Critter Confusion

[knute_m]

I believe that the other chicken thread is now up to about 38 pages, so I thought I'd ask a chicken question in a new thread. But, it also relates to other critters, like feeder pigs and calves.

Please let me rant. I may erase this in the morning.

I've been around the chicken yard for over 60 years. Dumb old me recently ordered some "pullets" from a local farm store like I've done, on and off, for more than 40 years. I got day old "peeps." The lady at the store told me in no uncertain terms that they were "pullets!" (I quit buying "straight-run peeps" via the US Mail, back in about 1968.)

When I was growing up, one of our many farm businesses was raising poultry and eggs. We seemed to have a lot of classes of poultry back in the 1950s and 1960s. I guess I missed the movement, and various poulty classes must have completely gone away with migration to Pilgrim's Pride, Purdue, etc. We had peeps, we had straight runs, we had capons, we had broilers, we had fryers, we had stewing hens, we had . . .

To us, and to our buyers, a "pullet" was a female chicken that was either laying eggs, or about to lay eggs, and had not yet gone through its first molt. It was usually a 16-20 week old female chicken. That is also what I thought I learned in 4H and FFA back in the 1950s/60s.

So, I've now got a flock of 3-day-old lovable little peeps -- ahem, "pullets" (they really are cute, they are fun to watch, and as of their third day -- they have actually become quite playful -- chasing each other when one finds a tasty nugget).

It is still cold here, so I had to turn my basement into a post-incubator.

I feel like Rip Van Winkle. Did I miss something somewhere in the past couple of years? How does one order 16-20 week old female chickens that produce large brown eggs??

I also asked for a 50 lb. bag of "starter grit." The lady told me that they only had 5 lb. bags of grit -- and, in that bag, the rocks were big enough to use as driveway gravel. She said that was the biggest bag they had, and the only size grit. I further ingratiated myself with the young lady. Again, in no uncertain terms, she told me that there were so few farmers left, that they mainly catered to the "hobby farms." Sheesh! That is what I thought I was!

Have I gotten too old buy chickens (peeps, poults, cockrills, fryers ??)

Regards,
Knute -- the baby chicken stepfather

P.S. I thought I was going to get a couple of feeder pigs tomorrow. Before I go off to get them -- am I asking for the wrong critters?? I'm now worried that they could be 2 lbs -- or 200 lbs.

 

[meadowlarkponds]

To us, and to our buyers, a "pullet" was a female chicken that was either laying eggs, or about to lay eggs, and had not yet gone through its first molt. It was usually a 16-20 week old female chicken. That is also what I thought I learned in 4H and FFA back in the 1950s/60s.

That's what I was taught also...you've got to realize that a lot of people think chicken comes from "Chick Fillet" or "Mac's"or "KFC".

Most have never had the pleasure(???) of wringing a chicken's neck and eating it for Sunday dinner.

 

[ihookem]

This young lady might want to change her attitude, cause I was told yesterday by the feed mill their supplier is out of egg layer chicks for 6 weeks. Looked at him and ? ? huh? Yup, the price of eggs have gone up so much in the stores that folks with a few acres are geting their own egg layers. White leghorns are only available but I think they are kind of ugly compared to the other egg layers. Fresh eggs taste a little better too.