Questions From The Homesteaders Of America Conference

In early October, Amanda, Carol, and Kendra traveled to Front Royal, Virginia, to the Homesteaders of America Conference. Let’s find out the most popular poultry questions that our teams answered for you at the event.

Where is Meyer Hatchery located?

Lots of attendees were surprised to learn how close our hatchery is to their location. We are in Polk, Ohio, which is in north-central Ohio. 

Do you ship chicks?

We ship to all 50 states! We sell over 160 different breeds, including many other species of poultry. You can learn more about shipping on our website.

How do you ship, and what does the arrival time look like?

We ship by USPS Priority Mail or Priority Express Mail. LIve chicks get prioritized handling while en route to you, so be assured that they can arrive safely to any US location in 1-3 days from the ship date.

We talked to a wide range of homesteaders about a variety of topics. Broilers or meat chickens were popular topics at the Virginia conference, just like at the Tennessee conference earlier this year. The differences between the Cornish cross versus the Rainbow Ranger meat chickens as a meat bird. Many people do not have a large property to allow Rangers to roam freely. Therefore the Cornish cross may be a better choice.

They took a lot of books to display and sell at the conference, and the processing books were a huge hit once again.

Amanda stole the show again with her display chicken tractor and the Meyer Hatchery downloadable plans for that design. The great thing about our chicken tractor design is that even children can move the tractor by themselves. It can also be used as an infirmary pen, a grow-out pen, or a transitional coop to keep new birds in quarantine.

Homesteading is different for each family and each property. Many people talked with Kendra and Amanda about their designs for their tractors, the good points and the bad points about different methods, and their successes and failures. Other watering and feeding systems were also a common topic of discussion. The 8-gallon tripod waterer was an item that sold out quickly at the event.

Winter Flock Care

Wintertime solutions for waterers in the northern states are always a meaningful discussion to have. The rubber feed pans or buckets are an easy, inexpensive solution for keeping a small flock watered where electricity isn’t available. The electric stock tank de-icers are good to keep waterers ice-free when you have electricity available. The poultry nipples and cups that can be fitted into PVC pipes are an easier way to keep your flock’s water cleaner. Keeping the waterers inside the coop during the winter may lead to more issues with frostbite. When possible, keep the waterers outside, even in freezing temperatures. Keeping the feed and water outside the coop also keeps your birds moving for exercise. It’s also OK to not have water in the enclosure overnight. They will not drink water at night anyway, and it can help prevent frostbite and wet litter in the coop in winter.

What are some other things you can do with your flock other than adding more chickens?

Boredom busters can be an excellent way to keep your family connected to your chickens once the excitement of having baby chicks is over. Urban or suburban chicken keepers are often limited in the number of chickens, so adding more chickens isn’t always an option. Getting children involved in 4-H or FFA is a great way to learn more about keeping chickens and raising your own food. Hatching eggs is also another way to stay engaged with your poultry. Many local farmers will take the new chicks you hatch if you cannot keep them and raise them to add to your own flock due to space limitations.

Thank you to everyone who visited with Amanda, Carol, and Kendra at the Homesteaders of America conference in Virginia. We’ll see you next time!

Kendra felt like a podcast celebrity at the Homesteaders of America event. If you don’t already subscribe to our “The Coop” podcast, find it on any platform where you listen and subscribe to your podcasts.