Delawares from kathyinmo

[Zanna]

Opinions, please. Banding. This is the first year that banding will be very useful to me, and the oldest chicks are probably ready to band with their "adult" bands. I'm just banding with different colors of zip ties.

I am trying to decide if I just band by sire (one color of bands for Mr. Fatty chicks, another color of bands for PapaDel chicks), or if I should band by hatch date (six total hatches, three each for Mr. Fatty and PapaDel).

So far the chicks are segregated into different coops by sire.

Use two bands, one for the colour you designate for the Dad and different colours for each hatch dates. I have put as many as four zip ties on one leg for various reasons. Or, use one leg for the sire and the other for hatch dates.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I do like the idea of tracking hatch dates because I think that will make culling more meaningful.

Do you think 11-12 weeks is old enough to do the bands so I won't have to redo them?

 

[finnfur]

Opinions, please. Banding. This is the first year that banding will be very useful to me, and the oldest chicks are probably ready to band with their "adult" bands. I'm just banding with different colors of zip ties.

To keep hatches separate first few days I use food color then I use wing tags at 7>10 days because I consider them more permanent- Thats like their birth number - I use a different color for each years hatch- when I start making selections for observation I add a color numbered leg band for which I know the wing #-
everything is done /recorded by wing #- I do this because they seem to at times lose the leg band- never lost a wing tag except in the plucker.

Yay! Chicks!

Well its chick and we call it Anni for our 36 year anniversary - 36 years is the year of the chicken - correct ?
Momma is teaching Anni how to eat watermelon.


One out of six is better than none I guess - In her defense terible hot weather with T storms at night.


Edit - Sharon says here check is that chick is male and she is 90% correct - maybe need another name - maybe "Lonesome" or "Only"

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

One chick is a better result than none.

I think if you're serious about keeping birds straight then wing bands are the ticket.

 

[rancher hicks]

Well I won't be happy with just one, but what can you do?

 

[finnfur]

One chick is a better result than none.

Well I won't be happy with just one, but what can you do?

Maybe we will get lucky and it will be "Superboy" LOL

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

20-22 June 2015 photo of three different ages of Mr. Fatty chicks. These cockerels are showing good signs of reproducing their sire's width. They are very wide. I'm super curious to see how their proportions look as they mature. Will they have the short back of Mr. Fatty, or will they be slightly longer (which would be closer to the type we're aiming for)?

I see no signs of Columbian neck color in the Mr. Fatty chicks, but there is too much peppering on backs (and at least one older cockerel has freckles on his chest).

1st hatch was about April Fools Day ... Almost 12 weeks old today (23 June 2015).

2nd hatch was 23 April ... so about 8.5 weeks now ... hatched by @Zanna , in an incubator & brought to Joyce Farms to put under the World's Best Broody at about 10 days ... the night before last was the first night she didn't sleep with these "chicks." They have feathered much better than the other two hatches. Even though they are a full 3 weeks behind the first hatch, they are so nicely feathered I have to look to decide if they are from Hatch #1 or Hatch #2.

3rd hatch was 3-4 May ... so about 7 weeks old ... they had a bad broody, but seem to be growing about as well as the first hatch did, going through their super awkward naked stage right now.

For all three hatches, the pullets feathered much nicer/sooner than the cockerels.


Two cockerels, from the 2nd & 3rd hatches.




This one also shows one of the older cockerels. The older cockerel shows a bit more length compared to width ... he has a nice rectangular back. It will also be interesting to see how their color develops.





Here is a photo of a pullet from the first hatch and a cockerel from the third (?, he might be from the third) hatch. You can't see in this photo, but the pullet has a little extra cape of black barring, but isn't showing too much black elsewhere. Fingers crossed no brown feathers show up as they mature.



A couple different ages of Mr. Fatty Chicks ... Three ages of pullets on the right, I think those two cockerels on the left are from Hatch #2. You can see the pullets are a little longer/narrower than the cockerels, but still seem decently wide to me.

 

[finnfur]

They are plump little rascals- does Fatty have the black heavy on back also ?

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

They are plump little rascals- does Fatty have the black heavy on back also ?

Mr. Fatty has more barring on his body than PapaDel, but better tail color. Mr. Fatty looks pretty gray at a glance ... PapaDel looks black & white.

 

[crazyhen]

Leslie,
Do your males show a protective streak at an early age. The ones I got from Kathy this yr. actually at 4 wks pecked at me when I picked up a little female and she skreeched. They sure are growing.