California - Northern

[PetRock]

yes, please do.

I keep meaning to take pics but my days have been so busy. I am hopefully going to make room to move them outside this next week. I will miss having them inside which is something that I rarely say. They are just the sweetest chicks!

 

[PetRock]

The Flock we had when I was growing up were a good 5 to 10 years old and still laying eggs. They were Hatchery Barred Rocks and Rhode Island reds.

That was back in the late 1960s to 70s though....

My oldest hens are 3 years old and still laying during prime egg laying season. They are currently starting to molt so not laying right now. DH wanted to add them to the processing list today but I am not at all ready to part with them. They still have eggs to lay, bugs to eat, and compost to enrich!

 

[HighNDryFarm]

 
I was so disappointed, very little participation. I posted pics of young birds I have had to try to get the thread moving but it only brought the negative comments I posted.

Pam, I'm sorry about the way that you were treated on that thread. I have hung out on so many threads with the pros, trying to learn, that I think I can see a bit of both sides. No, there's no excuse for someone just being rude. Some of them definitely have better people skills than others, so express their frustration in different ways.

The following is simply my opinion on how I see it. I hope this doesn't upset you, Pam, because I don't mean it that way.

According to the thread description, "the faculty will judge all submissions", but that didn't seem to happen. It was probably too much to expect all the master breeders and judges to spend their time doing that on a regular basis and I can understand that, but it has been disappointing. I do feel like there is a clique of favorite breeders on these type threads and others- often newbies- usually get ignored. Laura, didn't Walt offer to come to your house to evaluate your Campines?
On the other hand, many times, the participants submitting photos did not follow the protocol, so that probably did not help either. It does say " When submitting a photo, please state the age of the bird.  Sharing any other details about the birds growth, line, maturity rates, or weight is encouraged." I know Walt asked for photos to be a close up side view. He also said that he could only comment on what he could see in the picture and that he would not respond to the same question over and over. He suggested taking a video of the birds and submitting freeze framed shots.

I've always put chickens in a cage or kennel and held the shutter down to get a shot good enough for evaluation.

I think that that if people did not take the time to take a photo as requested, the evaluators did not feel that it was worth the time to comment. Or, if the photo didn't show enough to evaluate, the couldn't comment on something they couldn't see.


Another point was that the thread description says that this is a thread for "advanced education". Any serious breeder should have a copy of the APA SOP and should have read the first section and be familiar with their breeds' description. It isn't a thread to teach people the standard for their breed. It's a thread to clarify and answer questions about those standards and how they apply to the birds you are breeding.


There are certain things that breeders can say that make it sound like they have not read the SOP. Pam, when you asked about squirrel tail, that made it sound like you do not have the SOP because that information is clearly available in the first section, with illustrations, and tail angles are listed in each breed description. Maybe you meant to ask if your bird's tail angle was far enough forward to be considered squirrel tail, but your question made it sound like you didn't know what squirrel tail was - which anyone who has read the SOP would know. I had a feeling that when you asked that question, the pros weren't going to take you seriously.


Yet another red flag for the master breeders are the use of certain words. If you use these words, they know that you are new and consider you not serious enough to spend time helping. I've had trouble with this myself. I always have to look up terms in the SOP Glossary in order to make sure that I use the correct terminology. Pam, you used one of the words they dislike the most: "Roo"! Other bad words are leakage and lockdown, plus others I can't think of right now. Kind of goofy, it's simply semantics but it makes a difference to them. They don't like referring to chickens as babies or other terms of endearment. Walt also hates any comparisons to dog etc. breeding, since poultry breeding is different.


I think that the long time breeders have spent so much time helping so many people over the years, and most of those newbies don't follow their advice or don't stick with it, so it was a waste of their time and effort. This has caused them to be burned out, hence more wary and judgmental of newbies and certain things like I've described may make them think a person wasn't serious enough to help.


Pam, you deserved to be treated better but because of the way you presented your info, you were perceived wrongly.

I also wanted to say I'm so sorry for your loss of Lady Gaga.

Nope, doesn't hurt my feelings.....it's really not any different then attitude I haven't met with those who deem themselves to be superior breeders of dogs and horses when I was breeding them..... and sorry but a basic understanding of genetics will help you in anything you breed no matter how different the breed is.

I read the first page of the thread several times to figure out how it worked. I guess I didn't get that I was supposed to critique my own birds to show what I know before anyone is willing to reiterate what I already know. I also read back on the topic prior and saw no postings like what you described.

On the squirrel tail, I didn't ask if my bird had squirrel tail, I said he did have it and I always culled for it. I did ask if it's always a DQ, yes stupid question according to the book but I was trying to get some conversation going and get some photos to go with the text descriptions. It's also a stupid question because it always depends on the judges interpretation of the standard.

Of course I was told he doesn't have squirrel tail (the only comment that would have been in line with critiquing my own birds) and now another post that he does have squirrel tail because you don't use a horizontal line to get the degree. Now that's the conversation I was looking for. Better late then never.

I'm a teacher by nature so I have a hard time with someone who is participating in a teaching forum, offering a degrading and discouraging comment. Wouldn't it be more helpful to copy and paste the forums instructions if someone isn't following guidelines AND asking questions that the forum isn't intended for? I'm sorry but I just can't excuse poor behavior because some professional is tired of answering the same question. Actually, there's no excuse for poor behavior anytime, but I appreciate your trying to explain the idiosyncrasies of the judges and clarifying the point of the forum. BTW, how do you know when you have enough knowledge to be advanced enough to talk about your birds with people who already know what you are telling them.....OK, now I'm just being a smart *****. Sorry, guess I still don't get it.

Off to reread the front page of the CSU forum and see where I misunderstood the goals.

 

[Ali707]

There is hope since she is laying again.

It sounds like something messed up her reproductive organs. Round Worms will do that--It is important to worm pullets at 12 weeks or so.

Okay how did I miss this important step. Am I too late? They are 21 weeks old this weekend

on a related note....passing out treats while sitting on the back step...run out of treats and several girls disperse but suddenly I feel something I hadn't felt since high school...got a chicken wedgie courtesy of Della...told you her personality was back. She grabbed em to show her displeasure that the grapes were finished

Nice.

Call UCD up for the name and instructions for the test:

UC DAVIS

http://www.cahfs.ucdavis.edu/index.cfm

UC DAVIS FEDEX INFO: Their account # is 364343981. If you use their account number you will get to use UC Davis's discount which is up to 70% off. They said that they will bill you for the shipment after you get the report (or at the same time.) Also, FedEx and UPS both ship to the actual lab every day... the Postal Service doesn't.

CAHFS - Davis Laboratory
University of California
West Health Sciences Drive
Davis, CA 95616
Phone: 530-752-8700
Fax: 530-752-6253
[email protected]

Thanks for this info Ron You are always so helpful. Should I still send this in to them? Even at this late date? How long is it again after you worm them that you can't eat the eggs? I am still waiting for my first egg from this group and I just moved them today. So I am not certain if the move is really going to stress them out enough to stop the laying that hasn't started..... What????? lol

Bittersweet day up here. I came home from doing the market, Good part no 40/60 MPH wind gusts or rain. It is now blowing so hard the upper branches in the pines and firs in the back are breaking and crashing down.

While unloading the van I noticed that there is a baby pigeon being fed by Mom and Dad. I then went out to do my chicken chores, when I got to the bantam partridge rocks I don't see Fred pacing the wire. He was down and completely limp. Brought him in and tried to give him vitamins but so weak he wouldn't hold his head up. He is gone, less than 4 hours later. Just yesterday he was calling the chicks over to show them the meal worms he found. Sweet boy I will miss very much.

I'm sorry. That just stinks.

 

[Ali707]

OMG!!! Now I know why I have been stressing over this chicken coop move for the last 4 weeks. It took FOREVER! I did finally get it moved and need to reinforce the area they will be in. I heard that they have Bobcats in the area as well as Opossum, Raccoons, Dogs, Etc. How big to Bobcats get, poundage wise?

Tomorrow I go back to get the last little bit and have the movers move the big furniture. I am so tired, but I wanted to catch up and see what has been going on.

I ended up getting a sore throat on Thursday, and had a fever and chills last night and felt like poo all day. So much fun to move when you aren't feeling well. Thank goodness for family and ex husbands! The ex helped me move the coop today and I got a giant pet carrier on loan from Placer SPCA It could have held all 13 birds, but I put two in the small pet carrier just to give them a little room. Now I have to lug that giant thing back but it worked really well.

 

[PetRock]

OMG!!! Now I know why I have been stressing over this chicken coop move for the last 4 weeks. It took FOREVER! I did finally get it moved and need to reinforce the area they will be in. I heard that they have Bobcats in the area as well as Opossum, Raccoons, Dogs, Etc. How big to Bobcats get, poundage wise?

Tomorrow I go back to get the last little bit and have the movers move the big furniture. I am so tired, but I wanted to catch up and see what has been going on.

I ended up getting a sore throat on Thursday, and had a fever and chills last night and felt like poo all day. So much fun to move when you aren't feeling well. Thank goodness for family and ex husbands! The ex helped me move the coop today and I got a giant pet carrier on loan from Placer SPCA It could have held all 13 birds, but I put two in the small pet carrier just to give them a little room. Now I have to lug that giant thing back but it worked really well.

that you got your coop moved! But so sorry that you haven't been feeling well.

High stress does that to me sometimes and moving sure ranks up there as one of the top stress makers!

 

[ronott1]

Okay how did I miss this important step. Am I too late? They are 21 weeks old this weekend

Nice.

Thanks for this info Ron You are always so helpful. Should I still send this in to them? Even at this late date? How long is it again after you worm them that you can't eat the eggs? I am still waiting for my first egg from this group and I just moved them today. So I am not certain if the move is really going to stress them out enough to stop the laying that hasn't started..... What????? lol

It is ok. Send in the sample and see if they have worms. Hopefully they do not have worms and all will be well with them.

Some chickens take stress better than others. The good news it that pullets that start laying now will usually continue laying eggs during the first winter.

Enjoy the new place!

 

[Chickengirl1304]

Anyone know if isbars are auto sexing?

 

[ronott1]

Anyone know if isbars are auto sexing?

It looks like they were intended to be auto sexing but the Breeder that made them died before getting them there:

The Isbars are not autosexing... if you mean better sexing qualities than gold/silver is providing?
Chicks just look like an average blue/black/splash birchen, this link has some nice pictures of Isbars of all ages

But there are quite some things which could cause the misunderstanding of them being an autosexing breed

translation bugs and all.
They were created by Martin Silverudd who also made the 55Flowerys which is an autosexing breed.
RIR, New Hampshires and Cream Crested Legbars were used to create them.
And there are some speculations about it that they were possibly intended to become an autosexing & colored egg breed. Silverudd did quite a lot of breeding into that direction. But they were still a work in progress when he died and there's no known documentation about what he had planned for them exactly.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I am getting frustrated. I was on the Home page and there was a post about putting old hens into a pen to see if they were still laying eggs. The person wants to cull them right now if they are not laying.

His old hens are two years old...another person said that they needed to cull these hens that do not lay eggs in the Fall or they would be feeding non layers all winter long.

What a waste of good hens.

That's ridiculous. And the eggs get really big at 2 years old.

Quote: I know! My hatchery BR is 4 1/2 years old and still lays 5-6 days a week. (well, not right now, she's molting)

I have 2 isbar chicks! And still waiting on the others! Do they come in blue/black/splash? One is very light and one is blue

and are they auto sexing like the CCLs? I thought I heard they were

Yes, Isbars can be blue, black or splash. And no, they are not auto sexing. Here's my splash isbar:

OMG!!! Now I know why I have been stressing over this chicken coop move for the last 4 weeks. It took FOREVER! I did finally get it moved and need to reinforce the area they will be in. I heard that they have Bobcats in the area as well as Opossum, Raccoons, Dogs, Etc. How big to Bobcats get, poundage wise?

Tomorrow I go back to get the last little bit and have the movers move the big furniture. I am so tired, but I wanted to catch up and see what has been going on.

I ended up getting a sore throat on Thursday, and had a fever and chills last night and felt like poo all day. So much fun to move when you aren't feeling well. Thank goodness for family and ex husbands! The ex helped me move the coop today and I got a giant pet carrier on loan from Placer SPCA It could have held all 13 birds, but I put two in the small pet carrier just to give them a little room. Now I have to lug that giant thing back but it worked really well.

Glad you got everyone moved. Now you can rest.

Bobcats get pretty big. Large dog sized. And they are incredibly smart.