➡I accidentally bought Balut eggs: 2 live ducks! Now a Chat Thread!

[CrazyCrttr75]

Negan is the opposite. He’s so big and he pins the hens down and wants to break their legs in the process. Today he chased, grabbed, and pinned down one of the tiny 18 week old pullets who isn’t even remotely close to laying and I about took his head off with the shovel I had. I’ve lost my patience with him, his nonstop crowing, and his aggressiveness towards the hens.

Bowie and Elvis crow all throughout the day but I don't mind it. They can be quite chatty. But Negan! Oh my! The big meany! That stinks. Do you think ya'll will end up replacing him? Or is he a specific needed breeder at the moment?

 

[littleprairieheartsfarm]

Bowie and Elvis crow all throughout the day but I don't mind it. They can be quite chatty. But Negan! Oh my! The big meany! That stinks. Do you think ya'll will end up replacing him? Or is he a specific needed breeder at the moment?

Specific breeder and my mom’s favorite thing for some odd reason. That stupid thing will be with us until the day he dies. I’m keeping a replacement on hand from this hatch if they turn out nicely, but really I would like to save one of his Splash grandsons. Negan was raised as the only rooster, and no older hens to beat him up, so he thinks he can do as he pleases to the hens. Thus the namesake lol.

 

[NanaKat]

My marans hens are bullies to the hens under them in the pecking order, and not very reliable layers (and only one lays dark), they love to be broody. When they do lay though the eggs are in between large and XL.

I know the candling thing sucks, I’ve hatched out a couple of the dark ones. I couldn’t see in them after day 5, thought they were dead and almost tossed them but I kept them in the incubator..good thing I did lol! Luckily now that we have our Australorp hens laying we are only setting those for ourselves to hatch out. While we offer a “barnyard mix” to people they have said they just throw them in the incubator and see if they hatch or not.

I found if I used an emery cloth to gently remove a layer of dark colored tinting from each egg, I could get a better candle....similar to removing the first green blush from a Cayuga duck egg.

@KDOGG331 said...
"Thank you! This is very very helpful!! Thinking maybe I should add Wyandottes and Buckeyes and remove some of the other birds haha but are your birds hatchery or breeder birds? Do you think that makes a difference in the personality? Do you think a hatchery Wyandotte would be meaner?"


My first Columbian Wyandottes were from a breeder 7 years ago. He got his from a breeder 10 years earlier and had raised them. Those had been closed flocks. Along the way I brought in the Blues and Blacks along with Silver Laced chicks purchased from Atwood's. They get their birds from Ideal and McMurray hatchery. I sold the Silver Laced and I bought Whites from a quality breeder. I have raised all my Wyandotte since.

The Buckeyes were from a show breed line. My girls did lay fewer eggs in winter. The hens were great mothers.

Not sure if the attitude of hatchery chicks is vastly different from breeder lines, but I know size and vigor can be. Of course, hand-raised chicks are always more gentle.

My experience has been that breeder lines go thru a rigorous selection process before the birds reach adult stage breeding. Often a breeder will wait to put hens in a breed pen until they reach a specific age and weight...thus getting better quality eggs for hatching stronger chicks.

Each year I hatch between 150 to 200 Columbian Wyandotte chicks and raise them to 6 months. As they grow, I cull out any birds that are not to standard and that have defects in attitude, growth, or vigor.
At 6 months I separate the "best" 30 to 40 to watch/grow to 9 months for possible breeders and the rest go to butcher/fattening pens or to a pullet pen to grow out for the layer pen.
At 9 months, I judge the "best" again looking for specific traits for the breed standard that I want for my breeder pens. I held out 15 in 2018 to continue maturing to breeding age. The pullets that did not make this selection were moved to the layer flock and the roosters went to freezer camp.

On the other hand, hatchery birds are raised to laying age and monitored for egg size to reach target performance size for hatching. Some hatcheries separate roosters from hens during the growth process, some don't. Eggs are then collected for hatching since that is where the hatchery makes money. I don't know their selection process for selling birds other than chicks.
If you are buying older birds from a hatchery instead of chicks I would recommend confirming there is a full guarantee for replacement or refund for those older birds.
AND quarantine the new birds separate from your home flock for a full 30 days!

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

O

All you people on about birds. What is this? Some sort of chicken website?
Have a little dog action. Meet Cricket, the street rat. Picked him up last night. He traveled all the way from Hidalgo county, TX. Pretty sure he's some sort of Carolina dog (aka American Dingo) mix. He's got a little blue in one eye and a mohawk down the back of his neck. View attachment 1653158 View attachment 1653159 View attachment 1653160 View attachment 1653162

Omg he's so sweet! And that smile in the last pic! How's he adjusting? Does he seem well behaved?

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

Ya know.... it was literally yesterday when Prairie asked "how are the boys doing?" and I replied, "oh they're doing fine, no more fighting".

Today:
Elvis before he got washed off
View attachment 1653259
After when I was blowdrying him dry
View attachment 1653256 View attachment 1653258
Bowie

Now they are cuddled up beside one another in their coop, resting for the night. I don't know if I can emotionally handle having these 2 boys. My hubby likens it to growing up with brothers. Kind of, only these are animals with instincts and not humans with emotions. Sometimes you just have to fight it out, get over it and move on. I am attached to both but I want them to have a good quality life as well. They have plenty of room. It's hormones. I am going to get more girls. But it's hormones that they are dealing with in the here and now. It is a situation of my own making. It doesn't make it any easier tho.

Boys will be boys sadly.

 

[Conan]

O

Omg he's so sweet! And that smile in the last pic! How's he adjusting? Does he seem well behaved?

He's doing really well. Pretty much a typical puppy... bursts of energy following by long naps
He's catching on quick and already knows that he's not allowed in the kitchen and that wild playtime is for the great outdoors. No accidents in the house, and he does know how to ask to go out. I'm grateful for the folks who fostered him. They obviously did a lot of the leg work on the potty training!
He did get out without a leash and immediately chased a chicken, but seemed mainly interested in the chase aspect. He had never seen them before and dogs do love chasing birds! We will be working on that with him pretty rigorously over the next month.
He's a complete sweetheart. Very submissive and eager to please, which I always look for in a dog.
How's Puck doing? He 500 pounds yet?

 

[Kiki]

All you people on about birds. What is this? Some sort of chicken website?
Have a little dog action. Meet Cricket, the street rat. Picked him up last night. He traveled all the way from Hidalgo county, TX. Pretty sure he's some sort of Carolina dog (aka American Dingo) mix. He's got a little blue in one eye and a mohawk down the back of his neck. View attachment 1653158 View attachment 1653159 View attachment 1653160 View attachment 1653162

I love him! Is he going to work next week to meet all his new friends?

 

[Kiki]

He is, indeed. He's at a pretty great age. Six months and appears to be potty trained. He slept through the night. Brought him on a short walk after playtime and he followed suit with my leash trained boy and automatically heeled. Kept looking at the big boy as to what to do, which makes my job a heck of a lot easier. He's also silent, which is nice. My dobie is silent as well. Kinda weird watching them play. Utterly noiseless.

I'm called ng him Trucker.
Texas Truck and Puck

 

[Conan]

I love him! Is he going to work next week to meet all his new friends?

I actually took next week off. I'd been wanting to take some time after the horrors that are the holidays at work, but everyone else was taking time. This worked out nicely. Take some time off and bond with the new pup! Double win for me!

 

[Conan]

I'm called ng him Trucker.
Texas Truck and Puck

Fair enough. He's certainly earned that name!