049
<v Carey Blackmon>What you're getting.

00:19:48.069 --> 00:19:48.579
<v Jennifer Bryant>Exactly.

00:19:48.579 --> 00:19:57.319
<v Jennifer Bryant>And that and of that trio, I still have one of the hens, the other two are gone now, but one of the hens is still kicking and she lays me an egg about every day.

00:19:57.319 --> 00:19:58.594
<v Carey Blackmon>Is she still doing her job?

00:19:59.014 --> 00:19:59.614
<v Carey Blackmon>She's still

00:19:59.614 --> 00:20:00.334
<v Jennifer Bryant>doing her job.

00:20:00.334 --> 00:20:04.624
<v Jennifer Bryant>She's broody all the dang time, but

00:20:05.224 --> 00:20:06.034
<v Carey Blackmon>yes.

00:20:06.153 --> 00:20:07.564
<v Carey Blackmon>What's the offspring of those eggs?

00:20:07.614 --> 00:20:08.934
<v Jennifer Bryant>They're showstoppers, aren't they?

00:20:11.034 --> 00:20:13.344
<v Carey Blackmon>Those are the ones, those are what you're showing right now.

00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:13.999
<v Carey Blackmon>Yeah.

00:20:14.429 --> 00:20:14.719
<v Carey Blackmon>Yeah.

00:20:15.309 --> 00:20:18.134
<v Carey Blackmon>I seen you win platters, ribbons.

00:20:18.709 --> 00:20:20.959
<v Carey Blackmon>Trophies Plaques.

00:20:21.594 --> 00:20:24.653
<v Carey Blackmon>Yeah, they're, she's still definitely doing her jobs.

00:20:25.104 --> 00:20:27.804
<v Carey Blackmon>If that's the offspring she's throwing off, that's really nice.

00:20:28.044 --> 00:20:28.434
<v Carey Blackmon>Yep.

00:20:28.494 --> 00:20:29.244
<v Jennifer Bryant>Exactly.

00:20:29.954 --> 00:20:33.494
<v Jennifer Bryant>But now even with started birds, you still have to breed them.

00:20:33.494 --> 00:20:39.194
<v Jennifer Bryant>You still have to cull hard, you can't just assume every offspring is going to be a show winner.

00:20:39.844 --> 00:20:40.384
<v Jennifer Bryant>Yeah.

00:20:40.984 --> 00:20:44.284
<v Jennifer Bryant>Let's kinda recap here'cause it went all over the board.

00:20:44.284 --> 00:21:07.324
<v Jennifer Bryant>So if you have an incubator and you're set up to brood and you're set up to handle extra roosters, then I would order hatching eggs, but understand that it's typical to get 50% hatch rate, but it's also typical to get zero.

00:21:07.909 --> 00:21:14.869
<v Jennifer Bryant>And some of it may be the breeder's fault, but chances are it's not.

00:21:15.139 --> 00:21:17.659
<v Jennifer Bryant>It's just circumstance.

00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:25.278
<v Jennifer Bryant>And then if you decide to order chicks, you still need a breeder, still need heat, still need chick food.

00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:30.599
<v Jennifer Bryant>But you, the money you saved on the incubator, you're gonna spend on shipping at least some of it.

00:21:31.528 --> 00:21:32.729
<v Jennifer Bryant>But you have started birds.

00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:41.249
<v Jennifer Bryant>You have birds chirping and cute and fluffy and deliver to your door, and then started birds.

00:21:41.829 --> 00:21:44.259
<v Jennifer Bryant>They're gonna be older, they're gonna be off heat.

00:21:44.259 --> 00:21:46.028
<v Jennifer Bryant>You can put'em straight outside.

00:21:46.028 --> 00:21:47.109
<v Jennifer Bryant>You can.

00:21:47.544 --> 00:21:51.564
<v Jennifer Bryant>expect to get eggs off of them whenever they're supposed to lay.

00:21:51.614 --> 00:22:05.509
<v Jennifer Bryant>Some may lay pretty quick, and then you get big ones like mine that won't lay for a year, so you know it, know your breed that you're ordering, but that sticker shock.

00:22:06.184 --> 00:22:07.879
<v Jennifer Bryant>I don't know, how can I explain this?

00:22:08.089 --> 00:22:12.019
<v Jennifer Bryant>The sticker shock of the shipping and of the birds.

00:22:12.288 --> 00:22:22.379
<v Jennifer Bryant>If you would step back and do the math on and the work put into it it's still probably cheaper, honestly.

00:22:23.409 --> 00:22:35.169
<v Carey Blackmon>And like I, I sell, I usually cull or have a cull about Point of Lay and some of them will get cold to the freezer.

00:22:35.719 --> 00:22:38.059
<v Carey Blackmon>And some of them will get cold to people.

00:22:39.079 --> 00:22:45.959
<v Carey Blackmon>And I have people they say, I mean it is, why do you want thirty-five dollars?

00:22:45.959 --> 00:22:46.979
<v Carey Blackmon>It's just a chicken.

00:22:47.609 --> 00:22:54.549
<v Carey Blackmon>Yeah, thirty-five dollars for a four to six month old bird if you pull out your calculator.

00:22:55.179 --> 00:22:59.229
<v Carey Blackmon>And work a little bit of math to get over the sticker shock.

00:22:59.499 --> 00:23:47.878
<v Carey Blackmon>You'll actually find out that the bird is free.

00:23:48.348 --> 00:23:51.888
<v Carey Blackmon>I'm charging you for the feed that it ate for the last four to six months.

00:23:52.108 --> 00:23:58.134
<v Carey Blackmon>And when I've explained it to people, sometimes they're like, oh, I never thought about it that way.

00:23:58.673 --> 00:24:04.564
<v Carey Blackmon>And then I've had, I actually had one person say I'm not spending more than$15 on a bag of feed.

00:24:05.554 --> 00:24:11.868
<v Carey Blackmon>Yeah, and I'm like so what you're telling me is your chickens probably don't have adequate nutrition.

00:24:13.399 --> 00:24:24.088
<v Carey Blackmon>And that's important to me because if I'm gonna give one of my birds to somebody, that's a red flag because I wanna make sure that they're gonna be well taken care of.

00:24:25.963 --> 00:24:27.824
<v Jennifer Bryant>So let me tell you a story.

00:24:27.824 --> 00:24:32.953
<v Jennifer Bryant>I went to the Green River Show last fall in Kentucky Bowling Green Kentucky.

00:24:33.374 --> 00:24:40.124
<v Jennifer Bryant>And I had the only cochins in the open show and then there was some in the junior show.

00:24:40.453 --> 00:24:41.689
<v Jennifer Bryant>It's a smaller show.

00:24:42.189 --> 00:24:46.338
<v Jennifer Bryant>and I walked around quickly and looked at some of the other birds.

00:24:46.419 --> 00:24:52.388
<v Jennifer Bryant>But I'm pretty set on my breeds and I don't usually pay much attention to too many other birds.

00:24:52.838 --> 00:24:55.818
<v Jennifer Bryant>I was sitting there just waiting for the judging and everything.

00:24:55.818 --> 00:24:58.999
<v Jennifer Bryant>And this kid come over to me and it turned out he was 17.

00:24:58.999 --> 00:25:02.628
<v Jennifer Bryant>And he come over to me and asked me, he's are those your cochins down there?

00:25:02.638 --> 00:25:03.659
<v Jennifer Bryant>And I said, yes.

00:25:03.709 --> 00:25:05.778
<v Jennifer Bryant>And he goes, gosh, do you ever sell them?

00:25:06.199 --> 00:25:10.288
<v Jennifer Bryant>And I said yes I do, but I don't have any with me for sale right now.

00:25:10.979 --> 00:25:14.009
<v Jennifer Bryant>And he said I brought one with me today.

00:25:14.304 --> 00:25:15.894
<v Jennifer Bryant>But mine doesn't look like yours.

00:25:16.703 --> 00:25:22.463
<v Jennifer Bryant>And I have to tell you, I had walked by this bird probably 18 times.

00:25:22.743 --> 00:25:28.263
<v Jennifer Bryant>And was literally sitting six feet away from it and had no idea it was a cochin.

00:25:29.223 --> 00:25:36.483
<v Jennifer Bryant>and the reason being is it may have weighed three pounds.

00:25:36.874 --> 00:25:41.614
<v Jennifer Bryant>It was so small and it didn't even look like a bantam cochin.

00:25:41.913 --> 00:25:48.903
<v Jennifer Bryant>He was meant to be a full-size bird and they did not have any money to feed them.

00:25:49.354 --> 00:25:52.953
<v Jennifer Bryant>So it only got kitchen scraps in what it could find in the yard.

00:25:53.209 --> 00:25:55.818
<v Jennifer Bryant>and it may have weighed three pounds.

00:25:55.818 --> 00:25:58.669
<v Jennifer Bryant>He was so scrawny and I felt bad for the bird.

00:25:59.058 --> 00:26:13.858
<v Jennifer Bryant>But I just politely and kindly told him that until he could afford proper feed or at least some feed at that he needed to just have yard birds.

00:26:13.909 --> 00:26:16.034
<v Jennifer Bryant>It was hard for me to say that to him.

00:26:16.409 --> 00:26:21.749
<v Jennifer Bryant>The rest of the story was his dad got hurt and he had to quit school and get a job and blah, blah, blah.

00:26:22.048 --> 00:26:27.118
<v Jennifer Bryant>But it doesn't change the fact that these are living animals that have to have feed.

00:26:27.223 --> 00:26:31.903
<v Jennifer Bryant>and if you're gonna have to have them, you have to feed them at least something.

00:26:32.173 --> 00:26:35.024
<v Jennifer Bryant>Now, obviously this bird was alive and it was crowing.

00:26:35.433 --> 00:26:41.794
<v Jennifer Bryant>But you could tell by looking at it, it was nowhere near what it should have been.

00:26:42.443 --> 00:26:48.653
<v Jennifer Bryant>I had didn't even recognize that it was a cochin until he pointed it out, and we stood there and looked at it for a while.

00:26:49.284 --> 00:26:52.163
<v Jennifer Bryant>That's how scrawny and malnutritioned it was.

00:26:53.229 --> 00:27:06.669
<v Carey Blackmon>And that is actually the perfect lead-in to a show that we'll have coming up in a few weeks where we're gonna talk to Jeff from Fertrell about nutrition and what it looks like.

00:27:06.723 --> 00:27:07.894
<v Carey Blackmon>So there's that.

00:27:09.253 --> 00:27:09.544
<v Carey Blackmon>Good.

00:27:09.548 --> 00:27:12.499
<v Carey Blackmon>But that's one thing to me, that, that is sad.

00:27:12.528 --> 00:27:21.298
<v Carey Blackmon>Usually there's a sad story whether it be the person had an unfortunate life incident or they just don't know.

00:27:21.358 --> 00:27:24.903
<v Carey Blackmon>'cause some people think, oh I mean they're natural scavengers.

00:27:25.544 --> 00:27:33.364
<v Carey Blackmon>And they are, and they can pick up a lot of nutrition if you plant cover crops and have.

00:27:33.888 --> 00:27:40.038
<v Carey Blackmon>Just worms and stuff that they can eat, but that's not always the case either.

00:27:40.038 --> 00:27:43.459
<v Carey Blackmon>So you know, the bird suffers.

00:27:43.788 --> 00:27:44.778
<v Jennifer Bryant>Exactly.

00:27:45.469 --> 00:27:53.983
<v Jennifer Bryant>I hope that we helped people maybe make a decision that hatching eggs versus ordering chicks versus ordering started birds.

00:27:54.558 --> 00:27:57.199
<v Jennifer Bryant>And these would apply to all species.

00:27:57.199 --> 00:27:59.568
<v Jennifer Bryant>Quail, Chicken, Turkey Ducks.

00:28:00.199 --> 00:28:05.449
<v Jennifer Bryant>A started duck though, might make a soggy mess out of a cardboard box in the mail.

00:28:07.249 --> 00:28:07.969
<v Carey Blackmon>Yeah, probably.

00:28:07.969 --> 00:28:09.733
<v Carey Blackmon>So they can be pretty messy.

00:28:10.213 --> 00:28:10.634
<v Carey Blackmon>I have to

00:28:10.634 --> 00:28:12.163
<v Jennifer Bryant>ship them in a plastic tub.

00:28:14.953 --> 00:28:20.144
<v Carey Blackmon>But to me, when somebody asks me, I'm like it's like everything else poultry related.

00:28:20.144 --> 00:28:23.114
<v Carey Blackmon>It depends on what your goal is.

00:28:23.483 --> 00:28:24.473
<v Carey Blackmon>What do you want to do?

00:28:24.524 --> 00:28:25.243
<v Carey Blackmon>Do you want this?

00:28:25.249 --> 00:28:26.024
<v Carey Blackmon>Do you want that?

00:28:26.024 --> 00:28:26.923
<v Carey Blackmon>Do you want the other?

00:28:27.493 --> 00:28:30.078
<v Carey Blackmon>So that's why, we wanted to talk about this.

00:28:30.078 --> 00:28:37.189
<v Carey Blackmon>'cause in some situations, hatching eggs is the best thing to do and others chicks is the best thing and.

00:28:37.709 --> 00:28:56.298
<v Carey Blackmon>For other people and their goals, getting the started trios it, that's the route to go because like for me, I had the ability to do all of them, but getting the started trio sped my breeding process up to get what I was looking for.

00:28:56.298 --> 00:29:00.528
<v Carey Blackmon>My ultimate goal, five to eight years.

00:29:01.443 --> 00:29:02.403
<v Carey Blackmon>Maybe longer.

00:29:02.433 --> 00:29:07.634
<v Carey Blackmon>'cause that's, when you're dealing with genetics, it's a guess and like for you to get you where you wanted.

00:29:08.274 --> 00:29:10.284
<v Carey Blackmon>It sped your process up a lot too.

00:29:10.703 --> 00:29:10.854
<v Carey Blackmon>It did.

00:29:11.723 --> 00:29:15.683
<v Carey Blackmon>And with the luck that you had it made up for some time.

00:29:16.189 --> 00:29:36.078
<v Jennifer Bryant>And if you wanna talk about quail for just a minute, I ship Celadon hens and roosters breeding sets and though they're not feather sexable typically, and so people who just want to start off with a known breeder set so they can move forward from there.

00:29:36.318 --> 00:29:39.469
<v Jennifer Bryant>We'll order from me and I will send them out.

00:29:40.098 --> 00:29:50.328
<v Jennifer Bryant>After they start laying, after I have confirmed, which I know my line is true blue, you don't know until, you know when that mess up may, may occur.

00:29:50.628 --> 00:29:59.509
<v Jennifer Bryant>So the birds don't leave this property until a blue egg pops out of'em, and then they go in a box and they get shipped to the purchaser.

00:29:59.848 --> 00:30:03.808
<v Jennifer Bryant>And I've not had a problem, and knock on wood, I won't have a problem, but I.

00:30:04.334 --> 00:30:11.653
<v Jennifer Bryant>Those customers takes me back that they're so happy because when they get that box, typically there's a blue egg in the bottom of the box too.

00:30:11.933 --> 00:30:16.459
<v Jennifer Bryant>So not only do they get the bird, but they also get the blue egg to prove.

00:30:16.848 --> 00:30:20.443
<v Jennifer Bryant>Yes, it's a celadon, that they didn't add, so there's a, they

00:30:20.449 --> 00:30:22.578
<v Carey Blackmon>opened the box, they look down and they're like, oh.

00:30:23.324 --> 00:30:26.534
<v Carey Blackmon>It's like winning the lottery instead of playing the lottery.

00:30:27.203 --> 00:30:31.104
<v Jennifer Bryant>While I was trying to log in with you, somebody was texting me.

00:30:31.104 --> 00:30:34.074
<v Jennifer Bryant>They had just got their birds and they were, there was eggs in the box.

00:30:34.074 --> 00:30:35.064
<v Jennifer Bryant>They were so excited.

00:30:35.114 --> 00:30:36.923
<v Jennifer Bryant>Yeah, think about it.

00:30:36.923 --> 00:30:41.798
<v Jennifer Bryant>Sit down and think about your situation and what you're wanting to do.

00:30:42.068 --> 00:30:43.719
<v Jennifer Bryant>If you don't wanna brood, get started.

00:30:43.719 --> 00:30:44.209
<v Jennifer Bryant>birds.

00:30:44.229 --> 00:30:47.078
<v Jennifer Bryant>If you wanna brew, but don't have an incubator, get chicks.

00:30:47.679 --> 00:30:48.548
<v Jennifer Bryant>It's okay.

00:30:48.608 --> 00:30:51.308
<v Jennifer Bryant>Everybody has their preferences

00:30:52.388 --> 00:30:56.048
<v Carey Blackmon>and some people, they just have that chick addiction.

00:30:56.588 --> 00:31:00.038
<v Carey Blackmon>And I gotta be honest it right there in chick season.

00:31:01.209 --> 00:31:11.469
<v Carey Blackmon>I gotta stay outta Tractor Supply because you walk in the front door and you hear the chirps and the natural inquisitiveness inside of you wants to go look at'em.

00:31:13.118 --> 00:31:16.419
<v Carey Blackmon>And then when you look at'em and you're like, I don't have one of those.

00:31:18.278 --> 00:31:18.909
<v Carey Blackmon>Oh man.

00:31:18.909 --> 00:31:21.628
<v Carey Blackmon>That thing, it's just a couple bucks.

00:31:21.749 --> 00:31:24.628
<v Carey Blackmon>You take it home, don't have to worry about shipping or nothing.

00:31:25.288 --> 00:31:25.439
<v Carey Blackmon>Yeah.

00:31:25.558 --> 00:31:26.519
<v Carey Blackmon>So I have to stay out.

00:31:27.058 --> 00:31:27.479
<v Jennifer Bryant>Yep.

00:31:29.263 --> 00:31:29.624
<v Jennifer Bryant>Yep.

00:31:29.624 --> 00:31:31.483
<v Jennifer Bryant>No, that it doesn't get me anymore.

00:31:31.513 --> 00:31:38.294
<v Jennifer Bryant>It used to get me, but now that I know what quality looks like, I can just walk on by.

00:31:38.298 --> 00:31:41.834
<v Jennifer Bryant>It doesn't bother me, but honestly, I don't go in tractor supply very much.

00:31:42.253 --> 00:31:45.078
<v Jennifer Bryant>So very rarely do I go in there.

00:31:45.798 --> 00:31:48.278
<v Carey Blackmon>I try especially during chick season.

00:31:49.278 --> 00:31:51.689
<v Carey Blackmon>All right that, it concludes the show for today.

00:31:52.439 --> 00:32:00.959
<v Carey Blackmon>If anybody has any questions, make sure you send us an email at PoultryNerds@gmail.com Thank you for joining us this week.

00:32:01.649 --> 00:32:10.288
<v Carey Blackmon>Before you go, be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you can receive new episodes right when they're released and they're released every week.

00:32:11.009 --> 00:32:16.679
<v Carey Blackmon>Feel free to email us at poultrynerds@gmail.com to share your thoughts about the show.

00:32:17.429 --> 00:32:22.739
<v Carey Blackmon>Until next time, poultry pals, keep clucking, keep learning, and keep it egg-citing.

00:32:23.459 --> 00:32:25.649
<v Carey Blackmon>This is Carey signing off from Poultry nerds.

00:32:26.203 --> 00:32:27.193
<v Carey Blackmon>Feathers up everyone.