Crossbreeding dual purpose breeds for sustainable flock

[HomesteadNowhere]

Well.. they were doing good then checked them after dinner and had 9 losses. It's the weekend so of course the phone hours are 8-5 weekdays. I emailed the shipping losses and these losses. I'll call Monday and hopefully be able to get refunded for the losses. There's another not looking good now. I'm adjusting the light height and everything but the temp seems good. Idk. Frustrating. I'll be up trying to figure things out.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

Officially not a fan of the heating plate. The outer part of it reads 84-87*F. The very center reads 103*F. The middle reads 90s. So the chicks end up trying to all fit under about half the space. I keep adjusting the height but this just doesn't seem to work. I'm trying to put it at an angle for variation in chick height.
Trying one more height adjustment then that's it. Definitely not a fan. I put black ties on the left leg of the FR chicks. The ones I did this morning were all right leg. So I can tell them apart. But I put them all under the one heat lamp. I'm watching them for crowding while I fiddle with the heat plate. I'm going to see if I can put some in with the heat plate, less of them since it's half the area of the plate.

Urghhh...

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

The white ones are the smallest. Assuming Delawares. A couple nice bigger ones are buff/reddish, and some mostly black ones. When the FR got moved to the brooder I think they were 30-40g. The mixed bunch were in the 20s gram weights.

Tomorrow I'm going to get a better count of the survivors and what colors they are. I saw some chick bands at a store but they only had 15. So I'll see about deciding who gets those. Try to record weights when I do that.

I was able to get another lamp and bulbs today so all the mixed chicks are back in the cage brooder. The FR are bigger and bossier so they get the trough brooder for themselves again. I think having them together made the FR more chicken acting though. We shall see how they progress, so far zero losses on them and substantial losses on the mixed ones.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

Got refunded for the chicks that died. I'm down to 34 of the 53 shipped. I was in town and picked up 15 brahma pullets as replacements. All 26 FR doing good.

Of the mixed survivors there is:
3 dark Cornish- 31 to 39g
5 Sussex- 36 to 48g
2 Columbian Wyandotte?- 30 and 39g
6 black star or barred rock?- 41 to 52g
6 Delaware- 35 to 45g
6 buff orp or buff rock?- 35 to 44g
6 new hamp or red star?- 60 to 75g

Freedom ranger hatchery will have New Hampshires available in July. Considering ordering some. Straight run only. Depends on how these chicks look. And if I end up with mostly cockerals or mostly pullets.

 

[NatJ]

6 buff orp or buff rock?- 35 to 44g

Orpingtons should have white feet & lower legs.
Rocks should have yellow feet & lower legs.

6 new hamp or red star?- 60 to 75g

You can probably sort those out by looking at the first feathers they grow in their wings.

Red Star female chicks look red, but get white feathers in their wings (and later in their tails too.)

New Hampshires and Rhode Island Reds would be red chicks, but get black or red feathers in the wings, and some black feathers in the tail. No white feathers at all.

Of course all of those look mostly red by the time they grow up, but they still tend to have white or black tails to distinguish them.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

Some of the FR chicks have tail feathers and some don't really have any tail feathers grown in yet. Two just tried to have a spat and both were the no-tail feathers. Wondering which are hens or roos. I was going to mark them but they grow so fast I don't want to ziptie again. I need to weigh them tomorrow and cut the ties they have on. I shouldn't have worried about telling them apart from the mixed chicks, being so big and heavy already.

I've started not leaving feed in for the chicks at night. I go to be late so they have it most of the day. Seems to make them scratch and peck and be more chicken behavior happen.

The FR are chunky butts. They eat and drink and nap. The mix chicks are more active and more noisy. The FR hardly make a noise by comparison, they make disgruntled "hey what's the big idea" chirps to each other. The mixed bunch always have several chattering away at all times.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

4/1-4/3 dealing with the non-working heat plate and having all the chicks together. So 3# feed used in total for those days.

4/4-5 Dad fed for me so no weights.

4/6 finally got them all sorted. I had been putting some feed in repeatedly through the day. Turned out they were spilling and wasting alot, which made me start withholding feed at night.
FR- 3#
Mixed- 1# 13oz

4/7
FR- 2# 7oz
Mixed- 1# 1oz

4/8
FR- 2# 7oz
Mixed- 1# 6oz

4/9
FR- 2# 10oz
Mixed- 1# 5oz

I now wish that I would've got the long narrow feeders and fed twice a day. Noted for next time! These little feeders are a no-go. They waste plenty.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I was going to mark them but they grow so fast I don't want to ziptie again.

Hit them with food coloring. It will last until they molt.

 

[NatJ]

Hit them with food coloring. It will last until they molt.

Or clip feathers. That also lasts until they molt.

I've marked chicks by cutting several feathers short in one wing, or by cutting the ends off their tail feathers. Of course, that doesn't work if you want to evaluate how well they fly (wings) or what their tail looks like. And because chicks molt so many times, you have to keep re-clipping as they grow new feathers.

Or you could look into toe punching (removing the little web between the toes.) That is a marking you can do once, and it lasts the life of the bird.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

FR hit right even. 13 with tail feathers, 13 without or just barely starting tail feathers. So guessing that means should be even M/F.
Average weight 134g. Lowest 94g. Highest 168g.

There's definitely a range of size and weight in the mixed chicks. I'm just going to wait until later when their growth isn't so fast to mark the heaviest ones. I'm going to make a premier1 order and going to order some adult chicken bands.