Cream Legbars

[henless]

OK, I'm a victim of Chicken Math (again). As I've mentioned before here, I have Naked Necks (which I really like), and I got New Hampshire chicks at the same time thinking to cross with NNs to increase size. I've given up on this for a few reasons (one of which is that the NHs are turning out SMALLER than the NNs).

But I am also loving the idea of mottled Naked Necks (see the Calico/ALoha Naked Neck thread). So, my feed store had Speckled Sussex chicks. I realize they are hatchery stock, but I took the leap to see how they did - per the "standard", they are quite large, and they also have that nice speckling that I'd like.

Anyhow, to get to the point, I wanted to ask - are these chicks (which look very very similar to CL pullets) wild type at the E locus? (Just trying to make sure I understand this point.)



(Yes, I know, I must be out of my mind. Please don't ask me how many chickens I have right now - it's embarrassing. But quite a few are heading to freezer camp in the next couple months, so it's not as bad as it seems...

)

- Ant Farm

How many chickens do you have?

Those babies are so cute! Don't you love your heat plate? I have a premier, plus I use a heating pad. I used it this summer for the CLs. I thought it would be too hot using the heat plate with no way to adjust the temp for the summer. The heating pad worked great!

I was at Atwoods today (twice) and it was so hard to walk away from the fluffy blue/splash silkies that they had. *sigh* I never thought I'd be a silkie fan, but the babies are so cute and they make such good mamas! DH asked me why I didn't get some (ain't he so nice?). I told him I didn't have an extra pen yet. I refuse to buy babies unless I have a coop ready. I do have one in progress, but had to lay off the building for a while due to a slipped vertebrae.

I talked to the breeder I got my CLs from. She said she would send me a pic of her blue eggs, as soon as they get back to laying. They stopped about 3 weeks ago due to molting. I barely got my babies in time!

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

How many chickens do you have?

Those babies are so cute! Don't you love your heat plate? I have a premier, plus I use a heating pad. I used it this summer for the CLs. I thought it would be too hot using the heat plate with no way to adjust the temp for the summer. The heating pad worked great!

I was at Atwoods today (twice) and it was so hard to walk away from the fluffy blue/splash silkies that they had. *sigh* I never thought I'd be a silkie fan, but the babies are so cute and they make such good mamas! DH asked me why I didn't get some (ain't he so nice?). I told him I didn't have an extra pen yet. I refuse to buy babies unless I have a coop ready. I do have one in progress, but had to lay off the building for a while due to a slipped vertebrae.

I talked to the breeder I got my CLs from. She said she would send me a pic of her blue eggs, as soon as they get back to laying. They stopped about 3 weeks ago due to molting. I barely got my babies in time!

Too many... Too many chickens. It'll be better once some of them go off to freezer camp as planned, but that won't be until around Thanksgiving or Christmas, so I'm hauling the tractor around my lot in the meanwhile... So sad - I texted my mother to tell her I got 5 baby chicks, and she texted back, "Only 5?" Chicken math is scary. I REALLY need to stay away from that section of the feed store from now on.

Fuzzy butts are all so cute. And yes, I do love the panel heater - and I used a bigger one for the big 25 chick batch. Seems to do a better job of letting the chicks decide what heat they need (vs. overheating them and having them under lights 24 hours, which was my personal difficulty with heat lamps). The chicks I just got were used to the heat lamp (at the feed store, for that day or so). It being their first night with me, they strayed away and then were huddling together wondering where the heat went, so I had to scoot them back under Yellow-Mama for the night. They figured it out quickly, though.

My aches, pains, and minor injuries (including arthritis flare in my neck) have finally settled down from building my Cream Legbars their coop and building the tractor - just in time to start it all up again for the second coop. I spent most of the day digging and leveling blocks for the foundation (site not on level ground, unfortunately). So begins the season of pain (again). (So sorry to hear about your slipped disk - I know it hurts, I ruptured one in my neck about 10 years ago.)

Off to bed - full day of hard labor ahead.

- Ant Farm

 

[terrip824]

Too many... Too many chickens. It'll be better once some of them go off to freezer camp as planned, but that won't be until around Thanksgiving or Christmas, so I'm hauling the tractor around my lot in the meanwhile... So sad - I texted my mother to tell her I got 5 baby chicks, and she texted back, "Only 5?" Chicken math is scary. I REALLY need to stay away from that section of the feed store from now on.

Fuzzy butts are all so cute. And yes, I do love the panel heater - and I used a bigger one for the big 25 chick batch. Seems to do a better job of letting the chicks decide what heat they need (vs. overheating them and having them under lights 24 hours, which was my personal difficulty with heat lamps). The chicks I just got were used to the heat lamp (at the feed store, for that day or so). It being their first night with me, they strayed away and then were huddling together wondering where the heat went, so I had to scoot them back under Yellow-Mama for the night. They figured it out quickly, though.

My aches, pains, and minor injuries (including arthritis flare in my neck) have finally settled down from building my Cream Legbars their coop and building the tractor - just in time to start it all up again for the second coop. I spent most of the day digging and leveling blocks for the foundation (site not on level ground, unfortunately). So begins the season of pain (again). (So sorry to hear about your slipped disk - I know it hurts, I ruptured one in my neck about 10 years ago.)

Off to bed - full day of hard labor ahead.

- Ant Farm

So you like the panel heater? I was debating getting one. I'm still using a light. I don't like the whole light on 24 hour hours thing either. It confuses them when they go to the juvenile coop which I do not light. Aching here too,lol. We pulled my old main coop down yesterday. Lots of wood to burn when the burn ban is lifted. I'm glad we aren't the only ones who are constantly building or moving , tearing down coops. Luckily my hubby is a talented builder.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

So you like the panel heater? I was debating getting one. I'm still using a light. I don't like the whole light on 24 hour hours thing either. It confuses them when they go to the juvenile coop which I do not light. Aching here too,lol. We pulled my old main coop down yesterday. Lots of wood to burn when the burn ban is lifted. I'm glad we aren't the only ones who are constantly building or moving , tearing down coops. Luckily my hubby is a talented builder.

Yes, I really do. I used the red heat lamp the first time, and had a lot of issues with regulating the temperature (mostly it was too hot), and it took the chicks a long time to adapt to it being dark at night when they were older. I was also completely paranoid that a fire would start while I was at work. Others swear by them, though, YMMV.

However, if you don't want to buy one, you can use a heating pad (one with the "auto-off feature absent or disabled) draped over a wire "cave" - I understand that this works really well, and in fact may mimic a real mama hen better. If I didn't already have my panel heaters, I would have done that. See the thread "Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder" - it's a LONG thread - but Blooie (and many others) has successfully brooded baby chicks from day one out in the coop with this, even in super cold weather, and the chicks seem to be behaviorally more "well adjusted" like broody-raised chicks (from what I read at least). Bonus is that it's pretty inexpensive. Here's the thread (I hope this works, don't know how to link to threads): Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder

I'm off to figure out my new miter saw. Last coop I sawed everything BY HAND (I must have been out of my mind!!!).

- Ant Farm

 

[henless]

So you like the panel heater? I was debating getting one. I'm still using a light. I don't like the whole light on 24 hour hours thing either. It confuses them when they go to the juvenile coop which I do not light. Aching here too,lol. We pulled my old main coop down yesterday. Lots of wood to burn when the burn ban is lifted. I'm glad we aren't the only ones who are constantly building or moving , tearing down coops. Luckily my hubby is a talented builder.

I have a Premier heat plate, and love it. But, I needed something for my CLs this summer, and I knew the premier would be too hot for them since there was no way to regulate the temp.

I got this heating pad from sunbeam and love it! It has low-medium-high heat settings and it does not shut off automatically. This means that if you have a power glitch, it will come back on with the power without you having to go out and turn off the 2 hour auto shut off feature.

I use bungee cords and bungeed it to the bottom of a cookie rack, all threads for the legs and put a towel over the top. It worked great!



Here it is in use out in the coop. I never brood my chicks in the house.

 

[terrip824]

I have a Premier heat plate, and love it. But, I needed something for my CLs this summer, and I knew the premier would be too hot for them since there was no way to regulate the temp.

I got this heating pad from sunbeam and love it! It has low-medium-high heat settings and it does not shut off automatically. This means that if you have a power glitch, it will come back on with the power without you having to go out and turn off the 2 hour auto shut off feature.

I use bungee cords and bungeed it to the bottom of a cookie rack, all threads for the legs and put a towel over the top. It worked great!



Here it is in use out in the coop. I never brood my chicks in the house.

Thank you. This is a great idea. I like the rack. They can warm their bodies underneath or just their feet on top.

 

[Red Banks]

I have a Premier heat plate, and love it. But, I needed something for my CLs this summer, and I knew the premier would be too hot for them since there was no way to regulate the temp.

I got this heating pad from sunbeam and love it! It has low-medium-high heat settings and it does not shut off automatically. This means that if you have a power glitch, it will come back on with the power without you having to go out and turn off the 2 hour auto shut off feature.

I use bungee cords and bungeed it to the bottom of a cookie rack, all threads for the legs and put a towel over the top. It worked great!

Here it is in use out in the coop. I never brood my chicks in the house.

Sunbeam has a sale on their website but I don't know which one to buy.

Which heating pad do you have? Thanks!

 

[henless]

Sunbeam has a sale on their website but I don't know which one to buy.

Which heating pad do you have? Thanks!

I bought the Sunbeam Heating Pad with Ultraheat Technology, Blue. Click on that link and it should take you to the right one. One word of warning, don't pay attention to the reviews. Most of the reviews are on a different heating pad.

 

[Red Banks]

I think I read that chick color has nothing to do with adult color on CCL. My babies came in three colors, light, medium and dark. They are two weeks old today and feathering out. The palest boy has the palest barring. Will all of this change?

Here are some of them..... could they get any cuter? The blonde boy is the bravest and loves the camera!

 

[KPenley]

RedBanks, yes down color does not determine final grays, creams, golds, etc. But it does seem to predict amount of excess red pretty well. Any red/cinnamon across the head, shoulders and back is a pretty accurate prediction of lots of autosomal red. My cockerels with no red down still develop chestnut shoulders barred with cream, but any chicks with red down have ended up in the middle or closer to the Gold Crele Variety in coloring. You may find over time that certain chicks develop attributes you prefer.

Wow, your light cockerel certainly shows king of the roost attitude already, doesn't he?

They're so cute!