Recent content by OHSpartan

  1. OHSpartan

    Muscovy colors

    @learycow. Do you have a resource you use to see these color combos? Reporting based on lots of experience? I'm asking because we are 1st time duck owners and trying to decide which drakes and hens to keep. We have drakes and hens of each of the colors: silver, chocolate and...
  2. OHSpartan

    introducing ducklings

    I learned a trick for flock integration that has worked with chickens multiple times and worked with ducks this spring. Built an enclosure where the new/old flocks can see each other, but the babies are protected. We build a small, poultry-netted framed box in the coop with its own...
  3. OHSpartan

    Flock integration with cx's

    Ps...even though we introduced her to chickens and guinea at the same time she never fully resisted her prey drive with the guinea. For some reason we couldn't stop her from chasing them. Never chase chickens, just guinea. Once we harvested the guinea, never chased another bird.
  4. OHSpartan

    Flock integration with cx's

    We got this mix from a backyard accident. The owners border collie went into heat and met up with neighbors black lab. We introduced her to chickens early and she does very well with them. Her job is to protect them during the day. We have lost many free range birds to foxes and hawks this...
  5. OHSpartan

    Comb color proxy for health in broilers?

    Bc, thank you for the medical insight. While I have never found any kind of veterinary or husbandry discussion on this topic I think it should be explored. I sought out several resources with no mention. i really wanted a medical opinion to confirm my novice hypothesis. One bit of new...
  6. OHSpartan

    Flock integration with cx's

    Funny story......I rehomed my egg laying chick from the brooder to the coop. They aren't big enough to hang with the hens and guinea without getting pecked so I put them in with my near-harvest Cornish crosses. I figured the coop was big enough and the meaties are just lazy oafs anyway...
  7. OHSpartan

    Comb color proxy for health in broilers?

    Eta...mods if this fits best in medical and diseases feel free to move it. I have only ever observed this with broilers.
  8. OHSpartan

    Comb color proxy for health in broilers?

    I have mature cockerel broilers and we have been harvesting them of late. As they get into their 10th week we are getting some congestive heart failure issues. One thing I noticed was each of the three birds that we harvested/lost had pale combs. Is comb color a proxy for heart health? I...
  9. OHSpartan

    Protein and weight gain

    I bred two CX's last year that made it almost 20 weeks. After I dressed them, the combined weight was 25 lbs. Now, these birds were allowed to free range very early. When the rest of the flock met mr plucky at 8 weeks, they were only 5 lbs (live weight). They were the two most active in the...
  10. OHSpartan

    Protein and weight gain

    I know most places commend 18-20% protein for Cornish cross meat birds. Would feeding 22-25% cause them to grow faster or would the extra protein just pass through in the poo? Lets say I could put them in a support to keep them from breaking their legs and could keep them from having a heart...
  11. OHSpartan

    What is this huge bump?

    It was expensive but we raised two to 25 lbs dressed.....my family eats a ton of food and we still only ate one half of one breast in one meal. One wing served as my lunch at work the next day. Eta....they were 25 lbs total, not each.
  12. OHSpartan

    eating Bantams

    You might get more meat from a quail.... We won a game bird bantam roo in a raffle. Some friends said it would be athletic enough to give it flying exercise for a dark meat special. We're going to give it a try
  13. OHSpartan

    Cackle's Fry Pan Special

    I got a black jersey giant, two buff brahma roos, and two wyandottes as part of a hatchery special. They were born the same day as my cx's and will be 8 wks old on Monday. Their food consumption is hard to guess because they are in with other chicks. I am, however, anxious to see how big...
  14. OHSpartan

    Explaining Chicken Math

    Last year supposed to get 25 meat birds for 8 weeks. Over two hundred birds and 17 breeds have called my coop(s) their home...current count 105 (but meaties have their visit to mr plucky set soon).
  15. OHSpartan

    Blue Andalusian thread!

    Lacey blue.....now that I see these photos I definitely have andalusians.
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