Breeding silkied Cochin bantams to the Standard

[NanaK]

All are cuties!

Curious. In the last pic, the chick to the left, standing, looking at the camera...it's a splash? Isn't it's color a bit different?

Hope you get that egg thief! Any suspicions?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

All are cuties!

Curious. In the last pic, the chick to the left, standing, looking at the camera...it's a splash? Isn't it's color a bit different?

This little one?

She's either a pale Black or a dark Blue, I haven't decided yet. She looks a bit odd because she has a lot of white on her, but she's too dark for Splash still. Definitely an interesting one! One of the Blues in this batch has a lot of excess white as well, middle right in the first picture in that post.

Hope you get that egg thief! Any suspicions?

Right now, my top suspicion is a raccoon because we have a ton of them in the area and there was a family of them found in an old, rotting coop nearby these pens. However, I've yet to catch whatever it is in the act. I'm pretty sure it's not a snake because there have been shells left behind, and I haven't detected a smell anywhere so I don't think it's a skunk, so raccoon or rat is about all that's left. Trying to proceed with caution so that whatever it is doesn't decide that chicken is on the menu as well.

 

[NanaK]

Definitely an interesting one!

Yes, interesting. Cutie that it is! I thought it was a bit dark for splash. I'm curious to watch it grow!

I'm pretty sure it's not a snake because there have been shells left behind, and I haven't detected a smell anywhere so I don't think it's a skunk, so raccoon or rat is about all that's left. Trying to proceed with caution so that whatever it is doesn't decide that chicken is on the menu as well.

I thought I had a hen laying soft shell eggs, kept finding egg goo in the nest. Came in one day to find a HUGE rat snake all curled up in the nest box.
He could not quite swallow the eggs whole. He would get the egg in his mouth, hold his head back, break the egg and swallow! I got hubby to remove that one! Also added more hardware cloth to the run.

He never bothered the chickens. I know he'd been in and out at least 4-5 times.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Yes, interesting. Cutie that it is! I thought it was a bit dark for splash. I'm curious to watch it grow!

I get the occasional with excess white like this. They're such pretty babies, but look basically like everyone else once grown. I believe it's an indication that they are E/E or E/ER rather than ER/ER or ER/eb, etc. Not 100% sure on that as it's hard to find much information on chick down coloring genetics.

Here's a better look at the Blue baby with excess white as well

Here's the whole brood! I'm actually thinking I got way more Blacks than I initially thought, but I've got to look at them more closely to get a proper count. There are also three that don't seem to be fluffing up like they should, which is... odd.

And here are the one and two week olds, glaring at me from the back of the big kid brooder.

I thought I had a hen laying soft shell eggs, kept finding egg goo in the nest. Came in one day to find a HUGE rat snake all curled up in the nest box.
He could not quite swallow the eggs whole. He would get the egg in his mouth, hold his head back, break the egg and swallow! I got hubby to remove that one! Also added more hardware cloth to the run.

He never bothered the chickens. I know he'd been in and out at least 4-5 times.

Oh wow! I'd never heard of snakes doing that! The eggshells I'd found were licked clean, though. I don't think a snake would be able to accomplish that!

I did see a raccoon by the coop yesterday evening, and I set up a live trap and caught it overnight, but this thing's pretty chunky! I don't think it would have fit through the fence to get into the coop after the eggs, so I still likely have an egg thief on the loose out there somewhere.

This whole event unfortunately has shown me that that coop needs a lot of work to shore up. The raccoon ripped a hole in the siding of the coop while trying to get out of the live trap. I'm going to have to replace the siding there, and since they're going underneath, I'm also going to have to run a fence skirt around the edge or something to stop critters from living underneath there. Ugh!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I don't have any pictures yet, but I peeked under our two broodies in the mixed flock, the ones that have been sitting the longest. The Splash girl (with Buck eggs under her) has at least three external pips under her, I didn't look any further so as not to disturb them. The Blue girl (with Wyatt eggs) has 3 babies out, what looked like a Blue and 2 Splashes Her fourth egg didn't appear to be externally pipped yet, but hopefully it gets a move on before mama decides it's time to take babies out of the nest.

 

[NanaK]

Hope you get that critter whatever it is.

Makes you wonder what all those cute little faces are thinking!

 

[Party_Chicken]

Adorable babies!

I help an elementary school near me hatch chicks. The woman who donated the eggs told me that there are some pure breed Cochins in the batch of eggs and if I wanted them I could take them. Do you know if this is a blue or a black Cochin? I’m only gonna bring it home if it’s a blue cause lord knows I don’t need more chickens .

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Makes you wonder what all those cute little faces are thinking!

I don't know, but the one square in the middle in the picture of the 1-2 week olds that's peeking over the head of another one makes me giggle every time I see it

Adorable babies!

I help an elementary school near me hatch chicks. The woman who donated the eggs told me that there are some pure breed Cochins in the batch of eggs and if I wanted them I could take them. Do you know if this is a blue or a black Cochin? I’m only gonna bring it home if it’s a blue cause lord knows I don’t need more chickens .

Sure looks Blue to me, and I don't see anything in those pictures that would indicate that it's a mix. Pretty baby!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

A little cuteness before I head out for coop close up time. We're at 5 out of 5 of the Buck babies hatched under Splash mama, and Blue mama's last egg has externally pipped and is pretty active in there. I expect that little one won't be much longer. Since it's so late, I don't expect them to come off the nest tonight, but I did get a peek at a few of the babies in there

Blue mama is VERY serious about her babies!

 

[Party_Chicken]

I don't know, but the one square in the middle in the picture of the 1-2 week olds that's peeking over the head of another one makes me giggle every time I see it

View attachment 3838601

Sure looks Blue to me, and I don't see anything in those pictures that would indicate that it's a mix. Pretty baby!

Thank you!