Australorps breed Thread

[cactusrota]

ok, here's the pic I was trying to post yesterday. refer to my previous post....

 

[Outdoorlover]

ok, here's the pic I was trying to post yesterday. refer to my previous post....

Same 2 on the upper left corner, how does their tails looked at 5 weeks?

 

[cactusrota]

Same 2 on the upper left corner, how does their tails looked at 5 weeks?

By this picture they pretty much had the same length tail. They are 8 weeks now and that pretty much still holds true. Sometimes the cockerels would hold their tail higher, but not always. One of my pullets actually has a really short tail that looks quite beat up. I imagine since their tails start growing in so soon they get stepped on alot while they lay down maybe....but she's the only one with the shredded tail. The other pullets have very nice looking tails that they hold with a peak in the center and the outer tail feathers more spread out... so that if you looked at them from behind the tail would be held in sort of a pyramid shape. The cockerels aren't doing that. Basically, if I'm just trying to find my pullets at a glance, I'm looking for the comb/wattles and the cushion first. Some of the cockerels have teeny cushions too, but not as big and wide, as the pullets.

 

[maryann momhen]

aww! How is she?

How is she? She's great. When one of the other ones is getting bullied by the barred rock, she goes running towards them and puts herself in between! She's adorable!

 

[Dayrel]

Which are hens? Naw just kidding. Here's my Littles starting week4 of their life....Wow! do they scream bloody murder when picked up. lol

I was just coming here to ask about that. I am a first-time chicken owner and have a Rhode Island Red, a Barred Rock, and an Australorp (about 2 weeks). I give them time each day and the first two will jump onto my arm and enjoy coming out of the brooder each day for some attention. By comparison, the Aussie doesn't like handling at all.

I was also was going to ask about the fact that my Aussie is feathering in much more slowly than the other two. However, from the pictures above, that appears to be normal. My other two have about that same amount of feathering as above at two weeks, but the Aussie has far less at this point.

 

[combatfuzzball]

Maybe its just mine or my perceptions of them. My black Australorps are disgusting feathered pigs. Lol seriously they are many times nastier than my Easter eggers were at same age. For what ever reason I have to clean their feeder and waterer one to two times per day. My EE's I only had to about every two days or so. Could be that its just one trashing the brooder.

 

[getaclue]

Outdoor, just because it's been fertilized, does not mean there is a chick inside. While many websites will say there is no difference in cholesterol levels between fertilized, and unfertilized eggs, including our own govt. websites, yet the numbers they do post tell a different tale. They taste exactly the same, but the fertile eggs are actually somewhat better for you.

 

[alexa009]

She should be laying in a few months.

 

[pioneerchick816]

@combatfuzzball
If you think Australorps are bad you would hate meat chickens. OMG!

They are truly gross...but oh so tastey after they get out of freezer camp

 

[cactusrota]

I didn't really think mine have been that bad, but then I learned a long time ago to put feeders and waterers on top of things, like upside down bowls or peices of 2x4, so they can't scratch or step around in their food and kick stuff into their water. Some BA's have a very strong need to scratch. Coturnix quail are bad too. I have video of one of my current BA's scratching at a metal panel on the side of the grow out pen as if he thought he was going to get food out of it. .. hold on I'll see if I can find it....

Here we go... watch for the little dork at 15 seconds in: