Illinois...

[1muttsfan]

Thanks, I will pass that on, unfortunately she did not have an incubator but maybe her neighbor does.

Wish she had caught the Cochin bug when I was still breeding them

 

[NotAFarm]

Maybe a team effort is needed... @Faraday40 can incubate @ChicagoClucker 's bantam cochin eggs and @1muttsfan 's sister can take the chicks!

 

[Faraday40]

Maybe a team effort is needed... @Faraday40 can incubate @ChicagoClucker 's bantam cochin eggs and @1muttsfan 's sister can take the chicks!

For some reason, my incubator is full. (LOL @Junibutt )

But honestly, my kids love hatching & people have even given DD eggs to incubate for them. (One time she was paid a 40lb bag of chicken feed for her services.) I'll be setting eggs for a summer camp around June 20th (to hatch around July 11th). It doesn't matter what eggs I use for the camp. If I already had a home waiting for them, I wouldn't need to bother trying to sell them afterwards.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Snapped some pics of the 4 growouts. They are getting big. Black Orp is a cockerel, and the Jubilee, Russian Orloff and Mottled are pullets maybe. The mottled has me going back and forth. I moved them outside last Saturday and they are loving it. Pics aren't that great because I was on the deck spying on them. They don't like the camera YET. LOL

 

[megpie021]

@ChicagoClucker Those are some pretty babies! I still really like the Russian Orloff.

Last night husband was helping me with some chores and he decided he wanted hold the tween chickens. We opened it up and Meringue flew right out to hop on a hand. She is very happy to be held. The rest are little nightmares to catch. However once you catch Olive and Cream Puff they are good to go. The funny thing was that husband felt like testing just how calm Cream Puff is, and well. She is calm. he had her laying in his hands on her side. She was very calm just looking around. And next thing you know I am holding her like this

And she stayed like that for a solid five minutes. She was very relaxed and I was just petting her tummy. She eventually even put her head in the crook of my arm. It was the weirdest thing.

Poppy and Ginger have now spent 6 days meeting and greeting the tweens. I am beginning to wonder if I am ever going to feel comfortable letting them actually meet...

 

[Faraday40]

@ChicagoClucker
Just wondering, how big do your orp roos get?

@megpie021
That's a very cute pose & I'm guessing it will always be a friendly docile chicken. (Hens are much calmer than teens.) DD does that same hold. She's always found it funny to relax a chicken. Her 1st chicken was "Brownie" a spectacular rooster. That boy let her do anything to him. He was so gentle, I often brought him along to classrooms. Several people told me that roos aren't friendly, but this one was. (At least for the 16 months we owned him.) His biggest con was that he crowed all the time & mated the hens bald. The neighbors said they didn't mind, but I was too afraid of all the noise.

Of course DD's recent silkie is beyond spoiled. It gets at least 20 min a day of cuddles. (She made it a "chicken bed" of towels in her bedroom!) It purrs like a kitty & gives hugs by placing its neck on your shoulder & wrapping its head against your neck. DS also spoils his "special sussex" but it's more wagon rides & lap time while he's on the computer.


Last night we were down to 12 chicks, so I put them into the run inside a baby gate area. The chicks seemed to handle it better than the mama. Oopsie kept jumping out & walking back into the garage brooder. I had to put some mesh across the top. This morning I put the chicks into the large tractor out back. (To save time, I just carried them in a storage tub.) Usually Oopsie walks along side me, but she wandered off to the garage & then was going crazy looking for her chicks. Poor thing was stressed but happy to be reunited. I feel that because Oopsie was out of the flock for a little over a month, that she should slowly be re-introduced. That's why I'm keeping them divided for a couple days. It's her 1st time being a broody, so I'm being a little more careful.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

@ChicagoClucker
Just wondering, how big do your orp roos get?

I never weighed him, but he was a big boy. I would have to guess somewhere around 12pds at least.

Also had to post the funny pic of the Orloff. LOL

 

[Faraday40]

 

[NotAFarm]

^^ ^^

 

[Faraday40]

Today's the calm before the storm. A few weeks ago I set 48 eggs. Not sure what got over me, but they could fit, so they found their way in. The goal was only to set a few eggs from hens that I had just rehomed.

Well only 3 clears & 3 quitters. Oh my! 42 eggs are still going strong. Tonight/tomorrow is lockdown. I guess the good news is that all 3 brooders are empty. I may need them.