California - Northern

[casportpony]

Everyone, great pictures of eggs and birds!

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Okay, so if I go get TJ eggs, what exactly am I looking for? Do they say fertile on the carton?

-Kathy

 

[ronott1]

Okay, so if I go get TJ eggs, what exactly am I looking for? Do they say fertile on the carton?

-Kathy

Yes! they say fertile on the carton.

Look for the freshest eggs. There will be a use by date and a date that represents the day of the year they were collected on. I think it is a Julian date so it would need to be converted.

Also, check for cracked eggs.

 

[casportpony]

I found this cool calcium/phosphorus foods list for birds:


-Kathy

 

[tommysgirl]

This is what I shoot for, following the SOP.

Lovely pair! I don't know anything about the Marans standard. But anyone can see those two are lookers

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Dies anyone in the east bay have chicks less than a week old available?

I will have 3/4 silkie 1/4 D'Uccle mixes in about 25 days...setting this week but I will only have a few. I will have more a bit after that. Not exactly sure but probably within a week or 2 of this hatch. Not sure what those will be yet but will be posting about it on the New Year's Eve hatch thread. There are several people who are in Northern California who are participating so far.

 

[tommysgirl]

How long is the longest you have let a girl sit before giving her eggs? Is 3 weeks too long?

 

[One Chick Two]

Pretty good for Splash!

Very lovely! Plus, in real life, they are obviously much darker than the photo. Dark eggs are so notoriously difficult to photograph!

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LOL. Okay... We had a discussion about this topic on the BCM thread awhile back...

Lightly feathered is subjective, of course... But, feathering should line all the way down the far outside toe, and not stop halfway on the toe. And the feathering should seem 'solid' the whole way down shank, no holes and gaps.

However, when the SOP compared "lightly" feathered, it was explained that the SOP comparison is not referring the comparison to other BCM, but to other, more heavily feathered breeds such as Cochin, Duccle etc. So, in comparison to heavier feathered breeds, BCM generally ARE mostly lightly feathered.

Slightly excessive middle toe feathering or stubs can be eradicated by a love connection with a less feathered partner- easy as that. Lack of feathering is such an issue in BCM, we'd prefer excellent shank feathering, and pare down if too much became an issue. It is surprisingly harder to bring up more shank feathers than remove too many. They look so cute when they run too! lol

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Gorgeous! LOVE them. The perfect shank and feet feathering too! Well done!

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Hello again! It's quite the process with all Marans, lol. Never thought this would take so long at first to get going... but testing has to be done, or problems creep in and set you back even further down the road. Just love the mellow calmness of the hens!!! Sweetest ladies.

I'm really glad you were able to see Pete's other birds. He done an amazing job with them. These are our pullets descended from Pete's hen. These two stop and pose pretty all the time- makes me laugh. Run, stop, pose... run! lol

He's done a magnificent job with his birds- both the males and the females look wonderful. Hoping the girls will work out.

 

[FoxholeFarm]

Does anyone in the east bay have chicks less than a week old available?

I am in Woodland, not the east bay. My Oldest moved that way last week though.

I do not have any now but a lot of us will have some right after the first of the year. We are having a hatch a long!

Check my signature line for a link.

I will be hatching in the new year too. I'm looking for some now because one of my hens is inconveniently broody and after three weeks, it's too late to give her eggs.

 

[caychris]

On Saturday we processed birds at PetRock's friends farm and after processing my 3 CLB cockerels (none were good for breeding)

We found one to have what I can only describe as scoliosis. His neck was fairly short and he appeared to have a curvature of his back such that his hips were not lined up with his wings. He was significantly less weight than the other 2 as well. I'm glad we processed him when we did because I think he was having trouble in general. I do not know if this is a result of Karen's incubator issues or a genetic condition has anyone seen anything like it before?
From the same hatch there were 2 or 3 girls that were hatched with wry necks and a Delaware with deformed feet so I'm thinking it may have been the incubation but I cant be sure any input would be helpful.

 

[ronott1]

On Saturday we processed birds at PetRock's friends farm and after processing my 3 CLB cockerels (none were good for breeding)

We found one to have what I can only describe as scoliosis. His neck was fairly short and he appeared to have a curvature of his back such that his hips were not lined up with his wings. He was significantly less weight than the other 2 as well. I'm glad we processed him when we did because I think he was having trouble in general. I do not know if this is a result of Karen's incubator issues or a genetic condition has anyone seen anything like it before?
From the same hatch there were 2 or 3 girls that were hatched with wry necks and a Delaware with deformed feet so I'm thinking it may have been the incubation but I cant be sure any input would be helpful.

Good job on the processing!

It depends on if the feet are curled in towards the foot or bent outwards. Outwards can be from incubation but curled in is genetic.

Bone deformities seem to be from other things. Genetic, toxins, vitamin deficiency and etc.

http://beautyofbirds.com/chickdeformiities.html