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

[ShrekDawg]

I didn't watch the news today. Hope everyone is staying safe!

I didn’t either but I saw a post Kiki made in another thread that was kinda vague but referenced bad weather and rain so then when I was Googling my own weather (curious what the temp got to today and wanted to double check tonight’s temp... paranoid about the chicks lol), that article popped up so I clicked it since it said Houston. Was wondering where everyone was. Now I know. Dealing with that. Absolutely terrifying. I too hope everyone is staying safe.

 

[Conan]

I thought it was only fair that I continue my research for Conan, especially after yesterday's shenanigans regarding the color and sparkle of my blood. You're WELCOME.

https://www.meyerhatchery.com/productinfo.a5w?prodID=SFHS
http://www.naturalark.com/poultryforsale.html
https://greenfirefarms.com/available.html

This is what I could find in my hunt for Swedish Flowers so far. Greenfire farms are in Fl. and ship day old chicks. Apparently they were the one of the first to breed them in the US (at least this is what the auction site I found them on claimed). In 2014, they imported unrelated bloodlines and are now selling the offspring.

Natural Ark is located in Colorado, so not as far from you as Florida, and they do not ship day old chicks. They are a few weeks old before they ship.

Meyer only has 63 available for May 13th and you can only order 3. Some reviewers claim that these are not actually Swedish Flower hens at all (Miller fleur leghorn perhaps). The question is regarding leg color, floppy combs and their 'flowers'. Although, I do know that they aren't bred for any specific color, i'm not qualified to verify their authenticity. However, if i'm going to order a fancy schmancy chicken, i'm probably not going to order from a giant hatchery like Meyer...

I think you should buy a couple from Greenfire AND Natural Ark...for research purposes.

Yes. For the research!

 

[Conan]

Mine came from all over the U.S. but the original source of all of them was from Greenfire Farms.

I try to stay away from the Jill Rees line because in my experience they have a tendency to lay green eggs rather than blue eggs. Once the brown egg gene is present, it is almost impossible to eliminate it.

If a person feels the need to SFHs, I recommend going straight to the source (Greenfire Farms) so that you are dealing with the ones that are the least inbred rather than from any of the secondary sources. I also highly recommend paying the extra for live chicks as all mine came from shipped eggs and ended up costing far more than the day old chick prices available. My experience is that SFH hatching eggs do not travel well.

Excellent information. Sorry, Glitter. I'm going to see how my Russian Orloffs and Cream Brabanters grow out. If I like them, I may start breeding them for fun. I will send free hatching eggs to whoever wants them.

 

[Conan]

First little dude out.

 

[CrazyCrttr75]

First little dude out. View attachment 1767595

Awww! Sweet little webby! Welcome to the world little one.

 

[ShrekDawg]

First little dude out. View attachment 1767595

Awwww so cute.

 

[Sara L]

Today's excitement:

 

[NanaKat]

I didn’t either but I saw a post Kiki made in another thread that was kinda vague but referenced bad weather and rain so then when I was Googling my own weather (curious what the temp got to today and wanted to double check tonight’s temp... paranoid about the chicks lol), that article popped up so I clicked it since it said Houston. Was wondering where everyone was. Now I know. Dealing with that. Absolutely terrifying. I too hope everyone is staying safe.

Our rain didn't really start until 5 am, but storms west of us were spawning tornadoes in Oklahoma around 11 pm.
Tornadoes in NW Texas were numerous!
Flooding from Texas into Okla and Kansas.
Hope everyone is safe!
We have 2.5 inches already with more coming...on top of 4.8 we got this weekend...ponds are overflowing and creeks are rolling. The ducks love it, but chickens don't.

 

[NanaKat]

The last hatch of ducklings made a great escape yesterday from their brooder!
They were exploring the hot tub room while I was getting my eyes checked.
Thankfully they didn't make a big mess and came quickly for water and food. They are now housed in a taller tub.

Maggie's eggs are still incubating. Candled again as I took the some chicks out. Lots of activity in their shells.

 

[CrazyCrttr75]

Our rain didn't really start until 5 am, but storms west of us were spawning tornadoes in Oklahoma around 11 pm.
Tornadoes in NW Texas were numerous!
Flooding from Texas into Okla and Kansas.
Hope everyone is safe!
We have 2.5 inches already with more coming...on top of 4.8 we got this weekend...ponds are overflowing and creeks are rolling. The ducks love it, but chickens don't.

I think this system is heading my way next (in TN). Starting tomorrow, we're supposed to be getting about 7in of rain over the next few days. I'm hoping nothing too severe tho.