- Thread starter
- #281
KoopOnTruckin
Songster
Well, so far everything is going pretty well with the Gen. 2 project, all things considering. I lost 4 chicks so far, 3 to predators (raccoons more than likely) and 1 to drowning. Not the end of the world, though I have made serious corrections to make sure neither happens again.
But then today, I found our Dark Cornish rooster ("Chicken Nuggets") dead on the run floor. Not sure what happened, no signs of a struggle, and it didn't look biological. He was on his back, so it could have been turtling, but I'm not sure. Not the end of the world either, since he was a bit of a jerk to my kid and wife. The good news is that I have several DC chicks already and 2 fertile hens, including "Patty", my DC hen from the above pic. Hopefully I can get a replacement or 2 and some hens out of the deal.
The Delaware chicks are growing as expected, and the DC crosses are also about the same age. My WRs are a bit smaller, but are also a bit younger. All seem very happy and healthy. And once again, I'm amazed at the varieties of colors that came out of the 4 batches. With 2 combinations of breeds (DC over WR, DC over Del), we have buff, white with black spots, black/white barring, b/w barring w/ green tones, brown, red, and full DC markings. In fact, I'm having trouble telling the pure DC chicks from some of the mixes, I may have to wait for them all to mature before culling to be sure.
But then today, I found our Dark Cornish rooster ("Chicken Nuggets") dead on the run floor. Not sure what happened, no signs of a struggle, and it didn't look biological. He was on his back, so it could have been turtling, but I'm not sure. Not the end of the world either, since he was a bit of a jerk to my kid and wife. The good news is that I have several DC chicks already and 2 fertile hens, including "Patty", my DC hen from the above pic. Hopefully I can get a replacement or 2 and some hens out of the deal.
The Delaware chicks are growing as expected, and the DC crosses are also about the same age. My WRs are a bit smaller, but are also a bit younger. All seem very happy and healthy. And once again, I'm amazed at the varieties of colors that came out of the 4 batches. With 2 combinations of breeds (DC over WR, DC over Del), we have buff, white with black spots, black/white barring, b/w barring w/ green tones, brown, red, and full DC markings. In fact, I'm having trouble telling the pure DC chicks from some of the mixes, I may have to wait for them all to mature before culling to be sure.