Colorado

[Double Kindness]

I culled Stalin a white bresse roo and Reginald the ac roo. The bresse was much easier to dress out with more meat and fat with less time.

 

[maggiemo]

Have you eaten other breese and ac? Are they as great as we hear?

 

[Percheron chick]

OK. Will do, thanks.
I'll let you know what I find. I'll get back Monday morning, so that is day 16 so I should surely know what is viable or not by then, right?
Margie, PC, anyone...when you hatch in the incubator do you put the eggs in cartons for hatching/lock-down or do you lay them on their sides on some shelf liners or something they won't slip on?

I just took them out of the turner and laid them on the wire rack. I have seen where people put the eggs in a cupcake liner just to make things easier to clean up. The only problem with that is if you have a prolonged hatch, you've got chicks running around, paper, shells... I'd probably just keep it simple.

 

[Mtn Margie]

OK. Will do, thanks.
I'll let you know what I find. I'll get back Monday morning, so that is day 16 so I should surely know what is viable or not by then, right?
Margie, PC, anyone...when you hatch in the incubator do you put the eggs in cartons for hatching/lock-down or do you lay them on their sides on some shelf liners or something they won't slip on?

I did the paper cartons and I poked bigger holes in the bottom of the cups. I never had any splay leg or issues due to the cartons. It seemed to be easier to clean up as well.

 

[Double Kindness]

I haven't eaten any of my bresse or cemani yet. It was a difficult task, I may not be able to eat chicken for a bit lol

 

[KLBCOS]

Okay...I'm two weeks into this hen thing. The girls are not free ranging like they used to and im see that a little bantam seems to be being pecked quite a bit. She has signs of missing feathers on her head. Should I be worried? She's definitely lowest in pecking order. Should I be doing something about it? If so what? TIA. I feel so much better knowing you're just a few keystrokes away.

 

[maggiemo]

I haven't eaten any of my bresse or cemani yet. It was a difficult task, I may not be able to eat chicken for a bit lol

You're killing me...really? I am dying to know if I want to raise breese, if they are all that people say they are.
You need to pluck up and take one for the team DK!

Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[maggiemo]

Okay...I'm two weeks into this hen thing. The girls are not free ranging like they used to and im see that a little bantam seems to be being pecked quite a bit. She has signs of missing feathers on her head. Should I be worried? She's definitely lowest in pecking order. Should I be doing something about it? If so what? TIA. I feel so much better knowing you're just a few keystrokes away.

Sorry, I don't know what to tell you. My bantams are middle to highest in the pecking order with about 20 LF birds. My polish are the highest. I guess I have a bunch of weenie LF birds.

 

[suncatcher]

Are you feeding inside the coop? You might put some scratch down outside the coop so they go out and peck around there. It takes time to integrate some. Keep an eye on her, if it gets bad, you may have to put her in a pen inside the coop where they can see her but not peck her. I hate the integrating part of flock keeping, sometimes it takes forever for them to all get along..........

 

[uzisuzuki]

Okay...I'm two weeks into this hen thing. The girls are not free ranging like they used to and im see that a little bantam seems to be being pecked quite a bit. She has signs of missing feathers on her head. Should I be worried? She's definitely lowest in pecking order. Should I be doing something about it? If so what? TIA. I feel so much better knowing you're just a few keystrokes away.

From what I understand, it might be a number of things. It could be the stress of them being moved from their original owners to you, if the bantam is a new addition to the flock that could be an issue for them while they work out the pecking order again, they might not be keeping themselves busy enough scratching around (like @suncatcher mentioned above me), or the area you're keeping them in is too small and they feel crowded. I'm just guessing at what I've read elsewhere on BYC; I'm super new to taking care of chickens and my smallest chicken in my rooster and there hasn't been any problems between him and my Polish (he just likes being a butt to me). Hopefully, it won't last long so you don't have to take her out of your flock!