5th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2014 Hatch-A-Long

[michaelf]

You can add lights to come on early in the mornings. They need around 14-15 hours of light to stimulate them to lay.Make the lights come on earlier than the sun rises to equal the right amount of light.

Hi I'm just wondering if there is any ways to get my hens to start laying again as they stopped for the winter and I would like to know how to help them start again thanks !

 

[carriebain]

OOohhh, here they are!   Soo very cute!   Are those leghorns from that grocery store I've been reading about?   No fair..I want a store like that near me..lol...I love the leghorn!

Yes, those are the famous Trader Joes eggs. Can you feather sex leghorns? If so, it looks like 2 Roos and 1 pullet. But, I'm a newbie!

 

[GerbilsOnToast]

Yes, those are the famous Trader Joes eggs. Can you feather sex leghorns? If so, it looks like 2 Roos and 1 pullet. But, I'm a newbie!

Leghorns are feather sexable. All large fowl standard breeds are.

 

[chicken pickin]

So, I have found the little silkie chick that had the crossed beak:

THE CROSS IS ALL GONE! im super excited!

the day she hatched

1 day after

TODAY!!!!

Im so happy!






BUT>>>
this chick also has a slightly vaulted head
when she hatched






.....before I found this out I kept running my finger over it....wondering ehat the heck was wrong with it....I just did that now. I hope I didn't press its head TOO hard.....

do you think it will be OK (because I pressed it)? know that I know what it is i wont press it anymore!

WILL SHE BE OK BECAUSE I PRESSED IT?!?!??!?!? God, im such a stupid worry wart.

Do any of you have vaulted chicks or grown birds? id surely like to see.




.............................................................................



Ok....so....today she is 4 days old.....is it too late to tell whether a male for female?


I tested her using an old wives tale.....the head hanging method. It proved it a girl.




I THINK she is a porcelain....am I correct on that? she doesn't have as dark chipmunk stripes as my partridge....so im thinking porcelain. I have seen pics of the porcelain chicks, and some have stripes....but is MINE a porcelain?


(she is the lighter silkie)





thanks guys for all your help!!!!

~Bantambury




< "WAITTTTTTTT WHY ARE YOU SENDING THIS!?!?!??! I STILL NEED A NAME!"




OOOhhhhhh yeah.forgot. any idea what to name her? I knew you all could help.....she wants a name. LOL
Maybe a name which could be for a girl or boy? thanks!

Many Silkies will have vaulted skulls. It is kind of like a soft spot on a baby, and opening where the skull doesn't close fully. I believe having the vault will help with the crest size You definitely do not want to press on it, and they shouldn't be kept with older birds that might peck them very hard on the head, even as adults. Im sure your chick is fine as long as you didn't apply too much pressure. You sound like my daughter, every time she holds them she says mom I think I bumped her head will she be ok. You have to be very gentle but don't fret over every bump.

Your chick does look like it could be a porcelain

These were my 2 Silkies I had last year, both with vaulted skulls
porcelain roo w/ vaulted skull 1week old

splash roo w/ vaulted skull 1week old


same porcelain roo 6months old

same splash roo 6months old

Oh and my Porcelains name was Prim, maybe it might suit your chick also

 

[GerbilsOnToast]

Can Orpingtons be reliably feather sexed? If they can, then it looks like I have 3 girls and 2 boys. The RIRxEE I won't even venture a guess on. I already know from the ones I hatched this summer that their feathering is all mixed up. Some feather fast some feather slow with no rhyme or reason. I had 4 hatched under a broody this summer and 3 of them feathered out really fast and one feathered really slow. I thought I had 3 pullets and one cockerel. Nope. 2 of the fast feathers were boys and one was a girl and the slow feather was a boy too.

LF Buff Orpingtons are feather sexable. Other colors I can't say for sure, but I'd guess any of the LF Orpingtons are. Bantams and crosees I make NO calls on, LOL

 

[Threedog]

5... 4... 3... 2... 1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! (Don't tell them they were late, they worked so hard to time it right)

This was my first hatch, and in a hastily assembled incubator fashioned from a broken microwave oven. Not too bad. I set twelve eggs, seven hatched and are doing great. Of the five that didn't make it, one was a blood ring, the other four made it to lockdown and died fully developed inside the shell. No idea what the problem was, but these seven look great, and it was so much fun hatching along with y'all!

 

[JDchicks]

Question:

This is my striped silkie

I thought it would be like her father who is a black partirdge. But her wing feathers are coming in grey/white.

She is still a partridge right? And if so, what type?

 

[AK FLOCK SWAP]

So I am watching the game.. Kid asked to show the broody hen chick to his friends ,, I said no ,,not right now,, After the game..Well 1 1/2hr later,, neighbor kid comes up say Mr Jimmy,,There are two dead chicks,, So I go check the barn,, Its cold .they had left the door open or been in out several times,, I did not put a extra heat as it been warm out and i had just checked ,every one was fine..Oh,,I had a few beers ..lost my temper,,yelled @ my son and neighbor kids... Oh mans i feel so bad ,, Its not there fault.. i should have went and shown them or put extra heat in there,, >..I feel so dang stupid,, I got go apologize to the neighbor kids>>>>>>>>>,,AGAIN,, Peace,,

 

[GerbilsOnToast]

So, I have found the little silkie chick that had the crossed beak:

THE CROSS IS ALL GONE! im super excited!

YAY!!!

.............................................................................



Ok....so....today she is 4 days old.....is it too late to tell whether a male for female?

This is the feathering that would indicate a pullet in a chick </= 3 days old in a standard breed LF. I have no idea if silkies ARE feather sexable at all; the crosses done to create many exotics also resulted in loss of the rF gene. IF silkies are feather sexable, it's highly likely that it's a pullet, and therefore should be named Steve.

 

[bantambury]

for who had bought TRADER JOE eggs or WHOLE FOOD eggs and hatched them:

All of the birds from my flock are all mareks and one other thing.....I forgot.
I want to bring in other birds from other flocks....my breeder says not to because those birds may not be protected from those things like mine, causing mine to be infected........


these store bought eggs....do you think the birds are protected from those diseases?