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Topics - Ernie Haire

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After retiring, I took a part-time job that is great but lots of hours. I do not have time to hatch and ship chicks. Our brooders are filling up and our incubator stays full. We are going to start offering eggs again this year on Ebay. Due to time restrictions, we may not be able to offer eggs every week. I will try to list eggs to close out on Sunday evening so they can be boxed on Monday and shipped.

Due to computer issues, I have lost more emails than I care to think about this year. If you are interested in hatching eggs from us, the best thing to do is to keep an eye on Ebay. All of our listings state that the hatching eggs are out of show stock and from (Poultry 2XL).

As I stated earlier, I do not sit down at the computer very often. When I get home from work, I take care of my chickens and then try to sleep. Please don't email me and expect a quick response. I asked God to help me find a part-time job after retiring and he blessed me with a 50-57 hour a week job. This is the busiest time of the year for a feed store / lawn and garden center.

Be Blessed,
Ernie Haire
Poultry 2XL

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It seems like once we start show season, it is non-stop for a couple of months. We had a good show at Bryan this past weekend and now we have Ft. Worth Open Show this weekend. The Junior Show in Ft. Worth will be the following weekend. Due to a conflict in the schedule, none of my juniors will be showing this year. We have a basketball tournament the same weekend and all of the boys play ball.

It rained all night last night and supposed to rain again on Thursday. It is times like this that I wonder why I like White poultry so much. Oh well, thankfully I have several to pick from. I can just grab the cleanest ones and head that way on Friday. I did have to wash a few the other day before we could go to The Bluebonnet Classic. I was hoping that they would stay clean, but that is not going to happen.

We look forward to seeing everyone in Ft. Worth. We will be praying for safe travels for everyone on the road.

Be Blessed,
Ernie

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We would like to thank and congratulate Howard Story and his family for their recent purchase of our Self Blue Bantam flock. We at Poultry 2XL made a decision to cut back on the number of varieties that we will be breeding and showing this year. Howard Story and his family purchased all of our Self Blue Bantam Ameraucanas. If you are interested in Self Blue Bantam Ameraucanas, we recommend that you contact Howard Story. We were successful with this line of Self Blues and wish Howard and his family the best of luck with them.

Be Blessed,
Ernie Haire
Poultry 2XL

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Exhibiting & Promoting / How people learn from what they see
« on: December 07, 2017, 08:24:45 PM »
I had the opportunity to visit with a judge that I respect this weekend. He was not judging the show, but is  interested in the Ameraucana breed and the way that it seems to be gaining in popularity. He said that for years, he would see a handful of Ameraucanas at the shows. One or two of some different varieties. It was not hard to select the Best and Reserve Best of Variety based on faults and disqualifications. After that, select the Best and Reserve Best of Breed, no problem. To learn more about them, he paid attention to the birds that won Best and Reserve Best of Breed and Champion AOSB and/or Champion AOCCL under other judges. He thought that if judges who had experience with the breed selected them, he should pattern his selections after what he had seen previously.

He admitted that he had no idea what the Standard weights for Ameraucanas should be. After checking his APA Standard of Perfection, he looked at me with amazement in his eyes and said, "a cock bird should only weigh 6.5 pounds." I said, "I know."  He laughed and said, "judges can't weigh every bird, but to put it into perspective an Ameraucana cock bird should weigh the same as one of your Marans hens." Again, I smiled and said, "I know."

He mentioned the way some varieties are nice and flat down the back and across the top.  He also mentioned that some of the Ameraucana males seemed to be higher in the front than in the rear. I just smiled and said, "check your Standard."

Believe it or not, we are still friends.

Just Saying,
Ernie

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Exhibiting & Promoting / Pelican State Poultry Show in Haynesville, LA.
« on: November 06, 2017, 09:20:20 AM »
I am not sure who to contact, but the date that is showing on the Homepage or our website is not correct. The actual date for that show is December 2, 2017, All of the contact information is accurate.

Thanks,
Ernie Haire

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Exhibiting & Promoting / Ameraucanas vs. Easter Eggers?
« on: April 24, 2017, 11:04:46 AM »
At what point does a crossbred chicken move from being classified as an Easter Egger to being an Ameraucana.  Is it just based on color, ear muffs, and beards or is it based on percentages? In the Boer goat world, animals are classified by percentage until they reach the point of being 15/16. At 15/16 and above, we register them as Purebred. Percentages show in one division and Purebred/Fullbloods show in another division.

I realize that Noah did not put Ameraucanas on the boat. They were made by selectively breeding other breeds of chickens for desired traits.

Ernie





 

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We will be leaving for Haynesville, Louisiana on Friday evening. I have been talking to the people who are hosting this show the last couple of days. They are planning on the largest show that they have ever had. They have always limited the entries to 800 birds, but have 947 entered. Rather than refuse entries, they have gotten permission to use a side room that they have never used.  I am not sure about the Ameraucana numbers, but it should be a good Ameraucana Meet. There are some breeders from Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas that have entered birds.

We are praying for safe travels for everyone who will be showing this weekend. If you are planning to show in Haynesville, please let us know. If you are planning to go to the show, but not showing please find us. We look forward to meeting new breeders and talking about Ameraucanas.

Be Blessed,
Ernie Haire

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Exhibiting & Promoting / Gulf South Fall Classic, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
« on: November 10, 2016, 08:20:13 PM »
We are busy trying to get everything ready to head out tomorrow morning for Baton Rouge. It is a long drive, but a great facility. The people who put this show on have always been great to work with and always very accommodating. This is a show that we attended a couple of years ago. We met some really good people while we were there. We weren't able to attend last year due to the Avian Influenza scare.

The lady who is in charge of the show contacted me today to let me know that everything was looking good down there. It looks like it is going to be a big show and plenty of Ameraucanas there. They are going to provide us with a table and chairs for the ABC. Paul and Angela Smith were nice enough to bring me some brochures and other paperwork to the State Fair of Texas to take with us. I am looking forward to a great show and meeting Ameraucana breeders from that area.

If you are going to be showing in Baton Rouge, please let us know. We will be looking forward to seeing everyone there. We are praying for safe travels for everyone who is going to be traveling to shows this show season.

Be Blessed,
Ernie Haire


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Exhibiting & Promoting / State Fair of Texas Poultry Show
« on: October 21, 2016, 01:29:38 AM »
The State Fair of Texas in Dallas will have its Poultry Show this weekend. We have almost gotten everything rounded up around here so we can head out tomorrow. The Poultry Show is on Saturday. We are looking forward to a fun filled weekend with our show friends and family. This show always has several varieties of Ameraucanas exhibited and thousands of people coming through the barn.We are blessed to live in a country where we are free to do what we enjoy doing. 

We are still trying to get our birds molted out, but we are proud of the birds that we produced last year and looking forward to getting our show season started. We pray that everyone who is traveling have safe travels. Hope to see everyone there.

Be Blessed,
Ernie Haire
Poultry 2XL
Arp, Texas

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Ameraucana Marketplace / Ameraucana Hatching Eggs
« on: April 21, 2016, 08:27:04 PM »
We have the incubators full again and about to get caught up on shipping hatching eggs. We are offering hatching eggs on Ebay again this year. We have sold eggs on Ebay for years with little to no trouble. I would like to say  no trouble, but we did have that one lady who bought 10+ eggs, received 12 eggs, and only hatched nine chicks. She was not a happy customer and we never did get her satisfied. Oh well, Momma told me that there would be people like that.

Ebay is the most convenient way that we have found to sell our hatching eggs. We have different varieties of different breeds and keeping up with orders is more than I care to deal with this time of year. I am a full time teacher and stay busy working at our Church. By listing eggs on Ebay for five day auctions, I can just click and ship. I realize that this sounds lazy to some people. Until I get retired, this is the way that works for me.

We list hatching eggs from our Black over Black pen and Blue over Blue pen every couple of weeks. We have  listed hatching eggs from our White over White pen a few times this year. We have also just put a pen of Black pullets down under Splash males. We are checking the fertility on that pen before listing eggs from that pen. We hope to be able to hatch and list eggs from that pen in a week or two.

All of our listings on Ebay state that they are from Poultry 2XL and our user name is xlboergoats. We are not difficult to find if you are searching for hatching eggs. We do not offer eggs every week from every breed or variety, but we do offer hatching eggs from something every week.  If you let us know that you are searching for a particular breed or variety, we will be happy to let you know when we list the eggs that might interest you.

Be Blessed,
Ernie Haire
Poultry 2XL
Arp, Texas

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Exhibiting & Promoting / South Texas State Fair in Beaumont, Texas
« on: March 14, 2016, 11:38:19 PM »
We are coming to that time of year when we close out our show season. Our last show is going to be at the South Texas State Fair on March 26 in Beaumont, Texas. Who has a show on Easter Weekend you ask, the South Texas State Fair. We were shocked when we noticed that the show was going to be on the Saturday of Easter Weekend. Oh well, we will be there. It is a good show put on by a good set of people.

We look forward to seeing all of our show friends in a couple of weeks. We pray that everyone has safe travels.

Be Blessed,
Ernie Haire
Poultry 2XL


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We are looking forward to showing in Ft Worth the next couple of weekends. This has always been a nice show. We enjoy seeing all of our poultry friends and meeting new ones. This poultry show is held in conjunction with the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show. There will be thousands of people through the barns every day. Some of them are poultry fanciers and others are just curious. Either way, it is a chance to meet people, make new friends, and educate the public.

The Junior Show and the Open Show have always been held at the same time in the same barn. The last couple of years have had so many entries that coops had to be double stacked. Some of the Juniors were not able to reach their birds on the top row of the coops. The "Powers That Be" decided that it would be better to have the Junior Show and the Open Show on different weekends. The Juniors will be showing the first weekend and the Open Show will be held the following weekend. It will be interesting to see how that plays out because so many of the Junior exhibitors travel with parents and/or grandparents who show in the Open Shows. I know of several Junior exhibitors who will still be showing in the Open Show.

I only have one student who will be taking a set of birds this next weekend to the Junior Show. I hope to get more of my students interested in showing poultry next year.

We will be back the next weekend for the Open Show. We are looking forward to seeing everyone at Ft Worth in a couple of weeks.

Be Blessed,
Ernie Haire

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Exhibiting & Promoting / Bluebonnet Classic in College Station Texas
« on: December 25, 2015, 09:14:50 AM »
We are trying to get ready for the Bluebonnet Classic next weekend in College Station, Texas. Mom and Mary are already planning what they are going to cook and bring with us. Anyone who knows them knows that they really enjoy having a snack table. We will be traveling on January 1 and showing on January 2. This has always been a nice show in an excellent facility. The club that puts the show on is experienced at running a large show and always keep the show running smoothly.

The weather here is still changing from day to day, but that is just northeast Texas. I am sure that most of you have had temperatures in the lower 30's and into the high 70s, but in the same day???? Those of us who live here know that you should be prepared for anything. The chickens are the ones who seem to be confused. Is it spring, summer, fall, or winter?????? Humans know to dress in layers and/or carry extra clothes everywhere we go. The chickens are really having problems with that idea. We all know that when they take off a layer, it is not that easy to put back.

Oh well, we have chickens entered at the Bluebonnet Classic and we will be there. We entered some of everything and will sort through them when we load chickens. We are looking forward to visiting with all of our Ameraucana friends who are there. We pray that everyone who is coming down has safe travels.

Count Your Blessings,
Ernie

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Ameraucana Marketplace / ISO a nice set of Black Ameraucana Bantams
« on: December 15, 2015, 09:37:19 PM »
We are in search of a nice set of Black Ameraucana Bantams. We know that the search will be challenging, but felt that it was worth a try.  We were blessed to add some nice White Ameraucana Bantam pullets to our breeding program after posting here.

We are searching for three or four nice females and a couple of nice males. One male would work, but we always like to have an extra. There is nothing worse than having a nice trio and finding the male dead one day. We pray that we are not faced with that, but is happens. We had rather be safe than sorry.

If you have or know of anyone who has nice Black Ameraucana Bantams that they willing to part with, please let us know.

Be Blessed,
Ernie Haire

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Ameraucana Marketplace / Birds for sale at Shawnee??
« on: December 08, 2015, 02:42:04 PM »
Shawnee has always been a big show with sale coops available. We have rented sale coops before, but we didn't rent any this year. I don't think that we will have room on the trailer for anything except for the birds that we have in the show. If we change our minds, we will rent sale coops when we get there.

However, we always keep extra haul boxes on the trailer. We never know what we may find that we feel we need to add to our program. Who is bringing what to sell? We are searching for Black, Blue, and White Bantam Ameraucanas if anyone has any extras. We are always looking to add Large Fowl Black, Blue, and White Ameraucanas if we find something that we feel would improve our program.

Thanks,
Ernie Haire

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