It is time to order our Chicks for 2020. I thought I would share the varieties we are getting. New this year are the Bronze Turkeys. Last year was the first year we grew turkeys. We enjoyed raising them.There is nothing like placing a homegrown Thanksgiving Turkey on the Table in front of your family and friends. Everyone loved the amazing flavor. Last year we grew White Giants and they were giant. We thought we would go with a more colorful bird this year. Here is what Murray Mcmurray’s website says about these birds. None of the links in this blog post are affiliated. I just love Murray Mcmurray’s and want to share what they say about these birds. The link is so you can go to their website and learn more. We will be getting 6 of these birds
The Broad Breasted Bronze Turkey is one of the largest and heaviest turkey varieties. These fast-growing, stately lords of the barnyard must be seen to be appreciated. Their feathers have a metallic sheen that changes from copper, to bronze, to burnished gold as the light moves across them.
Babies are dark brown, with chipmunk stripes.
Broad Breasted Bronze Turkeys are ideal to raise for meat production, have an excellent feed conversion ratio, and make the perfect traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner.
Broad Breasted Bronze Turkeys are immense birds measuring up to four feet in length, with a six-foot wing span. A full-grown tom will weigh in at about 38 pounds, hens easily reach 22 pounds.
Black Australorp chickens originated in Australia and were introduced in the United States in the 1920s. Developed from Black Orpingtons imported from England, the Australorp was bred for egg production without sacrificing too much in size and meat quality. Some sensational results were made in the Australian program with one hen setting a laying record of 364 eggs in 365 days. To this day, Black Australorps are still one of the best light brown egg layers of all the heavy breeds.
Black Australorps have glossy black feathers with a greenish-purple sheen, and large red combs. Australorps are very large birds — cockerels (males) weigh 6 to 8 pounds at maturity, and pullets (females) weigh 5 to 7 pounds. As a dual-purpose breed, Australorps have pinkish-white skin and plump bodies and dress out nicely once the birds have matured. Pullets mature early, starting to lay between 5 and 6 months of age.
Australorps are quiet, gentle, and stand confinement well. Baby chicks are black with a good deal of white in the underparts and small white patches around the head and wings.
I have always loved the Black Austrolops. I love their color and cold hardiness. These are my go to birds when I need to get new layer chicks. We will be getting 10 of these birds.
The Red Star Sex Link chicken is our Best Brown Egg Layer. These brown egg layers are easy to raise, lay lots of large brown eggs, and have a good feed-conversion ratio.
Mature hens have reddish brown feathers with flecks of white throughout. Males are all white with nice yellow skin.
A "sex link" chicken is one that can be sexed by its coloring at the time of hatch. They will not retain the same characteristics in future generations.
At approximately 22 weeks these hens will start to lay and lay they will — laying eggs right through hot or cold weather. We're sure this hardy breed will become a favorite of yours. No wonder it's called the Red Star.
These are new breed that a neighbor suggested to me. I don’t know much about them. We will be getting 10 of these birds. I will tell you how they did in my Chicken 2020 Review Post.
Our Jumbo Cornish X Rock (Cornish Cross) is the most remarkable meat-producing chicken we offer. The Cornish Cross Rock is a hybrid developed by crossing the commercial Cornish chicken with a White Rock chicken.
We think our Jumbo Cornish X Rocks are among the finest meat birds in America — we fill our own family freezers with them every year!
At Red Ridge Farm these are our go to meat bird. We have tried the Red Ranger looking for a more sustainable option. But they were just a money pit. They ate lots and lots of food and we didn’t get much meat. Also the Red Ranger were harder to pluck. We love the Cornish X. We will be ordering 30 birds for this Spring and 30 birds this Fall. You will be able to follow along on how we raise these birds in our Yearly 135 days of Growing Our Own Food series on our Facebook page. You can join the journey here. Tell next time.
Pray, Just Plant
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