California - Northern

[CackleJoy]

thanks its not the greatest pic , but she was suppose to be a hen but looks nothing like her sisters. and theres deff a comb and wattles. all my chickens are hens, so roosters are very foreign to me, but if shes a he. hes the sweetest boy.

Initial reaction is rooster BUT there is the whole hatchery concept going here. How old did you say? Our hatchery birds started laying at 17 weeks so it is possible that this is a girl. Can you show us a better side shot with focus on the tail area? I'm not seeing saddle feathers and that also says girl. You just might have an early maturation going on.

Pullet/cockerel is such a fun game! I like to go out side and watch all the juvies and play that guessing game

I'm getting way better at it but some combs are harder, the pea types are the worst. Is this a pea comb? Pea combs are really wide for young cockerels and usually quite pale and thinner on pullets.

 

[Audio51]

Quote: Most definitley! We were just talking about chicks hatching when the turner is still gping on one of the FB groups I am on too...!

Quote:
I do the Handout thing with my finches. You would be surprised how many people will put in a tube drinker for new birds and just assume the bird will know how to use it. Mine are using open drinkers so I always give a handout explaining that (and tell them at pick up, too). also tell them how to transition them if they want to use a tube feeder, give them about a wekk supply of the see I am feeding and info about tempertures, feeding veggies, etc. I also attach a card with my contact info and encourage them to call or email if any questions come up. If course when you are selling birds at $65 to $140 each that is a bit more affordable.

ive always come here for info, but hadn't signed up. glad I finally did! trying to figure out how this whole forum thing works and replying .... is there a spot for trying to figure out the sex of a 3 month old hen ?... well maybe not a hen

Welcome to the best thread on BYC!!! There are several people in your general area and we are all her to help where we can....

 

[PetRock]

@PetRock was it you who said that hens "catch" broodiness from seeing chicks? Yesterday p.m. both mamas had their babies out in the pens when I let my other girls out to range. Beak Face...my first proven girl took one look at those babies and started the buc buc buc buc buc buc buc walking pine cone impersonation. Seriously...she was out for under a minute and I heard her. She spent all of her ranging time in a state and I fully expected her to get in her nest but she didn't. As of this morning she was not broody but @lawatt I expect that she will be and since I know what a great mama she is she will get special eggs. I would love to put her on 8-10 Birchen Marans eggs when she committs.

I swear it works this way with my girls. They will go months with not a broody among them. As soon as I put a group of chicks in the outdoor brooder/grow out pen that is under the main coop, they start falling like dominos. Then the nest box wars begin and I am constantly checking to see if they have gotten back in the correct box. I would love to have some individual pens for broody mamas and their eggs/chicks.

 

[caychris]

Going to be testing my carpentry (or lack there of) skills this week with the new brooder box. This working thing is really putting a crimp in my backyard plans.

. Too many things to do and no time to do them in. If I didn't spend 3-4 hours a day commuting it would probably be alright. After the brooder is done then the coop will come next. Not looking forward to the expense but will be really nice to have the space to house them all. (At least all I can have at home).

 

[PetRock]

Happy Easter a couple days late! My Easter hatch was disappointing. Out of 41 shipped eggs that I set, only 14 made it past day 18 and of those 14 only 4 hatched. My own Pita Pinta, PP mix, and Langshan eggs from the farm did much better. 17 out of 21 hatched but 1 had umbilical problems and died yesterday. So 28.5% of the shipped eggs that made it to day 18 hatched and 81% of my eggs hatched for a combined total of 60% that were set for hatch on day 18.

Here is an Easter pic of some of the chicks and a pic of one of my new Langshans.

 

[Kaylish]

I hope to get some cochin eggs from them this year. I would love to see pics of the chicks and they grow up.

I have 1 blue cochin and 2 bantam cochins from her. Eve is really nice and has some beautiful birds.I'll post picks of all of the cuties when I get time to download from my camera. So far they are super sweet!

Going to be testing my carpentry (or lack there of) skills this week with the new brooder box. This working thing is really putting a crimp in my backyard plans.

. Too many things to do and no time to do them in. If I didn't spend 3-4 hours a day commuting it would probably be alright. After the brooder is done then the coop will come next. Not looking forward to the expense but will be really nice to have the space to house them all. (At least all I can have at h

Right there with ya! Was going to start on the new coop but at the rate the fuzzybutts are growing, they're gonna need a larger brooder before they're ready to be in the coop with no heat. Thinking of finding specs for a pallet-brooder, pretty sure I saw some here...somewhere.

 

[tommysgirl]

I have had some act like that too, but never commit. I think it's like it is with (and I apologize to anyone who thinks this is sexist) many women. We all "oooh" and "ahhh" and want to hold other people's babies, but that doesn't necessarily me we want to take them home and raise them.

I hope she does go broody for you though.... Nothing like a good broody hen!

I hope so too...I NEED to hatch some marans!

I charge a lot for chicks and send them home with corid. People often just ignore your advice however. I am a bit frustrated about people freezing chicks. I know people who have been doing it for years can look at chicks and tell if it is the right temperature but you have not check the frigging lightbulb is too cold! ! Yes you 70°brooder is why they died I dont care if you just lost one. Gaaa!

If you want to be picky about homes raise them till they are outside ready pullets . You get enough inquiries then to be picky.

I also don't sell chicks around major holidays without the talk. And I don't advertise around easter at all.
If only my chickens would go fake broody!

I was hoping you would respond

How much would you charge for hybrid layers? I believe they will be dynamite layers! I guess I just need to work on letting go.

I got a pretty good surprise this morning! I went in to mist my duck eggs that are set to go into lockdown on Friday. They were put in on 3/31. I peeked in thru the windows on top and saw 2 eggs that had the tops off. Since I still had the turner going I immediately unplugged it and lifted the lid. There were 2 Marans cross chicks all dried and fluffed out in there! I scooped them up and brought them out to a brooder and went back in to mist. I could hear peeping in the incubator still so I checked the rest of the eggs. There is one more that has pipped, but not zipped yet. These are from my friends eggs that she brought up all at once. The eggs are always dirty when she brings them up and there are some chicken eggs that are very close to the same color as the more green duck eggs. It makes it hard to tell which is which. I know the duck eggs are more waxy feeling, and I''m usually pretty good at figuring them out, but these were just too close.

Cool Beans!

I swear it works this way with my girls. They will go months with not a broody among them. As soon as I put a group of chicks in the outdoor brooder/grow out pen that is under the main coop, they start falling like dominos. Then the nest box wars begin and I am constantly checking to see if they have gotten back in the correct box. I would love to have some individual pens for broody mamas and their eggs/chicks.

I am hoping it works for my girls too. I have the broody pen right now and it is NICE to have that space. It will be a grow out pen when this group of babies are weaned. I still need to do a tractor for my future boys. DH has given me the confidence with power tools to attempt one of the many that I have pinned on Pinterest.



What color egg would a pullet lay if her mama laid a white egg and her daddy came from a brown one?

 

[chiqita]

I hope so too...I NEED to hatch some marans!


I was hoping you would respond   How much would you charge for hybrid layers?  I believe they will be dynamite layers!   I guess I just need to work on letting go.
 

What color egg would a pullet lay if her mama laid a white egg and her daddy came from a brown one?

A) at some point I can help with marans. One day I will be caught up on egg orders. They are good under broodies. But mine are not the exciting birchins laura has!
B) I can't sell an unbranded chicken. Figure out what the cross is designed to do and name it for that. Super hybred layers might work. But I can't tell you price when I got egg swap mutts I coyld not give them away. Welcome to silly valley we like premiums. But honestly I have only had chicken around long enough to sex when I first started and didn't sell as many eggs and people did not know about my silkies. Now the get silkies and go home with some extra bresse so they can actually eat an egg on occation.
C) brown egg laying is more complicated then others. Very very rough rule of thumb is if you do brown to not as brown is at most 1/2 of the parent color. Can be less.

 

[member 142084]

Wow my pekins are turning out beautiful. They have crests. Isn't that rare? I will have to take some pics here in a bit.

 

[Nikon]

Twice this month I've found my Marans' egg out in the coop run in the gravel empty and broken up. Does anyone have any ideas about what/who did it? Is it the chickens, or a rat or something?