Chick Day Thursday March 9th 6:30pm

WOODVILLE ACE HARDWARE

CHICK DAY

THRUSDAY

MARCH 9, 2017

6:30 PM

 

You are invited to Chick Day here at Woodville Ace Hardware. Each year we have an event where chicken people can come together in a social setting. Talk chicken and learn some chicken facts and get information from our Purina representative, Danny Smith.

 

This year the Training Class will be on feeds. What are the best feeds, to feed from day old chicks, to our elder birds. Nutrition is very important to raise up chicks that are good egg producers, for meat, for show or just pets.

 

There will be door prizes, refreshments, 10% off you entire purchase after attending the class (some exclusions apply) and a 10% coupon for feed in the future.  

 

Come join the fun! Meet others that are raising and loving chickens. Ask your questions, buy some chicks and supplies at a great price.

Black Giant

Jersey Giant

 

This breed originated in New Jersey in the 1880's when the Black brothers, John and Thomas, crossed a Black Java, Dark Brahmas, Dark Cornishes, and Black Langshans. The white variety was developed from white spotted varieties of these same breeds, and they are actually born gray. There is a blue variety of the Jersey Giant that was perfected over sixty years of dedicated breeding of these birds. It has been reported that there are also a splash, barred and silver varieties.

 

As the name implies these are larger than normal size chickens. And are the largest of all chicken breeds. A Jersey Giant rooster that is castrated can grow to an amazing 20 pounds. The hens are fairly good layers of extra-large brown eggs. They have a long laying season but are slow to mature and have a slow poor feed-to- meat conversion, meaning it takes too long for them to grow to a desirable size for meat, while young birds. This explains why they are not popular as commercial broilers. They are cold hardy and have calm dispositions. Hens will go broody and make excellent mothers.

 

The average size of these giants is roosters can reach 13 pounds and hens 10 pounds. Mostly solid Black feathers, sometimes with a tint of blue on their ruff and back. Red comb with six points, and bright red waddles. These birds are mostly known for their jumbo size but loved for their disposition as well.

 

Black Sexlink

 Red Sexlink

Gold Sexlink

Black Sexlink…what is a sexlinked chicken anyway???

Black sexlinks, Red sexlinks, Gold sexlinks and another chicken, by another name, this can get confusing. We sell a lot of sexlink chicks but the black sexlinks tend to be the most popular. This is because they are a solid, dual purpose chicken that is hardy, lays 300 plus (mostly) large brown eggs a year, even in winter. They live and lay a long life span, and are also docile and easily tamed.      

First…. sexlinks are a Hybrid Chicken, hybrid Chickens were first developed in the 1930’s. The first rule of any hybrid is that if you breed two sexlink chickens you will NOT get a sexlink off spring. AND breeding a sexlink to a pure bred chicken will NOT get you another sexlink. Short of it is, you can not breed a sexlinked chicken in any cross to produce a sexlink off spring. So if you are looking to breed chickens, sexlinks are not what you want. Unless you want mutts. I will leave the rest up to those chicken breeders that know all the genetics of breeding chickens. It’s all in the genes and a little confusing to me. Best to let someone else explain this. I underlined the qualities I find important.

From Wikipedia, This article is about hybrid chickens. For the biologic principles of sex linked inheritance, see Sex linkage.

Sex-links are cross-bred chickens whose color at hatching is differentiated by sex, thus making chick sexing an easier process. Sex-links come in several varieties. As hybrids of laying or dual-purpose breeds infused with extra vigor via heterosis, sex-links can be extremely good egg-layers which often produce 300 eggs a year or more depending on the quality of care and feed. The color of their eggs vary according to the mix of breeds, and blue-green eggs are possible.

Many common varieties are known as the black sex-link (also called Black Stars) and the red sex-link (also called Red Stars). More specific variety names are common as well. Blacks are a cross between a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire rooster and a Barred Rock hen.

Red sex-links sometimes called Gold sex-links are a cross between a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire rooster and a White Rock (This variety pair is known as a Golden Comet, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Rhode Island White or Delaware hen.

 

Time to think about those OTHER birds!

Silkies

Frizzles

Assorted Bantams

We have had several special requests for Silkies, Frizzels, Ducks and Turkeys.  We will take your special, pre-paid order to assure your chicks are held for you for 24 hours from the time you are called when they arrive. These are just the first dates available. Watch the blog for more dates available.

*Straight Run: not sexed, mixture of male and female

March 7^th             (50) Silkies (Straight Run Only) $3.99

March 7^th             (30) Turkeys: 15 White and 15 Bronze  (Straight Run Only) $12.99

March 14^th           (30) Frizzels (Straight Run Only) $3.99

March 29(50), April 4(25) & 12(50)  Assorted Bantams (Straight Run Only) $3.99

April 12^th              (50) White Pekin Ducks (Straight Run Only) $6.99

White Pekin

Bronze Turkey

The Barred Rock

The Barred Rock has been a foundation of American farmstead since the 1800’s. They are also known as the Plymouth Rock. These birds first showed up in Massachusetts in 1849 and then were not seen again until 1869. Mr. D.A. Upham cross-bred some Black Java hens with a rooster with barred plumage and a single comb and clean featherless legs. Other Rock breeds have been developed from this foundation breed such as the White Rock, Columbian, Blue, Buff, Partridge, and Silver-penciled Rock. These other breeds have been mixed with Brahma, Cochin, and the Dominique.

The Rock breeds were the most wide spread breed through-out the United States until World War II, when chicken breeds were industrialized to produce a hybrid broiler. At that time the Rock breeds fell from popularity of larger breeding farms and became the more popular domestic breed of homesteads.

The Rock breeds are well known for their hardiness, they mature rapidly, and feather early, so they are resistant to cold weather. They are a dual-purpose bird that are great brown egg layers and have tasty meat. With a docile disposition and some hens can become broody and are good mothers.

The Barred Rock is black with white bars. White and Columbian rocks are mostly white with some black points on their collar and tail. Buffs show a similar pattern. All of the rock breeds have a single comb with five points, wattles and ear lobes of bright red. Legs are yellow and unfeathered.

Black Australorp

 

Black Orphington was imported into Australia from England in the 1890's and early 1900's. These bird provided the primary parent stock for the Australorp. Other birds that were thought to be bred into the development of the Australorp were the Minorca, White Leghorn, Plymouth Rock and the Langshan.  The modern day Australorp is known as Australia's National Breed. First imported into the US in 1929.

            The breeders of this bird, developed them to emphasize utility, and it is what this bird is well known for. It is a great layer, over 200 brown eggs a year. And it is also a good meat bird. This dual purpose bird is a good choice for those looking for hardiness and productivity. They are early to mature, docile and quiet birds with fluffy loose feathers. They have large red combs with five perfectly spaced points and medium size smooth waddles, all bright red. 

Early Bird...and something about worms! So our chicks have once again arrived a day early. Come on in and see our beautiful new peepers. We had ordered Gold Wyandottes and they sent us White Leghorns instead. The Leghorns are white egg layers with a great personality and little pearl earrings. If you are just starting out look back a few post back to find what baby chicks need. Call us if you have any questions or want to make a pre-paid order.