More Peepers, Coming Right Up!

How many people can honestly say they got EXACTLY what they wanted for Christmas? I CAN!!! My Honey gave me an incubator! Now I can raise my very own chicks! (Can you tell I am excited?) I have been doing some research on breeding chickens and have discovered I need to have 4 separate breeding groups which has one rooster and at least 8 if not 10 hens.

(This is Martha. She is a Blue Wheaten Ameraucana)
Why do I want to breed them, you might be asking. I am in love with the Ameraucana breed. They are docile, good layers, have great personalities and lay green or blue eggs. By breeding my own I will have a "closed" breeding system.

There is a terrible disease, Marek's, that kills the females just as they are about to begin laying at 6 months of age. There is a vaccine, but it is available in doses of 1,000 and is only good for 24 hours. My incubator holds 43 eggs. You can see that the doses are just not worth it. I would like my babies to be resistant to the disease. We shall see. I may change my mind 8 months down the line!

Before I can get any more invested in the breeding plans, I need to expand the chicken housing for the breeding families. Thankfully Farmer Jeff likes to build things!

Happy New Year! May all of your wishes come true!