Arizona Chickens

Yes thank you, they are 6 days old now. I checked one of them with my son today and we can see something starting inside. The ones I got from Trader Joes are empty, so I need to replace those.

Good, and I am glad that you and your son did the candling together to see the new life growing in there! May you have a great hatch!
 
Good, and I am glad that you and your son did the candling together to see the new life growing in there! May you have a great hatch!
Thank you BlueBaby
Now I need another dozen fertile eggs of a different type to hatch. I hope igorsMistress still have some.
 
Thank you BlueBaby
Now I need another dozen fertile eggs of a different type to hatch. I hope igorsMistress still have some.

She bought some of my chicks a couple of months ago, so I have also met @igorsMistress . I am sure that if she has some EE hatching eggs for you, she will be here in the thread to let you know soon.
 
Unfortunately, all of the studies were all performed in colder climates with the exception of one honorable mention of NN Turkens being used in Africa during colonization. (They were the only breed to not only survive but thrive in the intense desert conditions.) Deductions can be made, however. The suggestion is that tightly feathered birds would have a harder time in the heat, but that doesn't take into account the amount of "under-fluff". Given what I've seen with my Bielefelders and the one Cochin-mix I had, I think that under-fluff makes it much harder for the birds to adapt to the heat. My Dark Cornish crosses also suffered more in the heat, but given how much muscle they packed on from an early age I can't say it was the feathering.
Where did you get your DC's from? I've got a few hatchery ones I'm raising and i'm not impressed, they seem to have more of a regular layer breed build instead of a cornish build. I've been debating with myself just culling them as dog food now instead of letting them grow to full size.
 
Some of the ingredients that you have listed actually made me hungry and made my mouth water lol :lol: This read like a tasty menu to me at some points...what happy chickens you must have! I was wondering, you spoke of cinnamon? We have a Costco size tub of the stuff, which I love for cooking, but never thought of using it with the hens. What are the benefits, if you don't mind me asking?

Supposedly it has a natural soothing effect, reducing any potential inflammation and improving overall health. Some reports I've read suggest that like the red pepper flakes (and even black peppercorns), it acts as a natural anti-parasitic. I'm not sure if it actually does anything or not, but it sure makes their feed smell good and they really seem to love it. :D
 
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Where did you get your DC's from? I've got a few hatchery ones I'm raising and i'm not impressed, they seem to have more of a regular layer breed build instead of a cornish build. I've been debating with myself just culling them as dog food now instead of letting them grow to full size.


I ordered hatching eggs from a breeder I know who's been working for years at crossing the DCs with white Cornish Crosses to create a really meaty bird with better longevity. Unfortunately, DC hatching eggs are the hardest to ship and maintain fertility. Out of the 18 eggs I purchased only 3 hatched, but the birds I got were HUGE. I butchered the pure DC boy and the DCXWCC cross boy and kept the hen. She last weighed in at 10 lbs. and the boys I butchered were 11 lbs and 13 lbs live weight at butcher. They were actually too big for the cone I use.

My next NN breeding will include trying to cross my eldest pure NN rooster with that DCxWCC hen in the hopes of getting some really meaty NNs to continue on with. So far though I haven't gotten a single one of her eggs to hatch, and she's not a very good layer. When she lays she just sort of pushes the egg out no matter where she is...even if she's in the process of hopping out of the coop door. Silly bird!
Clara 12-8-16.jpg
 
I ordered hatching eggs from a breeder I know who's been working for years at crossing the DCs with white Cornish Crosses to create a really meaty bird with better longevity. Unfortunately, DC hatching eggs are the hardest to ship and maintain fertility. Out of the 18 eggs I purchased only 3 hatched, but the birds I got were HUGE. I butchered the pure DC boy and the DCXWCC cross boy and kept the hen. She last weighed in at 10 lbs. and the boys I butchered were 11 lbs and 13 lbs live weight at butcher. They were actually too big for the cone I use.

My next NN breeding will include trying to cross my eldest pure NN rooster with that DCxWCC hen in the hopes of getting some really meaty NNs to continue on with. So far though I haven't gotten a single one of her eggs to hatch, and she's not a very good layer. When she lays she just sort of pushes the egg out no matter where she is...even if she's in the process of hopping out of the coop door. Silly bird!
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I have heard that about cornish eggs not shipping well. I've ordered two different batches so far and neither of them were any good, they all had detatched air pockets and barely even started developing before dying. I've been reading, though, about people that actually don't turn the eggs for the first 5-7 days in the incubator and have decent luck so I'm thinking of trying again with ordering eggs, but it won't be real soon. I went hatch happy this summer and am over loaded with chicks and temporary grow outs I had to throw together for them... :p
 

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