Viva Las Vegas! - Page 14

I did call the lady from the Craigslist ad. She was so very nice but, as can so often happen, she has only a handful of hens but ten or more roos. She will be hatching again in December so we'll give a try again then if our flock allows.

I did end up just placing a wanted ad on Craigslist and received a message from a lady on Kyle Canyon Rd. Just minutes before she messaged me, however, there was an ad for silkies and bantams. My friend wanting a silkie for a 'house chicken' and her roommate, my husband, and I all showed up at these nice folks' house. As it turns out, someone had set chickens out on their property and, added to the ones they already had... they were overrun to put it mildly. The bantams were too big and my heart was set on a beautiful grey mottled silkie.... that my friend spoke for first... She and her roommate took two silkies and I pried myself away from the beautiful dark silkie with the sweet giant eyes.... If anyone wants a chicken of most sorts, I can pass their info along. They had a really cool looking off-white freckled frizzle sort of rooster.... I realize that isn't a good description for a breeding program sort of thing but....

I responded to the lady re: polish frizzles, sizzles, seramas.... etc. She has a friend who was retiring three of her hens so we'll be getting them this weekend! Hoping to talk the hubby into a 'fancy' bantam for me too (Polish frizzle... pleeeeease) while we're there. Looking forward to having a happy little retirement village

Okay, being new to chickens and not having any need for roos/fertile eggs at the moment.... I've read numerous references to 'lockdown'. What is that exactly?

I'm afraid I would be ridiculous at candling. I would be oooohing and ahhhing over each little body inside. Sorry for the WM eggs. The splash coppers are gorgeous anyway. Love the WM roo's name though!

You should have an 'egg-cam' or something! 13 eggs!!! Ugh! I would not be able to leave them alone! You are so very lucky to get this opportunity with such lovely chickens!

Vegas is Vegas. We've come up with the theory that the hotter the temps run the more monsoon season lives up to its name. I love the rain, so I'll enjoy the heat. How's your neck of the woods?

Thank you for adding me!

Woo-Hoo! I got my first for sure BCM egg today!I don't have a picture because I wormed the girls last week and have been throwing the eggs over the fence into the garden, I realized while it was still in mid-air that I wanted a Pic Maybe tomorrow i'll get another.

Max

Quote:

Originally Posted by vegaschick 

Lockdown refers to the last 3 days of incubation. Generally, if you are incubating, you stop turning the eggs and stop opening up the incubator at that time. It gives the chicks a chance to orient themselves for hatching. A broody, however, can't count so I'm not sure how that works, I just know that it does. Maybe she can hear or sense them somehow? I don't know, but it's awesome.

 

I candled tonight and got rid of 3 quitters. There were 3 more that were kinda iffy and a bunch I just couldn't see into so I left them under her. Trust me, when you have a broody, they are soooo vicious and protective of their eggs that you almost have to force yourself to touch them to candle. Gloves are most definitely required! 

 

Thanks for the nice compliments on my chickens. I think they are really beautiful. I can't wait to see what I end up with from my own bird. I have 3 pullets from the same parents that vary wildly in their coloring. They are all awesome but it's so fun to see what traits are dominate and how that changes from chick to chick. I gotta get more pics soon.

 

I like the way you think of the heat. What a great attitude. I'm kinda looking forward to drying out a bit. We had rain, a little or a lot, every day for about a week and a half. No rain today, just clouds. I love July here. 

Okay, that makes a lot of sense. I think I would trust a broody over my own hair-brain. It sounds like you have potential to have a pretty productive hatch! How exciting!!!! LOL! too funny about your 'attack broody'! (Picturing a hen with teeth bore, Monty Python style.... Too funny! The surprise variation is so great! I know a lot of people breed for a particular colour line but all the 'new, trendy' colours come from just that sort of exciting surprise mix of traits.

Did I see, in an earlier post that you're in Utah right now? Wherever you are, July does sound pretty fantastic there. I loooove the rain and miss it so much!

Quote:

Originally Posted by muckmuck 

Woo-Hoo! I got my first for sure BCM egg today!I don't have a picture because I wormed the girls last week and have been throwing the eggs over the fence into the garden, I realized while it was still in mid-air that I wanted a Pic Maybe tomorrow i'll get another.

 

Max

Congrats on your BCMs laying!

Sooooooo, we have hens!!!!!

Four beautiful little Seramas! ... Well, they were beautiful in the 'show' sort of way before they got extremely comfortable with our sand.... They seem incredibly happy in their new (messy) home though! The girl to the far left has such a well defined lace pattern (under the dust)! We're so very in love!

They were paired (the darks together and the lights together) and move as such. They were retired from breeding/laying due to really inconsistent laying (they're 3 and 4 yrs old, which is 'up there' for Seramas). Of course, within a few hours of being here, we got our first egg.... and my first worry began....

The darkest and, seemingly, most dominant, went into their little house and laid an egg. We were thrilled at the sound that was so familiar to us ('Heyyyy world!!! I'm laying an egg!!!'). One of the light pair traipsed in and, as soon as the first hen was slightly off the egg, began pecking at/eating said egg. A small argument was had before the first hen pecked at the egg as well..... The first hen, then gathered the pieces and bedded down for a bit with her other dark friend standing guard. After realizing there was no real 'egg' remaining, she came out and cackled for quite a while.

We did not get them for egg production but the idea of anyone of these lovely tiny ladies being stressed worries me. After reviewing an 'Egg Eater' thread here, I'm going to try putting in a couple of wooden eggs to discourage eating.... If that doesn't work, on to a blown out egg filled with hot sauce. Other ideas are more than welcome!

Is anyone here in Vegas interested in a BCM roo? I was looking over my flock this morning and think I have an extra 1 or maybe 6! 

Max, I'm telling you, it's something in the air about this abundance of roos. When we were looking for our hens, we kept getting the same story; 'I've got waaayyy too many roos and not enough hens'. The horse world seems to be under the opposite spell; lots of mares not as many stallions/geldings. Weird.

Could anyone use a very nearly full bag of Purina Scratch Grains? We've apparently accidentally bought the wrong sort of feed for our ladies (we were supposed to get crumbles - didn't know this wasn't crumbles.... yeah...). They're not really eating this stuff and I'll be getting a bag of their stuff today but hate to see the old one go to waste. If you'd want to trade for a bag of crumbles, all the better.

LOL! Vegas Chick! I'm sure all of your girls are a sight to behold!

I remembered to take a picture before throwing it over the fence.

My BCM roo's are goin fast, so you better hurry and claim one before their all gone!!!

Max