2018 Newbie Chat!

[Dragonflydore]

My girls showing off their "up up" skills.

I started feeding them mealworms by hand, but only when they voluntarily come up onto my hand.

Funny girl comes up just for love though, half the time she won't take her treat.

 

[Cbarr00]

@Cbarr00 your mystery reds look like red stars or RIR to me. In the photo with your seed starts there is a white bird, I’m thinking it’s your Cornish x

We've been hearing possible red stars Rhode island red and production reds. I have a pamphlet from TSC with a list of breeds you can order from them so I'm guessing these are the only breeds they carry. They only have the RIR listed. So maybe that's what we have. And as for the CornishX yes I believe 2 of our 3 whites are CornishX but our third is a little more normal chick size. Maybe she's just a slower growing CX.

 

[Cbarr00]

My chicks are only 2 weeks and already I think I see cockerels based on behavior.

The ones we believe are cockerals started their behavior around 2 weeks also. Everyone said it was too early so we let it go and decided to wait. They still act and now are starting to look like cockerals.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

We've been hearing possible red stars Rhode island red and production reds. I have a pamphlet from TSC with a list of breeds you can order from them so I'm guessing these are the only breeds they carry. They only have the RIR listed. So maybe that's what we have. And as for the CornishX yes I believe 2 of our 3 whites are CornishX but our third is a little more normal chick size. Maybe she's just a slower growing CX.

The slower growing Cornish could be a male, I’ve heard in meat birds that males are slower to develop. I’d bet RIR’s are what you have then! They look happy

 

[Dragonflydore]

What's the cock behavior to watch for?

 

[PNW_Peepers]

What's the cock behavior to watch for?

Honestly no behavior can determine if your bird is a cockerel aside from crowing. Keep any eye out for a red comb. My little cockerel starting getting a very pink comb at around a month old, he was already a third heavier than all of my other birds too. Pullets won’t start getting reddening combs until much later.

 

[Cbarr00]

The slower growing Cornish could be a male, I’ve heard in meat birds that males are slower to develop. I’d bet RIR’s are what you have then! They look happy

I'll have to look into that. They're pretty active(not as active as other the breeds) but I read that when they're in a mixed flock they tend to be a bit healthier. They forage well. We won't ever do CX again because I don't feel that's a good life for a chicken but it hasn't been a bad experience so far. They're the friendliest breed we have. And thank you! We hope they're happy.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

@Cbarr00 Im sure it’s tough knowing that they’re destined for a different outcome than your other birds. My DH and I were looking into doing meat birds once a year. Can’t beat knowing that they lived a healthy natural chicken life. Your giving them a better life than they could have had otherwise.

 

[Cbarr00]

@Cbarr00 Im sure it’s tough knowing that they’re destined for a different outcome than your other birds. My DH and I were looking into doing meat birds once a year. Can’t beat knowing that they lived a healthy natural chicken life. Your giving them a better life than they could have had otherwise.

Yea I didn't think about it that way. It's better than being commercially raised. I just hate that they die of heart attacks and get too heavy for their legs. Poor birds.

 

[Cbarr00]

Here's the list. I'm thinking RIRs and maybe New Hampshires?

Patsy at almost 2 weeks

Patsy today(center)

Big Red at almost 2 weeks

Big Red today

Then I have these 2 that I'm not sure who's who(corner)

The one closest to the camera

One of the bottom two as a chick(right) to the left is big red. I think this is one of the darker reds.


Realizing now we should've tagged them! Lol.
Also not great pictures. It's not time to free range just yet. Have to pick up the kids from school right now.