Chicken  Lady of Emmett

Chicken Lady of Emmett

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
“These are the white Plymouth rock and these are what they call cuckoo Moran and they lay a chocolate brown egg.” Deborah Cox at High Desert Feed in Emmett, Idaho will see a lot of chicks in the next few weeks. “We bring in anywhere from 100 to 400 per week.” And a variety of breeds that will satisfy even the pickiest of chicken farmers. “A little bit of everything. We’ve got the standards like Rhode Island Reds to some of the exotics like the cuckoo Moran, we can usually get most anything.” Today she is penning up 300 chickens for sale to customers. An experienced livestock handler, she says that chickens are easier to handle than cattle in many ways but in other ways not so much. “These guys don’t run you over and stomp you into the ground but they are a lot more fragile. You can push a cow around but these guys you have to handle very carefully until they get big enough where they can keep themselves warm and their legs get strong.” Deborah says regardless of what kind of chicken you want to raise, it will take some time for these little chicks to be ready. “Most chickens will start laying eggs at about 18 weeks old.” What about edible chickens? “It depends on what you get. If you buy a standard breed it will take you 3 to 4 months.”
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