***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Kassaundra]

A few shots of the teens today.

 

[BetsyOK]

I did find two tiny seedlings from the red carnation poppy yesterday! Can hope for more.

 

[NanaKat]

I did find two tiny seedlings from the red carnation poppy yesterday!  Can hope for more.

You should see more.

 

[GaryDean26]

I haven't keep up very well with this thread. I think I read it more when I was living in Texas than I do now that I have been in Oklahoma for over 18 months.

I read one of the main Texas everyday. Maybe when I have been to more Oklahoma events and met more of you all I will keep up better with everyone.

What chicken events are there in Oklahoma? I went to the Shawnee Show in December but didn't meet any BYC people there. Are there anyevents you all go to? In Texas we had a Meet-up group that planned farm tours to free range commercial flocks, meat processing classes, lawn shows, chicken swaps, egg shows, bio security classes, an urban coop tour, a chickens at the library event, etc. We met lots of people through the local chicken community but feel a little isolated here.

Our flock has been doing really well this spring. We kept two Cream Legbar Cocks, four Cream Legbar brood Hens, six Cream Legbar Pullets, three blue/splash Breda Gueldre hens, Two Black Copper Marans hens, one Maransx Legbar pullet, and one Breda Gueldre x Legbar Pullet. We have completed two hatches this year. Both had 100% of the fertile eggs hatch and both had two eggs that weren't fertile, but that is still a record for us. We candled eggs for out 3rd hatch and it looks like this time we have 100% fertility and so we will see how things go.

We ordered some Columbian Plymouth Rocks this spring for our "for fun" layers and had our 15 chicks arrive two weeks ago. We also went back in Texas last week and one of our friends who has about the winningest line of Marans in the USA had some eggs for sale as "fresh Farm eggs". We opened the carton and saw that they were all Marans eggs so we took a dozen of them. We haven't breed any Marans since we moved from Texas and wanted some more for the laying flcok. At day 14 three of those "farm fresh" table eggs are on track to hatch. We don't know what we will get. they could be Black Copper, Wheaton, Black Tailed Buff, Black, Blue, Blue Birchen, etc. We will probably just get hybird mixes but are still looking forward to our mystery Marans hatch.

We took Best of Breed and Reserve of Breed out of the 16 Cream Legbars at the Shawnee Show in December. We also took best of breed out of 52 entries in the on-line show for the Cream Legbar club. So we now have five of out 10 Cream Legbarbar ladies in our flock as winner of a Best of Breed of Reserve of Breed awards. Egg size and color are looking good so all in all it look like we are moving forward instead of backwards with the flock this year.

Here is out best of breed hen from the on-line show in February.

This hens was best of breed at the Shawnee show in December.



This pullet was best of Breed at the Pitsburg County Fair in September.

 

[NanaKat]

Moving babies from the hatcher to the brooder today. Always find a few that are late zippers but today a little naked neck was fully hatched but dragging its yolk sack and shell. The sack looked like a grape attached by a thread to the baby and then to the shell. As I was trying to decide what to do, the yolk sac ruptured. I tied a thread around the umbilical to try seal the rupture and keep as much fluid for the chick, gave the chick a drop of Nutridrench and placed it and two other late zippers in the ICU for now.
Never a dull moment here.

 

[GaryDean26]

I have seen a few attached to the shell and dragging it behind them. They usually don't make it. If they do make it, I always have to debate whether or not I should cull them anyways since they are going to end up an unthrifty bird with low vigor. I don't cull as much as I should. I show mercy to some of these weak chicks. I guess I feel that if they have the will to live that counts for something. Good luck. I hope it makes it and finds a pet home.

 

[VillamilFarms]

It is definitely spring on the farm peaches are set on strawberries are blooming pear trees and in bloom black raspberries are fixing to bloom and the birds are loving the warm weather

Pulled 47 babies out of the incubator this morning

 

[VillamilFarms]

 

[VillamilFarms]

 

[Matt in Okla]

Edmond city council approves ordinance to allow backyard chickens | KFOR.com
http://kfor.com/2017/03/28/edmond-city-council-approves-ordinance-to-allow-backyard-chickens/
Slick Willy move on councils part