Chickens In Ya Window

[scflock]

If you know me, you know what this will be. If you don't, introduce yourself and hang on

I started with a flock of 4 pullets 6 years ago. I now have 7 pens and 150 chickens. I incubate in a Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance. I have been on BYC for a while, mainly in the Incubating and Hatching section. I'm just making a place where some of my friends can hang out.
This thread may be DOA, or it may keep going for a while, but I have a certain posting style that may need a section of its own

Only 2 rules:
1. Any window left open must be jumped through
2. Don't be offended when you get

ed. It's a sign of acceptance

Anyway...

 

[BlackwoodHollow]

hmmmmm lets call that Sallys hug parade

sc will melt if he ever gets one

He isn't sweet enough to melt, he'd combust cause he's full of. . . something very flammable.

I'm picking up some clues to my earlier question about the SLW x Lav cross.

Laced birds have Co(columbian) Pg(pattern gene) and Melanotic(Ml).

Anyone know where I can find the typical genetics list for a black Wyandotte? They could have Co and not know it. They do have MI, but what about Pg. I guess they could.

In theory the chicks could all look like SLW chicks.

Just thinking out loud here.......

Wish I could help, but I know next to nothing about any of that. Thanks for the lesson, though.

I'm so sorry ross.

Mooooooooooooooooo Mooooooooooooooooooo

looks like you have a bright future in calf manure BTW its a lot more than chickens

Aw, man! There go my hopes and dreams. Today I was cussing and cleaning, and looking at all the cockerels in our yard, and thinking about the 24 hatching eggs we are getting in a few weeks, and two things happened:
1. I realized maybe this chicken thing wasn't the best idea for someone who stays as busy as I do
2. I realized where the term chicken **** originated(and cow ****, and horse **** and probably parrot and monkey **** somewhere south of here)



Oh, yeah, congrats on the bull ****, turk.

 

[WVduckchick]

YEAH!! Congrats RUBY!!

 

[WVduckchick]

Ok, so here are a few pics of the mostly-finished building/coop/run. Still have some work to do on the watering system, but can use hanging waterers until we get that part done. The outside security was the prime issue. The brick walkway was a must, because of the red clay ground. The rain we had for several days made it horrible. But luckily, today was beautiful!

The nest boxes are inside the storage area, so easy to gather eggs. The back area can be accessed by the chickens from under the back side of the wall, and I can fill feeders and waterers from inside, through a door to either side. That area is separated by wire, so the breeds can't mix. Big Guy, Punkin, and the reds will still be able to free-range through their automatic door. Once I move the lavenders, they will stay in the run unless I am there to let them out and supervise.

For anyone who doesn't know, this is at our camp/farm, which is about 45 minutes from my house. Its our weekend retreat, and any other time we feel like going there.

Oh, the chickens were like kids while we were building... into everything! Saturday night, I thought they had all gone into their coop. Got up this morning, and counted 7 girls. Went to get eggs, and one chicken had gotten locked in the building. From the looks of the droppings, she roosted in the lavenders' coop, then made herself a nest on the shelf in the back of the building to lay her egg this morning!

And I have to say, my body is feeling all that work! I'm too old to be climbing on roofs! Not to mention, yesterday we had a sheet of plywood sticking up out of the back of the pickup truck, and I was looking down, and ran right into it HARD with my forehead and the corner of my eye. Looks like I was in a cat fight!

 

[Ravynscroft]

Since advice was asked for, here it is... if you don't want to hear it, just skip over, but it's here for any who do... please keep in mind this is opinion only but it is based on experiences, research, failures, successes, and advice from reputable sources... and I explained acronyms just in case anyone didn't catch what the meant yet...

For whichever breed/breeds you want to work with, learn everything you can about them first... if you want to breed to SOP (Standard of Perfection), get the book... don't get the ones on eBay, many of those are photocopies of the old standards and while those are still good it will be missing new breeds accepted after those were printed... go to the APA (American Poultry Association) website and they have either the cheaper black & white copy ($13) or the full color book ($59)... then look into reputable books specific to the breed, even some of the old books have great info too... learn how to tell good birds from not so good birds and what is something you can work with and what is not...

PQ (pet quality) is fine if you just want chickens of a particular type... when looking for quality stock to base off of, the best option is not to chase around SQ (show quality) exclusively... SQ is fine from known reputable breeders (but watch the prices) but in a lot of cases it gives a false sense of what you might get... SQ just means a particular bird won in a show... if it's at a State or higher level against a good representation of the breed (good number of entries) then it means something... but someone can take a bird to a county fair with no other competition and win by default as well... not saying all people do this, but it has happened... and just because they are SQ doesn't mean they will produce SQ offspring... and ethically you can't sell the offspring as SQ unless it has proven itself in a show...

Best ones to look for is BQ (breeder quality) stock and work from there... BQ is good foundation but still needs work... or could even be at SQ level, just hasn't been shown... also a person who states BQ rather than just spouting SQ is one I would feel is more honest than someone who swears all their birds and offspring are SQ... that's just not realistic... and there are no perfect birds... keeping good quality is not just pairing up a couple nice birds, it's a continuous line of breeding, selecting, culling and breeding some more...

If you can, always keep at least 2 roosters... hens are important, but the rooster supplies 50% of the DNA for all the offspring... and always keep your best and only sell off what you don't need...

For buying right now, if you can afford it and can quarantine properly and can plan them into your wintering over, I suggest doing it... Spring is the sellers market, Fall is the buyers market... now is when many breeders are making final cuts on some of the 'too good to be culls, but not quite good enough to keep over winter' stock... if you have good contacts that will give you a good deal for nice stock in Spring then wait it out... you'll have to weigh those pros and cons yourself... but come Spring, most breeders will be keeping the good ones and selling the lesser quality...

Oh, and learn the market for your area and get a working plan for an outlet of any and all excess from your breeding... whether it be processing yourself, an auction, selling on CL or giving them away for free...

Hope this helps...

 

[BlackwoodHollow]

We do live a normal life, we rase our children, they go to school and to their afternoon activities we go to work, produce, and always see forward! We have fun with our families and friends! We go out to films, bars, ( you should visit Tel-aviv to see really a non stop city!) we do go to our holidays, all over the world and we also rase chickens and have time to chat in forums....

This is something I have always admired about the Israeli people: they don't let fear rule them. In America, we have one event happen and it changes everything. I understand why, but I also admire those who don't let that happen.

There could be a treaty for you guys, but it's going to take a movement by the people. It's been going on for a long time. I think they even wrote a book about it

lol That would be some movement.

He likes to poke at me

 

[dan26552]

 

[scflock]

do you still rub her ears?

Those are more for steering

 

[sideWing]

@sideWing
 did you process meaties yet?

We did. It went great. I can cut a dressed chicken into 8ths in 1 min 20 seconds. Good eating. Freezer has 23 Cornish X now.

 

[BYC910]

He isn't sweet enough to melt, he'd combust cause he's full of. . . something very flammable.
Wish I could help, but I know next to nothing about any of that. Thanks for the lesson, though.

I'm so sorry ross.

Aw, man! There go my hopes and dreams. Today I was cussing and cleaning, and looking at all the cockerels in our yard, and thinking about the 24 hatching eggs we are getting in a few weeks, and two things happened:
1. I realized maybe this chicken thing wasn't the best idea for someone who stays as busy as I do
2. I realized where the term chicken **** originated(and cow ****, and horse **** and probably parrot and monkey **** somewhere south of here)



Oh, yeah, congrats on the bull ****, turk.

well you left out Jack **** and I don't give a **** and ****s getting deep so I'm going back to shoveling ****