First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[threesons]

It is cold and verrry windy here - I feel so sorry for all of my silly chickens - they still wander all around no matter what the weather.
I think if we get used to the cold we'd be ok, but it's 52 one day and 18 the next. ugh...

 

[mountain mom]

It is cold and verrry windy here - I feel so sorry for all of my silly chickens - they still wander all around no matter what the weather.
I think if we get used to the cold we'd be ok, but it's 52 one day and 18 the next. ugh...

We are having the weird ups and downs with weather too!
Sounds like your chickens are less... ahem.. chicken... than mine are.
I think the being chased out from under the deck with a stick while it was snowing terrified them of any possible inclement weather mishaps.

Ralph, did you remember to close the coop last night?

 

[mountain mom]

I will not do BSL again. They are too hard to process. Their feathers seem to be superglued in. They also have lots of deep dark imbedded feathers to dig out. If you skin the birds they might be ok. I was not impressed with their size, I think they are basically a layer and the roosters are just excess baggage. They do taste good though.

My Dixie rainbows, or whatever my hatchery called them are great birds. I love them, both hens and roosters. They are friendly and clumsy so fun to watch.



The chicken behind the turkey is Rick my rainbow rooster. He is a very large bird mainly in the legs and rear end!

This is the webpage I ordered my birds from, They are just called rainbows by them. They say 5 lbs, Mine were a lot larger than that. BUT I did raise mine 19 weeks before processing.

http://hoovershatchery.com/baby-chicks/brown-egg-layers/rainbow-straight-run.html

Rick looks nothing like the 2 roos we had in our Rangers. He is so handsome!

A terrible photo (a skilled photographer I certainly am not), but you can see they were mostly red with a few black tail feathers. The head roo had some black feathers around his head and neck. He is the one in the back.
That particular hen was the lightest, with almost a buff color in her body.
BUT, since they are crossed with so many birds, I think they could really look like anything.
A quick google search found they are pretty much the same thing, the Freedom Ranger being a brand from a hatchery in PA that uses an exact cross over and over.
That would explain the difference in look and personality, with whatever bird is more dominant in the genes.

 

[duluthralphie]

Those look more like my "production reds" than my rainbows. I have only the pictures of the birds on Hooverhatchery.com to go by, and what people have said my chickens are when I post them here. I cannot even draw on "experience" as an old farm boy. The chickens my parents and grandparents had were all one variety, Leghorns!

A non-white bird was considered blasphemy! We ate the roosters, we ate the old hens, we ate the eggs. Which could explain my desire to have a chicken without the huge breast of the CX's. Do not get me wrong I love my CX's. They are my babies. My wife gets a tad upset when I refer to them as my babies because of their advanced size.

I have a few hens that look a lot like yours, I am always trying to figure out what they are.

Rick was kept for the wrong reasons, he was not the biggest rainbow rooster I had, he was not the best looking rooster. I kept him because of his personality and he was Brutus's best friend and enforcer. There was no doubt he was Brutus's B. ( administrators please know B stands for BOY not, the other word). ( I have to explain my abbreviations or get a nasty gram). Even though they were friends Brutus did occasionally beat the p out of Rick. (P = poop)

Rick was named for a friend of ours, a larger nice guy with the end of his finger cut off. Rick has a twisted deformed toe. He is suffering from minor frostbite now so he will not be as handsome. Yesterday it appeared the D guineas picked at his wounded comb. ( D stand for dang nab, we all know I would never cuss in mixed company)

That is the story of Rick.

After I get some CX eggs with Bert as the father, I am going to have a chicken orgy and do a mate swap and let Rick at the CX hens, I am hoping I get a little taller baby with larger legs and smaller breasts. I am going to need several new pens and coops this spring, When can you come and help put them up? I am silently hoarding game bird netting from Amazon without my wife knowing. BUT she owns the prime account and they send her a email whenever I buy something, I cannot even get an innocent porn movie without her knowing! I wish I knew how to change her account details. (Dear administrators, that is a joke, I have no idea if amazon sells porn or not)

About the door, I closed it! I closed it early because all the birds were inside except one D Guinea fowl. I tried to put him in and he started playing his guinea fowl games, I locked him out, I hope an owl gets him!

 

[duluthralphie]

I just came in from letting the chickens out and collecting eggs...



The guinea fowl will no longer be a problem, it appears an owl found him.

 

[mountain mom]

Those look more like my "production reds" than my rainbows. I have only the pictures of the birds on Hooverhatchery.com to go by, and what people have said my chickens are when I post them here. I cannot even draw on "experience" as an old farm boy. The chickens my parents and grandparents had were all one variety, Leghorns!

A non-white bird was considered blasphemy! We ate the roosters, we ate the old hens, we ate the eggs. Which could explain my desire to have a chicken without the huge breast of the CX's. Do not get me wrong I love my CX's. They are my babies. My wife gets a tad upset when I refer to them as my babies because of their advanced size.

I have a few hens that look a lot like yours, I am always trying to figure out what they are.

Rick was kept for the wrong reasons, he was not the biggest rainbow rooster I had, he was not the best looking rooster. I kept him because of his personality and he was Brutus's best friend and enforcer. There was no doubt he was Brutus's B. ( administrators please know B stands for BOY not, the other word). ( I have to explain my abbreviations or get a nasty gram). Even though they were friends Brutus did occasionally beat the p out of Rick. (P = poop)

Rick was named for a friend of ours, a larger nice guy with the end of his finger cut off. Rick has a twisted deformed toe. He is suffering from minor frostbite now so he will not be as handsome. Yesterday it appeared the D guineas picked at his wounded comb. ( D stand for dang nab, we all know I would never cuss in mixed company)

That is the story of Rick.

After I get some CX eggs with Bert as the father, I am going to have a chicken orgy and do a mate swap and let Rick at the CX hens, I am hoping I get a little taller baby with larger legs and smaller breasts. I am going to need several new pens and coops this spring, When can you come and help put them up? I am silently hoarding game bird netting from Amazon without my wife knowing. BUT she owns the prime account and they send her a email whenever I buy something, I cannot even get an innocent porn movie without her knowing! I wish I knew how to change her account details. (Dear administrators, that is a joke, I have no idea if amazon sells porn or not)

About the door, I closed it! I closed it early because all the birds were inside except one D Guinea fowl. I tried to put him in and he started playing his guinea fowl games, I locked him out, I hope an owl gets him!

Maybe you have some Freedom Rangers in your flock! www.freedomrangerhatchery.com
If they are standoffish and slightly rude, I would say you do.

Rick is handsome nonetheless, kept for the "right" reasons or not! I think personality is a good reason to keep a chicken. Pearl is proving to be a perfect example of this. She loves me petting her

And she was the only one smart enough to escape the meatball run. Today, she used her size to keep the beta hen from picking on my Favoralles. Keadis was being a jerk. Pearl simply waddled her giant body over and put herself between them. She looks like the hen from the Disney Robin Hood. All she needs is a funny hat and blue tunic. All breast that one. She even has cleavage!

I like your idea of crossing the Rainbows and CX!! I bet you are on to something there...

Sorry your Guinea was chomped. Sounds like they are SO MUCH WORK! I'm not even slightly interested in them after your stories!

 

[duluthralphie]

Maybe you have some Freedom Rangers in your flock! www.freedomrangerhatchery.com
If they are standoffish and slightly rude, I would say you do.

Rick is handsome nonetheless, kept for the "right" reasons or not! I think personality is a good reason to keep a chicken. Pearl is proving to be a perfect example of this. She loves me petting her

And she was the only one smart enough to escape the meatball run. Today, she used her size to keep the beta hen from picking on my Favoralles. Keadis was being a jerk. Pearl simply waddled her giant body over and put herself between them. She looks like the hen from the Disney Robin Hood. All she needs is a funny hat and blue tunic. All breast that one. She even has cleavage!

I like your idea of crossing the Rainbows and CX!! I bet you are on to something there...

Sorry your Guinea was chomped. Sounds like they are SO MUCH WORK! I'm not even slightly interested in them after your stories!

I am not the least bit sad about losing this guinea...He/she deserved it, I was so sick of having to chase her/him into the coop all the time, I really did not care. If it had not been so gosh darn cold, I would have gotten a gun shot her/him and ate her/him in a few days!

But thanks for the condolences.

 

[JessicaThistle]

Wow, so I miss a day or two.....

Our weather has warmed up some. My chickens are certainly happier when the sun is out. Of course they don't mind rain either. You should see my silkies with their spiked doo while they hang out in the rain. They really don't seem to mind the freezing temps either as long as I fill the community water bowl 3 times per day as the auto-water nipples freeze up. Thankfully we don't have the temps as cold as some of you do. I left Alaska many years ago now because of that. (wow that made me count back a few.....ugh....moving on).

Ralph: Do you actually get nasty grams for saying adult words? I mean really....we are mostly all adults her aren't we? But saying porn is okay? Hmmm. Im just going to shake my head at this.
Oh and Ralph, THANK YOU for deterring me entirely from getting Guineas!!! They do not sound like I would like them even one little bit!

Mountain Mom: Funny you talk about Pearl's cleavage. I...ahem...felt Sunny up a few days ago (yes, I really can't call it anything more than that) I felt funny afterwards really, and that girl has jugs!! It felt like she had an enormously filled crop on both sides. There is no corset on the market that could contain Sunny.

I am sure Pearl is the same. The eggs she is laying are so huge that I am worried about her hiney!! She is establishing an egg laying pattern. Day 1 she lays a small egg. Day 2 she lays a humongous double yolker (like tennis ball size). Day 3 she lays a shell-less egg and Day 4 she rests. I think I am going to add oyster shell for her because her shells are funky.

 

[mountain mom]

Wow, so I miss a day or two.....

Our weather has warmed up some. My chickens are certainly happier when the sun is out. Of course they don't mind rain either. You should see my silkies with their spiked doo while they hang out in the rain. They really don't seem to mind the freezing temps either as long as I fill the community water bowl 3 times per day as the auto-water nipples freeze up. Thankfully we don't have the temps as cold as some of you do. I left Alaska many years ago now because of that. (wow that made me count back a few.....ugh....moving on).

Ralph: Do you actually get nasty grams for saying adult words? I mean really....we are mostly all adults her aren't we? But saying porn is okay? Hmmm. Im just going to shake my head at this.
Oh and Ralph, THANK YOU for deterring me entirely from getting Guineas!!! They do not sound like I would like them even one little bit!

Mountain Mom: Funny you talk about Pearl's cleavage. I...ahem...felt Sunny up a few days ago (yes, I really can't call it anything more than that) I felt funny afterwards really, and that girl has jugs!! It felt like she had an enormously filled crop on both sides. There is no corset on the market that could contain Sunny.

I am sure Pearl is the same. The eggs she is laying are so huge that I am worried about her hiney!! She is establishing an egg laying pattern. Day 1 she lays a small egg. Day 2 she lays a humongous double yolker (like tennis ball size). Day 3 she lays a shell-less egg and Day 4 she rests. I think I am going to add oyster shell for her because her shells are funky.

No kidding! That girl has a serious set of gals! Maybe I will make Sunny and Pearl some bras

Sounds like Sunny could use some oyster for a week or so to get her eggs figured out. Especially if she is laying a shell-less egg. How long has she been laying now, a month? You wouldn't think there would still be shell-less eggs.
But then again, we would get one, from an unknown chicken, every now and again months after they started laying.
Is there rope light in their coop too? The light could also be messing with her a bit, probably not, but maybe.
In reference to her hiney, does she ever have bloody poo after the double yolker gigantor? (spell check can't stand this sentence!)
When Dixie laid that crazy egg, the next day or two there was bloody poo. It actually was horror movie-esque. But all was back to normal in a couple of days. I ask because if there was, I would say that size of the tennis ball egg would be an issue. If not, she is quite likely okay. Just my opinion.

I get a kick out of wet silkies strutting through the yard! Well, I get a kick out of silkies in general, but wet ones are especially cute!

In other news, it warmed up and the foot and a half of snow melted to slush. It froze again. I have 4 inches of ice everywhere. It started snowing again, but not before it created another layer of ice in the places the snow melted off completely.
The girls ventured outside yesterday for the first time since Christmas, but I can guarantee they will not be out today. Finicky.

Didn't someone ask about frostbite a page or two back?
I know if you keep moisture out of the coop it is supposed to make it much less likely for frostbite. BUT, we have been having a very humid winter here, so I feel there is not much I can do moisture wise. Ralphie lives in the capitol of humid and cold winter!
Putting Vaseline on their combs is supposed to help. I haven't done it. Of my 8, only 4 have a single comb, and only 1 currently has a little spot of frostbite. If it seems to be an issue later, I would do it. Watch, when I motivate myself enough to go out and get their water and food taken care of, they will have frostbite... knock on wood!

 

[duluthralphie]

grrrrr

I had a properly worded response and all of a sudden it disappeared! Its gonnna be one of those days!


I know this is not a popular view here on BYC. I am not trying to offend anyone, I am simply relating my opinion and what I do.

I need to give you some background information.

Several years ago I bred my female Labrador to another Labrador. My lab was the first and only registered dog I had ever owned at that time. My dog is not a show dog, I am not a show person. I am more of a practical person. My lab was the smartest dog I have ever had, I spent a ton of money on her. I took her to basic and advanced obedience school, where I learned lots about training dogs. I sent her to boarding school for 6 months, at 200 bucks a week..

She came back the more educated than my kids! I tell people she is a college grad with a PHD in hunting. I have never had such a dog! When I was looking for a male dog I wanted certain traits. My dog is nearly pure white. I wanted mixed puppies with good pedigrees. I wanted the smartest dog possible. I also wanted brown, black and white puppies. Little did I know my dog was only capable of having black and white pups. And little less did I know the brown lab father was only capable of having black and brown puppies....Which means I got all black puppies. After the 11th black puppy and talking to my daughter in law, a pharmacy student at the time, I learned the genetic of labs and their color....

Out of that I got a black puppy capable of having all three color pups. I kept the alpha pup, female. She was what I thought would be the best mother for a mixed litter. When she was about 5 months old I had to leave her with my mother the pup followed her to the mailbox and was hit by a car, my Mom can be clueless to any dangers to anything besides herself. I am lucky I lived to puberty.

We took the pup to a vet and found she had a smashed hip. It cost us 3 grand for surgery. They removed the ball and rebuilt the joint. They used ligaments and tendons wadded together and shoved into the ball socket to make a fake hip joint. The scar tissue that formed makes an adequate hip.

I was worried about her hip and reproducing and pain during her life. When I asked the vet about this she told me animals are not like people, they do not have long memories to recall what they were like before the accident/mishap. They live in the moment and whatever is, is. The hip does not bother the dog at all, she runs, hunts, swims and eats poop like a normal dog. She has had sex a couple times and that does not bother her. However she has not conceived, I assume because she knows I want pups from her so badly. The moral of the story is we cannot apply human emotions and rational to animals.

Whew, long story to get to this point....

So I am not as worried as most people here about frostbite. I know it is ugly and most likely uncomfortable for the birds. I try to keep it down through my actions but I know I will have it. All my roosters have some now. My CX rooster developed some yesterday. He was doing so good. It is not fatal and will not affect their ability to do their job, so I like them must just live with it. I will never have a bird that will win a comb contest. I do my best but I am not going to try extreme measures to stop the frostbite. So that is me, an uncaring chicken owner......

BTW Rick was even on a roost last night with his head tucked under his wing....