California - Northern

[chickee]

Really? Even though he's the one from you? He's gorgeous for sure! I love the blue and orange! I'm sure their personalities will change a lot as they go through chicken puberty, but so far Emmet is hard to catch and stand-offish, but Sprinkles is curious and cuddly. Even gave Sprinkles a tour around the yard as I carried him around the other day!

I don't want you to think I will be upset if he goes to your friends

What is important is that you are happy with your chickens

 

[lawatt]

All my easter egger chicks come out like that, none look like boys. don't know enough about genetics to tell you why, however! But they are sexable much sooner then other chickens so I'm still happy with the crele coloring. But the ee hens have the same breast coloring gene if I follow the discussions right, so the get the same patterning gene from both parents so it will follow ( salmon on chest = girl, gold on top = boy) I don't know if SFH are similar patterns, ( iirc they call it wild type, like they do for quail?) I SOO excited to follow your chicks and see!!!
I'd move them now. your broodie will move with no trouble now that she has chicks. can you get a towel under her and move her and the eggs at the same time?

thanks thanks for this, i'll try moving her once the sun gets a little lower & everyone's settling down -- the main flock is out free-ranging right now (and i finally devised a chicken-wire fix to keep them off my deck, hurrah!), and doesn't seem at all interested in the newcomers, but they're deep down in that one nest box for now, so not really terribly noticeable, except for all the peeping! will try the trick with a towel later...

i can't wait to see how these chicks turn out, too! there's such a wide variety, between all the various eggs i got from everyone! (plus two of my own flock's CL/SFH crosses -- Max is a dad! although he doesn't seem to have noticed.)

 

[lawatt]

One of the Cream Legbar X Crele Pene pullets laid their first egg yesterday!



The one on the right may have been the one!



Probably not the Barinie OE but maybe one of the two in front!

beautiful egg, Ron -- it looks a lot like the ones i got from my two Amelias -- except they started, laid about 4-5 eggs between them last week, and then there hasn't been another one since. can new layers stop and start like that, or are they perhaps hiding their eggs somewhere (with all the broody action taking up the usual/preferred nest boxes, it's hard to know where else to look!)

either way, hoping they either start up again, or stop hiding them -- they're such a gorgeous green!

 

[Nikon]

I don't want you to think I will be upset if he goes to your friends

What is important is that you are happy with your chickens

We love all of our chickens

It's gonna be hard to choose, but as sad as we are that our friends lost the Fonz, we are glad we found a GREAT home for one of our little men.

 

[ronott1]

beautiful egg, Ron -- it looks a lot like the ones i got from my two Amelias -- except they started, laid about 4-5 eggs between them last week, and then there hasn't been another one since. can new layers stop and start like that, or are they perhaps hiding their eggs somewhere (with all the broody action taking up the usual/preferred nest boxes, it's hard to know where else to look!)

either way, hoping they either start up again, or stop hiding them -- they're such a gorgeous green!

I would not put hiding the egg past them!

It is normal for them to take a day or two off between sets of eggs. The eggs usually get bigger after each break. I hope the Amelias start laying big ones quickly like the Cream Legbars do.

 

[Hangtown Farms]

I took my Australorps and Black Penes outside yesterday!

The little one in the middle is a two week old Black Pene. The Australorps are three weeks old.



What a Ham this one is!



A week makes a big difference in Size!



I have a video encoding and will post it when it is ready!(kidding here--The Australorps are big old Show Quality birds. The Black Pene on the right will get big for a Pene but will not be like an Australorp).

looking good !

5 Pita Pinta's out! And 10 Basque's out! Woohoo! I see at least 4 more zipping. There are so many chicks in that incubator right now. I keep talking to them to get off the eggs that are trying to hatch.. it's not really working though. Ha! I can't wait to get them out there and give them some love!

congrats Meg !

Loving everyone's coop pics and baby chick pix!

I can't believe how fast ours are growing! We made them a chicken playpen and got them a larger feeder and waterer so they aren't so crowded and we don't have to fill them 2-3 times a day anymore. We have found a home for one of our 2 roosters, when he grows up.

Our friends lost their rooster, The Fonz. He died valiantly protecting his girls from a fox and somehow managed to escape the coop and go after it. Glad I took photos of him when I did.

R.I.P. Fozny.

very sad but you know he was a good rooster ! he did his job

One of the Cream Legbar X Crele Pene pullets laid their first egg yesterday!



The one on the right may have been the one!



Probably not the Barinie OE but maybe one of the two in front!

nice egg Ron

Thought I would share some pictures of the lavender Ameraucana chicks and one BCM chick I hatched for my friend Cyndi (Zoichick) over the weekend. They are beautiful!

They would not pose as well as my other chicks though! Frisky little suckers!

Candy they are super cute. Lavender ameraucana are so pretty

I would not put hiding the egg past them!

It is normal for them to take a day or two off between sets of eggs. The eggs usually get bigger after each break. I hope the Amelias start laying big ones quickly like the Cream Legbars do.

they will !

 

[lawatt]

I would not put hiding the egg past them!

It is normal for them to take a day or two off between sets of eggs. The eggs usually get bigger after each break. I hope the Amelias start laying big ones quickly like the Cream Legbars do.

excellent, i will keep my eyes open. they're SUCH nice eggs!

re: the various broodies, i just walked down and took a good hard look at the coop, and have come to this conclusion: I'd like to just swap the one that's hatching her chicks, with the one who's in an exclusion pen (had been barging into others' nests earlier), who's been sitting on her nest there for about a week. that way the new mom & chicks would have a few days on their own, in view of everyone but without being bothered.

but two questions remain:
1) if i move the broody in the pen back up into the usual nesting boxes (in the evening, once it's getting a bit dark), is she likely to stay there with her nest, or get confused?
2) the next broody is "due" to hatch in about a week -- would i be able to move broody #1 and her chicks out of the exclusion pen at that point, and move the new hatching bunch in?

i realize i'm asking a lot of questions that might not have definite answers -- but if anyone has any ideas, i'm all ears! (eyes, actually)
thanks!!!

 

[Meg2000000]

Wow look at all the baby chicks!! Congrats to everyone! We are all going to have so much fun!

Ron - That is a GORGEOUS first egg! Congrats!!

Here's a picture of some of the little guys I took out of the incubator today. They wouldn't listen to me and get off the eggs so I had to do something! There are 13 in the brooder (not all are pictures) and there are 3 more drying out and 6 zipping. This is such an amazing experience!

All tuckered out:

 

[Hangtown Farms]

Wow look at all the baby chicks!! Congrats to everyone! We are all going to have so much fun!

Ron - That is a GORGEOUS first egg! Congrats!!

Here's a picture of some of the little guys I took out of the incubator today. They wouldn't listen to me and get off the eggs so I had to do something! There are 13 in the brooder (not all are pictures) and there are 3 more drying out and 6 zipping. This is such an amazing experience!

All tuckered out:

love the pitas. such a neat pattern

 

[chiqita]

excellent, i will keep my eyes open. they're SUCH nice eggs!

re: the various broodies, i just walked down and took a good hard look at the coop, and have come to this conclusion: I'd like to just swap the one that's hatching her chicks, with the one who's in an exclusion pen (had been barging into others' nests earlier), who's been sitting on her nest there for about a week. that way the new mom & chicks would have a few days on their own, in view of everyone but without being bothered.

but two questions remain:
1) if i move the broody in the pen back up into the usual nesting boxes (in the evening, once it's getting a bit dark), is she likely to stay there with her nest, or get confused?
2) the next broody is "due" to hatch in about a week -- would i be able to move broody #1 and her chicks out of the exclusion pen at that point, and move the new hatching bunch in?

i realize i'm asking a lot of questions that might not have definite answers -- but if anyone has any ideas, i'm all ears! (eyes, actually)
thanks!!!

Moving broodies on eggs sometimes works, sometimes dosen't. can you put her in a box and wire it off for a few days so she can't leave( with food and water) ? 1 week of isolation is good for mamma and babies. they will still be small then, but they will be fast! It all depends on if your hens want to peck at babies or not, some do some don't. My non broodie hens don't spend much time in the coop, so its easy for me. but the incredible rotating broodie box sounds like a workable plan.