Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

We have found salmon faverolles to be a very versitile breed. We have been getting about 5 eggs/week on average including through the winter with them. They started laying 60gm eggs at 24 weeks of age. They are a very heavy bird that is very good as a meat bird too, being a dual purpose breed.

They also have a great temperment, and follow you around like a dog. They are very curious, and pretty quiet until they lay an egg. You don't have to check until you hear "the sound".

+1 on the faveroles...lovely bird, so heavy they dont really fly like some breeds. Only prob here is with their fluffy feet the mud builds up and causes trouble.

Have 8 Buff Orpingtons, 8 Rhode Island Reds, some Ameraucanas, and quite a few Game chickens. The Buffs and Reds are in 6' high 10X10 dog kennel chain link pens with a homemade roof of 1" metal conduit and tarps. The Ameraucanas are in a "Chicken Condo" that I made out of scrap wood. Tall enough that a person can walk in through a regular sized door. All have laying boxes, and the condo has a couple of quarantine cages.
The Game chickens are for bug-control on our acreage. Caught up and sold off about 18 or so a few days ago, but only put a dent in the population. They work wonders in the garden, but seem to be too attracted to my AP tomatoes. Have had 5 eaten this year until I put some nylon stocking pieces over the tomatoes.

Have some wooden raised beds that are 3 feet wide and have made a few "chicken tractors" out of scrap PVC pipe and chicken wire that fit nicely on top of the raised beds. I'll transfer a few into the chicken tractor for a few days until they have tilled up that section of bed, then put them back in their regular cages. Works better than a pitchfork to turn the ground for planting, with the benefit of their fertilization. Have to figure out how to make some sort of box on the end of the tractor cage though, because then they lay eggs in the dirt.

Just got chicks a couple weeks ago. 1 RIR pullet, 1 Amberlink pullet, 3 Barred Plymouth Rocks and 4 Americaunas-both from straight runs. Hoping to find some Buff Orpingtons soon. I'm using leftover aquariums and heat lamps from when we had some reptile friends indoors.
Getting ready to build a henhouse and run for them in the next week or two. The weather is getting warm enough that they could go outside soon. Looking forward to lots of different colored eggs for us and the fish. And, whoever crows gets eaten.
BIG WORM, if you are still here, whereabouts in SC are you at?

Got our first chooks yesterday. 7 isabrowns. They are ex-caged hatchery chickens that have had a very good stroke of luck to wind up in our large backyard.

They are free to roam around where ever they want we just lock them up at night. Got them yesterday afternoon and two eggs already. I was expecting it to take a while for them to settle down and regain their health/strength but there you go. Naturally, being from a caged hatchery they look a little worse for wear but expecting them to look good as new over the coming weeks.

We're feeding them pellets designed for laying chooks and they've got a lot of scrubby backyard to scratch around in. Given that eggs are primarily CaCO3 I thought maybe I'd collect a couple of cuttle fish 'bones' next time I go surfing, as the 'bone' is made out of aragonite, moleculary the same thing. Anyone have any experience doing this? Crush it up or give it to them as is?

Pretty excited to have some chickens running around. Chickens are a first for me, but not the girl I live with.

They do sound like lucky girls subasurf! I'd put the cuttlefish bones in their feed container and they should just have a peck if they so desire or just throw some shellgrit in with their laying pellets. Do they know how to scratch yet?

Yeah they've been scratching around like crazy