B.Y.C. Dorking Club! - Page 188

well so far so good, of the 23 shipped, 16 made it to lockdown, and i have 10 colored hatched so far, plus 1 silver grey from my own eggs. but right now i can't tell which is which!  LOL

interesting to note, one came out a bit early, still has a little pouch of yolk sac. so he's staying in the hatcher a bit longer than the others did.

a few of the colored chicks are nearly black with faint chipmunk stripes, the rest are more typical looking, i guess.

I read a post somewhere on BYC about hatchery chickens having a better conversion ration of feed to production compared to Heritage birds. The said that hatchery birds ate less. Just wondering, because my three SG Dorkings(one week old today) that came from the Poultry Palace scared me at first with how little they seem to be eating(and wasting). They are drinking water and the feathers are growing. They also peck at the forage cakes for chicks I bought for them. I realized they were eating food that other chicks spilled onto the brooder floor! These little buggers are already foraging.

They are also quiet and calm compared to the McMurray chicks.

I will work on getting a picture of them today.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronott1 

I read a post somewhere on BYC about hatchery chickens having a better conversion ration of feed to production compared to Heritage birds. The said that hatchery birds ate less. Just wondering, because my three SG Dorkings(one week old today) that came from the Poultry Palace scared me at first with how little they seem to be eating(and wasting). They are drinking water and the feathers are growing. They also peck at the forage cakes for chicks I bought for them. I realized they were eating food that other chicks spilled onto the brooder floor! These little buggers are already foraging.

 

They are also quiet and calm compared to the McMurray chicks.

 

I will work on getting a picture of them today.

I agree, dorkings are awesome foragers.  as soon as i can i start letting mine out to roam.
 

by 4 weeks i usually have them in an outside pen, and after 2 weeks start opening the door in the afternoon. it takes a few days for some of them to learn where to go back to bed (finding the door is the hard part LOL) but then once they know how to go to bed, i let them out all day.  that couple weeks in the pen also lets the older guys meet them.  it seems to take a while for them to really integrate into the flock, but being loose, if someone's bothering them they can run and hide. they also learn predator stuff easier earlier i think, when they're still afraid of everything. 

dogs aren't predators (but might step on them), cats are to be harrassed, but a hawk goes overhead and everyone goes silent.

ok here they are!  11 so far, and 3 more eggs thinking about doing something. the rest of the eggs were quitters probably prior to lockdown from the looks of them.  right now i can't tell which ones are silver grey vs colored. i know only 1 or 2 sg hatched...  time will tell, obviously. LOL  and forgive the fuzzyfeets. they came home with me saturday from TSC. (3 buff columbian cochins and 1 white silkie)

So cute!!!!!!  
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ki4got 

ok here they are!  11 so far, and 3 more eggs thinking about doing something. the rest of the eggs were quitters probably prior to lockdown from the looks of them.  right now i can't tell which ones are silver grey vs colored. i know only 1 or 2 sg hatched...  time will tell, obviously. LOL  and forgive the fuzzyfeets. they came home with me saturday from TSC. (3 buff columbian cochins and 1 white silkie)

 

 

 

well the 3 eggs that were still going last night, 1 made it out, the other 2 are shrink wrapped, but still blood vessels on the membranes so they'll wait a bit more. my fault likely, since i had the 'bator open and shut a bunch yesterday. 

only loss was the one that hatched with a good bit of yolk sac still out. didn't look good last night, and was gone today. think it was a cockerel.

Congrats on your hatch, but sorry for the losses. Those Colored chicks look very similar to SGs in that photo.

Ron, I'm anxious to see pics of those chicks from Poultry Palace.

It's looking like I'm going to have mostly cockerels in both batches of my chicks. That's good, since I need to replace what I have. I'm hoping for a few nice pullets, though.

Kim

Very nice, thank you for sharing.

Lisa
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ki4got 

ok here they are!  11 so far, and 3 more eggs thinking about doing something. the rest of the eggs were quitters probably prior to lockdown from the looks of them.  right now i can't tell which ones are silver grey vs colored. i know only 1 or 2 sg hatched...  time will tell, obviously. LOL  and forgive the fuzzyfeets. they came home with me saturday from TSC. (3 buff columbian cochins and 1 white silkie)

 

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by capayvalleychick 

Congrats on your hatch, but sorry for the losses. Those Colored chicks look very similar to SGs in that photo.

i agree, they do. that's why i can't tell which one is my sg (or 2) that hatched...  but i am going to band everyone later tonight, once the last ones are done hatching   then i'll be able to track chick fuzz color with adult color hopefully. if i can remember why i banded them all that way that is.

gotta clean out the hatcher tonight so i can set the reds and red/colored crosses in lockdown in separate incubators. i really don't know what they'll look like and want to make sure i can tell pure from cross.

Quote:

Originally Posted by capayvalleychick 

Congrats on your hatch, but sorry for the losses. Those Colored chicks look very similar to SGs in that photo.

 

Ron, I'm anxious to see pics of those chicks from Poultry Palace.

 

It's looking like I'm going to have mostly cockerels in both batches of my chicks. That's good, since I need to replace what I have. I'm hoping for a few nice pullets, though.

 

Kim

Hi Kim,

I have one Cockerel and three SG Dorking Pullets from McMurray. I think the Poultry Palace chicks are one pullet and two Cockerels.

Poultry Palace SG Dorkings first week:

This is the largest of the McM SG Dorking pullets at 5 weeks:

Let me know if you want her.