How to choose the Right Breeds & Breeder

WEBVTT

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Hi.

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Hey.

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We're doing this today because we are gonna talk about shipping and handling and a whole lot of other stuff that goes along with birds.

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And a lot of times we tell you stuff and we're descriptive, but a lot of this you really need to see.

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Yep.

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So we're gonna expand a little bit on how to select a breeder and the questions that you wanna ask.

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And I've created a checklist that you're gonna find on the website you can download.

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We're gonna go through that today and questions you can ask and how the breeder may respond.

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Some of the questions, the breeder may respond nicely.

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Some of'em, they won't answer you at all, and there's reasons for that, and we're gonna go through those today.

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Yep.

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But right now we are in the egg foam warehouse and yep.

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There we go.

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You see all the peanuts that you can eat?

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Yep.

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They're made outta molasses, tons of egg foam, everything she's got available, including the live shipper boxes.

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Yep.

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So you wanna start with eggs?

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We can.

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So obviously I prefer foam.

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A lot of people will tell you that you can use pipe wrap or pool noodles, and I've done it.

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I'm not gonna say I didn't when I first started, I didn't know this stuff existed.

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But now that I know better, I would not do that and I wouldn't recommend it because when you're handling the egg and you're forcing it into that.

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Cut piece of foam, and then you're wrapping it individually and then you're putting it in the box.

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That is all time for the embryo to get damaged.

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So I think that extra amount of handling is unnecessary.

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So egg foam sits in the box.

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You put it in the box, put the egg in it, put the top on it, put it in the box, and you ship it.

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There's no extra jiggling of the egg.

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It keeps it nice and secure.

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And if you double box it, then you get extra.

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Oh, what impact resistance.

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Impact resistance, yes.

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Yeah.

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You can use the peanuts or on the egg foam when you pull these little pieces out.

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You gotta have something to do with'em.

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Yeah.

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So when you double box, just stick it in there and it adds to the packaging.

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Yep.

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And the foam comes in.

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You make the foam yourself, you can buy it Personally, I don't think that you can make it any cheaper than I can sell it to you, but that's for you guys.

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But it comes in all these different sizes for quill eggs, but eggs, duck eggs, chicken, eggs, fanta, eggs, all the different sizes.

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They fit the boxes.

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And I don't know.

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I get excellent hatch rates from my shipped eggs, and I just think I'm so committed to it that I've made a business out of it.

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And like when you use the foam, we all know that the post office, they're gonna do what they're gonna do.

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And there's no way around it.

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You can put all the fragile stickers on there, the live embryo stickers you want, and they're.

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Sometimes it looks like they've been playing soccer with it.

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So you can only control what you can do.

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So the less you handle it, the better the chances are.

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Also, the foam acts as a insulator.

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So when the weather is catawampus, that's a good word.

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Yeah.

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It, it helps to where the temperature shift is slower and that makes your hatch ability better.

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So they don't necessarily want this to be a commercial for ex foam, but it is a question for you to ask the breeder, how do they package?

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And then you have all of the information and you make the decision for yourself.

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So that's it.

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Now, live shipping of birds, which I do every week.

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I do hundreds of them.

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So I'm pretty good at it.

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What you do need is an approved USPS box and a box with holes.

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Jabbed in it with a pair of scissors does not count.

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Nope.

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Okay.

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Chicks also have to be shipped.

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Express.

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Some people will tell you that you can ship them priority.

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That is not a true statement.

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I do believe the hatcheries might have contracts to be able to ship them cheaper, but for us plain folk, we have to use express shipping.

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They won't accept'em at the post office without it.

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So these boxes.

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Have air holes, right?

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So you can see the air holes and vents, okay.

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And more air holes on this side.

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Now birds need ventilation.

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We harp on that on other egg.

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Other podcasts, this particular shipping box has biofilm is what that's called, glued in there.

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And that prevents the bird from sticking their head out of the holes.

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And having it knocked off in transit for lack of anything better to say.

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Now, I have seen some people going through some extreme measures and putting all kinds of different things on the inside of the box.

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Personally, I think there is a.

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Point of overkill, but I do think it's better to be prepared.

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Usually David and I have big conversations about being overkill, but I think in this case, overkill is better.

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I hot glue Dixie cups in here and then I put grow gel in the Dixie cups.

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I put sawdust shavings in the bottom and they get feed.

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That's all I do.

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I've been having good success with that.

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So until it doesn't work anymore, I see no reason to change it.

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But some people put fruit and different things in there.

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I can go either way on that because if the bird isn't accustomed to eating fruit, then it could upset their GI tract and that become a nutrition question for him, not me.

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Yeah, on that.

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If you're going to ship a bird, express and it's gonna get there tomorrow, I think that bird's gonna be fine.

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But a lot of times where you see the fruit come into play is a lot of game f People will ship birds overseas for whatever reasons, and for that, having apples and stuff in there is good for not only nutrition, but for hydration because it's there.

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You don't just let the first time that bird has had an apple.

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Be when you put'em in the box.

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That's something you need to get them accustomed to.

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And a lot of breeds do feed fruit from time to time, so that helps.

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But don't let the day you cram a bird in a box, be the first time it gets grow, gel, whatever food you're putting in there, anything.

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Don't do that at first.

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And then this is just a check box.

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It folds down and you can get different varieties of check boxes.

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You want a size appropriate box because their body heat is trapped in there.

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And if you're shipping chicks, you want their body heat contained in there.

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So this particular box, they don't pop the circles off, and I do it myself.

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So in July, I'll pop'em all off.

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In January, I'll usually only pop these top ones off and I'll put a heat pack in there.

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So the breeder needs to understand seasonal shipping and have size appropriate boxes.

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This box would be for sending like full-sized chickens.

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I can, believe it or not, I can fit a full size coaching or orpington in there.

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They do lay down and they're in their sh.

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Squished, but there's a lot of body heat.

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You gotta be prepared and ship them in the wintertime when that happens.

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But I also ship adult quail in this size box.

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This one is more for chicks of chicken and quail.

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So size appropriate boxes is also important.

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And if you noticed when I have folded this down, see how it creates that gap right there.

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That's important.

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This box does the same thing.

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So what happens is when it's on a pallet in the airplane and they put the boxes together like this, you still get some airflow right here.

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And that's what this is for, if you've ever wondered.

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So it doesn't just fold into a flat, perfect square box because then you wouldn't get airflow when they're butted up against each other like that.

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That's why you include zip ties in the boxes to use.

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Yeah.

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So they can use'em in the holes instead of putting a big old piece of tape on there.

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Exactly.

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So if you wanted to see this one, see when you fold it down now it folds in right there.

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See that?

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Oh yeah.

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And so that allows airflow in there also.

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That's the reason why these boxes have that, those shapes that they do.

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Alright, I think that should answer all of your questions on shipping eggs and birds onto the next one.

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Okay.

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So now we're gonna talk about how do you select a breed or even a bird for your situation.

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And all the ducks are coming to help us do it on this one too.

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We have tried to outrun them, it's not working.

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So let's just start with ducks.

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A lot of people are allergic to chicken eggs.

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Duck eggs are a valid alternative.

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Yep.

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To a lot of people.

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These particular ducks are wel charla winds.

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They cannot fly.

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They are, they're talking, they are prolific layers.

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They lay, I don't know.

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Two 80 eggs a year or something.

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An astronomical amount of eggs.

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I don't even pick'em all up'cause there's so many eggs.

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They're pretty docile.

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They follow year round like puppy dogs.

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Yep.

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Ducks may be a good fit for you.

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They also are fantastic mosquito control.

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We have zero mosquitoes out here.

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You consider ducks chickens?

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It depends on what you want'em for.

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If you just want something for eggs, then you're gonna want a production breed.

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Something from a hatchery, they're gonna be bred for production.

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That's a genetic trait.

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So an orpington from a hatchery Rhode Island Red from a hatchery, a leghorn or if you're in the south, it's a leghorn.

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Or, any of the fun things like Easter Eggers olive Eggers.

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The Mystic Morans, they have, even they, the Isa Browns are the high lines.

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You can get some of the commercial top layers from hatcheries.

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Those are prolific egg layers.

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And when people ask how do I need to set up my chicken pin?

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Or whatever, the biggest thing you've gotta consider first is.

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Why do you want the chicken?

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Because why you want the chicken.

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This helps you figure out what chicken you want and that's what type of housing.

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It depends.

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'cause if you want turkeys like these over here, you're gonna need a lot bigger housing.

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And if you want bantams, then you need smaller housing, right?

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So for me, even it, like the hardest thing for me was figuring out what my goals were, because I just like chicken and turkeys and quail.

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I didn't really, I didn't, my goal was to keep'em alive.

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I just like'em and wanted to have'em around.

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It all depends on what you want to do.

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Now, if you wanna show or you want hot.

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Quality birds, the size of those birds, which are called standard breads.

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When you breed for that size, you have to give up other genetic traits.

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And one of those is egg laying.

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So my standard bread Orpingtons may lay four eggs a week for four months and that's it.

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They're not prolific layers because they're massive birds.

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People don't.

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Understand that until they probably get here, most of the time, my arm's getting tired.

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So if you wanna show birds, you're gonna be looking for standard bread birds.

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If you want eggs, you're looking for utility, hatchery, bread type birds.

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More fun colors even.

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Yeah.

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And if you are in the Turkey market and you want turkeys that will.

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Reproduce.

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You want heritage breed, which is what we have.

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Yeah.

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Both of us have the red bourbons.

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They lay eggs, they reproduce and they taste fantastic.

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But you do have to feed'em all year long.

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They're seasonal layers.

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Mine only lay March to May maybe, and you have to feed'em the rest of the year, so there's that.

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But you could get a meat bird.

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And be done with them in 16 weeks.

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So that would be your broad breasted, white, broad, breasted, bronze.

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Everything else should be considered heritage.

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Let's see.

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Okay.

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And then the breasts.

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The reason why we selected the breasts was because they're very fast to grow.

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You can harvest them as young as 17 weeks at full size and they lay eggs.

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Probably as well as ae, I would say.

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They just shoot them things out you should get, if all the conditions are right, they're not stressed or anything like that, and they're getting plenty of daylight.

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Five a week from one of them is not uncommon.

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Starting at what, 20 weeks?

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Yeah.

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My, they're little for the first two or three weeks, but man, once they get full size, we're talking 55, 60 gram eggs.

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They're good size eggs.

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We eat our birds and so the Bresse is a really good choice for us.

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It's dual purpose meat and eggs.

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You have to know what you want before you go shopping.

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Otherwise, you will impulse buy and get stuck with birds that you really don't want.

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You'll wind up with a couple hundred birds and you won't be in love with any of'em, and you'll despise your feed bill and you'll just be miserable.

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Yep.

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Alright, onto the next one.

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Now we're sitting in the barn.

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So breeding practices is the first one, right?

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So we're in the quail barn.

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Breeding starts with feed.

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Got a little bit over there.

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Got a little bit.

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I'm looking at what, about 5,000 pounds total right now?

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Probably.

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So each species has its own requirements.

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That would be questions for this guy and he delivers and then I feed it.

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And then the fertility rate is pretty much a direct answer to those nutrition, A lot of it's the vitamins.

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Yeah.

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And I had somebody send me a feed tag this morning and they said, Hey what would I do to this feed to make it a complete feed?

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And I looked at it, I said to be honest, I don't know because in the ingredients they list.

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These different vitamins, A, D, and E, but they don't tell you how much is in there.

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So I don't know what you need to add.

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I tell you where to start and see what happens.

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But unless you actually have a feed tag that's got all the information on it.

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You're, it is a shot in the dark.

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Okay, we're back again.

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David, come over to talk to us.

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Yep.

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Okay.

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So if you'll notice the lights right there.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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So a bird has to have at least 14 hours of light to late.

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And we are in the quail barn.

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So my quail are lit every day, roughly 5:00 AM to 9:00 PM I don't change it.

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They do not understand daylight savings time.

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They're on the same time all year round.

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Okay, whatever the timer is.

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So sometimes it's five to nine, sometimes it's six to 10, whatever.

00:18:09.169 --> 00:18:13.309
So have you ever been out here right after daylight savings and it cut off on you?

00:18:13.494 --> 00:18:14.704
Like I was, yeah, the other night.

00:18:14.704 --> 00:18:16.789
What the crap like just this week?

00:18:17.214 --> 00:18:17.504
Yeah.

00:18:17.504 --> 00:18:18.345
That happened to me too.

00:18:18.944 --> 00:18:19.909
I was like crap.

00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:23.089
So the garage door light was on because I was moving around in here.

00:18:23.089 --> 00:18:25.159
So that was enough light for me to see, to get out.

00:18:26.284 --> 00:18:31.029
But yeah, I'm not one of those breeders that comes out here and sorts birds until midnight.

00:18:31.029 --> 00:18:33.009
I don't, I don't do that.

00:18:33.009 --> 00:18:33.519
I don't care.

00:18:33.670 --> 00:18:39.130
I can't see the difference between fee and Pharaoh in the middle of the night when it's half lit in here.

00:18:39.130 --> 00:18:41.279
So I just I don't do that.

00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:42.120
Okay.

00:18:42.120 --> 00:18:43.620
So back to how.

00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:47.019
Breeders should be able to answer your questions.

00:18:47.079 --> 00:18:57.519
So I know my fertility, because my nutrition is good, my birds have the appropriate amount of light, they have the appropriate amount of space for their species.

00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:00.480
And I have the proper ratios.

00:19:01.065 --> 00:19:07.785
And I hatch weekly to test my own fertility and to make sure that there's not any problems.

00:19:08.984 --> 00:19:15.164
So that is what I would answer if you were to ask me what do I do for fertility?

00:19:15.164 --> 00:19:18.045
And all the coil are gonna start talking because we're talking, of course.

00:19:19.154 --> 00:19:23.355
Another question you should ask is, how long have you been working with that line?

00:19:25.884 --> 00:19:31.440
And then if they say they've been working with that line for five minutes, you might want to keep shopping for a breeder.

00:19:32.190 --> 00:19:38.430
If they've been working with their birds for a couple of years, you may want to continue the conversation, right?

00:19:39.059 --> 00:19:45.704
So there's a lot of people out there that buy chicks from hatchery and get them to point of lay and then sell hatch an egg.

00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:51.269
So you're literally buying hatching eggs off of hatchy birds that aren't very old.

00:19:51.779 --> 00:19:53.099
And that leads me to another thing.

00:19:53.220 --> 00:19:56.220
You don't want pullet eggs, you want full-size eggs.

00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:01.410
So make sure you are asking for full-size eggs, not pull eggs.

00:20:01.859 --> 00:20:07.234
And if the breeder doesn't know the difference, you can either not on the phone and find another one.

00:20:07.295 --> 00:20:07.515
Yep.

00:20:08.085 --> 00:20:14.674
Or ask'em what gram the egg is, they should be able to tell you how big their hashing eggs are.

00:20:14.944 --> 00:20:15.335
Okay.

00:20:15.710 --> 00:20:19.180
I couldn't tell you on my orpington eggs, but I don't sell those a lot.

00:20:19.180 --> 00:20:27.430
But I would guess I'm around 40, 45, but I know that my Bresse eggs are 55 to 60 and that is just something that a breeder should know.

00:20:27.730 --> 00:20:28.240
Okay.

00:20:28.599 --> 00:20:28.990
Yeah.

00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:29.440
All right.

00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:29.799
What's next?

00:20:29.849 --> 00:20:38.339
You should also ask the breeders, what traits do they select for in the breeding program, whether it be size, color, fertility, temperament.

00:20:38.339 --> 00:20:39.569
That's a really big one.

00:20:40.140 --> 00:20:43.009
Or production because a lot of times they.

00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:47.920
How do you, what do you separate your quail or what kind of ratio do you have?

00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:51.789
Your quail Mine seem to be 86 in each other.

00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:53.710
Mine don't do that.

00:20:54.690 --> 00:21:05.490
I can, in a 36 inch wide cage, I could put 25 of them in there, or I could put six or eight of'em in there and they're not killing each other.

00:21:05.849 --> 00:21:10.589
Now if I put 25 of'em in there, I need to change that poop tray like twice a day.

00:21:11.505 --> 00:21:17.204
But they're not gonna go nuts and kill each other, but that's because they've been bred that way.

00:21:17.234 --> 00:21:32.535
If I find, if I'm like doing my chores and I find a bird that is being mean to the other birds, it ends very shortly for that bird and the other animals like the treat.

00:21:34.220 --> 00:21:35.355
But make sure you add.

00:21:36.440 --> 00:21:42.839
What they breed for because if you don't want agressive birds, that's one of the things they should be looking for.

00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:47.085
If you want quail that give you 300 eggs a year.

00:21:47.924 --> 00:21:49.755
Then ask that question.

00:21:50.434 --> 00:21:53.845
If you if you called me and said, Hey, I wanna get some Rhode Island Reds.

00:21:54.434 --> 00:21:56.055
Okay, I got some great ones.

00:21:56.505 --> 00:21:57.644
This is what they are.

00:21:58.484 --> 00:22:09.474
Don't call me six, eight months down the road and say that they lay horrible eggs because they're standard bread and they only lay three or four weeks.

00:22:09.970 --> 00:22:10.569
I'm sorry.

00:22:10.750 --> 00:22:11.710
That's the way it is.

00:22:11.769 --> 00:22:13.299
You didn't ask for production.

00:22:14.019 --> 00:22:28.059
You asked for the best quality you could get, so that, that's why you need to ask those questions because you don't want to be disappointed when you start laying or whatever it is you want'em for.

00:22:29.380 --> 00:22:32.650
Could I ask them about their hatch rate and ask them how often they hatched?

00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:46.950
'cause if they don't come up, if they don't answer that question right away, whether it's every week or every month, they hatch their own just for them to see what it is, then they don't really know what it is.

00:22:47.220 --> 00:22:49.440
They're just giving you a number if they have to think about it.

00:22:50.250 --> 00:22:56.069
Because unless you catch me at two o'clock in the morning and ask me, I'm gonna say every week.

00:22:57.615 --> 00:23:01.859
'cause most breeders are, especially with quail, they're hatching in every week.

00:23:02.490 --> 00:23:09.569
Now with chickens this time of year, I don't do that every week because they're not laying a whole lot.

00:23:10.140 --> 00:23:11.220
But when I do it.

00:23:11.609 --> 00:23:14.160
I'm doing it for me and I'm keeping up with those numbers.

00:23:14.250 --> 00:23:14.339
Yeah.

00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:15.990
We're not selling chicken eggs right now.

00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:16.890
No.

00:23:16.890 --> 00:23:17.519
Neither one of us.

00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:22.509
If you're off season, like if you're looking for Turkey eggs in September, you shouldn't find any.

00:23:22.509 --> 00:23:31.450
If you find some, if they're not near the south, I mean in the equator area, then you probably are getting scammed.

00:23:31.750 --> 00:23:33.039
If they're in Alabama.

00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:38.859
Or Florida or Texas, and they light their turkeys.

00:23:40.049 --> 00:23:44.660
It's possible otherwise don't buy'em.

00:23:44.710 --> 00:23:46.210
Are there any known genetic.

00:23:46.579 --> 00:23:51.079
Traits or mutations in the birds?

00:23:52.250 --> 00:23:55.970
So every breeder, okay let's go backwards for one second.

00:23:55.970 --> 00:24:00.559
There's a difference between a breeder and a producer not necessarily saying one is better than the other.

00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:00.859
One.

00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:05.240
A producer doesn't select and just reproduces a hatchery.

00:24:05.490 --> 00:24:07.259
Somebody who's churning out quantity.

00:24:07.630 --> 00:24:08.589
It is what it is.

00:24:08.589 --> 00:24:12.250
We're not calling people producers to be derogatory.

00:24:13.325 --> 00:24:23.664
Now, I do know some people that produce a lot, but they've also spent a really long time really selecting hard.

00:24:24.954 --> 00:24:28.164
And 95% of what they hatch out is a great bird.

00:24:28.315 --> 00:24:33.880
But again, if they ain't been working with it for five or 10 years, that's not gonna be the case.

00:24:34.650 --> 00:24:38.345
So a breeder puts two birds together for a specific purpose.

00:24:38.660 --> 00:24:40.430
Purpose is the answer.

00:24:41.150 --> 00:24:47.210
Every breeder has things about their birds that they're not, that they're not happy about.

00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:54.680
So I can tell you the turkeys, I would like them to be just a little bit, the hens to be just a little bit darker.

00:24:54.950 --> 00:24:57.650
And I am working on breeding bearded hens.

00:24:58.160 --> 00:24:58.519
Okay.

00:24:58.950 --> 00:25:03.599
The ducks, I still get the wrong color bill on some of my hens.

00:25:04.170 --> 00:25:06.029
So I'm working to breed that out.

00:25:06.539 --> 00:25:11.500
The Orpingtons, those are for show that's different.

00:25:11.779 --> 00:25:19.660
So there's a lot of traits there working on the length of back uniformity of color the depth of the buff color.

00:25:19.660 --> 00:25:20.829
There's all kinds of different things.

00:25:21.220 --> 00:25:24.730
The quail always working on size and temperament.

00:25:24.779 --> 00:25:27.940
You're fighting nature with the temperament thing because they're.

00:25:28.464 --> 00:25:31.944
They're a prey animal, and so they're flighty.

00:25:32.035 --> 00:25:34.555
And so that their instinct is to be flighty.

00:25:35.005 --> 00:25:40.045
So selecting for temperament is always going against nature.

00:25:40.974 --> 00:25:55.644
And so what I basically do is if I am moving birds from the grow out to a layer cage and the bird just fights me incessantly, just won't cooperate and being moved or being sexed or whatever.

00:25:55.990 --> 00:25:57.339
It just goes in a cold pen.

00:25:57.339 --> 00:25:57.400
If.

00:25:58.134 --> 00:25:59.995
It's just, it's not worth it.

00:25:59.995 --> 00:26:11.295
I've hatched so many that I can that one's expendable because it doesn't, I can't get past its temperament to even sex it to decide if I want to keep it.

00:26:11.444 --> 00:26:11.505
Yeah.

00:26:11.595 --> 00:26:14.384
So it's just out right there for me.

00:26:14.505 --> 00:26:19.005
It's if I'm doing my job and you try to fight me, you're turning, you're food.

00:26:19.255 --> 00:26:24.684
You're going into, so I've got some grow up breasts over here that are about six weeks old.

00:26:25.164 --> 00:26:29.495
And every day twice a day, I reach in there to change their water.

00:26:29.555 --> 00:26:31.745
I always clean their waters and change it out.

00:26:32.105 --> 00:26:37.265
And he attacks my hand like he is, like a kitten, like pouncing on my hand.

00:26:37.265 --> 00:26:38.404
And he bites.

00:26:38.565 --> 00:26:39.164
Guess what?

00:26:39.404 --> 00:26:40.964
He ain't going to no breeder pen.

00:26:41.085 --> 00:26:42.315
He's done for already.

00:26:42.315 --> 00:26:43.845
He has made his decision.

00:26:44.134 --> 00:26:46.984
I'm raising the breasts with the Orpingtons.

00:26:47.380 --> 00:26:52.390
The Orpingtons are so docile that I'm hoping that rubs off on them, not rub off on them.

00:26:52.900 --> 00:26:53.559
Rubs off on them.

00:26:53.650 --> 00:26:53.710
Yeah.

00:26:53.799 --> 00:26:55.150
They are flight ear.

00:26:55.740 --> 00:26:56.940
But they're smaller.

00:26:56.970 --> 00:26:58.019
They can fly.

00:26:58.170 --> 00:26:59.339
The Orpingtons can't.

00:26:59.339 --> 00:27:00.930
So there's some differences there.

00:27:01.339 --> 00:27:02.480
Physical traits.

00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:02.779
Yeah.

00:27:02.829 --> 00:27:05.265
That, you have to take into account for.

00:27:05.654 --> 00:27:10.634
So there the breeders should be able to tell you, Hey, these are some things I don't like about my line.

00:27:10.634 --> 00:27:12.075
I need you to be aware of that.

00:27:12.865 --> 00:27:16.015
So you can make the decision if that works for your farm.

00:27:18.295 --> 00:27:19.224
Let's see.

00:27:20.454 --> 00:27:22.555
Ooh, my favorite.

00:27:22.644 --> 00:27:23.065
Okay.

00:27:23.724 --> 00:27:26.184
What medications do you, oh my God.

00:27:26.184 --> 00:27:27.414
I hate this question.

00:27:28.615 --> 00:27:31.015
Not that I get asked that a lot, and I'm like.

00:27:32.230 --> 00:27:35.950
I got some garlic, some oregano.

00:27:36.220 --> 00:27:37.630
It does amazing stuff.

00:27:38.140 --> 00:27:38.470
Yep.

00:27:39.069 --> 00:27:47.240
But no, because you know the whole reason I don't want store-bought chicken is because.

00:27:48.230 --> 00:27:56.870
I know what they pump into those birds, and if I'm gonna consume it, I don't want it to have that right.

00:27:57.470 --> 00:28:03.259
And I need it to have the vigor and the tenacity to not.

00:28:03.825 --> 00:28:04.609
Fall over dead.

00:28:05.954 --> 00:28:14.964
And that's another thing that, like with the quail, if, a lot of them seem like they just want to die every time, ever since you take'em outta the hatchet.

00:28:15.625 --> 00:28:21.194
And if one of'em starts to act like a goofball, you're out because I don't want that.

00:28:21.194 --> 00:28:21.704
I don't need it.

00:28:23.250 --> 00:28:25.289
And some people say, oh, this brutal.

00:28:25.289 --> 00:28:27.000
You should do this and you should do that.

00:28:27.670 --> 00:28:31.690
Not really, because a lot of the stuff that they have is not curable.

00:28:32.410 --> 00:28:38.200
The medications just put a bandaid on it, so it's something they're gonna have to deal with forever.

00:28:39.099 --> 00:28:44.779
So when I first started breeding Zerus, there's another podcast and he doesn't medicate either.

00:28:45.259 --> 00:28:47.730
And he he said it would be hard the first year.

00:28:48.089 --> 00:28:49.440
Then after that you'll do better.

00:28:49.710 --> 00:28:53.400
And I trusted him because he's done it for 30 ish years.

00:28:54.174 --> 00:28:54.394
Any.

00:28:55.085 --> 00:28:56.365
And so I did it.

00:28:56.515 --> 00:28:57.174
And guess what?

00:28:58.194 --> 00:28:59.605
Haven't had any trouble since.

00:28:59.974 --> 00:29:01.204
I don't medicate anything.

00:29:01.625 --> 00:29:06.785
Because you want the birds to be able to stand on their own two feet.

00:29:07.085 --> 00:29:07.325
Yeah.

00:29:07.535 --> 00:29:12.785
The, okay we're gonna get off that soapbox'cause that's not what today's podcast is about.

00:29:13.115 --> 00:29:16.265
So the question you ask is what medications?

00:29:16.565 --> 00:29:17.615
Do you use?

00:29:17.944 --> 00:29:22.204
And the answer is for your informational purposes only.

00:29:22.234 --> 00:29:22.684
Okay?

00:29:22.984 --> 00:29:23.164
Yeah.

00:29:23.164 --> 00:29:29.674
It's your personal preference, but be aware that a breeder, Cole's heart, okay.

00:29:29.855 --> 00:29:33.515
Just like I said about the temperament, if I can't even sex, you can't go into a breeder cage.

00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:34.589
Okay.

00:29:35.370 --> 00:29:42.000
And if you're sickly and I have to medicate you to keep you alive, to breed you, those genetics are the ones that you're buying.

00:29:42.569 --> 00:29:42.630
Yeah.

00:29:42.750 --> 00:29:43.170
Okay.

00:29:43.170 --> 00:29:49.109
If you are buying from me or him, then it's the strongest genetics.

00:29:49.940 --> 00:29:56.180
So you can, the people on Facebook can be mad that we are what he calls ruthless.

00:29:56.539 --> 00:30:00.650
But those are the genetics that you want to buy.

00:30:00.650 --> 00:30:06.230
You don't wanna buy birds that you have to give corid to upon arrival.

00:30:06.230 --> 00:30:10.549
I saw that on Facebook the other day, and she actually tells people to give him court upon arrival.

00:30:11.704 --> 00:30:11.995
Yeah.

00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:12.890
I had the same look.

00:30:13.490 --> 00:30:13.759
Okay.

00:30:14.150 --> 00:30:14.420
Yeah.

00:30:14.420 --> 00:30:17.795
See, I don't, yeah, we'll just leave that one there.

00:30:18.174 --> 00:30:18.394
Yep.

00:30:18.535 --> 00:30:19.474
You have that one.

00:30:21.349 --> 00:30:23.930
So here's some questions, some other questions.

00:30:25.220 --> 00:30:27.470
You need to think about why you're buying.

00:30:29.569 --> 00:30:35.779
Do you have enough space housing and equipment for these birds?

00:30:36.335 --> 00:30:45.545
Because if you're, if you've decided after you've done all your homework, you want Orpingtons, you need to know they're gonna be two feet tall or taller.

00:30:46.115 --> 00:30:48.964
They're gonna be seven to nine pounds.

00:30:49.055 --> 00:30:51.065
That's standard for standards.

00:30:51.245 --> 00:30:51.515
Yeah.

00:30:51.875 --> 00:30:52.894
And they're gonna eat a lot.

00:30:52.894 --> 00:30:52.954
Yeah.

00:30:55.829 --> 00:30:56.170
If you.

00:30:57.309 --> 00:31:01.089
Let's say you want to get indigo antes,'cause they're like the new thing now.

00:31:01.750 --> 00:31:02.620
You need to know them.

00:31:02.620 --> 00:31:04.779
Suckers are gonna be three to four feet tall.

00:31:05.140 --> 00:31:13.059
The giraffes, they don't like to be housed in anything small and they're breeding.

00:31:13.819 --> 00:31:20.660
You need to do individual pair mating with them because they're very tor territorial on that.

00:31:21.289 --> 00:31:41.710
So once you figure out what breed you need to think about space and housing and equipment, because you know when you say you want a layer and somebody says that's 40 bucks, you're like.

00:31:42.920 --> 00:31:44.180
You have sticker shock.

00:31:45.380 --> 00:31:54.730
That breeder if they're doing it right, they spent thousands just to house that bird and keep it safe.

00:31:55.960 --> 00:31:57.200
I have Alumi-Coops.

00:31:57.200 --> 00:31:59.585
Jennifer has Alumi-Coops a lot of people have'em.

00:32:00.009 --> 00:32:00.474
They're not cheap.

00:32:02.565 --> 00:32:06.164
But they're extremely durable and nothing's getting in them.

00:32:06.944 --> 00:32:07.484
Key statement.

00:32:07.615 --> 00:32:11.605
They even have kits for'em that will keep bears and stuff out.

00:32:12.684 --> 00:32:14.904
So those are things to think about.

00:32:16.835 --> 00:32:18.664
Handling potential losses.

00:32:19.595 --> 00:32:22.204
And pour hatch rates from shift eggs.

00:32:23.315 --> 00:32:29.380
What kind of reaction are you gonna have if you walk outside and some predator has killed your favorite chicken?

00:32:30.839 --> 00:32:31.890
And I've been nice about it.

00:32:33.750 --> 00:32:45.474
That's things to think about because that's natural part of having chickens because everybody likes chickens, including dogs, possums, raccoons.

00:32:47.730 --> 00:32:48.779
Anything you can think about.

00:32:49.170 --> 00:32:50.640
Yeah, but I think it's talking about shipping.

00:32:51.630 --> 00:32:51.990
Shipping.

00:32:52.319 --> 00:32:53.160
We're talking about shipping.

00:32:55.555 --> 00:32:55.974
Shipping.

00:32:56.875 --> 00:32:58.134
That was in this section right here.

00:32:58.134 --> 00:32:59.394
Your goals and capacity.

00:33:01.345 --> 00:33:01.674
Oh, okay.

00:33:02.484 --> 00:33:04.464
Yeah, I was reading the notes.

00:33:05.555 --> 00:33:07.265
Also when you think about.

00:33:08.740 --> 00:33:11.710
When you're, when you get your birds and you start hatching.

00:33:12.845 --> 00:33:15.845
You need to be careful of the church.

00:33:19.144 --> 00:33:21.394
That little chirping sound from the hatcher.

00:33:22.204 --> 00:33:23.704
Everybody loves that sound.

00:33:24.275 --> 00:33:32.444
It's adorable, but you gotta be careful of it because like kids, you gotta feed'em, you gotta house'em.

00:33:33.045 --> 00:33:34.890
And they're not gonna be T 90 all their life.

00:33:35.984 --> 00:33:45.825
So when you throw 150 eggs in your brand new incubator,'cause you want to try it out, you gotta be prepared for them all hatching.

00:33:47.865 --> 00:34:07.740
Because you'll be like me and you'll do your first really big test hatch of the season because everything started lay and you've got these and these, and they're all in there marked and you put'em in their individual baskets, so the little sock thingies to keep everything separate.

00:34:07.740 --> 00:34:09.090
So you know what was what.

00:34:10.005 --> 00:34:10.035
Okay.

00:34:10.724 --> 00:34:12.345
And then 98% of them acts.

00:34:13.305 --> 00:34:17.445
So somebody likes to collect all the different kinds of birds.

00:34:18.224 --> 00:34:22.515
Somebody, me is focused.

00:34:24.345 --> 00:34:24.855
I like birds.

00:34:25.305 --> 00:34:26.445
Yes, we all like'em.

00:34:26.445 --> 00:34:27.735
Obviously we're listening to'em.

00:34:28.095 --> 00:34:30.045
Okay, so we're gonna wrap this up now.

00:34:30.045 --> 00:34:32.474
'cause my arm's really tired of holding this camera up.

00:34:32.575 --> 00:34:41.905
So we're gonna put this worksheet up on the website and you can answer the questions for yourself, and then you can use it, print it off.

00:34:41.905 --> 00:34:46.175
So when you talk to different breeders worst case, use it for something to think about.

00:34:46.894 --> 00:34:47.195
Yeah.

00:34:47.255 --> 00:34:54.454
If you're new to the game and you're listening to the podcast because you're trying to figure out what you want, or if you're gonna sell in 2026.

00:34:54.859 --> 00:34:59.960
Use it to be prepared for the questions that you're going to get because you'll get them.

00:35:00.299 --> 00:35:01.440
But anyway, it's there.

00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:03.059
It's I figured out how to do it.

00:35:03.089 --> 00:35:09.369
We had a little hiccup last week but now I understand how to do Google sheets a little bit better and he's forever teaching me.

00:35:10.269 --> 00:35:15.190
And so it's a downloadable now that you can just download and f print off as many as you want.

00:35:15.549 --> 00:35:15.639
Yep.

00:35:15.730 --> 00:35:19.744
And so fill it off as many as you, as many times as you want to, for as many breeders as you want to.

00:35:20.255 --> 00:35:24.964
But anyway, hope this helps you guys to have set your expectations.

00:35:25.264 --> 00:35:27.424
Reasonable expectations.

00:35:27.424 --> 00:35:28.085
Expectations reasonable.

00:35:29.269 --> 00:35:29.489
Yep.

00:35:29.974 --> 00:35:30.664
All right.

00:35:31.025 --> 00:35:31.625
Bye.

00:35:31.714 --> 00:35:31.954
Next.

00:35:31.954 --> 00:35:32.650
See y'all next week.