Australorps breed Thread

[Gramma Chick]

. I put an inverted cardboard box in their giant new brooder in case they felt too exposed in their new home, and they are all huddled under it. Every time I go into the garage, they start screaming and trying to climb over each other to get farther back in the box, otherwise they are quiet,
and I'm sure they will emerge eventually.... But the impatience..... THE IMPATIENCE!!!!!

Did they do this in the house ? ...
They could be a little traumatized by the move
I am thinking they are scared ...
You make a different sound in the garage ? maybe it is echoing ?
they hear something coming but they dont know what so the are trying to hide ...
...You could move the box the other way so they can see you ...or talk as you come in or take it out if they dont need it

 

[Gramma Chick]

No, why would that happen? The egg that the hen lays is either a male or a female. Having more roosters might cause them to have a higher fertility rate though.

The hen has not control over which egg is laid.

Food for thought
https://www.google.com/search?q=wha...#q=what+determines+the+sex+of+a+chicken+egg+?

 

[Gramma Chick]

How about this one ?
Shape of chicken egg tells you if it is a hen or rooster
A guy I know said when he was a kid ...he lived next to a egg farm ...
They always threw out eggs ...if they hatched those eggs out they were always roosters

http://www.motherearthnews.com/home...ed-chicken-eggs-zmaz74zhol.aspx#axzz3PFE7Uvpc

 

[Lobzi]

Me neither. As I mentioned, I reduced the stress on my girls by lowering the roo number. The consequence of reduction in female hatch number was well worth the peace in the yard that resulted. In nature this could stress/hormone effect makes sense however. Are chickens the only avian where the female is responsible for sex of the offspring? Anyone know?

 

[DesertChic]

There are studies on ways to get pullets over cockerels. Hatcheries would love to find a way to get mostly or all pullets in a hatch.

They have not found a way to do this. For pullet only hatches, the cockerels go straight out a disposal shoot.

And this is precisely why I will only order straight runs if I purchase chicks from hatcheries. It's what I did when I got my hatchery chicks from the local farm supply store even when they offered to sex two of the breeds I got. I have no problem with the idea of culling and eating the culls, but I struggle with the idea of killing of perfectly healthy little chicks just because they're a "nuisance" to retailers.

 

[jbkirk]

Well I shure like the sound of that oval egg thing better than the thought of putting all that stress on my hens

 

[ronott1]

Freud would have a field day about egg shape!

Pointy egg is male and round egg is female...Nope does not work that way!

Getting a cockerel or a pullet from an egg is part of the law of averages. There can be variations in what happens on the small scale but when the whole is looked at, it will average out.

If you hatch a lot of chicks over time and you have a high percentage of eggs being laid by the flock combined with close to 100% hatch rate, you will be close to half cockerels and half pullets.

Reducing stress is good because the hens lay more eggs. That makes it less likely that you will get one gender over another at hatch.

Anyone hatching Aussies?

This is one of my two week old Blue Australorps from the NYD Hatch.

 

[MrsBrooke]

Did they do this in the house ? ...
They could be a little traumatized by the move
I am thinking they are scared ...
You make a different sound in the garage ? maybe it is echoing ?
they hear something coming but they dont know what so the are trying to hide ...
...You could move the box the other way so they can see you ...or talk as you come in or take it out if they dont need it

They were a little jumpy but calmed down if I stood there quietly. They were huddled under the heat lamp this morning... The garage was 65 this morning, and they are 2.5 weeks. Good feathering, but not FULL yet, so I may throw a blanket or something over their section to trap some heat until they feather out a little more.

The garage definitely sounds different than inside the house. Their world has increased by about 500%... from cardboard boxes to a fence-like contraption they can see through. They can hear dogs, lawn mowers, the AC kick on and off, the washer and dryer, and our cars start and stop. Not to mention it's a little colder out there than inside, so they're adjusting, no doubt.

I'll give them a few more days with added warmth and see where that gets us.

Thanks for your input!

MrsB

 

[MrsBrooke]

This is one of my two week old Blue Australorps from the NYD Hatch.

I LOVE your blue suede babies! <3






Here's my little fatty lumpkin at 2 weeks. They have grown SO much in the four days since I took this photo! Feathers all down their backs and over their shoulders! I love it!

MrsB

 

[hellbender]

They were a little jumpy but calmed down if I stood there quietly. They were huddled under the heat lamp this morning... The garage was 65 this morning, and they are 2.5 weeks. Good feathering, but not FULL yet, so I may throw a blanket or something over their section to trap some heat until they feather out a little more.

The garage definitely sounds different than inside the house. Their world has increased by about 500%... from cardboard boxes to a fence-like contraption they can see through. They can hear dogs, lawn mowers, the AC kick on and off, the washer and dryer, and our cars start and stop. Not to mention it's a little colder out there than inside, so they're adjusting, no doubt.

I'll give them a few more days with added warmth and see where that gets us.

Thanks for your input!

MrsB

I'm curious, just what kind of 'heat lamp' is being used here? 65*F is not cold by any standard and I'd think long and hard before I were to throw anything at all over the brooder. Can I assume you have at least one thermometer in the brooder?

If you really have to close anything off, I would suggest using something like cardboard on two sides of the brooder and then check for temp.