California - Northern

[caychris]

Ok im posting this so people can learn from my disaster.

We have a brooder inside with 3-4 week ond chocls. Dh forgot it in the watering cycle and the brooder is at an angle that there is a shadow on the warterer so it looks 1/2 full at a glance.

I saw that it wad completely empty this morning and filled it. BAD MOVE. It must have been empty for more then 24 hrs because they drank too fast. I didn't even think about limiting their hydration!

I lost a bunch and a bunch are still wobbly and sick. I feel a bit like a mass murderer this morning

(

I was a little worried when I changed to nipple water in my brooder for my 6 week olds so I gave them some watermelon too. Could not tell if they had learned to use it but they apparently figured it out. Kind of weird though I have 3 in the box but all 6 birds seem to only want to use one. they are at various heights though so maybe its the one at the most convenient

 

[tommysgirl]

Skipping ahead 200+ posts b/c I need advice from @ronott1 and anyone else who knows/remembers. My hatching eggs from @Papa Brooder 's BBS Ameraucana/EE pen are at the PO

I am at work but can pick them up at around 10:00 this morning. Should I let them settle? How long? They took a two day trip and I assume they were all laid within 24 -36 hours of shipment.


My second question is I have two broodies sharing 6 home grown eggs right now. The BBS will all go to Beakface, an Australorp as she has proven herself an amazing mama. I ordered 9 but am tempted to give 1 or 2 to my other broody for the first week so that BF will have fewer to cover until I know which are developing when I candle on day 7. The home grown eggs are set to hatch in 9 days. What do you think of that idea?

OK now off to try to catch up a bit.

Hope you all are well. We lost a chick yesterday

. It got separated from mama and something got it. When I found it there was a Jay on it but I don't know if the Jay was the one that killed it or if it was just being opportunistic. They have been ranging since mama has done such a great job but they are all in today and pretty unhappy about it

@capayvalleychick at what age does the barring become clearly black? right now it looks ashy. Also the tails and those shoulder feathers all are about the same on all of them. Do you find that it is hard to tell sex by those indicators with Dels or do I have all of one sex or the other

 

[caychris]

Today should be moving day for the Dels and the older Buffs. Just need to finish the other pipe feeder and nipple waterer for the large coop and fill with pine shavings and they will be good to go tonight. They got to test it out yesterday evening for a couple of hours and seem pretty happy with having more space. Little details still need working on (isnt that always the case) but at least I will have the Buffs outside finally. About a week or more overdue.
Dels are 13 weeks
Big Buffs 9 weeks
Fostered buffs 6 weeks

If I can get the fosters out in 2 weeks my brooder will be free for my chicks Karen is hatching. Ive messaged the people who want them but haven't heard anything back yet.

 

[capayvalleychick]

@capayvalleychick at what age does the barring become clearly black? right now it looks ashy. Also the tails and those shoulder feathers all are about the same on all of them. Do you find that it is hard to tell sex by those indicators with Dels or do I have all of one sex or the other

I felt like a total idiot the other day, on another forum. It was pointed out to me that the barring on Dels is cuckoo, not barred like a Barred Rock. So, the barring being irregular is ok. I guess it being gray is ok. I still prefer it to be black & white.
Juvenile feathering & patterns change a bit each molt. On most Dels, you can't sex them for a long time. A few individuals may look more male or more female but for the most part, you have to be patient. With the strain that I have now, more color seems to mean it's male, less black means likely pullet.

 

[ronott1]

Skipping ahead 200+ posts b/c I need advice from @ronott1 and anyone else who knows/remembers. My hatching eggs from @Papa Brooder 's BBS Ameraucana/EE pen are at the PO

I am at work but can pick them up at around 10:00 this morning. Should I let them settle? How long? They took a two day trip and I assume they were all laid within 24 -36 hours of shipment.

How exciting!

There is a trade off between age and the benefits of resting the eggs. If the air cells look good(this is where a good candler is important) then set them when it is most convenient for you.

 

[capayvalleychick]

She is just as perky as the rest of them. No discharge or lethargy, just an occasional sneeze that is moist. She's been doing it for a few days now. I changed the bedding a while ago, but they are also digging, running, chasing, and generally kicking the bedding around. I'm replacing the entirety of the bedding tomorrow (I use pine pellets and they have pretty much disintegrated).

She is probably fine if she's not showing any other symptoms and is active. Don't worry about it unless she gets droopy.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Ok im posting this so people can learn from my disaster.

We have a brooder inside with 3-4 week ond chocls. Dh forgot it in the watering cycle and the brooder is at an angle that there is a shadow on the warterer so it looks 1/2 full at a glance.

I saw that it wad completely empty this morning and filled it. BAD MOVE. It must have been empty for more then 24 hrs because they drank too fast. I didn't even think about limiting their hydration!

I lost a bunch and a bunch are still wobbly and sick. I feel a bit like a mass murderer this morning

(

We all make mistakes. Sorry for your loss.
I filled a 3 gallon waterer and forgot to unscrew the cap over the part that lets the water out. Didn't find it until the next day. Fortunately they were drinking out of the second waterer that I had in the coop, and drinking out of the dog water when ranging.

 

[sewandgrow]

I set eggs on the same day as BCollie. Eggs under two broodies the day before. Candled last night and saw a range of different things inside the eggs. Some (in the RCom & broodies) had veins and the dark dot and already had an air space. Those were dancing around quite a bit. That is exciting to see.
I had many that looked to have no development- all but 2 in the Genesis and a few in the RCom and under the broodies. One had development, no movement and looked like it may have a blood ring. Left that one. The remaining two in the Genesis had some development. One had veins but no dark dot. The other had a dot that wasn't moving. I don't think either is alive but I put them in the RCom just in case. I removed all the eggs that showed no veins.

Good for you Kim.....I remember HOW EXITING the first many hatches were. I was a woman Obsessed.....LOL I still get excited but am able to talk myself down a bit so it isn't too hard to wait that way. I stay busy with other projects that excite me & keep my mind off of it.

 

[caychris]

I felt like a total idiot the other day, on another forum. It was pointed out to me that the barring on Dels is cuckoo, not barred like a Barred Rock. So, the barring being irregular is ok. I guess it being gray is ok. I still prefer it to be black & white.
Juvenile feathering & patterns change a bit each molt. On most Dels, you can't sex them for a long time. A few individuals may look more male or more female but for the most part, you have to be patient. With the strain that I have now, more color seems to mean it's male, less black means likely pullet.

I think my hatchery Dels are kind of weird by comparison to the ones I saw from Jules at Karens.

1 had more orange legs for a lot longer than the others this is my half blind one which also developed red face a bit early.
2 appear very traditionally pullet but one has more speckled neck than the other though one is easily larger than the rest.
1 developed red comb etc very early by comparison but has not continued to out pace the others.

With each little molt they continue to change color and become more defined. 2 have very dark tails (both red faced ones) but do not carry themselves like Cockerels)
I would think that at 13 weeks I would begin to see definition around the hackles(those are the feathers just before the tail right?) on any males and none of my have that yet. (Sold as pullets so I wouldn't expect it even though the red face)

Jules birds had far more color to them than mine but Ive also seen some others that are nearly pure white at the early ages.

When do they really finish their Juvenile molt?

I've read that hatchery pullets tend to start laying right around 20 weeks. Which puts me in mid July to start really looking. I may have to put my daughter on egg watch around that time just to be sure who is laying and who isnt.

The buff orps being 4 weeks behind but slower to grow and lay I think should start around mid Sept.

I have a question about late summer hatchers. As they fully mature right around the beginning of winter are they often late in starting to lay as well?
(If things go as planned the CLB's (and Karens dels) will hatch the week of the 9th of june which puts 20 weeks at the end of October.)

 

[ronott1]

I think my hatchery Dels are kind of weird by comparison to the ones I saw from Jules at Karens.

1 had more orange legs for a lot longer than the others this is my half blind one which also developed red face a bit early.
2 appear very traditionally pullet but one has more speckled neck than the other though one is easily larger than the rest.
1 developed red comb etc very early by comparison but has not continued to out pace the others.

With each little molt they continue to change color and become more defined. 2 have very dark tails (both red faced ones) but do not carry themselves like Cockerels)
I would think that at 13 weeks I would begin to see definition around the hackles(those are the feathers just before the tail right?) on any males and none of my have that yet. (Sold as pullets so I wouldn't expect it even though the red face)

Jules birds had far more color to them than mine but Ive also seen some others that are nearly pure white at the early ages.

When do they really finish their Juvenile molt?

I've read that hatchery pullets tend to start laying right around 20 weeks. Which puts me in mid July to start really looking. I may have to put my daughter on egg watch around that time just to be sure who is laying and who isnt.

The buff orps being 4 weeks behind but slower to grow and lay I think should start around mid Sept.

I have a question about late summer hatchers. As they fully mature right around the beginning of winter are they often late in starting to lay as well?
(If things go as planned the CLB's (and Karens dels) will hatch the week of the 9th of june which puts 20 weeks at the end of October.)

They are later to reach Point of Lay. Most will still start in the winter though. Leghorn based breeds seem to nee more light than others.