Illinois...

[megpie021]

@ChicagoClucker Eek. That would be stressful!
These baby chick pictures are so cute. I love the mouth open pic @jnckids

My littles are now going through the ugly phase, I am missing them being tiny already. We are waiting to see what our ducks are doing, so far I think we have one girl (the runner) and one boy. Waiting for the third duck to declare itself so we can either order another duck or two, or get a couple silkies and pray for girls. There has been zero coop progress as husband has been flying and the exchange students have had 8 hours of prom shopping needs. I am fine never seeing the mall again.

 

[jnckids]

So here are my 2 chicks from my first broody and my first ever hatch. They will be 6 weeks Sunday/Monday.

And

I'm thinking they are both hens... What do you guys think?

 

[Faraday40]

split wing & scissor wing:

Does anyone have a good link or pics to share? I want to learn more about this & it sounds like a serious flaw. I think.... split wing is when there's a gap that's noticable when wings are fanned out and scissor wing is when the wings feathers stick out when they're supposed to be folded & flat. Right?

I believe I have a choc cuckoo chick that may have split wing. That would mean Brick, Godiva, or both are carriers? Would that mean that I should cull them?
I am also not sure if this is technically split wing or just slow feather growth.

Below= close up of the same male chick


Below is the female cuckoo's wing.



BTW- I'm still trying to figure out the gender of my 7 wk old blue orp. (Leaning toward pullet today.) Most of the time I can tell genders early.

My second batch is only 3 weeks & I already have
Some early Bloomers:




and Some girlie faces:

 

[Faraday40]

I'm thinking they are both hens... What do you guys think?

I'm not seeing anything that screams male, but I also don't know much about sexing silkies &/or naked necks.

 

[jnckids]

I'm not seeing anything that screams male, but I also don't know much about sexing silkies &/or naked necks.

Yeah I was just thinking there should be more comb and waddle development by now if they were roos.

 

[rfreedlund]

how did you secure the opening around the igloo dog house? I have 2 of these and 1 is a fav nesting spot.. they are out in the poultry yard that has a 6' fence but not predator proof.. I am worried that one would go broody in there and it would be great to set it up just incase.

I used some fence posts and chicken wire (about 5 feet high total) to build a circle into which the Dogloo and the other dog cage open into. At this point, as you can see in the picture, I have the opening to the Dogloo blocked shut with a mesh cover I created and the dig cage is closed. This keeps the broodies in and offers some protection. The circle is closed off with a makeshift door through which I can enter and keep other chickens out. I will eventually open the door when the mamas and chicks are ready to go out. I let them out usually after about a week to start mingling with the rest of the flock. Mama protects and I haven't lost any this way yet.They continue to return to that nest for a few weeks before mama decides to return to the coop (at which time I usually have to train her brood to go in there).

I have it built in the run with the other chickens so that they are already aware of each other and ready to integrate. My run has four foot chainlink with an additional 3 feet of chicken wire on top to keep them from jumping up and over. The run isn't covered as it is built in an area with some good tree cover that has protected them so far. Truthfully it isn't the most secure if any predators really wanted to get to them, but I have been very fortunate (knock on wood) that it has yet to be a problem after three years doing it this way. I have a part of my coop partitioned off for new chick arrivals from the hatchery. When I let them out, I will sometimes move a late broody or two into there. The main thing is to get them separated and alone without much disturbance from the rest of the flock. Having them separated either in the coop or the run is the best way to help with integration later. I still have a broody with no place to go.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

split wing & scissor wing:

Does anyone have a good link or pics to share? I want to learn more about this & it sounds like a serious flaw. I think.... split wing is when there's a gap that's noticable when wings are fanned out and scissor wing is when the wings feathers stick out when they're supposed to be folded & flat. Right?

I believe I have a choc cuckoo chick that may have split wing. That would mean Brick, Godiva, or both are carriers? Would that mean that I should cull them?
I am also not sure if this is technically split wing or just slow feather growth.

Below= close up of the same male chick


Below is the female cuckoo's wing.

I found this article that explains split wing. I started looking since my chocolate cuckoo looks like he might have split wing also. My chicks wing looks just like your males wing.
https://poultrykeeper.com/poultry-breeding/recessive-genes-faults/

 

[Faraday40]

DD & I really like the blue orp. She named it “Jewel.” (Mostly because the last 2 times she named a fav “Blue” it turned out to be a male. In the movie Rio, Blue’s girlfriend is called Jewel, so she feels it will have to be a pullet this time.)
Here are some pics of Jewel ages 1-7wks













As you know & can see in the pics above, I’ve been going back & forth on my gender guesses. I can normally tell by 3-4 weeks, but this one’s 7 wks & I’m still not sure. It doesn’t help that DD likes the chick. We all know her track record. The comb says very female, but the red wattles scream male. Each time I take pics, I change my mind about its gender. Today I think SHE looks like a pullet, but last week HE looked like a cockerel. Then someone on BYC jokingly told me that I should simply ask it with what gender it identifies itself. LOL

DS honestly thought that a chick simply grows into a gender. After all we always tell him NOT to get attached & name the chicks b/c we don’t know if we can keep them. (I had to explain to him that the chicks actually do have a gender, but we just don’t know what it is yet.) DD is more knowledgeable about such things, so I asked her opinion of Jewel’s gender. She said, “BOTH,” and basically saw the same things I did. Then she asked if it turns out to be a rooster, can we take it to the vet to turn it into a hen.

Anyway, after all this debate, I decided to take action. Today DD & I gave Jewel an opportunity to identify with her feminine side. I finally think it’s settled. …… or else we’ll have to do another photo shoot.

 

[Molpet]

I used some fence posts and chicken wire (about 5 feet high total) to build a circle into which the Dogloo and the other dog cage open into. At this point, as you can see in the picture, I have the opening to the Dogloo blocked shut with a mesh cover I created and the dig cage is closed. This keeps the broodies in and offers some protection. The circle is closed off with a makeshift door through which I can enter and keep other chickens out. I will eventually open the door when the mamas and chicks are ready to go out. I let them out usually after about a week to start mingling with the rest of the flock. Mama protects and I haven't lost any this way yet.They continue to return to that nest for a few weeks before mama decides to return to the coop (at which time I usually have to train her brood to go in there).

I have it built in the run with the other chickens so that they are already aware of each other and ready to integrate. My run has four foot chainlink with an additional 3 feet of chicken wire on top to keep them from jumping up and over. The run isn't covered as it is built in an area with some good tree cover that has protected them so far. Truthfully it isn't the most secure if any predators really wanted to get to them, but I have been very fortunate (knock on wood) that it has yet to be a problem after three years doing it this way. I have a part of my coop partitioned off for new chick arrivals from the hatchery. When I let them out, I will sometimes move a late broody or two into there. The main thing is to get them separated and alone without much disturbance from the rest of the flock. Having them separated either in the coop or the run is the best way to help with integration later. I still have a broody with no place to go.

Thanks ... I have been putting them in crates in hoop coops.. so far this year no broodies, but I am sure that will not last.
I have every predator smaller than a bear, except rats. LOL I am working on a third hoop coop, so far they have worked keeping weasels, mink, coons, possums, and this year bobcats out. A few years ago there was a cougar caught on a game cam across the road.

 

[Faraday40]

We live in the Chicago area & have extra Silver Spitzhaubens. (Hatched 3-5-17) If there is anyone local who has or wants them, please send me a pm.