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Garvin Mesa Weather
Desert Weyr: Our Farm
Sales List
Black Welsh Mountain Sheep
CMK Arabian Horses
Geese and Chickens
Hops Variety Research Project
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16870 Garvin Mesa Road
Paonia, CO 81428
(970) 527-3573
FAX (815) 572-5360
8am-8pm
Mountain Time
Email at sales@desertweyr.com
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Poultry Projects
Pilgrim Geese

Pilgrim Geese 27 May 2007

Pilgrim Geese with Sheep 4 June 2007

Pilgrim Geese with Sheep 24 June 2007
For 2007 we did not raise any goslings as we still do not have a slaughter facility. However, our trade of a female gosling with Dallas Gilbert went well and we now both have new bloodlines for our program. The geese did well and for part of the summer we had the geese in a pasture segment with the sheep. They learned to move with the sheep when we set up fresh grazing segments. Our guard dogs continue to think poultry are something to guard against rather than protect so we must keep them separated.
Chickens

Red Broilers 16 May 2007
For 2007 we decided to stick entirely with the red broilers. They have done the best for us with a combination of foraging abiliy and good growth rates. We did increase our prices for broilers to cover our costs and that reduced our customer base significantly. However, the customers we do have are very happy with the birds. We have also discovered that for us it's a lot easier to raise one larger batch of birds rather than several smaller ones. This will continue in future.

Egg Chickens 16 May 2007
We are still in the research phase for finding out which egg laying chickens will work best for us. Over the last winter it became obvious that birds that go broody are not well suited to our needs. All of the Buff Orpingtons and Buff Rocks went broody and stopped laying eggs. The Buff Minorca and Sicilian Buttercup never did lay well once the weather got cold. However much to our surprise the Gold Campines continued to lay well all winter in spite of their single combs and advancing age. The Rose Comb Leghorns also did well but the eggs were smaller. We decided that for 2007 we would get more Gold Campines and Rose Comb Leghorns. We also wanted to try the Gold Penciled Hamburgs that didn't make it last year and just as a test I also got some Gold Brabanters because they looked cute.
2006
For 2006 we scaled back our plans. Here are pictures of the 2006 birds and information on our results.
2005
In 2005 we raised a larger number of chickens and sold them at the local Farmers' Market. We also raised Pilgrim geese for dinner and kept a trio back for breeding. Here are pictures of the 2005 birds and information on our results.
2004
We continued our poultry projects with both chickens and geese in 2004. Here are our 2004 plans. Here are pictures of the 2004 birds and information on our results.
2003
In 2003 we got our first poultry in years. I had raised show chickens years ago but now am more interested in dinner birds. We got geese and chickens to raise for meat. Here are pictures of the 2003 birds and information on our results.
Wild Poultry
We have local wild turkeys. Here are pictures of the wild turkeys.
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