BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[DesertChic]

Dad is in recovery and everything seems to have gone well. I feared it would be a very long operation but was just over 2 hours.
Jason is with dad now and I wish I could be there. One thing scares me, he is heading to ICU.

Aaron called and said if he's going to be there for more than a week,which he doubts, he and Raphael will fly there.

Thanks for the support.

Outstanding news about how well the surgery went! Thank you so much for the update. Still sending good thoughts and lots of love to you all.

 

[draye]

Dad is in recovery and everything seems to have gone well.  I feared it would be a very long operation but was just over 2 hours. 
Jason is with dad now and I wish I could be there.  One thing scares me, he is heading to ICU.

Aaron called and said if he's going to be there for more than a week,which he doubts, he and Raphael will fly there.

Thanks for the support.

Great to hear the good news. Prayers are heading up for him.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

OK, it's weighing day. And that means... DATA! I had a little issue with the scale (the chicks kept jumping up and down on it and pulling a the towel I used for them to stand on), but I think I got repeat weights on anyone who was affected. The "partridge" looking Naked Neck looks a lot like a pullet to me (and I feel confident on gender for all the rest of the NN except the rose combed one), but her weights fall within the male zone. I marked her as "unsure" (green) on the chart for now, but if she's a she, she'll be a nice big one. For the New Hampshires, I am not sure I can reliably tell gender yet, and some of the males are the smallest ones anyway, so I didn't do a gender chart for them. Scale for both NN and NH charts are the same - the NNs continue to outgrow the NHs, though they are becoming more friendly. I suspect I would have liked them more if I were not comparing them to NNs in the same batch (but such is the way of things)

It seems that the big growth spurt was from week 3 to 4, most are beginning to slow down. (No idea if it's part of the natural way of things, or if something else related to their environment is affecting them, of course.) Of note, it's gotten quite warm again (high of 98F yesterday). They have shade and all seem to be handling it well and are still eating and drinking, but I suppose that could have affected the growth curve. For what it's worth, the New Hampshires are having no issue at all with the heat - I'll continue to watch this, but that is important information to know. I sat and observed them for a while this morning, and all seem to be doing well. The abnormal NH is still growing, but the curve is dropping further - I may find that she drops off the curve next weighing. Her body feels angular to me. I'm not going to cull her yet, but am watching. (Photo of her cuddling with one of the friendly NN cockerels below).









- Ant Farm

 

[DesertChic]

It seems that the big growth spurt was from week 3 to 4, most are beginning to slow down. (No idea if it's part of the natural way of things, or if something else related to their environment is affecting them, of course.) Of note, it's gotten quite warm again (high of 98F yesterday).

Ant Farm

I just reviewed my own charts and graphs for my first NN flock to verify that I too witnessed a decline in growth rates beginning in week 4. Up until then they'd grown about 75% per week, but in week 4 that dropped down to about 42% and then steadily declined each week thereafter. Just thought I'd add my two cents of experience to your data collection.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

I just reviewed my own charts and graphs for my first NN flock to verify that I too witnessed a decline in growth rates beginning in week 4. Up until then they'd grown about 75% per week, but in week 4 that dropped down to about 42% and then steadily declined each week thereafter. Just thought I'd add my two cents of experience to your data collection.

This helps - I'm still in that "I must be doing something wrong" stage of chicken keeping, where my first assumption is always that whatever it is, it's my fault...

- Ant Farm

 

[hellbender]

More good news. They had dad up and walking a bit after dinner. He was not in the ICU at all but rather a room just down the hall from ICU. According to Jason, dad walked for about 5 minutes and wanted to walk farther also he didn't use any support...no cane no walker, just the wheeled iv thing. Can go to the bathroom on his own, with someone else knowing where he is.

All good news to my mind.

Ariel

 

[DesertChic]

More good news. They had dad up and walking a bit after dinner. He was not in the ICU at all but rather a room just down the hall from ICU. According to Jason, dad walked for about 5 minutes and wanted to walk farther also he didn't use any support...no cane no walker, just the wheeled iv thing. Can go to the bathroom on his own, with someone else knowing where he is.

All good news to my mind.

Ariel

That's outstanding news!!!! This is the best thing I've heard all day.

 

[Mini Meat]

Quote: X2

 

[Kev]

More good news. They had dad up and walking a bit after dinner. He was not in the ICU at all but rather a room just down the hall from ICU. According to Jason, dad walked for about 5 minutes and wanted to walk farther also he didn't use any support...no cane no walker, just the wheeled iv thing. Can go to the bathroom on his own, with someone else knowing where he is.

All good news to my mind.

Ariel

Excellent news, thank you for the updates!

 

[draye]

More good news.  They had dad up and walking a bit after dinner. He was not in the ICU at all but rather a room just down the hall from ICU.  According to Jason, dad walked for about 5 minutes and wanted to walk farther also he didn't use any support...no cane no walker, just the wheeled iv thing.  Can go to the bathroom on his own, with someone else knowing where he is.

All good news to my mind.

                                                           Ariel

That's great news. So glad you are keeping us updated.