November 6, 2025 • 36 mins
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Have you ever wondered what chicken breed would be best for yourself? Or even considered ducks instead? Then how to find a breeder and what to ask them? We have you covered this week on the podcast. We created a checklist for you and then go thru it on some possible answers and the reasons why. We also published this one to Youtube to show you some items live from Bryant's Roost!
Find the checklist on the website at PoultryNerdsPodcast.com
Join Carey of Show Pro Farm Supply and Jennifer of Bryant's Roost as we delve into chickens and quail (mostly) to help you enjoy your birds more and worry less. Backyard chicken keeping shouldnt be stressfull, let's get back to the simple days
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:45):
Hi.
Hey.
We're doing this today becausewe are gonna talk about shipping
and handling and a whole lot ofother stuff that goes along with
birds.
And a lot of times we tell youstuff and we're descriptive, but
a lot of this you really need tosee.
Yep.
So we're gonna expand a littlebit on how to select a breeder
(01:09):
and the questions that you wannaask.
And I've created a checklistthat you're gonna find on the
website you can download.
We're gonna go through thattoday and questions you can ask
and how the breeder may respond.
Some of the questions, thebreeder may respond nicely.
Some of'em, they won't answeryou at all, and there's reasons
(01:29):
for that, and we're gonna gothrough those today.
Yep.
But right now we are in the eggfoam warehouse and yep.
There we go.
You see all the peanuts that youcan eat?
Yep.
They're made outta molasses,tons of egg foam, everything
she's got available, includingthe live shipper boxes.
(01:53):
Yep.
So you wanna start with eggs?
We can.
So obviously I prefer foam.
A lot of people will tell youthat you can use pipe wrap or
pool noodles, and I've done it.
I'm not gonna say I didn't whenI first started, I didn't know
this stuff existed.
But now that I know better, Iwould not do that and I wouldn't
(02:15):
recommend it because when you'rehandling the egg and you're
forcing it into that.
Cut piece of foam, and thenyou're wrapping it individually
and then you're putting it inthe box.
That is all time for the embryoto get damaged.
So I think that extra amount ofhandling is unnecessary.
(02:36):
So egg foam sits in the box.
You put it in the box, put theegg in it, put the top on it,
put it in the box, and you shipit.
There's no extra jiggling of theegg.
It keeps it nice and secure.
And if you double box it, thenyou get extra.
Oh, what impact resistance.
(02:57):
Impact resistance, yes.
Yeah.
You can use the peanuts or onthe egg foam when you pull these
little pieces out.
You gotta have something to dowith'em.
Yeah.
So when you double box, juststick it in there and it adds to
the packaging.
Yep.
And the foam comes in.
You make the foam yourself, youcan buy it Personally, I don't
(03:19):
think that you can make it anycheaper than I can sell it to
you, but that's for you guys.
But it comes in all thesedifferent sizes for quill eggs,
but eggs, duck eggs, chicken,eggs, fanta, eggs, all the
different sizes.
They fit the boxes.
And I don't know.
I get excellent hatch rates frommy shipped eggs, and I just
think I'm so committed to itthat I've made a business out of
(03:40):
it.
And like when you use the foam,we all know that the post
office, they're gonna do whatthey're gonna do.
And there's no way around it.
You can put all the fragilestickers on there, the live
embryo stickers you want, andthey're.
Sometimes it looks like they'vebeen playing soccer with it.
(04:01):
So you can only control what youcan do.
So the less you handle it, thebetter the chances are.
Also, the foam acts as ainsulator.
So when the weather iscatawampus, that's a good word.
Yeah.
It, it helps to where thetemperature shift is slower and
(04:24):
that makes your hatch abilitybetter.
So they don't necessarily wantthis to be a commercial for ex
foam, but it is a question foryou to ask the breeder, how do
they package?
And then you have all of theinformation and you make the
decision for yourself.
So that's it.
Now, live shipping of birds,which I do every week.
(04:46):
I do hundreds of them.
So I'm pretty good at it.
What you do need is an approvedUSPS box and a box with holes.
Jabbed in it with a pair ofscissors does not count.
Nope.
Okay.
Chicks also have to be shipped.
Express.
(05:06):
Some people will tell you thatyou can ship them priority.
That is not a true statement.
I do believe the hatcheriesmight have contracts to be able
to ship them cheaper, but for usplain folk, we have to use
express shipping.
They won't accept'em at the postoffice without it.
So these boxes.
(05:29):
Have air holes, right?
So you can see the air holes andvents, okay.
And more air holes on this side.
Now birds need ventilation.
We harp on that on other egg.
Other podcasts, this particularshipping box has biofilm is what
that's called, glued in there.
(05:50):
And that prevents the bird fromsticking their head out of the
holes.
And having it knocked off intransit for lack of anything
better to say.
Now, I have seen some peoplegoing through some extreme
measures and putting all kindsof different things on the
inside of the box.
(06:12):
Personally, I think there is a.
Point of overkill, but I dothink it's better to be
prepared.
Usually David and I have bigconversations about being
overkill, but I think in thiscase, overkill is better.
I hot glue Dixie cups in hereand then I put grow gel in the
Dixie cups.
I put sawdust shavings in thebottom and they get feed.
(06:35):
That's all I do.
I've been having good successwith that.
So until it doesn't workanymore, I see no reason to
change it.
But some people put fruit anddifferent things in there.
I can go either way on thatbecause if the bird isn't
accustomed to eating fruit, thenit could upset their GI tract
and that become a nutritionquestion for him, not me.
(06:56):
Yeah, on that.
If you're going to ship a bird,express and it's gonna get there
tomorrow, I think that bird'sgonna be fine.
But a lot of times where you seethe fruit come into play is a
lot of game f People will shipbirds overseas for whatever
reasons, and for that, havingapples and stuff in there is
(07:18):
good for not only nutrition, butfor hydration because it's
there.
You don't just let the firsttime that bird has had an apple.
Be when you put'em in the box.
That's something you need to getthem accustomed to.
And a lot of breeds do feedfruit from time to time, so that
(07:42):
helps.
But don't let the day you cram abird in a box, be the first time
it gets grow, gel, whatever foodyou're putting in there,
anything.
Don't do that at first.
And then this is just a checkbox.
It folds down and you can getdifferent varieties of check
(08:04):
boxes.
You want a size appropriate boxbecause their body heat is
trapped in there.
And if you're shipping chicks,you want their body heat
contained in there.
So this particular box, theydon't pop the circles off, and I
do it myself.
So in July, I'll pop'em all off.
(08:26):
In January, I'll usually onlypop these top ones off and I'll
put a heat pack in there.
So the breeder needs tounderstand seasonal shipping and
have size appropriate boxes.
This box would be for sendinglike full-sized chickens.
I can, believe it or not, I canfit a full size coaching or
(08:47):
orpington in there.
They do lay down and they're intheir sh.
Squished, but there's a lot ofbody heat.
You gotta be prepared and shipthem in the wintertime when that
happens.
But I also ship adult quail inthis size box.
This one is more for chicks ofchicken and quail.
So size appropriate boxes isalso important.
(09:09):
And if you noticed when I havefolded this down, see how it
creates that gap right there.
That's important.
This box does the same thing.
So what happens is when it's ona pallet in the airplane and
they put the boxes together likethis, you still get some airflow
(09:30):
right here.
And that's what this is for, ifyou've ever wondered.
So it doesn't just fold into aflat, perfect square box because
then you wouldn't get airflowwhen they're butted up against
each other like that.
That's why you include zip tiesin the boxes to use.
Yeah.
So they can use'em in the holesinstead of putting a big old
(09:50):
piece of tape on there.
Exactly.
So if you wanted to see thisone, see when you fold it down
now it folds in right there.
See that?
Oh yeah.
And so that allows airflow inthere also.
That's the reason why theseboxes have that, those shapes
that they do.
Alright, I think that shouldanswer all of your questions on
(10:13):
shipping eggs and birds onto thenext one.
Okay.
So now we're gonna talk abouthow do you select a breed or
even a bird for your situation.
And all the ducks are coming tohelp us do it on this one too.
We have tried to outrun them,it's not working.
So let's just start with ducks.
(10:34):
A lot of people are allergic tochicken eggs.
Duck eggs are a validalternative.
Yep.
To a lot of people.
These particular ducks are welcharla winds.
They cannot fly.
They are, they're talking, theyare prolific layers.
They lay, I don't know.
(10:55):
Two 80 eggs a year or something.
An astronomical amount of eggs.
I don't even pick'em all up'cause there's so many eggs.
They're pretty docile.
They follow year round likepuppy dogs.
Yep.
Ducks may be a good fit for you.
They also are fantastic mosquitocontrol.
We have zero mosquitoes outhere.
You consider ducks chickens?
(11:17):
It depends on what you want'emfor.
If you just want something foreggs, then you're gonna want a
production breed.
Something from a hatchery,they're gonna be bred for
production.
That's a genetic trait.
So an orpington from a hatcheryRhode Island Red from a
hatchery, a leghorn or if you'rein the south, it's a leghorn.
(11:38):
Or, any of the fun things likeEaster Eggers olive Eggers.
The Mystic Morans, they have,even they, the Isa Browns are
the high lines.
You can get some of thecommercial top layers from
hatcheries.
Those are prolific egg layers.
And when people ask how do Ineed to set up my chicken pin?
(12:00):
Or whatever, the biggest thingyou've gotta consider first is.
Why do you want the chicken?
Because why you want thechicken.
This helps you figure out whatchicken you want and that's what
type of housing.
It depends.
'cause if you want turkeys likethese over here, you're gonna
need a lot bigger housing.
(12:22):
And if you want bantams, thenyou need smaller housing, right?
So for me, even it, like thehardest thing for me was
figuring out what my goals were,because I just like chicken and
turkeys and quail.
I didn't really, I didn't, mygoal was to keep'em alive.
I just like'em and wanted tohave'em around.
(12:44):
It all depends on what you wantto do.
Now, if you wanna show or youwant hot.
Quality birds, the size of thosebirds, which are called standard
breads.
When you breed for that size,you have to give up other
genetic traits.
And one of those is egg laying.
So my standard bread Orpingtonsmay lay four eggs a week for
(13:09):
four months and that's it.
They're not prolific layersbecause they're massive birds.
People don't.
Understand that until theyprobably get here, most of the
time, my arm's getting tired.
So if you wanna show birds,you're gonna be looking for
standard bread birds.
If you want eggs, you're lookingfor utility, hatchery, bread
(13:31):
type birds.
More fun colors even.
Yeah.
And if you are in the Turkeymarket and you want turkeys that
will.
Reproduce.
You want heritage breed, whichis what we have.
Yeah.
Both of us have the redbourbons.
They lay eggs, they reproduceand they taste fantastic.
(13:52):
But you do have to feed'em allyear long.
They're seasonal layers.
Mine only lay March to Maymaybe, and you have to feed'em
the rest of the year, so there'sthat.
But you could get a meat bird.
And be done with them in 16weeks.
So that would be your broadbreasted, white, broad,
(14:13):
breasted, bronze.
Everything else should beconsidered heritage.
Let's see.
Okay.
And then the breasts.
The reason why we selected thebreasts was because they're very
fast to grow.
You can harvest them as young as17 weeks at full size and they
lay eggs.
Probably as well as ae, I wouldsay.
(14:34):
They just shoot them things outyou should get, if all the
conditions are right, they'renot stressed or anything like
that, and they're getting plentyof daylight.
Five a week from one of them isnot uncommon.
Starting at what, 20 weeks?
Yeah.
My, they're little for the firsttwo or three weeks, but man,
(14:55):
once they get full size, we'retalking 55, 60 gram eggs.
They're good size eggs.
We eat our birds and so theBresse is a really good choice
for us.
It's dual purpose meat and eggs.
You have to know what you wantbefore you go shopping.
Otherwise, you will impulse buyand get stuck with birds that
(15:17):
you really don't want.
You'll wind up with a couplehundred birds and you won't be
in love with any of'em, andyou'll despise your feed bill
and you'll just be miserable.
Yep.
Alright, onto the next one.
Now we're sitting in the barn.
So breeding practices is thefirst one, right?
(15:37):
So we're in the quail barn.
Breeding starts with feed.
Got a little bit over there.
Got a little bit.
I'm looking at what, about 5,000pounds total right now?
Probably.
So each species has its ownrequirements.
That would be questions for thisguy and he delivers and then I
(16:01):
feed it.
And then the fertility rate ispretty much a direct answer to
those nutrition, A lot of it'sthe vitamins.
(17:05):
Yeah.
And I had somebody send me afeed tag this morning and they
said, Hey what would I do tothis feed to make it a complete
feed?
And I looked at it, I said to behonest, I don't know because in
the ingredients they list.
These different vitamins, A, D,and E, but they don't tell you
how much is in there.
So I don't know what you need toadd.
(17:26):
I tell you where to start andsee what happens.
But unless you actually have afeed tag that's got all the
information on it.
You're, it is a shot in thedark.
Okay, we're back again.
David, come over to talk to us.
Yep.
Okay.
So if you'll notice the lightsright there.
(17:48):
Yeah.
Okay.
So a bird has to have at least14 hours of light to late.
And we are in the quail barn.
So my quail are lit every day,roughly 5:00 AM to 9:00 PM I
don't change it.
They do not understand daylightsavings time.
They're on the same time allyear round.
Okay, whatever the timer is.
(18:09):
So sometimes it's five to nine,sometimes it's six to 10,
whatever.
So have you ever been out hereright after daylight savings and
it cut off on you?
Like I was, yeah, the othernight.
What the crap like just thisweek?
Yeah.
That happened to me too.
I was like crap.
So the garage door light was onbecause I was moving around in
here.
So that was enough light for meto see, to get out.
(18:30):
But yeah, I'm not one of thosebreeders that comes out here and
sorts birds until midnight.
I don't, I don't do that.
I don't care.
I can't see the differencebetween fee and Pharaoh in the
middle of the night when it'shalf lit in here.
So I just I don't do that.
Okay.
So back to how.
Breeders should be able toanswer your questions.
(18:51):
So I know my fertility, becausemy nutrition is good, my birds
have the appropriate amount oflight, they have the appropriate
amount of space for theirspecies.
And I have the proper ratios.
And I hatch weekly to test myown fertility and to make sure
that there's not any problems.
(19:13):
So that is what I would answerif you were to ask me what do I
do for fertility?
And all the coil are gonna starttalking because we're talking,
of course.
Another question you should askis, how long have you been
working with that line?
And then if they say they'vebeen working with that line for
five minutes, you might want tokeep shopping for a breeder.
(19:36):
If they've been working withtheir birds for a couple of
years, you may want to continuethe conversation, right?
So there's a lot of people outthere that buy chicks from
hatchery and get them to pointof lay and then sell hatch an
egg.
So you're literally buyinghatching eggs off of hatchy
birds that aren't very old.
And that leads me to anotherthing.
(19:57):
You don't want pullet eggs, youwant full-size eggs.
So make sure you are asking forfull-size eggs, not pull eggs.
And if the breeder doesn't knowthe difference, you can either
not on the phone and findanother one.
Yep.
Or ask'em what gram the egg is,they should be able to tell you
(20:17):
how big their hashing eggs are.
Okay.
I couldn't tell you on myorpington eggs, but I don't sell
those a lot.
But I would guess I'm around 40,45, but I know that my Bresse
eggs are 55 to 60 and that isjust something that a breeder
should know.
Okay.
Yeah.
All right.
What's next?
You should also ask thebreeders, what traits do they
select for in the breedingprogram, whether it be size,
(20:41):
color, fertility, temperament.
That's a really big one.
Or production because a lot oftimes they.
How do you, what do you separateyour quail or what kind of ratio
do you have?
Your quail Mine seem to be 86 ineach other.
Mine don't do that.
I can, in a 36 inch wide cage, Icould put 25 of them in there,
(21:06):
or I could put six or eight of'em in there and they're not
killing each other.
Now if I put 25 of'em in there,I need to change that poop tray
like twice a day.
But they're not gonna go nutsand kill each other, but that's
because they've been bred thatway.
If I find, if I'm like doing mychores and I find a bird that is
(21:28):
being mean to the other birds,it ends very shortly for that
bird and the other animals likethe treat.
But make sure you add.
What they breed for because ifyou don't want agressive birds,
that's one of the things theyshould be looking for.
If you want quail that give you300 eggs a year.
(21:52):
Then ask that question.
If you if you called me andsaid, Hey, I wanna get some
Rhode Island Reds.
Okay, I got some great ones.
This is what they are.
Don't call me six, eight monthsdown the road and say that they
lay horrible eggs becausethey're standard bread and they
(22:12):
only lay three or four weeks.
I'm sorry.
That's the way it is.
You didn't ask for production.
You asked for the best qualityyou could get, so that, that's
why you need to ask thosequestions because you don't want
to be disappointed when youstart laying or whatever it is
you want'em for.
(22:33):
Could I ask them about theirhatch rate and ask them how
often they hatched?
'cause if they don't come up, ifthey don't answer that question
right away, whether it's everyweek or every month, they hatch
their own just for them to seewhat it is, then they don't
really know what it is.
They're just giving you a numberif they have to think about it.
(22:54):
Because unless you catch me attwo o'clock in the morning and
ask me, I'm gonna say everyweek.
'cause most breeders are,especially with quail, they're
hatching in every week.
Now with chickens this time ofyear, I don't do that every week
because they're not laying awhole lot.
But when I do it.
(23:16):
I'm doing it for me and I'mkeeping up with those numbers.
Yeah.
We're not selling chicken eggsright now.
No.
Neither one of us.
If you're off season, like ifyou're looking for Turkey eggs
in September, you shouldn't findany.
If you find some, if they're notnear the south, I mean in the
equator area, then you probablyare getting scammed.
(23:36):
If they're in Alabama.
Or Florida or Texas, and theylight their turkeys.
It's possible otherwise don'tbuy'em.
Are there any known genetic.
Traits or mutations in thebirds?
(23:56):
So every breeder, okay let's gobackwards for one second.
There's a difference between abreeder and a producer not
necessarily saying one is betterthan the other.
One.
A producer doesn't select andjust reproduces a hatchery.
Somebody who's churning outquantity.
It is what it is.
We're not calling peopleproducers to be derogatory.
(24:17):
Now, I do know some people thatproduce a lot, but they've also
spent a really long time reallyselecting hard.
And 95% of what they hatch outis a great bird.
But again, if they ain't beenworking with it for five or 10
years, that's not gonna be thecase.
(24:39):
So a breeder puts two birdstogether for a specific purpose.
Purpose is the answer.
Every breeder has things abouttheir birds that they're not,
that they're not happy about.
So I can tell you the turkeys, Iwould like them to be just a
little bit, the hens to be justa little bit darker.
(24:59):
And I am working on breedingbearded hens.
Okay.
The ducks, I still get the wrongcolor bill on some of my hens.
So I'm working to breed thatout.
The Orpingtons, those are forshow that's different.
So there's a lot of traits thereworking on the length of back
(25:20):
uniformity of color the depth ofthe buff color.
There's all kinds of differentthings.
The quail always working on sizeand temperament.
You're fighting nature with thetemperament thing because
they're.
They're a prey animal, and sothey're flighty.
And so that their instinct is tobe flighty.
So selecting for temperament isalways going against nature.
(25:45):
And so what I basically do is ifI am moving birds from the grow
out to a layer cage and the birdjust fights me incessantly, just
won't cooperate and being movedor being sexed or whatever.
It just goes in a cold pen.
If.
It's just, it's not worth it.
I've hatched so many that I canthat one's expendable because it
(26:09):
doesn't, I can't get past itstemperament to even sex it to
decide if I want to keep it.
Yeah.
So it's just out right there forme.
It's if I'm doing my job and youtry to fight me, you're turning,
you're food.
You're going into, so I've gotsome grow up breasts over here
that are about six weeks old.
And every day twice a day, Ireach in there to change their
(26:33):
water.
I always clean their waters andchange it out.
And he attacks my hand like heis, like a kitten, like pouncing
on my hand.
And he bites.
Guess what?
He ain't going to no breederpen.
He's done for already.
He has made his decision.
I'm raising the breasts with theOrpingtons.
The Orpingtons are so docilethat I'm hoping that rubs off on
(26:56):
them, not rub off on them.
Rubs off on them.
Yeah.
They are flight ear.
But they're smaller.
They can fly.
The Orpingtons can't.
So there's some differencesthere.
Physical traits.
Yeah.
That, you have to take intoaccount for.
So there the breeders should beable to tell you, Hey, these are
some things I don't like aboutmy line.
I need you to be aware of that.
(27:17):
So you can make the decision ifthat works for your farm.
Let's see.
Ooh, my favorite.
Okay.
What medications do you, oh myGod.
I hate this question.
Not that I get asked that a lot,and I'm like.
I got some garlic, some oregano.
(27:40):
It does amazing stuff.
Yep.
But no, because you know thewhole reason I don't want
store-bought chicken is because.
I know what they pump into thosebirds, and if I'm gonna consume
it, I don't want it to have thatright.
(28:02):
And I need it to have the vigorand the tenacity to not.
Fall over dead.
And that's another thing that,like with the quail, if, a lot
of them seem like they just wantto die every time, ever since
you take'em outta the hatchet.
And if one of'em starts to actlike a goofball, you're out
(28:24):
because I don't want that.
I don't need it.
And some people say, oh, thisbrutal.
You should do this and youshould do that.
Not really, because a lot of thestuff that they have is not
curable.
The medications just put abandaid on it, so it's something
they're gonna have to deal withforever.
So when I first started breedingZerus, there's another podcast
(28:47):
and he doesn't medicate either.
And he he said it would be hardthe first year.
Then after that you'll dobetter.
And I trusted him because he'sdone it for 30 ish years.
Any.
And so I did it.
And guess what?
Haven't had any trouble since.
I don't medicate anything.
Because you want the birds to beable to stand on their own two
(29:10):
feet.
Yeah.
The, okay we're gonna get offthat soapbox'cause that's not
what today's podcast is about.
So the question you ask is whatmedications?
Do you use?
And the answer is for yourinformational purposes only.
Okay?
Yeah.
It's your personal preference,but be aware that a breeder,
(29:32):
Cole's heart, okay.
Just like I said about thetemperament, if I can't even
sex, you can't go into a breedercage.
Okay.
And if you're sickly and I haveto medicate you to keep you
alive, to breed you, thosegenetics are the ones that
you're buying.
Yeah.
Okay.
If you are buying from me orhim, then it's the strongest
(29:53):
genetics.
So you can, the people onFacebook can be mad that we are
what he calls ruthless.
But those are the genetics thatyou want to buy.
You don't wanna buy birds thatyou have to give corid to upon
arrival.
I saw that on Facebook the otherday, and she actually tells
(30:13):
people to give him court uponarrival.
Yeah.
I had the same look.
Okay.
Yeah.
See, I don't, yeah, we'll justleave that one there.
Yep.
You have that one.
So here's some questions, someother questions.
You need to think about whyyou're buying.
(30:34):
Do you have enough space housingand equipment for these birds?
Because if you're, if you'vedecided after you've done all
your homework, you wantOrpingtons, you need to know
they're gonna be two feet tallor taller.
They're gonna be seven to ninepounds.
That's standard for standards.
(30:55):
Yeah.
And they're gonna eat a lot.
Yeah.
If you.
Let's say you want to get indigoantes,'cause they're like the
new thing now.
You need to know them.
Suckers are gonna be three tofour feet tall.
The giraffes, they don't like tobe housed in anything small and
(31:17):
they're breeding.
You need to do individual pairmating with them because they're
very tor territorial on that.
So once you figure out whatbreed you need to think about
space and housing and equipment,because you know when you say
(31:37):
you want a layer and somebodysays that's 40 bucks, you're
like.
You have sticker shock.
That breeder if they're doing itright, they spent thousands just
to house that bird and keep itsafe.
(32:00):
I have Alumi-Coops.
Jennifer has Alumi-Coops a lotof people have'em.
They're not cheap.
But they're extremely durableand nothing's getting in them.
Key statement.
They even have kits for'em thatwill keep bears and stuff out.
So those are things to thinkabout.
(32:21):
Handling potential losses.
And pour hatch rates from shifteggs.
What kind of reaction are yougonna have if you walk outside
and some predator has killedyour favorite chicken?
And I've been nice about it.
That's things to think aboutbecause that's natural part of
(32:42):
having chickens becauseeverybody likes chickens,
including dogs, possums,raccoons.
Anything you can think about.
Yeah, but I think it's talkingabout shipping.
Shipping.
We're talking about shipping.
Shipping.
That was in this section righthere.
(33:02):
Your goals and capacity.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, I was reading the notes.
Also when you think about.
When you're, when you get yourbirds and you start hatching.
You need to be careful of thechurch.
(33:23):
That little chirping sound fromthe hatcher.
Everybody loves that sound.
It's adorable, but you gotta becareful of it because like kids,
you gotta feed'em, you gottahouse'em.
And they're not gonna be T 90all their life.
So when you throw 150 eggs inyour brand new incubator,'cause
(33:46):
you want to try it out, yougotta be prepared for them all
hatching.
Because you'll be like me andyou'll do your first really big
test hatch of the season becauseeverything started lay and
you've got these and these, andthey're all in there marked and
(34:06):
you put'em in their individualbaskets, so the little sock
thingies to keep everythingseparate.
So you know what was what.
Okay.
And then 98% of them acts.
So somebody likes to collect allthe different kinds of birds.
Somebody, me is focused.
(34:28):
I like birds.
Yes, we all like'em.
Obviously we're listening to'em.
Okay, so we're gonna wrap thisup now.
'cause my arm's really tired ofholding this camera up.
So we're gonna put thisworksheet up on the website and
you can answer the questions foryourself, and then you can use
it, print it off.
So when you talk to differentbreeders worst case, use it for
(34:49):
something to think about.
Yeah.
If you're new to the game andyou're listening to the podcast
because you're trying to figureout what you want, or if you're
gonna sell in 2026.
Use it to be prepared for thequestions that you're going to
get because you'll get them.
But anyway, it's there.
It's I figured out how to do it.
We had a little hiccup last weekbut now I understand how to do
(35:10):
Google sheets a little bitbetter and he's forever teaching
me.
And so it's a downloadable nowthat you can just download and f
print off as many as you want.
Yep.
And so fill it off as many asyou, as many times as you want
to, for as many breeders as youwant to.
But anyway, hope this helps youguys to have set your
expectations.
Reasonable expectations.
(35:32):
Expectations reasonable.
Yep.
All right.
Bye.
Next.
See y'all next week.
Hi.
Hey.
We're doing this today becausewe are gonna talk about shipping
and handling and a whole lot ofother stuff that goes along with
birds.
And a lot of times we tell youstuff and we're descriptive, but
a lot of this you really need tosee.
Yep.
So we're gonna expand a littlebit on how to select a breeder
(01:09):
and the questions that you wannaask.
And I've created a checklistthat you're gonna find on the
website you can download.
We're gonna go through thattoday and questions you can ask
and how the breeder may respond.
Some of the questions, thebreeder may respond nicely.
Some of'em, they won't answeryou at all, and there's reasons
(01:29):
for that, and we're gonna gothrough those today.
Yep.
But right now we are in the eggfoam warehouse and yep.
There we go.
You see all the peanuts that youcan eat?
Yep.
They're made outta molasses,tons of egg foam, everything
she's got available, includingthe live shipper boxes.
(01:53):
Yep.
So you wanna start with eggs?
We can.
So obviously I prefer foam.
A lot of people will tell youthat you can use pipe wrap or
pool noodles, and I've done it.
I'm not gonna say I didn't whenI first started, I didn't know
this stuff existed.
But now that I know better, Iwould not do that and I wouldn't
(02:15):
recommend it because when you'rehandling the egg and you're
forcing it into that.
Cut piece of foam, and thenyou're wrapping it individually
and then you're putting it inthe box.
That is all time for the embryoto get damaged.
So I think that extra amount ofhandling is unnecessary.
(02:36):
So egg foam sits in the box.
You put it in the box, put theegg in it, put the top on it,
put it in the box, and you shipit.
There's no extra jiggling of theegg.
It keeps it nice and secure.
And if you double box it, thenyou get extra.
Oh, what impact resistance.
(02:57):
Impact resistance, yes.
Yeah.
You can use the peanuts or onthe egg foam when you pull these
little pieces out.
You gotta have something to dowith'em.
Yeah.
So when you double box, juststick it in there and it adds to
the packaging.
Yep.
And the foam comes in.
You make the foam yourself, youcan buy it Personally, I don't
(03:19):
think that you can make it anycheaper than I can sell it to
you, but that's for you guys.
But it comes in all thesedifferent sizes for quill eggs,
but eggs, duck eggs, chicken,eggs, fanta, eggs, all the
different sizes.
They fit the boxes.
And I don't know.
I get excellent hatch rates frommy shipped eggs, and I just
think I'm so committed to itthat I've made a business out of
(03:40):
it.
And like when you use the foam,we all know that the post
office, they're gonna do whatthey're gonna do.
And there's no way around it.
You can put all the fragilestickers on there, the live
embryo stickers you want, andthey're.
Sometimes it looks like they'vebeen playing soccer with it.
(04:01):
So you can only control what youcan do.
So the less you handle it, thebetter the chances are.
Also, the foam acts as ainsulator.
So when the weather iscatawampus, that's a good word.
Yeah.
It, it helps to where thetemperature shift is slower and
(04:24):
that makes your hatch abilitybetter.
So they don't necessarily wantthis to be a commercial for ex
foam, but it is a question foryou to ask the breeder, how do
they package?
And then you have all of theinformation and you make the
decision for yourself.
So that's it.
Now, live shipping of birds,which I do every week.
(04:46):
I do hundreds of them.
So I'm pretty good at it.
What you do need is an approvedUSPS box and a box with holes.
Jabbed in it with a pair ofscissors does not count.
Nope.
Okay.
Chicks also have to be shipped.
Express.
(05:06):
Some people will tell you thatyou can ship them priority.
That is not a true statement.
I do believe the hatcheriesmight have contracts to be able
to ship them cheaper, but for usplain folk, we have to use
express shipping.
They won't accept'em at the postoffice without it.
So these boxes.
(05:29):
Have air holes, right?
So you can see the air holes andvents, okay.
And more air holes on this side.
Now birds need ventilation.
We harp on that on other egg.
Other podcasts, this particularshipping box has biofilm is what
that's called, glued in there.
(05:50):
And that prevents the bird fromsticking their head out of the
holes.
And having it knocked off intransit for lack of anything
better to say.
Now, I have seen some peoplegoing through some extreme
measures and putting all kindsof different things on the
inside of the box.
(06:12):
Personally, I think there is a.
Point of overkill, but I dothink it's better to be
prepared.
Usually David and I have bigconversations about being
overkill, but I think in thiscase, overkill is better.
I hot glue Dixie cups in hereand then I put grow gel in the
Dixie cups.
I put sawdust shavings in thebottom and they get feed.
(06:35):
That's all I do.
I've been having good successwith that.
So until it doesn't workanymore, I see no reason to
change it.
But some people put fruit anddifferent things in there.
I can go either way on thatbecause if the bird isn't
accustomed to eating fruit, thenit could upset their GI tract
and that become a nutritionquestion for him, not me.
(06:56):
Yeah, on that.
If you're going to ship a bird,express and it's gonna get there
tomorrow, I think that bird'sgonna be fine.
But a lot of times where you seethe fruit come into play is a
lot of game f People will shipbirds overseas for whatever
reasons, and for that, havingapples and stuff in there is
(07:18):
good for not only nutrition, butfor hydration because it's
there.
You don't just let the firsttime that bird has had an apple.
Be when you put'em in the box.
That's something you need to getthem accustomed to.
And a lot of breeds do feedfruit from time to time, so that
(07:42):
helps.
But don't let the day you cram abird in a box, be the first time
it gets grow, gel, whatever foodyou're putting in there,
anything.
Don't do that at first.
And then this is just a checkbox.
It folds down and you can getdifferent varieties of check
(08:04):
boxes.
You want a size appropriate boxbecause their body heat is
trapped in there.
And if you're shipping chicks,you want their body heat
contained in there.
So this particular box, theydon't pop the circles off, and I
do it myself.
So in July, I'll pop'em all off.
(08:26):
In January, I'll usually onlypop these top ones off and I'll
put a heat pack in there.
So the breeder needs tounderstand seasonal shipping and
have size appropriate boxes.
This box would be for sendinglike full-sized chickens.
I can, believe it or not, I canfit a full size coaching or
(08:47):
orpington in there.
They do lay down and they're intheir sh.
Squished, but there's a lot ofbody heat.
You gotta be prepared and shipthem in the wintertime when that
happens.
But I also ship adult quail inthis size box.
This one is more for chicks ofchicken and quail.
So size appropriate boxes isalso important.
(09:09):
And if you noticed when I havefolded this down, see how it
creates that gap right there.
That's important.
This box does the same thing.
So what happens is when it's ona pallet in the airplane and
they put the boxes together likethis, you still get some airflow
(09:30):
right here.
And that's what this is for, ifyou've ever wondered.
So it doesn't just fold into aflat, perfect square box because
then you wouldn't get airflowwhen they're butted up against
each other like that.
That's why you include zip tiesin the boxes to use.
Yeah.
So they can use'em in the holesinstead of putting a big old
(09:50):
piece of tape on there.
Exactly.
So if you wanted to see thisone, see when you fold it down
now it folds in right there.
See that?
Oh yeah.
And so that allows airflow inthere also.
That's the reason why theseboxes have that, those shapes
that they do.
Alright, I think that shouldanswer all of your questions on
(10:13):
shipping eggs and birds onto thenext one.
Okay.
So now we're gonna talk abouthow do you select a breed or
even a bird for your situation.
And all the ducks are coming tohelp us do it on this one too.
We have tried to outrun them,it's not working.
So let's just start with ducks.
(10:34):
A lot of people are allergic tochicken eggs.
Duck eggs are a validalternative.
Yep.
To a lot of people.
These particular ducks are welcharla winds.
They cannot fly.
They are, they're talking, theyare prolific layers.
They lay, I don't know.
(10:55):
Two 80 eggs a year or something.
An astronomical amount of eggs.
I don't even pick'em all up'cause there's so many eggs.
They're pretty docile.
They follow year round likepuppy dogs.
Yep.
Ducks may be a good fit for you.
They also are fantastic mosquitocontrol.
We have zero mosquitoes outhere.
You consider ducks chickens?
(11:17):
It depends on what you want'emfor.
If you just want something foreggs, then you're gonna want a
production breed.
Something from a hatchery,they're gonna be bred for
production.
That's a genetic trait.
So an orpington from a hatcheryRhode Island Red from a
hatchery, a leghorn or if you'rein the south, it's a leghorn.
(11:38):
Or, any of the fun things likeEaster Eggers olive Eggers.
The Mystic Morans, they have,even they, the Isa Browns are
the high lines.
You can get some of thecommercial top layers from
hatcheries.
Those are prolific egg layers.
And when people ask how do Ineed to set up my chicken pin?
(12:00):
Or whatever, the biggest thingyou've gotta consider first is.
Why do you want the chicken?
Because why you want thechicken.
This helps you figure out whatchicken you want and that's what
type of housing.
It depends.
'cause if you want turkeys likethese over here, you're gonna
need a lot bigger housing.
(12:22):
And if you want bantams, thenyou need smaller housing, right?
So for me, even it, like thehardest thing for me was
figuring out what my goals were,because I just like chicken and
turkeys and quail.
I didn't really, I didn't, mygoal was to keep'em alive.
I just like'em and wanted tohave'em around.
(12:44):
It all depends on what you wantto do.
Now, if you wanna show or youwant hot.
Quality birds, the size of thosebirds, which are called standard
breads.
When you breed for that size,you have to give up other
genetic traits.
And one of those is egg laying.
So my standard bread Orpingtonsmay lay four eggs a week for
(13:09):
four months and that's it.
They're not prolific layersbecause they're massive birds.
People don't.
Understand that until theyprobably get here, most of the
time, my arm's getting tired.
So if you wanna show birds,you're gonna be looking for
standard bread birds.
If you want eggs, you're lookingfor utility, hatchery, bread
(13:31):
type birds.
More fun colors even.
Yeah.
And if you are in the Turkeymarket and you want turkeys that
will.
Reproduce.
You want heritage breed, whichis what we have.
Yeah.
Both of us have the redbourbons.
They lay eggs, they reproduceand they taste fantastic.
(13:52):
But you do have to feed'em allyear long.
They're seasonal layers.
Mine only lay March to Maymaybe, and you have to feed'em
the rest of the year, so there'sthat.
But you could get a meat bird.
And be done with them in 16weeks.
So that would be your broadbreasted, white, broad,
(14:13):
breasted, bronze.
Everything else should beconsidered heritage.
Let's see.
Okay.
And then the breasts.
The reason why we selected thebreasts was because they're very
fast to grow.
You can harvest them as young as17 weeks at full size and they
lay eggs.
Probably as well as ae, I wouldsay.
(14:34):
They just shoot them things outyou should get, if all the
conditions are right, they'renot stressed or anything like
that, and they're getting plentyof daylight.
Five a week from one of them isnot uncommon.
Starting at what, 20 weeks?
Yeah.
My, they're little for the firsttwo or three weeks, but man,
(14:55):
once they get full size, we'retalking 55, 60 gram eggs.
They're good size eggs.
We eat our birds and so theBresse is a really good choice
for us.
It's dual purpose meat and eggs.
You have to know what you wantbefore you go shopping.
Otherwise, you will impulse buyand get stuck with birds that
(15:17):
you really don't want.
You'll wind up with a couplehundred birds and you won't be
in love with any of'em, andyou'll despise your feed bill
and you'll just be miserable.
Yep.
Alright, onto the next one.
Now we're sitting in the barn.
So breeding practices is thefirst one, right?
(15:37):
So we're in the quail barn.
Breeding starts with feed.
Got a little bit over there.
Got a little bit.
I'm looking at what, about 5,000pounds total right now?
Probably.
So each species has its ownrequirements.
That would be questions for thisguy and he delivers and then I
(16:01):
feed it.
And then the fertility rate ispretty much a direct answer to
those nutrition, A lot of it'sthe vitamins.
(17:05):
Yeah.
And I had somebody send me afeed tag this morning and they
said, Hey what would I do tothis feed to make it a complete
feed?
And I looked at it, I said to behonest, I don't know because in
the ingredients they list.
These different vitamins, A, D,and E, but they don't tell you
how much is in there.
So I don't know what you need toadd.
(17:26):
I tell you where to start andsee what happens.
But unless you actually have afeed tag that's got all the
information on it.
You're, it is a shot in thedark.
Okay, we're back again.
David, come over to talk to us.
Yep.
Okay.
So if you'll notice the lightsright there.
(17:48):
Yeah.
Okay.
So a bird has to have at least14 hours of light to late.
And we are in the quail barn.
So my quail are lit every day,roughly 5:00 AM to 9:00 PM I
don't change it.
They do not understand daylightsavings time.
They're on the same time allyear round.
Okay, whatever the timer is.
(18:09):
So sometimes it's five to nine,sometimes it's six to 10,
whatever.
So have you ever been out hereright after daylight savings and
it cut off on you?
Like I was, yeah, the othernight.
What the crap like just thisweek?
Yeah.
That happened to me too.
I was like crap.
So the garage door light was onbecause I was moving around in
here.
So that was enough light for meto see, to get out.
(18:30):
But yeah, I'm not one of thosebreeders that comes out here and
sorts birds until midnight.
I don't, I don't do that.
I don't care.
I can't see the differencebetween fee and Pharaoh in the
middle of the night when it'shalf lit in here.
So I just I don't do that.
Okay.
So back to how.
Breeders should be able toanswer your questions.
(18:51):
So I know my fertility, becausemy nutrition is good, my birds
have the appropriate amount oflight, they have the appropriate
amount of space for theirspecies.
And I have the proper ratios.
And I hatch weekly to test myown fertility and to make sure
that there's not any problems.
(19:13):
So that is what I would answerif you were to ask me what do I
do for fertility?
And all the coil are gonna starttalking because we're talking,
of course.
Another question you should askis, how long have you been
working with that line?
And then if they say they'vebeen working with that line for
five minutes, you might want tokeep shopping for a breeder.
(19:36):
If they've been working withtheir birds for a couple of
years, you may want to continuethe conversation, right?
So there's a lot of people outthere that buy chicks from
hatchery and get them to pointof lay and then sell hatch an
egg.
So you're literally buyinghatching eggs off of hatchy
birds that aren't very old.
And that leads me to anotherthing.
(19:57):
You don't want pullet eggs, youwant full-size eggs.
So make sure you are asking forfull-size eggs, not pull eggs.
And if the breeder doesn't knowthe difference, you can either
not on the phone and findanother one.
Yep.
Or ask'em what gram the egg is,they should be able to tell you
(20:17):
how big their hashing eggs are.
Okay.
I couldn't tell you on myorpington eggs, but I don't sell
those a lot.
But I would guess I'm around 40,45, but I know that my Bresse
eggs are 55 to 60 and that isjust something that a breeder
should know.
Okay.
Yeah.
All right.
What's next?
You should also ask thebreeders, what traits do they
select for in the breedingprogram, whether it be size,
(20:41):
color, fertility, temperament.
That's a really big one.
Or production because a lot oftimes they.
How do you, what do you separateyour quail or what kind of ratio
do you have?
Your quail Mine seem to be 86 ineach other.
Mine don't do that.
I can, in a 36 inch wide cage, Icould put 25 of them in there,
(21:06):
or I could put six or eight of'em in there and they're not
killing each other.
Now if I put 25 of'em in there,I need to change that poop tray
like twice a day.
But they're not gonna go nutsand kill each other, but that's
because they've been bred thatway.
If I find, if I'm like doing mychores and I find a bird that is
(21:28):
being mean to the other birds,it ends very shortly for that
bird and the other animals likethe treat.
But make sure you add.
What they breed for because ifyou don't want agressive birds,
that's one of the things theyshould be looking for.
If you want quail that give you300 eggs a year.
(21:52):
Then ask that question.
If you if you called me andsaid, Hey, I wanna get some
Rhode Island Reds.
Okay, I got some great ones.
This is what they are.
Don't call me six, eight monthsdown the road and say that they
lay horrible eggs becausethey're standard bread and they
(22:12):
only lay three or four weeks.
I'm sorry.
That's the way it is.
You didn't ask for production.
You asked for the best qualityyou could get, so that, that's
why you need to ask thosequestions because you don't want
to be disappointed when youstart laying or whatever it is
you want'em for.
(22:33):
Could I ask them about theirhatch rate and ask them how
often they hatched?
'cause if they don't come up, ifthey don't answer that question
right away, whether it's everyweek or every month, they hatch
their own just for them to seewhat it is, then they don't
really know what it is.
They're just giving you a numberif they have to think about it.
(22:54):
Because unless you catch me attwo o'clock in the morning and
ask me, I'm gonna say everyweek.
'cause most breeders are,especially with quail, they're
hatching in every week.
Now with chickens this time ofyear, I don't do that every week
because they're not laying awhole lot.
But when I do it.
(23:16):
I'm doing it for me and I'mkeeping up with those numbers.
Yeah.
We're not selling chicken eggsright now.
No.
Neither one of us.
If you're off season, like ifyou're looking for Turkey eggs
in September, you shouldn't findany.
If you find some, if they're notnear the south, I mean in the
equator area, then you probablyare getting scammed.
(23:36):
If they're in Alabama.
Or Florida or Texas, and theylight their turkeys.
It's possible otherwise don'tbuy'em.
Are there any known genetic.
Traits or mutations in thebirds?
(23:56):
So every breeder, okay let's gobackwards for one second.
There's a difference between abreeder and a producer not
necessarily saying one is betterthan the other.
One.
A producer doesn't select andjust reproduces a hatchery.
Somebody who's churning outquantity.
It is what it is.
We're not calling peopleproducers to be derogatory.
(24:17):
Now, I do know some people thatproduce a lot, but they've also
spent a really long time reallyselecting hard.
And 95% of what they hatch outis a great bird.
But again, if they ain't beenworking with it for five or 10
years, that's not gonna be thecase.
(24:39):
So a breeder puts two birdstogether for a specific purpose.
Purpose is the answer.
Every breeder has things abouttheir birds that they're not,
that they're not happy about.
So I can tell you the turkeys, Iwould like them to be just a
little bit, the hens to be justa little bit darker.
(24:59):
And I am working on breedingbearded hens.
Okay.
The ducks, I still get the wrongcolor bill on some of my hens.
So I'm working to breed thatout.
The Orpingtons, those are forshow that's different.
So there's a lot of traits thereworking on the length of back
(25:20):
uniformity of color the depth ofthe buff color.
There's all kinds of differentthings.
The quail always working on sizeand temperament.
You're fighting nature with thetemperament thing because
they're.
They're a prey animal, and sothey're flighty.
And so that their instinct is tobe flighty.
So selecting for temperament isalways going against nature.
(25:45):
And so what I basically do is ifI am moving birds from the grow
out to a layer cage and the birdjust fights me incessantly, just
won't cooperate and being movedor being sexed or whatever.
It just goes in a cold pen.
If.
It's just, it's not worth it.
I've hatched so many that I canthat one's expendable because it
(26:09):
doesn't, I can't get past itstemperament to even sex it to
decide if I want to keep it.
Yeah.
So it's just out right there forme.
It's if I'm doing my job and youtry to fight me, you're turning,
you're food.
You're going into, so I've gotsome grow up breasts over here
that are about six weeks old.
And every day twice a day, Ireach in there to change their
(26:33):
water.
I always clean their waters andchange it out.
And he attacks my hand like heis, like a kitten, like pouncing
on my hand.
And he bites.
Guess what?
He ain't going to no breederpen.
He's done for already.
He has made his decision.
I'm raising the breasts with theOrpingtons.
The Orpingtons are so docilethat I'm hoping that rubs off on
(26:56):
them, not rub off on them.
Rubs off on them.
Yeah.
They are flight ear.
But they're smaller.
They can fly.
The Orpingtons can't.
So there's some differencesthere.
Physical traits.
Yeah.
That, you have to take intoaccount for.
So there the breeders should beable to tell you, Hey, these are
some things I don't like aboutmy line.
I need you to be aware of that.
(27:17):
So you can make the decision ifthat works for your farm.
Let's see.
Ooh, my favorite.
Okay.
What medications do you, oh myGod.
I hate this question.
Not that I get asked that a lot,and I'm like.
I got some garlic, some oregano.
(27:40):
It does amazing stuff.
Yep.
But no, because you know thewhole reason I don't want
store-bought chicken is because.
I know what they pump into thosebirds, and if I'm gonna consume
it, I don't want it to have thatright.
(28:02):
And I need it to have the vigorand the tenacity to not.
Fall over dead.
And that's another thing that,like with the quail, if, a lot
of them seem like they just wantto die every time, ever since
you take'em outta the hatchet.
And if one of'em starts to actlike a goofball, you're out
(28:24):
because I don't want that.
I don't need it.
And some people say, oh, thisbrutal.
You should do this and youshould do that.
Not really, because a lot of thestuff that they have is not
curable.
The medications just put abandaid on it, so it's something
they're gonna have to deal withforever.
So when I first started breedingZerus, there's another podcast
(28:47):
and he doesn't medicate either.
And he he said it would be hardthe first year.
Then after that you'll dobetter.
And I trusted him because he'sdone it for 30 ish years.
Any.
And so I did it.
And guess what?
Haven't had any trouble since.
I don't medicate anything.
Because you want the birds to beable to stand on their own two
(29:10):
feet.
Yeah.
The, okay we're gonna get offthat soapbox'cause that's not
what today's podcast is about.
So the question you ask is whatmedications?
Do you use?
And the answer is for yourinformational purposes only.
Okay?
Yeah.
It's your personal preference,but be aware that a breeder,
(29:32):
Cole's heart, okay.
Just like I said about thetemperament, if I can't even
sex, you can't go into a breedercage.
Okay.
And if you're sickly and I haveto medicate you to keep you
alive, to breed you, thosegenetics are the ones that
you're buying.
Yeah.
Okay.
If you are buying from me orhim, then it's the strongest
(29:53):
genetics.
So you can, the people onFacebook can be mad that we are
what he calls ruthless.
But those are the genetics thatyou want to buy.
You don't wanna buy birds thatyou have to give corid to upon
arrival.
I saw that on Facebook the otherday, and she actually tells
(30:13):
people to give him court uponarrival.
Yeah.
I had the same look.
Okay.
Yeah.
See, I don't, yeah, we'll justleave that one there.
Yep.
You have that one.
So here's some questions, someother questions.
You need to think about whyyou're buying.
(30:34):
Do you have enough space housingand equipment for these birds?
Because if you're, if you'vedecided after you've done all
your homework, you wantOrpingtons, you need to know
they're gonna be two feet tallor taller.
They're gonna be seven to ninepounds.
That's standard for standards.
(30:55):
Yeah.
And they're gonna eat a lot.
Yeah.
If you.
Let's say you want to get indigoantes,'cause they're like the
new thing now.
You need to know them.
Suckers are gonna be three tofour feet tall.
The giraffes, they don't like tobe housed in anything small and
(31:17):
they're breeding.
You need to do individual pairmating with them because they're
very tor territorial on that.
So once you figure out whatbreed you need to think about
space and housing and equipment,because you know when you say
(31:37):
you want a layer and somebodysays that's 40 bucks, you're
like.
You have sticker shock.
That breeder if they're doing itright, they spent thousands just
to house that bird and keep itsafe.
(32:00):
I have Alumi-Coops.
Jennifer has Alumi-Coops a lotof people have'em.
They're not cheap.
But they're extremely durableand nothing's getting in them.
Key statement.
They even have kits for'em thatwill keep bears and stuff out.
So those are things to thinkabout.
(32:21):
Handling potential losses.
And pour hatch rates from shifteggs.
What kind of reaction are yougonna have if you walk outside
and some predator has killedyour favorite chicken?
And I've been nice about it.
That's things to think aboutbecause that's natural part of
(32:42):
having chickens becauseeverybody likes chickens,
including dogs, possums,raccoons.
Anything you can think about.
Yeah, but I think it's talkingabout shipping.
Shipping.
We're talking about shipping.
Shipping.
That was in this section righthere.
(33:02):
Your goals and capacity.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, I was reading the notes.
Also when you think about.
When you're, when you get yourbirds and you start hatching.
You need to be careful of thechurch.
(33:23):
That little chirping sound fromthe hatcher.
Everybody loves that sound.
It's adorable, but you gotta becareful of it because like kids,
you gotta feed'em, you gottahouse'em.
And they're not gonna be T 90all their life.
So when you throw 150 eggs inyour brand new incubator,'cause
(33:46):
you want to try it out, yougotta be prepared for them all
hatching.
Because you'll be like me andyou'll do your first really big
test hatch of the season becauseeverything started lay and
you've got these and these, andthey're all in there marked and
(34:06):
you put'em in their individualbaskets, so the little sock
thingies to keep everythingseparate.
So you know what was what.
Okay.
And then 98% of them acts.
So somebody likes to collect allthe different kinds of birds.
Somebody, me is focused.
(34:28):
I like birds.
Yes, we all like'em.
Obviously we're listening to'em.
Okay, so we're gonna wrap thisup now.
'cause my arm's really tired ofholding this camera up.
So we're gonna put thisworksheet up on the website and
you can answer the questions foryourself, and then you can use
it, print it off.
So when you talk to differentbreeders worst case, use it for
(34:49):
something to think about.
Yeah.
If you're new to the game andyou're listening to the podcast
because you're trying to figureout what you want, or if you're
gonna sell in 2026.
Use it to be prepared for thequestions that you're going to
get because you'll get them.
But anyway, it's there.
It's I figured out how to do it.
We had a little hiccup last weekbut now I understand how to do
(35:10):
Google sheets a little bitbetter and he's forever teaching
me.
And so it's a downloadable nowthat you can just download and f
print off as many as you want.
Yep.
And so fill it off as many asyou, as many times as you want
to, for as many breeders as youwant to.
But anyway, hope this helps youguys to have set your
expectations.
Reasonable expectations.
(35:32):
Expectations reasonable.
Yep.
All right.
Bye.
Next.
See y'all next week.
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