Red Roof Heritage Farm: The Nankins

For the first time ever this year I purchased hatching eggs online. I really like the strength and vigor of chicks that I hatch. They grow so much faster and seem to be healthier - I was thinking I would be able to carry that through with the eggs I bought. I wanted some rare heritage breeds (get it - Red Roof Heritage Farm - one of my goals is to have mainly heritage animals and heirloom plants) and by the time I got around to ordering - the hatcheries didn't have any chicks left. It is amazing the things you can buy online these days. So I found a nice lady from somewhere down south with Nankins and bought one dozen hatching eggs. She shipped them, I got them, placed them in the incubator and 21 days later - 4 chicks. Yep - 4. Needless to say these are very expensive little chicks. This is why I am so frugal everywhere else in my life - so I can own $11 chicks. I can top that though - I bought some Russian Orloff eggs and only one chick hatched. And wouldn't you know it the little bugger is a roo! A $40 roo! Anyways - I don't think I will be ordering hatching eggs anymore. The shippers did an excellent job of packaging the eggs but there are just too many variables involved. Lesson learned. So next year I will buy some Russian Orloff chicks from Welp Hatchery to go with my $40 roo!

Back to the Nankins. These little guys are really something. They are tiny. I had read that they would only be twenty ounces - so I knew they would be little. But they are super little, super cute and super friendly. So now are you thinking - why in the world would she want a chicken that little? My husband sure was when I told him about these little guys. It just so happens that Nankins are some of the broodiest bantams that a person can get. They are also a very rare and old breed. The ALBC lists them at Critical Status. You can read all about what the ALBC says about Nankin's here. So I decided on the bantams because of their broodiness and critical status. I plan to use them to hatch out eggs - although now that I see their size - I'm not sure how many eggs I will be able to get under one of those little girls. I also am planning on starting a breeding program to help with the critical status of the breed. I am new to this and the Nankins are going to be my first try with a true breeding program so any recommendations or tips are greatly appreciated.