Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

AnneInTheBurbs said:

So the chicks I have in the incubator have a CCL/Marans father. I think there is a CG egg, a CCL egg, a Legbar egg and an Olive egger egg (sister of Rusty, so CCL.Marans mix). Will any of these possibly sexable with a headspot? Of course I will post pictures anyways...

On day 5 of the incubation (Starting with day 21). The last three days they go into lockdown with no turning, extra humidity, correct?

Click to expand...

dheltzel said:

AnneInTheBurbs said:

 
So the chicks I have in the incubator have a CCL/Marans father.  I think there is a CG egg, a CCL egg, a Legbar egg and an Olive egger egg (sister of Rusty, so CCL.Marans mix).  Will any of these possibly sexable with a headspot? Of course I will post pictures anyways...

On day 5 of the incubation (Starting with day 21).  The last three days they go into lockdown with no turning, extra humidity, correct?

Click to expand...

Sorry, but headspots will be useless for sexing, your best bet is to raise them to 5 or 6 weeks and compare comb sizes. None of the chicks will be "proper" sexlinks because your roo contains 1 gene for barring, so half his daughters will be barred (headspot) and half non-barred. Most of the roos will be barred (except half the daughters of the OE), but some will be single barred (like half the females) and half double barred, like a male CG or CCL.

Click to expand...

dheltzel said:

You *need* some black, lavender or silver Ameraucanas to make really blue eggs. Legbars would work too, depending on what color birds you prefer. Since you have a tolerance for raising roos, Ams would be a good fit for you. I love the look of the Ams, dark legs, "ear muffs" and beards. Pea combs make them the ultimate winter chicken too, at least for blue eggs.

For dark eggs, I thought you had some Copper Marans? Bielefelders and Welbars are my dark egg layers. Neither are hatching well for me now, but if you want either of those, I will try to work it out.

Click to expand...

hyzenthlay said:

Thought I'd post an egg pic for fun, too. Starting with the green eggs and going clockwise, the green ones are from my EE, the white ones are Polish, the two darker brown ones are from my hatchery Black Copper Marans, the next two are from the hatchery Blue Copper Marans (hard to see in this pic, but they always have nice dark speckles that distinguish them from regular brown eggs), the two little browns I believe are from my Buff Orp pullet that just started laying, and the two pinky brown torpedoes at the top are from either the Barred Rock or BLRW. My Ameraucana isn't represented here--her eggs are much bluer than the EE's, but she laid a few eggs earlier this month and then decided to go back on sabbatical. The Marans eggs started out a bit darker last month, but they're the ones who have been laying the most consistently, so the color has already gotten a bit lighter than it was. Anyway, I love color variety in eggs, and I'm looking forward to adding more!

Click to expand...

fisherlady said:

Anne, we use fans in the coops, and have them blowing out... a few things I suggest...don't worry about getting 'heavy duty' fans or anything fancy, no matter how many times you clean them (we vacuum them out regularly) the coop dust trashes them pretty quick, 6 months is expected at our place, more is a bonus. Hang them with stout wire by partially screwing in long screws above the door or window into solid wood and loop the wire over the screws and through the handle of the fan. It is easy to add small eye bolts into the corners of the fan housing also if you prefer. Just make sure any screws, bolts or wire you use is strong and well secured. Then just hang the fan in the window or door of your choosing. We used hardware cloth over the eave openings but for the windows in our coop we opted for stouter 'expanded metal' which we had cut to be just bigger than the windows and anchored with 3"screws and big washers. Any local metal shop can get it in various 'gauges' or size. A lightweight piece will do the job, we opted for it due to bears in our area. We also fabricated a 'coon gate' for the door in our one coop, it is a frame of 1" piping with 1"×2" goat fencing on the upper part and 1"×1" rabbit fencing on the lower (for chick sizing). It has a hasp lock on top and bottom to secure it and is hung on hinges in the same door frame as the regular door. This allows us to keep the wooden door open for ventilation but still be secure from night visitors. That particular wood door we also cut in half to make it a 'dutch door' so the lower half could be left closed for added security or to prevent drafts if a hen was on a floor nest with new chicks. Hopefully the pictures help make the descriptions easier to understand.

Click to expand...

Auroradream26 said:

I thought I would share some of my eggs too I really need to make some dark olive eggers though to add to the mix.

Click to expand...

Auroradream26 said:

I'm in trouble when hubby gets home (unless by some miracle he doesn't look in the brooder). I went into tractor supply without adult supervision tonight and these 6 little meaties were all that were left. I couldn't just leave without them! They've made themselves at home already, all stretched out and napping

Click to expand...

hyzenthlay said:

Ok, so I'm excited today because our new covered run is almost complete. This will be a great help to give the chickens a little more space on these days when the hawks are loitering around our yard all day like a snack bar. We have both Redtail and Cooper's Hawks in residence. I have two questions, though. (1) We are covering the top and sides with chicken wire. This run is ONLY really supposed to be secure for hawks--the chickens will be locked in the coop at night to be safe from raccoons. Although I have heard there are foxes living in the park within a mile of us, we have never had any spottings near us on the edge of the more urban area. So, here's the question--see that spot toward the front where the yew shrub is sticking out that does not have chicken wire? Do you think the shrub will keep Cooper's hawks from walking into the run, or do I have to cut it back so we can put wire there, too? It does look much nicer with the shrub coming out, but that will be cold comfort if I find a hawk in the run with a bunch of dead hens. Thoughts? (2) The run floor is all mud at the moment. I have heard a lot of good things about sand in the runs, so I was thinking of using that for footing. Does that sound like a good idea, or would you recommend something different? If I use sand, how deep of a layer should I put in? Thanks!! FYI, the chicken wire on top will be secured much tighter before the hens use it--it's still a work in progress!

Click to expand...

AnneInTheBurbs said:

Okay, well my brain melted after the first sentence....

Thanks anyways

Click to expand...