Arizona Chickens

[Sill]

It's still dark out but I keep hearing my young quail roos crowing. I think as soon as it's a little more light out I'm going to start processing my excess males. They are just over 6 weeks and the some of the hens have already started to lay, but the roos are getting obnoxious with their crowing. While they are not too loud they are loud enough I don't want my neighbors wondering what critter is making that strange noise in the dark.

I processed 14 quail roos this morning. It is so much quieter tonight! I guess we are having quail for dinner sometime this weekend.

So,so, so true... Our roster went after our son for the first time this week..

Yikes! Hope he is not injuring people.

I'm heading to the Phoenix Valley and thought I'd stop at Trader Joes for some fertile eggs for my broody Black Aussie. Do these really work? Should I know anything - questions - dates - whatever before picking them up? thanks for your help.

Please post updates. I've thought about trying this next year.

I sure understand that. My curiosity is what enables me to do necropsy. My first one I was 14, I brought a dead chick to school and my teacher did the exploratory. He had the knowledge to know and used it as a teaching tool. My class mates thought I was terrible for bringing in the chick. But I wanted to know what went to wrong.

I also necropsy, I want to know why.

I thought I'd ask here first since I think it's hydration/heat related. I noticed one of my BO hens just laying in the run when I got home around 4pm. I was just out for the past hour working in the garden when I noticed she was still there and as I approached she didn't move like normal and she didn't seem to be breathing. As I got right up to here she finally moved her head but remained laying on the ground. I went into the run and noticed her legs to one side of her and she was damp on her underside. No blood. I have her inside now and gave her some apple cider vinegar. She seems alert but will not put any weight on her legs. If I pester her enough to drink more she shuffles her body around. Any suggestions?

Electrolytes. Most feed stores care it for poultry. It usually has vitamins as well as the electrolytes, sort of covers all bases that way. For here its a must-have during summer!

 

[Sill]

Thanks! It's so hilarious, because we have 27 chicks that came today and the 4 little yellow Delawares are just standing out! We have Dark Cornish, Silver Laced Wyandottes, Black Australorpes, Blue Andalusians and Brown Leghorns too, but the Delawares are just OWNING the coop! Lol!

My sister has Delawares and they are her favorites. They lay right though molting and winter.

Yes it does work check the 3 digit number next to the date. It represent the day of the year using the perpetual calendar on when the eggs were packaged. The bigger the number the fresher it is. E.g. ( 1 = January 1st, 240 = August 28)

Let them reach room temp before incubating. Below is a picture of my "Trader Joe" chicks I hatched 2 months ago. I got 6 to hatch, 5 males and 1 female.

So what breed of chicken are these Trader Joe's chicks? They are from white eggs? Are they duel purpose? I'd hate to raise roos and find they have no meat on their carcass.

 

[cyborg]

I can't remember which one (I am stuck at work right now) but the curled toes I think are a vitamin deficiency. Definitely give her some electrolytes, and giving her any kind of B vitamins can't hurt. See if she will eat any scrambled eggs, good source of some of the rarer nutrients and minerals.

P.S. just looked it up, give her B vitamins or riboflavin. Do a search on the forum for diseases and cures, and do a search for curled toes.

Hey, I'm off work now, and I just looked it up in the Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow. As Sill mentioned, most feed stores carry electrolytes for chickens, and some of them have added vitamins. If you can't find that, look for vitamin AD&E powder to put in their water.
Curled toe paralysis is caused by a deficiency of vitamin B2, or riboflavin, but is more common in chicks. Older birds can get it if they are penned and fed unsupplemented layer feed. A good source of riboflavin is green leafy veggies, including young grass. Another dietary problem with similar symptoms is caused by a deficiency of vitamin E, and this is usually associated with a selenium deficiency (eat egg yolks!).
If this turns out to be a riboflavin deficiency, you want to treat it now. Left uncorrected, it leads to progressively worse nerve damage, and death.

 

[AZKat]

City Farm: I hope the mystery chick is a Barnvelder, that would be really cool. All of the mystery chicks looked the same when they were little, but the one I kept looks like a Partridge Plymouth Rock, it'd be hilarious if they turned out to be different breeds.

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

City Farm: I hope the mystery chick is a Barnvelder, that would be really cool.  All of the mystery chicks looked the same when they were little, but the one I kept looks like a Partridge Plymouth Rock, it'd be hilarious if they turned out to be different breeds.

What does "partridge" mean when it comes to variety?

Also, my fan assembly is coming for my VW today! I'm hoping we can put it in ourselves to save money. No more crawling around town in 5th gear to keep it under 2000 rpms. Wish me luck!

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

So, I took Polly out of the pen this morning and put her in the little pen under the tree. I didn't really expect her to stay there. The fence isn't high enough. But my Blue Copper Marans decided to fly the coop and join her free-ranging this morning. Meanwhile back in the pen ...

Eminem is fluffing up in the coop hopefully laying another egg. One of my barred Plymouth Rocks (BPR) is sitting on her hocks, getting up and walking around like an egret in deep water. Could she have an egg working its way out? It would be her first.


Isn't she pretty? @desertmarcy bred her and her sister. She is heritage bred. There is such a difference in the barring between them and Polly, who came from a feed store. That said, Polly has much more personality, but I've had her since she was a chick.

My two younger BPRs and my Marans don't really have good names. Since I went with naming the RIR and NHR after towns their breeds are named for I could do this with Massachusetts towns for the BPRs. And maybe a French town or something for the Marans? Maggie (Maginot)? I looked up Marans, France on Google Maps and it seems most of the villages are named after saints. Saint-Jean, Saint-Pierre, Saint-Michel ... Saint-Saveur (huh? a taster saint? patron saint of food testers maybe?).

Here are some funny names (it's in the southwest, so I think the language there is influenced by an ancient language of d'Oc, which is not all like French):

• Cramchabon
• Niort
• Nieul-sur-l'Autise
• Triaize
• Torxé
• Pyla-sur-Mer

Just thought they were funny.

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

Maybe Beverly for one of the BPRs ...

 

[AZChiknGoddess]

So, I took Polly out of the pen this morning and put her in the little pen under the tree. I didn't really expect her to stay there. The fence isn't high enough. But my Blue Copper Marans decided to fly the coop and join her free-ranging this morning. Meanwhile back in the pen ... Eminem is fluffing up in the coop hopefully laying another egg. One of my barred Plymouth Rocks (BPR) is sitting on her hocks, getting up and walking around like an egret in deep water. Could she have an egg working its way out? It would be her first. Isn't she pretty? @desertmarcy bred her and her sister. She is heritage bred. There is such a difference in the barring between them and Polly, who came from a feed store. That said, Polly has much more personality, but I've had her since she was a chick. My two younger BPRs and my Marans don't really have good names. Since I went with naming the RIR and NHR after towns their breeds are named for I could do this with Massachusetts towns for the BPRs. And maybe a French town or something for the Marans? Maggie (Maginot)? I looked up Marans, France on Google Maps and it seems most of the villages are named after saints. Saint-Jean, Saint-Pierre, Saint-Michel ... Saint-Saveur (huh? a taster saint? patron saint of food testers maybe?). Here are some funny names (it's in the southwest, so I think the language there is influenced by an ancient language of d'Oc, which is not all like French):

• Cramchabon
• Niort
• Nieul-sur-l'Autise
• Triaize
• Torxé
• Pyla-sur-Mer

Just thought they were funny.

She should not be sitting on her hocks. Something is wrong. Her comb does not look developed enough to begin laying soon.

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

She should not be sitting on her hocks. Something is wrong. Her comb does not look developed enough to begin laying soon.

What could be wrong? Do you think it's some sort of nutritional deficiency?

 

[AZChiknGoddess]

What could be wrong? Do you think it's some sort of nutritional deficiency?

Its very possible. I'm no expert but something is not right with the hen.