Cornish Thread

[spangledcornish]

Oh yeah, They do a turtle impression every so often... none are very good at it! Always The best cockerels and roosters you have of course...Iv actually lost two this year to it. I assume the first fell off while breeding. He was in with hens and was aggressively "courting"... The other was in a "just in case" pen alone. I always keep a few extras... A big storm blew thru, lots of wind and big thunder. I'm guessing he freaked and ended up on his back. Either way he was dead with not a mark on him...Idon't know why they can't lay on their back long and live. Not sure if they die from the stress of being unable to right themselves and feel defenseless. Or if it's a physical issue like lungs filling with fluids. But they are always in the same position....

being on their backs for too long disrupts the pressure areas and ability of the air sac in the chicken to function correctly in the respiratory system, since chickens don't have a diaphragm they use air sacs throughout the body to create pressure centers that pull or push "breaths" through the lungs, which do not expand like our but work more like gills on a fish.

 

[Dave C]

Chicks due to hatch tomorrow.

Got a few pippin now

 

[Dave C]

Got 18 chicks out so far of a batch of 30.

 

[Dave C]

Typical, I've got a few orders for chicks now which equals 110 chicks in total and the hens are deciding to go broody

 

[JRNash]

Sounds like a good start Dave

 

[Fat Daddy]

Typical, I've got a few orders for chicks now which equals 110 chicks in total and the hens are deciding to go broody

Now that's how my birds do it Dave! I have two try'n to be broody with no eggs.... decided to be broody and quit laying a week ago. They just sit in the nest box pouting, not laying eggs!

 

[Dave C]

They will be in my broody coop by tonight.
So hopefully it will be broken by the end of the week.

 

[Fat Daddy]

They will be in my broody coop by tonight.
So hopefully it will be broken by the end of the week.

My Cornish do seem prone to going broody... Describe your "broody coop" if you will Dave. How you handle them. Iv often wondered how others handle a determined broody. The last two I had, I locked them out of their coop over night. They spent the night in their run. Away from their roost, away from their flock.... they paced till dark and roosted on the ground. They were stressed but forgot being broody. 10 days or so later, they started laying again.... that's the first time Id ever tried it....

 

[JRNash]

That's about the same approach I've used FD. I've let it go to long this time. Way to many to evict.

 

[JRNash]

I wonder if a wire bottomed cage would help "cool them down"