B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[ki4got]

Quote:

Lost my only silver grey hen two days ago Just vanished, so Im presuming a hawk. We're usually really careful about when we let them out and keep the dogs out with them to keep predators away. And my two roosters that have been behaving together so well are now fighting like a mexican rooster ring... So I think the silver grey rooster may become dinner this week, I just don't have room to separate two and the other roo is so nice... I guess Ill stick with breeding the colored roo i have (though his colors look more like a cross) with the one colored hen i have. Now quite how I imagined this 'Dorking breeding' thing to go, but what can ya do?

um... hatch everything she lays? that's what I would do.

well , that's what i AM doing. except so far the roo is neglecting his girls. but the bike has been evicted from the horse trailer so my trailer coop is a work in progress now. in a few days the bantams get evicted from the "dorking pen" LOL.and soon the oldest pullet will join him and the 2 girls.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Lino,
Thanks for that link. I am one who appreciates broodies. It is my long range plan to have a flock that raises all their own chicks. For now, I have to depend on an incubator.

jgervais, speaking of broodies, have you checked to see if maybe your hen might have found a hiding place to set on some eggs?

Kim

 

[ki4got]

Quote:

Lino,
Thanks for that link. I am one who appreciates broodies. It is my long range plan to have a flock that raises all their own chicks. For now, I have to depend on an incubator.

jgervais, speaking of broodies, have you checked to see if maybe your hen might have found a hiding place to set on some eggs?

Kim

having been tricked by that before, i'm laughing because i didn't even think of broody... *knock on wood* nobody's broody right now except a cochin girl. and i'm tempted to give her some mutt eggs but don't really want more mutt babies.

jgervais, i'll cross fingers your girl shows up soon (like in 21 days with a brood?)

 

[jgervais]

jgervais, speaking of broodies, have you checked to see if maybe your hen might have found a hiding place to set on some eggs?

Kim

Really? I'm so new to this I didnt even realize thats possible! Would she come 'out of hiding' at any point? I havent seen her in the yard at all :-/ She used to sleep in the tree every night before it started getting cold, so I looked in all the surrounding trees, but I would always see her in the yard during the day.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:

Really? I'm so new to this I didnt even realize thats possible! Would she come 'out of hiding' at any point? I havent seen her in the yard at all :-/ She used to sleep in the tree every night before it started getting cold, so I looked in all the surrounding trees, but I would always see her in the yard during the day.

First, don't look up. look down. my guys have never gone far from their coop, but will hide in or under just about anythiig. even just some sparse thorny vines. i had been looking when i lost 'grey' all over the place, as far as id seen her wander. wouldn't you know, she wasn't 10 feet from the coop, under some honeysuckle and raspberry vines/branches. the other hen was under the coop! (raised wire floor so poo will fall thru. YUCK! she was a mess.)

 

[elizmartin]

If you only keep one cock, you'll quickly run into the end of your program. Can your coop space be divided into, say, three spaces in which you could keep a male and three or four females? This would give you much stronger biodiversity and longterm breeding capacity.

Another possibility that i have done before i had more coop space is having each Rooster & his group of hens are all marked together as a group, but everyone lives together except when i separated them to collect eggs for hatching. (including waiting time to insure right pairing.) eliz

 

[ki4got]

Ok, well it's official. LF roos CAN breed bantams for successful hatches.

we have (I think) 3 different dorking cross chicks hatched out now. possible mommas are silver duckwing oegb

, bantam rir, bantam red cochin, quail d'anvers. i know 1 is definitely the cochin cross, with the feathered feet. the other 2 are ??s but i'm leaning harder to the rir and d'anvers than oegb, since 1 egg i knew for sure was hers was clear from the start. i think she's just too tiny for him to work with. and of the 3, only 1 has 4 toes, the other 2 have 5. and ALL have the classic 'low rider' dorking stance.

oh. and following the duckwing tradition, they're all marked just like dorking chicks, just different shades. the first to hatch is fluffed, and almost definitely a pullet (think possibly the rir momma). not sure about the other 2, they just popped out a few hours ago.

 

[dorkings]

Thank you, we are really enjoying them. I'm hoping a couple of the girls will want to sit for 21 days this spring.

 

[ki4got]

Thank you, we are really enjoying them. I'm hoping a couple of the girls will want to sit for 21 days this spring.

LOL i'm actually hoping nobody goes broody right away. i want eggs to hatch!

 

[Tracydr]

Anybody have eggs to sell? I'm pretty sure I'll have a broody bantam, I almost always do. But, it will be an OEGB so can't handle too many eggs.
I'm a little nervous about buying shipped eggs but I'd rather try good quality shipped eggs than a few chicks from Ideal. I really don't need 25 chicks from Mcmurray since I just filled my freezer with Cornish and roosters. Maybe in the fall I could do a bigger order from them.