A Cornish Cross (Breeding?) Journey

[Molpet]

Checked the other egg and saw no movement and heard no peeps. Drilled a safety whole and still no sign of life so I opened up the air cell. Little guy was DOA but internally pipped and properly positioned so not sure what happened. It was nearly done absorbing the yolk too. White chick with a black dot on the head and back, also had a rose comb. Momma will have to be content with just 2.

Moved them all over to a ~3ftX3ft setup. Saw the white meaty chick eating already and showed it the water.

I have another new broody, a BJG, who I plan to process in a few weeks. Half tempted to let her sit on more of Chunky’s eggs but I’ve only got 2 and really don’t need any more birds…

IMHO Broodys don't taste good if they have been sitting too long. They loose fat and muscle condition.
I would recommend breaking from broodiness or process now or let her sit.

 

[DemeterAD9]

IMHO Broodys don't taste good if they have been sitting too long. They loose fat and muscle condition.
I would recommend breaking from broodiness or process now or let her sit.

I’m trying to break the BJG and the bantam by kicking them out of the run to free range during the day. Their wings are clipped so hopefully they can’t get back in on their own.

 

[DemeterAD9]

Update on the 2 chicks, I’m letting them come out and run around in half the run during the day while the rest free range. Chunky’s chick is getting a couple faint markings so black spots are in its future.

Chunky continues to lay pretty steadily, about 4-5 eggs a week.

 

[DemeterAD9]

Getting pictures of these guys is hard, even harder now that they’ve figured out how to get through the dog fence section of the run. Doesn’t help that mom jumps the fence and encourages them. Luckily the 2 turkey poults have not really tried to go after them.

3 weeks old, looks like the meaty chick is a little male and the other is likely female based of color pattern. That makes 5/5 pullets from that hen and since this chick and an older sibling both have singles combs while the 2 oldest who are laying olive eggs have pea combs, I’m guessing the single combs won’t lay colored eggs. Time will tell. I can’t say for certain at this age but to me the white chick look more plump than the other, more rounded overall.

If all goes well and Chunky Jr. is a well behaved cockerel he will be a lucky man who fathers quite a few chicks. That also means I’ll have to get creative with my pen situation come spring. I’ll have to move Jr and whichever hens I choose for the meat bird project to a separate pen. Or I can just leave them all together and guess who is fathered by who based off comb, color and feathered legs. Decisions decision.

 

[DemeterAD9]

Nearly 4 weeks old for Chunky Jr. whose comb continues to get more red. He and the other chick are now roosting with their mom in the main coop. I expect to see quite a size difference between the chicks in a few weeks. Mom is looking terrible with the molt working its way through the older birds in the flock.

As for Chunky…I’m thinking of culling her next weekend along with a handful of others. The more I observe everyone the more I am convinced Chunky won’t do well through winter. She won’t be trekking all the way over to where I keep their heated water dish (close to the house because it needs a power source) especially with a layer of snow. She hardly goes 10ft outside the run. Putting her on a diet isn’t really an option now with the 2 chicks and molting season needing to feed more protein.

Kinda wishing I tried another batch of eggs, she hasn’t laid in almost a week now. So long as Jr does well her legacy shall go on!

 

[DemeterAD9]

Probably not what some people want to hear but I processed Chunky today as I felt it was for the best. She weighed 15.5lbs before and 11.56lbs after. Scalded and plucked, ready for a holiday dinner. I’m planning to render fat from her and another hen, we’ll see how that goes.

She was no longer producing yolks, I assume she quit for the upcoming winter. Everything looked pretty normal otherwise, perhaps a fatty liver but it wasn’t mush like in older hens I’ve processed.

Jr. is one day shy of 5 weeks and mom is starting to stop babying them. Of course they still follow her around but she doesn’t cluck to them anymore. Both chicks are fully feathered and look great.

 

[Molpet]

I had a fox? Come through yesterday. 5 bodies, one was a CX. 2 others I had to put down, one was the other CX.

Spoiler: Injured CX

A chick missing....

 

[DemeterAD9]

I had a fox? Come through yesterday. 5 bodies, one was a CX. 2 others I had to put down, one was the other CX.

Spoiler: Injured CX

View attachment 4221745

A chick missing....

Poor birds, what a terrible way to go. Sounds like it’s time to get that fox or whatever it was taken care of.

 

[Molpet]

Poor birds, what a terrible way to go. Sounds like it’s time to get that fox or whatever it was taken care of.

I have been sitting outside with the shotgun since the last fox attack about 10 days ago on a Saturday. When I seen it with a pullet that it dropped when it seen me. I found her brother half buried in the burn pile ash. Yesterday Another brother was half buried in leaves under a bush.
Both times it was between 10 and 11 am that I was inside for around 40 minutes. I assume it watches.

I have a coyote size box trap set that it ignores.