Recent content by NatJ

  1. NatJ

    Hatching Supermarket Eggs

    I found a thread about hatching grocery store eggs. It is a number of years old by now, but some of the information might still be useful: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/trader-joes-other-grocery-store-egg-hatching-club-are-you-a-member.290845/ If I was desperate for eggs to hatch...
  2. NatJ

    Duck Egg Colour Genetics

    As someone who has read quite a bit about genetics, I find that really painful to read. Genes are dominant or recessive, not "strong." And the letter abbreviations are being used all wrong. It sounds like the genetics for blue/green eggshell color work the same in ducks as they do in chickens...
  3. NatJ

    Any guesses to which one is the rooster? We are suppose to have 16 females and 1 roosters. All barred rocks from townline hatchery in zeeland Michigan

    Good point. Come to think of it, take a look at all their legs. Some hatcheries will put a little elastic band on the leg as a method of marking. If they did that, it needs to be taken off before the leg grows much fatter.
  4. NatJ

    Any guesses to which one is the rooster? We are suppose to have 16 females and 1 roosters. All barred rocks from townline hatchery in zeeland Michigan

    I agree with the previous two posters. Also, sometime within the first two months or so, his comb & wattles will probably get bigger and redder than the combs & wattles of the females.
  5. NatJ

    Sexing guess at 2 weeks

    It is always possible to make guesses. The question is whether those guesses have any chance of being correct :D From what I see in those pictures, I think there is some chance that the bigger comb chick is a male, but I would keep watching for several more weeks, likely a month or more, before...
  6. NatJ

    Indoor baby chick raising.

    Maybe a rubbermaid tub with a cover? That would probably keep the bedding in a bit better. You still need ventilation, so for a "cover" I am thinking of something like an oven rack, or a barbecue grill, or a baby gate. Any of those can be laid across the top of the rubbermaid tub to keep chicks...
  7. NatJ

    What's Your Favorite Feed for Baby Chicks?

    That is pretty much what I have done, except that I buy un-medicated. It seems to work just fine. Within the first 24 hours or so, I tend to blame deaths on hatching or shipping conditions, not the feed I provide. After that point, I generally do not have deaths. It could be any of those...
  8. NatJ

    Red Pyle OEGB Roo X Cream Legbar Hen

    I think you are correct on both counts. Genetically speaking, the chicks are sexlinks because the males have the barring gene and the females do not. But because of what colors are present, you cannot see which ones have barring and which ones do not, so you cannot actually sex them by color...
  9. NatJ

    Coop questions

    A fence is a good start for keeping out predators. Most people use some kind of wire mesh for fences. The kind sold as "chicken wire" is not strong enough, because foxes and other predators can usually rip holes in it. Strong kinds of wire mesh are usually fine. Many people use hardware cloth...
  10. NatJ

    Slow feathering sapphire gem pullet

    I once had a pullet of a different sexlinked type (Red Sexlink) that was very slow to grow her feathers. Yes she was a female, but she looked nearly naked for a long time after the other chicks had all their feathers. I can't be positive about yours right now, but it definitely is possible to...
  11. NatJ

    17th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-Along

    That is pretty much what I've read, too, about homozygous rose comb roosters being less fertile than others. I've read that the sperm does not live as long after mating (so the rooster needs to mate with each hen more often), and I've read that they tend to mate less often. I have no personal...
  12. NatJ

    Egg Theatrics - how to ID the perpetrators

    You might look into chicken aprons (also called chicken saddles): those things that people put on the backs of hens after their feathers get worn out from over-mating by roosters. The aprons are sold in many different colors and designs, or I think there may be patterns to make your own...
  13. NatJ

    Hens or Roos? Breeds?

    The blue/green eggs would have come from hens that lay those colors (Easter Eggers or Cream Legbars or Ameraucanas or something like that.) Did either of them hatch? I didn't notice any chicks that would obviously be one of those kinds, but that could just mean that they didn't pass on the...
  14. NatJ

    Uh oh newbie mistake with turkey and chicken eggs put in incubator on same date! Help?

    It would be easier if all the eggs hatch at the same time. You would do that by starting them at different times. With turkey and chicken eggs, that probably means putting the turkey eggs in first, then adding the chicken eggs a week later. Or since you do have two incubators, you could use one...
  15. NatJ

    Things you wish you could say

    I agree about putting the dog in another room. But I don't know whether it's better to explain if asked, or dodge the issue with something vague like "it's part of her training." Sometimes explanations help, other times they just cause people to argue back and the whole situation gets worse...
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