Arizona Chickens

[desertmarcy]

I see that dawg also recommends alternating valbazen with Zimectrin Gold or another wormer with the praziquantel in it. I may pick up some ZG this weekend. I feel mildly concerned about dosing the birds with so much, but better chemicals than tapeworms feeding off of them. Pumpkin seeds aint' gunna cut it! I'm somewhat amused/horrified that folks seem to think DE, fermented feed (which I do) and apple cider vinegar (I also use) act as wormer or preventative for their chickens. Nope, doesn't work that way.

People who "worm" that way probably don't have chickens with infestations, or visible infestations. So they think it works. How would you know, unless you have the bird tested for parasites before and after?

 

[AZGardenFarmer]

* I got 2 eggs outta Sugar today. She wouldn't let us have the 1 this morning and apparently just laid this other egg an hr or so ago. Yay me!¡ Happy Hen. *

 

[City farm]

Somebody needs to invent a soap that instantly dissolves chick poop from feathers, but have it be non-toxic to the chickies.  I'd buy gallons of the stuff!!!


... why yes, I DID just spend the last hour carefully washing pasty butts, somewhat unsuccessfully! I cleared vents but some really stubborn remnants still clinged ... obvs I wasn't gonna scrub or anything ... ugh  ... it's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it!   

Speaking of vent ... that's all I needed to do   I know y'all can understand   

. That's the job of a farmer, so called farmer..

 

[City farm]

Oh, I can't wait till I get my eggs that are as dark as those!

Those BCM eggs look to be bare minimum to qualify for a Marans. They must be at least a #4 on the Marans egg color chart. Those are a 4 at most. Here are some that my hens laid that are a #5-6, that row of 6 eggs, and a couple are only 4 in front of them. You can see the difference. And @moms3cuties there's my Ameraucana eggs Oh, and this photo was taken in the shade, so no sun glare. See the photo following to see what the sun does to the color of the Ameraucana eggs! The Marans eggs still look nice, shade or sun! In bright sun:

 

[City farm]

Here are the cuties, or some of them..

Here are the French Black Copper Marans..

 

[cgmaster]

Anybody know how many generations it would take to get pure ameraucanas by breeding easter eggers to an ameraucana roo? I have 1 ameraucana rooster, 1 easter egger hen (has some silkie in her) ,2 silkie hens, 1 wyandotte hen, 1 cornish hen, 1 cochin hen, 2 bantam rock hens, 3 silkie roos, 1 cochin roo, and 1 bantam rock roo.

 

[MagicChicken]

Somebody needs to invent a soap that instantly dissolves chick poop from feathers, but have it be non-toxic to the chickies.

I'd buy gallons of the stuff!!!


... why yes, I DID just spend the last hour carefully washing pasty butts, somewhat unsuccessfully! I cleared vents but some really stubborn remnants still clinged ... obvs I wasn't gonna scrub or anything ... ugh

... it's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it!

Speaking of vent ... that's all I needed to do

I know y'all can understand

If your chicks are getting pasty butt you might want to consider lowering the temp in your brooder. Chicks need access to cool areas as well as warm places. If they are warm with no place to cool down it can aggravate pasty butt. I have no idea what your setup is like and your chicks may be getting pasty butt for totally different reasons, but overheating the chicks is a common trigger for pasty butt.

Good luck. Pasty butt is a pain in the butt for everybody.

 

[desertmarcy]

Anybody know how many generations it would take to get pure ameraucanas by breeding easter eggers to an ameraucana roo? I have 1 ameraucana rooster, 1 easter egger hen (has some silkie in her) ,2 silkie hens, 1 wyandotte hen, 1 cornish hen, 1 cochin hen, 2 bantam rock hens, 3 silkie roos, 1 cochin roo, and 1 bantam rock roo.

Best to ask that question on the Ameraucana thread, but my gut reaction is, it would not be worth your time. If you want pure Ameraucanas, then get some from a reputable breeder. There is a list of breeders on the Ameraucana club page. http://www.ameraucana.org

 

[MagicChicken]

Anybody know how many generations it would take to get pure ameraucanas by breeding easter eggers to an ameraucana roo? I have 1 ameraucana rooster, 1 easter egger hen (has some silkie in her) ,2 silkie hens, 1 wyandotte hen, 1 cornish hen, 1 cochin hen, 2 bantam rock hens, 3 silkie roos, 1 cochin roo, and 1 bantam rock roo.

Even if your ameraucana rooster were 100% in conformance with the Standard of Perfection, you would never have "pure" ameraucanas resulting from an outcross with an easter egger of unknown origins. If you bred the female offspring back to that rooster you would have ameraucanas with an increasing percentage of ameraucana genes, but there would always be a remnant of the non-ameraucana genes lurking. Even after several generations.

If you really want to breed true ameraucanas, get some good quality birds from a reputable breeder. Start with the best birds you can get. Then carefully breed to improve the type. "Type" is more about body shape and conformation than color. Get a copy of the Standard of Perfection. Learn what makes a good bird of that breed. Keep the birds that conform best to that standard and cull the rest. "Culling" means get them out of your flock, whether you sell them as layers or pets or put them in the stew pot.

If you just want to breed the random backyard birds you already have, go ahead. Just do the poultry world a favor and don't claim the offspring are "pure" bred. No matter how many generations have gone by.

 

[cgmaster]

Thats what i figured i can just call them easter eggers if they are sired by him.