Illinois...

[Pixie]

..

 

[jerseyridgearts]

love the 'cuteness'.

My new BR girls did fine last night. I have a small secluded pen in the coop where they can avoid the big girls but everybody can see each other. Have a bowl of pullet eggs but the big girls still are adjusting. Stopped at Farm & Fleet yesterday and it turns out the man in the livestock department is a BYCer! He was encouraging me to set up a nipple watering system but he's just moved here from Tacoma where I suspect winters are warmer....not sure PVC pipe would work for our winters in an unheated barn....

the door on my barn (it's a big garage door) is hung up so I've got it rigged all kinds of ways - can't get any service until Tuesday....the coop inside is very substantial but my nerves are jumpy. DH says he'll see what he can do if he feels well enough today.

wow, I'm chatty. Have a great weekend!

 

[Faraday40]

If they are light colored you can do what I have been doing, that is taking a q-tip and soaking it with common food coloring then dotting the heads or chest of the chick as they hatch... With a few refresher dots as they age that should hold out until they are old enough to leg band with some small colored 1/4" dog groomer hair rubber bands, then progress up with bigger groomer bands until you can sex them...

Or to add to the 'science' you could inject red or blue food coloring into the eggs on the 11th - 14th day based on her predicted sex...

http://chickscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/resources/egg_to_chick/coloring.html

My chicks hatch mostly black & a few lavs. Rainbow loom rubber bands work great for labeling chicks.

Here's what I came up with:
Since the sides are already ventilated, I cut out the tops & bottoms. Then hot-glued some mesh across the top.

 

[cavemanrich]

love the 'cuteness'.

My new BR girls did fine last night. I have a small secluded pen in the coop where they can avoid the big girls but everybody can see each other. Have a bowl of pullet eggs but the big girls still are adjusting. Stopped at Farm & Fleet yesterday and it turns out the man in the livestock department is a BYCer! He was encouraging me to set up a nipple watering system but he's just moved here from Tacoma where I suspect winters are warmer....not sure PVC pipe would work for our winters in an unheated barn....

the door on my barn (it's a big garage door) is hung up so I've got it rigged all kinds of ways - can't get any service until Tuesday....the coop inside is very substantial but my nerves are jumpy. DH says he'll see what he can do if he feels well enough today.

wow, I'm chatty. Have a great weekend!

Here is a thread with tons of ideas for solving your waterer needs including freezing issues..
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...r-very-easy-heated-waterer-for-under-20-bucks

WISHING YOU BEST

 

[cavemanrich]

Here is a simple solution I use to identify different pigeons easily in my coop/loft. I put on permanent leg bands at birth, but use the colored ones to to easily label the boys and girls. They snap on and off easily. There are larger diameters also available. These will easily fit chicks legs. When Chickens grow, and are getting close to tight , just remove.

Here is a link to ebay that sell them. I DO NOT SELL THESE. They are what I purchased.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/262325008855?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[Junibutt]

Congrats to all the cuteness!


Although the hatch isn't due until May 31st, we just completed the final placement of the eggs. This is for my DD's experiment. (Does egg shape determine gender?) She had no problem making her predictions based on measurements, ratio, & visual evaluations. However she had a problem figuring out how to keep the chicks separated after hatch. 3 chicks will be sex-linked, but 6 will have to be kept until we can determine gender. (That's IF they hatch!) Perhaps we'll find a volunteer to take the chicks in exchange for telling us the gender in a month. I really, really wish we had the ability to hatch sex-linked chicks for her experiment. We only have 2 hens that when mated to our roo can make sex-linked chicks. Unfortunately 5 of their eggs were not fertile! She used eggs from 2 other hens - only because their eggs are easily identified.

I'll keep you updated when the incubator starts peeping.

Her other poultry-related experiment is about training/classical conditioning. Our best trained hen (my Cuddles) died. DD made a lot of progress with Trouble, but then Trouble took a broody break. Bubbles was doing very welll, but DD got distracted and started training some of the chicks, She still has plenty of time, but she also has several other projects to finish.

Do you have any lavenders in this hatch? I may need 1 or 2 and of course will let you know what sex they are. The chick who was in fetal position and would not raise his/her neck is finally able to do so after 4 days and is walking around. However, it has curled toes (so I am making booties for it) and may also possibly be blind. So I will need a companion(s) for it who can teach it how to eat and drink on its own. Alternatively, you are more than welcome to have it if you want.

Needless to say, I will not be hatching eggs from the mother again until I figure out if its genetic blindness or nutrient/environment related. I did have very high humidity on Day 8-11 because it was a staggered hatch. Wondering if that may have anything to do with it.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

@Faraday40 good luck on the up coming hatch. Your daughters projects are always so interesting to see.
I really liked @MeepBeep idea of the food coloring drop on their heads.

@Junibutt sorry to hear about the your chick, poor thing.

Here are a couple pics of some of my grow outs.

Above is my 1st SL pullet, her lacing is coming in so crisp on her wings, hope it continues.
I have a couple more young SL chicks in another pen also. I am loving these orpingtons.
Also have a blue cockerel a couple weeks old, I wish I could keep them all.
Might keep him long enough to see how he turns out. Then make the tough decisions on who to keep.

My Blue and Black mottled Orps, ended up keeping 2 pairs, but one will be going.
Their mottling is coming in more each day. I will be keeping a black mottled roo and blue mottled hen

My 1 and only Isabel leghorn that hatched out of that large batch of eggs.
Glad she turned out to be a pretty pullet!

 

[Faraday40]

Here are a couple pics of some of my grow outs.

LOVE the laced orps. So beautiful!


My 1 and only Isabel leghorn that hatched out of that large batch of eggs.
Glad she turned out to be a pretty pullet!

Wow! That's a Leghorn!?!

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Yep, she is a pretty lav colored, Isabel Leghorn, and hopefully will lay lots of Xlarge white eggs for me. Somewhere down the line, I want to get some Mille Fluer Leghorns, they look beautiful also. But that will be when either this girl starts slowing down in egg production, or is gone.

 

[JonesEst1994]

Anyone in Central Illinois interested in EE crossed w/ Blue Maran roosters? They should be olive egger roosters. I also have a polish rooster