Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[happytxchick]

Quote:
Do you leave it on 24/7?

Depends on how cold the day is...not always. Like, today, for instance, I need to go out there and turn it off...but I keep finding things to do inside.

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

Dear Breeders and Afficianados:
Could you please give me some feed-back on these?

"Orange"

"Pretty Boy" Not the best pic of him- He doesn't show so much white at the base of his tail when he hasn't been manhandled by us for weighing, toenail clipping and banding

"Russle"

Dinaki

Thank you in advance,
Denise
ParadiseFoundFarm

 

[Goose and Fig]

Of all the boys, I like Orange the best. He seems to have the best shape/posture/tail and all that good stuff. I think we need a pic of your girl when she isn't cold. She looks ruffled from the weather or something.

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

too fluffy?
They don't get out much these days
She had just flew up to the top of the coop

 

[Goose and Fig]

I know! The weather has been so crummy here as well. Everybody is dirty. Snow one day, mud the next.

Yeah- the second pic iot looks like she's about to do the "after-roo shake "

 

[CRYSTALCREEK]

Quote:
Do you leave it on 24/7?

Depends on how cold the day is...not always. Like, today, for instance, I need to go out there and turn it off...but I keep finding things to do inside.

Let me see if I can say this right....in horses you added a couple of hours to the naturally occurring daylight hours by turning on barn lights on a timer either a couple hours before dawn or a couple of hours after, or you divided it between both. The hypothalamus or pituitary or something inside detects the number of daylight hours and kicks the breeding season into full swing by allowing the animal to produce the natural hormones present in what would normally be a season of good fertility so that the babies are born when plenty of forage is present to support the nutritional requirements of a lactating mare. I'm sure it is not that much different in chickens.

It all boils down to this... you want to trick the bird's little brain into thinking it is already late spring/summer. I don't know how long they have to be exposed to longer daylight hours to achieve a hormonal response, but one week of turning on lights probably isn't going to cut it. Turning on lights one hour one day, three the next, and none the next, probably isn't going to be a reliable way to get it done, either. That's why we used timers for the horses. For horses, the amount of light suitable to generate a response was whatever watt bulb made your stall bright enough to read normal newsprint by. It doesn't take a 100w bulb to illuminate a chicken locked up in a 2x3' area, hence the very effective idea of using led rope lights (and much cheaper, too!).

While we're on this topic, another thing we did in horses was increase the nutritional plane of the non-pregnant mares as breeding season approached (along with the lights on timers). Think about this for a moment. Let's say you live in IL, just for an example. There are probably not many blades of grass around in mid-January for chickens to forage on. There are probably even fewer bugs, because, they aren't breeding right now, either, and the ones present are going down deeper into the ground to escape cold (think worms). So the chickens don't get the same nutritional density when they forage in Dec/Jan as they would in March or April. You can duplicate the change by adding greens (buy some collards/turnips/spinich/leafy lettuces/shredded carrot--whatever you can get your hands on even a head of cabbage is good. Mine love cantaloupe. If you find them cheap, split them in half and throw the whole thing in the pen. It'll be picked clean in a matter of hours.) Also, increasing the protein percentage of their normal ration (20% is good) and throw some meat at them now and then to replace the bugs. Raw hamburger is fine, as long as it is all eaten within a reasonable length of time. Chicken livers, gizzards, etc is great (I cook these, though) anything that gives them protein.

I am, quite frankly, surprised that my eggs are as fertile as they are right now, as I am not using supplemental lighting program here this year. BUT, this is South Texas and we never run out of bugs or weeds or grass, so I have to think that this must be an important factor. I also planted rye and they love that stuff.

I hope this helps!

 

[vebyrd36]

Quote:
Depends on how cold the day is...not always. Like, today, for instance, I need to go out there and turn it off...but I keep finding things to do inside.

Let me see if I can say this right....in horses you added a couple of hours to the naturally occurring daylight hours by turning on barn lights on a timer either a couple hours before dawn or a couple of hours after, or you divided it between both. The hypothalamus or pituitary or something inside detects the number of daylight hours and kicks the breeding season into full swing by allowing the animal to produce the natural hormones present in what would normally be a season of good fertility so that the babies are born when plenty of forage is present to support the nutritional requirements of a lactating mare. I'm sure it is not that much different in chickens.

It all boils down to this... you want to trick the bird's little brain into thinking it is already late spring/summer. I don't know how long they have to be exposed to longer daylight hours to achieve a hormonal response, but one week of turning on lights probably isn't going to cut it. Turning on lights one hour one day, three the next, and none the next, probably isn't going to be a reliable way to get it done, either. That's why we used timers for the horses. For horses, the amount of light suitable to generate a response was whatever watt bulb made your stall bright enough to read normal newsprint by. It doesn't take a 100w bulb to illuminate a chicken locked up in a 2x3' area, hence the very effective idea of using led rope lights (and much cheaper, too!).

While we're on this topic, another thing we did in horses was increase the nutritional plane of the non-pregnant mares as breeding season approached (along with the lights on timers). Think about this for a moment. Let's say you live in IL, just for an example. There are probably not many blades of grass around in mid-January for chickens to forage on. There are probably even fewer bugs, because, they aren't breeding right now, either, and the ones present are going down deeper into the ground to escape cold (think worms). So the chickens don't get the same nutritional density when they forage in Dec/Jan as they would in March or April. You can duplicate the change by adding greens (buy some collards/turnips/spinich/leafy lettuces/shredded carrot--whatever you can get your hands on even a head of cabbage is good. Mine love cantaloupe. If you find them cheap, split them in half and throw the whole thing in the pen. It'll be picked clean in a matter of hours.) Also, increasing the protein percentage of their normal ration (20% is good) and throw some meat at them now and then to replace the bugs. Raw hamburger is fine, as long as it is all eaten within a reasonable length of time. Chicken livers, gizzards, etc is great (I cook these, though) anything that gives them protein.

I am, quite frankly, surprised that my eggs are as fertile as they are right now, as I am not using supplemental lighting program here this year. BUT, this is South Texas and we never run out of bugs or weeds or grass, so I have to think that this must be an important factor. I also planted rye and they love that stuff.

I hope this helps!

Well said, if I did not know better I would think you are in the medical feild. Thank you for the information. Increased protein and lighting is the key.

 

[CRYSTALCREEK]

Quote:
First eggs can be more concentrated in pigment and appear darker than expected. Give them a month and take a second look at them. Also, pigment will be more concentrated if you are getting 2-3 eggs a week versus 5-6 days a week.

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

Quote:
First eggs can be more concentrated in pigment and appear darker than expected. Give them a month and take a second look at them. Also, pigment will be more concentrated if you are getting 2-3 eggs a week versus 5-6 days a week.

Thanks, I will keep an eye on them.

 

[pinkchick]

Just thought that I would share a photo of very dark blue AM, Twizzler. Twiz has a severly twisted back, at a day old when she was up walking around I could tell something was wrong but couldn't really see it until about 2 mos. of age, I should say that she really doesn't have any special needs, the only help she needs is being directed back into the coop every night, she gets a little confused when everybody else runs into the coop for treats at night as she is not as fast as the others. She holds her own and gets along with all the other birds, but last night was waaaay too funny. She was taking her time going to bed and the cat (Oatmeal) was minding his own business doing his cat thing waiting for me, but happened to be directly in Twiz' path, so she thought that she would go check him out.......she walked right up to him and pecked poor Oatmeal smack dab on the top of his head..........this look was his response.