Hatching with 2 broodies

[MistyMountain]

Here are Del pics. Does anyone see a girl in the mix?

that's a whole lotta red comb…

 

[Teila]

Lolz, I give up! 3 pages of posts to catch up on and I should have started work 10 minutes ago. Priorities…..read posts, work can wait

Wow, everyone seems to be in a fun mood; giggling my way through the posts today. Hubby just called out from his office “that does not sound like work”

Lol IC, it is good to know that roses do have a purpose besides looking pretty and if the thorned variety, drawing blood.

" I had a little chat with her re egg gender when she went back to laying, but I'm not so sure I managed to convince her, as she made a rather non-committed noise and ran off to munch on grass..." Too funny IC, sounds about right though

Beautiful piccies and bubbies IC

I am not sure how committed I am to my 'no more hatches because I struggle to find homes for the roosters' plan and I have a sneaky feeling that I will cave in the future. I am thinking of breaking Cilla if she goes broody and maybe giving someone else a chance next time if they choose to go broody. I am thinking that Tina, LuLu and Blondie will all be possible broody candidates. I know 100% without a doubt, if I could get my hands on some Cenere eggs, I would cave in a heartbeat!

LM, loving your sense of humour!

"Not sure who's more exhausting the 4 yr old or these 5 teenagers with the same name ????"

"I'm searching for a pink sharpie as we speak!!! It will work, it will work, it will work ......."

"I guess that's what happens when you let the monkeys run the zoo!!!!"

Silkies definitely test the patience while waiting to find out if they are boys or girls; sometimes it is 7-8 months before you know for sure. Even breeders who are not convinced of gender will wait for that first egg or crow before making a decision.

Have you tried this thread?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/579215/silkie-sexing/2380#post_13641656

There are heaps of Silkie pictures and ‘guesses’ on boy or girl; lots of comparison material in there. Or, if you are brave, post some pictures of your little ones for guesses; I was always reluctant to do this because I did not want anyone else confirming my suspicions; living in denial etc

HBT, yep little ones are definitely vocal; I kind of miss that constant peeping.

Beautiful bubby pics! Have I mentioned I love mum’s markings?

MM, congratulations on a great candling! Your secret is safe, promise not to tell hubby. “Ooops, where did they come from” may be a good defense?

MN01 17 chicks and only 1 that you are pretty sure is a girl! Wow, those are some pretty eeewy odds. Hoping that is not the case.

TG … blow the sirens, release the balloons … congratulations on being the #2000 post in our little thread.

Hhhhhm, I am definitely not a chicken sexing expert but I am gunna go with MM on that one, that definitely is a whole lotta red comb

No news of note from Bambrook Bantams; except I am still freezing my little froggy butt off and the cheery little weather guy announces last night that it is going to get cold over the weekend … what does he call this!

Tee hee .. note how I am not telling you what the temperature actually is? That is because those of you who have experienced real cold, snow etc, would call me a sook!

Oh yeah, the egg drought continues ..........................

Okey doke, I better get this work day started .. enjoy your day Team

 

[missnu01]

I hatched 17 mixed chicks about a month ago and a bunch of them look like boys. Most are salmon faverolle buff orpington mixes, or EE buff orp, with a few Faverolle X EE and a couple of straight EE. Also got a marans X EE mix this last batch. ..anyway more anyway more are looking like boys to me than girls. Not sure about any of them really except one EE pullet. She is really light colored anyway tend obviously a girl. It's weird because the faverolle X buffs feather really fast, but some other faverolle mixes are feathering really slow. And not coming in orange. It is possible they are true faverolles, but are about too big. I have a BO, SF, Blue copper marans and an EE rooster. A barnyard bantam hen 2 salmon faverolles and an EE, which apparently leads to some obvious mixes and some not so obvious

I know they probably aren't all boys, but only one is for sure a girl...and to me just a lot look like boys...
Another weird thing--- 2 of the faverolles mixed chicks are feathering in totally white...and I don't have not one white chicken. I don't see how any of my mixes could end up white. One looks like it might be getting some darker color in on it's neck. The 2 white ones are about the slowest feathering and largest of the chicks as well... what an adventure.

 

[ShelbyCoral]

I think I started a new mixed breed! All 7 of the chick's look the same! Ancona and black copper marans. Some have feathered feet but some dont. Also I have two black copper marans polish who look the exact same even the comb and they and brother and sister! SO COOL! They have a little crest like a brabanter. Got to get pictures tomorrow!

 

[ShelbyCoral]

How many broods you guys have!? How many chicks to?

 

[missnu01]

I have a single broody and I have no idea how many eggs she is setting on. All I know is that about everyday one of my other hens is adding to the pile...grrr... she is a woods broody hiding out there somewhere. She comes each day down off the mountain to eat and drink. Then back to the woods she goes. I've tried following her but she is quick and camo so I lose her everytime. Here she is on her visit today she's the tiny one in front

 

[Pooman]

That's awesome, maybe one day she will come back with a clutch of chicks. I dont understand how you dont have them confined. Dont animals eat them?

 

[Teila]

Howdy SC; no broodies and no chicks currently at Bambrook Bantams. Looking forward to those pictures

MN01 good to see little miss woods broody is doing well .. also looking forward to the day she has a bunch of little bubbies following her out of those woods

IC ... did I read that you are going to give the broody twins some Cenere eggs?

I ask because I was wondering if you could check something out for me when they hatch? I read somewhere on one of the threads a post from a lady who breeds Cochins. She was adamant that she could sex her Cochins by the length of the wing feathers when they started coming through. She believes that the wing feathers on the pullets come through longer than those on the roosters which are more 'circular' and the little wing only goes about half way down the body.

I checked this theory out with Cilla's surviving 5 chicks, the three obvious roosters had the smaller, more rounded wings. Tammy who was not obviously a rooster also had the smaller, rounded wings and Blondie had the longer wings feathers. As it turns out, Tammy was Tommy and is loving his new home and crowing his little heart out lol.

So, of the five, the only one with the longer wing feathers turned out to be the only pullet.

Some pictures:

In this one, obviously the comb on the front little guy is a dead give away that he is a rooster, but the one in the background is Tommy and none of us were really sure if he was a boy or a girl at this stage because of the smaller/paler comb. But, check out the wing shape on both of them and how they only just reach the start of the tail.



The next one is Blondie at the same age, check out the wing feathers stretching to under her tail:



Someone else may already be all over this and for all I know it could be a tried and tested method of sexing Cochins that I did not know about but I thought you would be an ideal person with who I could check this out?

It was a bit hard for me to judge with this hatch because three were obviously boys and I only had one 'maybe' on which to test the wing theory.

I know that some people reckon they can sex Silkies by the wing feathers but this was the first I was hearing about it with Cochins.

Anyway, I was hoping you would be able to check this out on any of your 'maybes' where comb is not screaming rooster, but the smaller wing feather ends up being a rooster and longer, pullet?

 

[missnu01]

That's awesome, maybe one day she will come back with a clutch of chicks. I dont understand how you dont have them confined. Dont animals eat them?

All my chickens free range from sun up to sun down and a couple weeks ago she stopped laying in the coop, then she stopped going in at night. So far nothing has eaten her which is not really all that surprising. Haven't lost any to a predator in a long time. I just live in the perfect spot for chickens.

 

[ItalyChickie]

So I figured I should add some pics since they are 11 days old now...time is going so fast!
Suspected roo hmm





Bums

Look at that wing!!

They are adorable!

Well, friends, what have I gotten myself into???? I have 14 hens. One rooster. 8 Pullets. One "wanted" cockerel. 9 stowaway cockerels. This broody thing was just an experiment, right? Like… maybe they will hatch… maybe not. Maybe we will get one or two. Maybe none. After candling today, on day 10, I may be in for more than I bargained for. My inexperienced eye saw veining in ALL TEN eggs under MJ. The blues were dark, but I could make out veining in them all and movement in a couple. One brown showed movement and both whites showed little wigglers in there. Shhhh don't tell my hubby!!!!!

Lol!!!! That is the same excuse I use, that it's just an experiment... Oh but I am happy to hear there is movement in all of them! YAY! No worries, I won't tell.

Here are Del pics. Does anyone see a girl in the mix?


Snack Time...Melon <3


The crew ^^^



A and B^^^


A and B with Cosmo^^^

C and D with momma. ^^^

Sorry... have to agree with everyone else... lots of red...

Lolz, I give up! 3 pages of posts to catch up on and I should have started work 10 minutes ago. Priorities…..read posts, work can wait

Wow, everyone seems to be in a fun mood; giggling my way through the posts today. Hubby just called out from his office “that does not sound like work”

Lol IC, it is good to know that roses do have a purpose besides looking pretty and if the thorned variety, drawing blood.

" I had a little chat with her re egg gender when she went back to laying, but I'm not so sure I managed to convince her, as she made a rather non-committed noise and ran off to munch on grass..." Too funny IC, sounds about right though

Beautiful piccies and bubbies IC

I am not sure how committed I am to my 'no more hatches because I struggle to find homes for the roosters' plan and I have a sneaky feeling that I will cave in the future. I am thinking of breaking Cilla if she goes broody and maybe giving someone else a chance next time if they choose to go broody. I am thinking that Tina, LuLu and Blondie will all be possible broody candidates. I know 100% without a doubt, if I could get my hands on some Cenere eggs, I would cave in a heartbeat!

I know what you mean Teila! I'm always tempted to check in here before work, too!

Yep, it is good to know that roses are good for something (they are the thorned variety!) - maybe I should try to market rose petals as chicken breath mints?

We'll see with the new upcoming hatch whether or not my little chat with Cenere worked... though I highly doubt it.

Hmmm I wonder how many hatches you will end up with if all three of your possible candidates go broody?

You would be more than welcome to Cenere's eggs if only you weren't so far!!! I'm afraid shipping from Italy to Australia would only work if I shipped those eggs in a working incubator - then you'd probably get already hatched chicks, if not grown chickens... not a good idea.

How many broods you guys have!? How many chicks to?

I have 6 teenagers still mothered by a broody, 13 two-week olds with another broody, and 2 broodies sitting on 18 eggs at the moment (July 2 is the hatch date for them).

IC ... did I read that you are going to give the broody twins some Cenere eggs?

I ask because I was wondering if you could check something out for me when they hatch? I read somewhere on one of the threads a post from a lady who breeds Cochins. She was adamant that she could sex her Cochins by the length of the wing feathers when they started coming through. She believes that the wing feathers on the pullets come through longer than those on the roosters which are more 'circular' and the little wing only goes about half way down the body.

I checked this theory out with Cilla's surviving 5 chicks, the three obvious roosters had the smaller, more rounded wings. Tammy who was not obviously a rooster also had the smaller, rounded wings and Blondie had the longer wings feathers. As it turns out, Tammy was Tommy and is loving his new home and crowing his little heart out lol.

So, of the five, the only one with the longer wing feathers turned out to be the only pullet.

Some pictures:

In this one, obviously the comb on the front little guy is a dead give away that he is a rooster, but the one in the background is Tommy and none of us were really sure if he was a boy or a girl at this stage because of the smaller/paler comb. But, check out the wing shape on both of them and how they only just reach the start of the tail.



The next one is Blondie at the same age, check out the wing feathers stretching to under her tail:



Someone else may already be all over this and for all I know it could be a tried and tested method of sexing Cochins that I did not know about but I thought you would be an ideal person with who I could check this out?

It was a bit hard for me to judge with this hatch because three were obviously boys and I only had one 'maybe' on which to test the wing theory.

I know that some people reckon they can sex Silkies by the wing feathers but this was the first I was hearing about it with Cochins.

Anyway, I was hoping you would be able to check this out on any of your 'maybes' where comb is not screaming rooster, but the smaller wing feather ends up being a rooster and longer, pullet?

Actually, I do think it works, and not just on Cochins - or at least worked for me last year. That's exactly how I am predicting the genders on my two-week olds (they are Cochins and Orps - I figure Orps should be similar enough to Cochins in feathering out).

Now, I didn't keep anyone from this particular hatch, we were going on vacation when Lola went broody for a second time (sad story, she never got to finish raising them... got sick while I wasn't even there... was too late to save her when I got back), and the only reason I let her was because a friend wanted the chicks, and promised to look after everyone while we were away... there were 3 chicks from Cenere (crossed with a Brahma roo that I also gave away) and 2 chicks from red stars crossed with an unknown breed roo (looked a bit like a Dorking to me)... anyway, there was a distinct difference in feathering even in the red stars' chicks. Here are some pics.

There were two blacks, looked more or less the same, both girls. Their wings at 3 weeks here went all the way back, like in your Blondie pic:



This one turned out to be a boy, wings were shorter and there was a lot more down on the back/shoulder at the same age as the girls:



A red star cross chick - note the complete lack of tail and shoulder feather - a boy:



His full sister, same red star hen mom and same dad - lots more feathers! a girl:




So this is exactly what I'm going with for guessing the new chicks gender - combined with the comb, for example, I think that the previously-suspected-frizzle with the long wing feathers is a girl, and this is a boy - major difference in wing feathers already:



Don't worry though, I will most certainly document these ones and the upcoming ones, and we'll see how accurate it is. (It's one of the reasons I had posted my guesses earlier.)

(Just a note - this did not work with the broody twins hatch who feathered out very randomly, but then again, that hatch was 4 girls, so I didn't have a boy to compare with, but also Leghorn mom probably doesn't fit into that category.)