Illinois...

[chickendreams24]

I think there's a couple emu farms around me I can look into it a bit if you want. I'm in southern WI

 

[MeepBeep]

I think there's a couple emu farms around me I can look into it a bit if you want. I'm in southern WI

That would be great, I trying to keep any potential pickup drive reasonable and Southern WI works...

 

[NotAFarm]

Quote: Sorry to hear about the loss, but things happen and we learn from them.
Four is a good number to start with.....I started with four EE hens seven and a half years ago. I had 17 going into 2015 and that number is up right now with youngsters hatched this year....not sure to what.

I'd have to count and that is not a number I want to know right now!

 

[1ChicChick]

So are you loving it? I started about a year and a half ago and am so addicted. Never thought I would enjoy it so much. I am learning something new all the time and this site and people on this thread have helped me out numerous times. Just fair warning, I started with 3 chickens, now I am up to 20. I have a serious problem

we can only have 6 chickens at the most. One was a rooster which we can't have in town. He went out the way of a pot. And the other died when part of the coop fell on her. I still don't know how the tray where they lay eggs fell. There was only 2 other hens that could have been on it and the rooster used to always be on it with the hens and he had to have been about 8lbs by himself and the two hens cant be more than 4lbs. They're little things. It was just a freak thing. So now I have to figure out how to fix it without freeing hens all over the yard.

 

[Faraday40]

So now I have to figure out how to fix it without freeing hens all over the yard.

Free walking hens is usually not a problem. They come to food & are easily trained. If they are used to sleeping in the coop at night, they'll put themselves back at dusk without any effort.

Edited to add: Of course fixing the coop is another problem.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

A detached air cell does not necessary mean it's blown and won't hatch... I just finished hatching my Welsummer and Black Copper Marans eggs that were shipped eggs, all 14 eggs arrived with detached air cells, I hoped for the best and expected the worst... Candling at about day 7 I tossed 7 of the eggs for no development, had one early quitter and one late quitter and 5 made it all the way... Certainly not a great hatch rate but at least it wasn't a total bust...

There were no air cells left to speak of. The eggs must have been tossed around. I did incubate until day 7 nothing developed. Usually have veining by day 4. That is the chance you take having eggs shipped. Now the Mille eggs came from Ohio and my BBS cochin eggs came from Arkansas and 6 out of 7 are developing nicely . The Mille eggs probably traveled the whole way by truck. Bumpy ride.

 

[Faraday40]

There were no air cells left to speak of. The eggs must have been tossed around. I did incubate until day 7 nothing developed. Usually have veining by day 4. That is the chance you take having eggs shipped. Now the Mille eggs came from Ohio and my BBS cochin eggs came from Arkansas and 6 out of 7 are developing nicely . The Mille eggs probably traveled the whole way by truck. Bumpy ride.

DD discovered the same thing last year. (It was the purpose of her 4H science project. "how shipping affects the hatch rate of eggs") The eggs from NC had almost 70% hatch rate & the eggs from an excellent breeder in KY had only an 8% hatch rate. Both were well packaged. This year, I had eggs from Springfield, IL not hatch at all = completely scrambled. Of course the local eggs usually get 80-95% hatch rates, so they'll always win.

Speaking of hatching, I peeked under Cookie & found 7 chicks. Her "lucky number" no matter how many eggs she sets.
gave 8 - hatched 7
gave 6- stole one & hatched 7
she stole 11 eggs & decided to go broody. After a week I removed the clears & 7 remained. All 7 hatched.

I moved them into a rabbit cage in the run so Cookie could stretch her legs. The flock doesn't seem too happy about it., but there were bugs to hunt, so they moved on.

So here's what I have:
Roo is a blk/lav split orp

4 purebred black orpingtons
2 Legbar-orps. One has a very small spot on head. Does that mean barring & a male or does it need to be 1cm or greater?
1 yellow chick. (Mom is white mix hen) If the chick's color takes after the hen, does it mean a boy? OR Could the roo's lav gene cause the lack of black in this chick?

Cookie happens to be black, so that one chick certainly stands out!

Don't worry, pics will come once they start peeking out more frequently.

 

[chickendreams24]

@Faraday40
Just saw your post and I had to celebrate too!!!! Can't wait to get the babies please post pics soon so I can save them to my phone(hope that's okay you're not the only one who wants pics) and let me know if you find out anything about their coloring pointing to their sexes thanks.

 

[SixChickFlock]

For ChicagoClucker re Bees

I added a couple bee hive this year. My free ranging flock of 13 is not interested in them at all. This time of year it is easy to find aging bees all over the yard on the ground... The chickens avoid them. Not afraid but not food.

Glad your gal is back to normal!

 

[ChicagoClucker]

For ChicagoClucker re Bees

I added a couple bee hive this year. My free ranging flock of 13 is not interested in them at all. This time of year it is easy to find aging bees all over the yard on the ground... The chickens avoid them. Not afraid but not food.

Glad your gal is back to normal!

I did do some reading about chickens and bees, and have come across this also. Everything says that the chickens are not interested in eating the bees. At first I thought it was a respiratory infection. Thinking back on that evening, I am assuming it was either a bee or something stuck in her throat. Her breathing was so labored and once in a while she would make a shocking noise like she was in pain. I felt so bad for her, I had both of my grandsons that day, and really couldn't think straight until after they left. That's when I remembered she was sitting on the deck while I was having coffee and she was fine at that time. That's when I said to myself it couldn't be respiratory infection and thought what could it be? Whatever it was, either dislodged itself while eating or the benedryl worked. Either way, I am happy with the outcome.