...and correct me if I am wrong but yellow feet on the bottom is a sign of jersey giant right? I think the orpington cross is jersey giant orpington cross
Javas and Jersey Giants are both required to have yellow bottoms on their feet to meet the Standard. Probably because Javas (along with Black Langshans and Dark Brahmas) were used to create the original Jersey Giants.
Comparing incubating and hatching with a broody, I'll have to say that there's no way I'd want to use the incubator again. The incubation period isn't that bad even though we hand turned all the eggs individually, but the chick phase is a lot nicer when the mommies take care of them. I hated having the chicks inside, they put out so much dust. It's a lot better this way. Plus, the integration is a lot easier. Sure, Flappy got hurt a bit, but otherwise we've had no issues. He was a bit slower then the other ones anyway. Without Emma the Sussex he wouldn't have been hurt either. (I don't really know who pecked him, but she's my strongest suspect).
I'm right there with you on the broodies!.......so much better than the constant monitoring of the incubator, wondering what to do in a power outage and then the brooder with the dust and smell. My Icelandics (this breed is where the majority of my experience with broodies comes from) will wean chicks at 4-6 weeks in spring and summer. The fall hatched chicks are raised longer by their moms because, in most cases, the moms are molting and aren't going to start back laying anytime soon so their hormones don't switch back as quickly. The Wyandottes and one German New Hampshire mothered their chicks longer but did not take them as far from the coop as the Icelandics.
ok so what about development differences between broody raised and you any notable ones?
I think chicks raised by broodies are more aware of predators because they are taught that by their mommas. They are not as friendly as brooder babies at first but I have found that upon weaning, when I put them in a separate pen for a while, they get "tame" quickly. I feed my mommas with chicks special treats and the chicks know when they see me, they get goodies. I try to handle them when they are in the "juvie" pen so they know I'm not going to hurt them. They continue to get the special treats there so that they will come when I call them.
I free range my flock and have found that chicks raised in the spring mature more quickly. I think it has to do with the amount of "stuff" available for them and the day length. The couple of times I have let hens sit later in the year, the chicks feather out quickly but don't grow as big as quickly. I don't think it affects their overall size at maturity, and if it does, it isn't much.
On worming, if I feel I need to, it is in the late fall/early winter after the ground freezes. Most of my flock aren't laying then due to finishing a molt or too young if they are pullets so the loss of eggs isn't much. I don't have "egg customers" so I don't have to worry about having a certain amount of eggs at all times.
Flighty to me means the tendency to use the flight instinct instead of the fight instinct. My flock is calm around me. They know me and how I move and act. They are NOT calm around my grandchildren. They are not aggressive, they flee what they perceive is a danger. They recognize my cats but if one of them enters the coop, Audun will always give the heads-up call and they will all look at the cat. The cats have a respect for the chickens and have all experienced a momma hen flogging them when they got too close to a chick (sometimes by no fault of their own when a chick runs past them while they are just sitting there minding there own business). The cats know the broody momma noises for "clear the way, my chicks are coming" and give them a wide berth.....so funny to see the cat move away when they hear it!
done! Have a great day all!
