Illinois...

[Faraday40]

So far I really am liking the leghorns from you. The smaller one especially is super super sweet and curious her sister is a bit less so but not bad. Also I'm confused because her sister is much larger. I almost wonder if she's not a leghorn. Time will tell. I really love the name Tilly by the way, very cute. I have been holding off naming anyone so far this spring until I know their personalities and see how they fit with the flock.


Wait until you see the colors!!!!

Thinking I might keep two-three the rest are already spoken for. Anyone want to make guesses on colors?

Any partridge or silver? (My fav silkie colors!)
I'm guessing you have blk, white, & buff

Farm Bureau educ Office:
1st they said brown leghorn & RIR eggs. I chose mostly white eggs for candling but also took 2 brown & a mystery green for fun. After I picked up the eggs, they sent an email stating the eggs were White Leghorn & Cornish Rock. The green turned out to be an EE, the 2 brown eggs never hatched, and then all the Leghorns. I would have liked the Cornish Rock. However, I saw some others' hatch results & I saw Barred Rocks & black chicks. In other words, the chicks could be anything.

 

[BReeder!]

I'm totally for heritage breeds and mixes too.

Our flock contains English Orpingtons (thanks to connections on this thread), American buff Orpingtons (hatchery hens only), EE, Buckeyes(heritage/show lines out of Missouri), OEGB(show lines and hatchery), Dominiques(heritage show lines out of Missouri), silkies, hatchery barred rocks-2 hens as a trial (which we aren't fond of them they're flightier and more domineering than our other birds and are continually eating out blueberries and bushes which the rest of the flock ignore. We will likely try some heritage rocks in the future.)

We've also had light brahma hens and really enjoyed them and we have a buff brahma hen..a Delaware hen, a sebright hen, a Cuckoo Marans hen(she's extremely dark colored almost black also hatchery- she lays a nice egg but not as often as I'd like and she's an egg eater which I think she learned when we had rats that ate eggs.) We also keep cream legbars which I love they're great foragers beautiful and good layers plus auto sexing. I've never had an aggressive cockeral. We've also had SLW both hatchery/heritage mixed lines and show lines. They're beautiful but the ones with hatchery in the mix were sort of flighty and some were hard to catch. The show stock are beautiful lazy things that don't forage well and I'm not sure if they've ever layed but they're pretty friendly and easy to handle. I may get more of them some time.

I did get some BLRW which were amazing but showed signs of illness in quarantine and so they had to be culled. They were docile and began laying a couple of days after I had them(they were adults which I only tried adding that once). Obviously those people were trying unload birds they knew were sick. Im just glad we quarantined them and were able to cull but it was extremely difficult.

I plan to get more some day.

I have also always wanted a dark Brahma hen because of their beauty.

Im sure I'm forgetting something breeds too.

We have also tried salmon favorelles which we liked but lost them. Isa browns we liked as production birds go. Cinnamon Queens seem comparable to Isa Browns but for both the sample has been small. We don't really care for the golden comet hen we have now.

Many of the breeds we try out we only get a couple to see how they do and decide if we would try more.

We like our Deleware hen. We couldn't stand our brown leghorns(they were so flighty they effected the whole flock and made them uneasy with us).

We've got a couple Welsummer pullets we are growing out now so we'll see how they go. We also have a couple white leghorn pullets growing out now so we'll see how they do so far they're quite calm.

Would you happen to have a pic of your orps and Brahmas together? I'm curious to see a comparison.

 

[chickendreams24]

Any partridge or silver? (My fav silkie colors!)
I'm guessing you have blk, white, & buff

Farm Bureau educ Office:
1st they said brown leghorn & RIR eggs. I chose mostly white eggs for candling but also took 2 brown & a mystery green for fun. After I picked up the eggs, they sent an email stating the eggs were White Leghorn & Cornish Rock. The green turned out to be an EE, the 2 brown eggs never hatched, and then all the Leghorns. I would have liked the Cornish Rock. However, I saw some others' hatch results & I saw Barred Rocks & black chicks. In other words, the chicks could be anything.

Okay sounds good the ee is quite the color but definitely a little boy.

I was thinking maybe the one was not a leghorn but a production white layer like a leghorn but I think they'd have to have black specks then right?

Would you happen to have a pic of your orps and Brahmas together? I'm curious to see a comparison.

Hmm I'm not sure if I have a good one but I'll check. Of course I don't have the light Brahmas anymore and my buff is not a hatchery bird she's a show/heritage line.

Drumroll!......


Silkie pictures!
The last little silkie is out and doing well but not in the photos that were taken earlier.

 

[Faraday40]

Silkie pictures!
The last little silkie is out and doing well but not in the photos that were taken earlier.
View attachment 1445938

View attachment 1445941

View attachment 1445947

View attachment 1445951

Oh My; those are cute! Are they all from your own silkies or did you trade eggs with someone? If they're from your own silkies..... why aren't you hatching them full-time?! Every time I hatch silkies, I get a much higher demand than supply. In fact on Monday I got yet another offer to buy one of DD's silkies. It seems we get 2-3 offers a month - and they're NOT even for sale!

 

[Faraday40]

To spend time with DD as she makes her 4H projects, I made a 3D multi media canvas = basically a collage of "stuff" I had around the house.

face & background

Sponge painted to get speckled paper die cuts

Added lace & dyed feathers (The kids had fun naming from whom each feather came.)
@Molpet - you may recognize a few

More flowers & butterflies

some more feathers & shiny things

Since the last pic, I added a necklace, "lip gloss" & am hoping to make some eyelashes. Then figure out a frame for it.

 

[Molpet]

To spend time with DD as she makes her 4H projects, I made a 3D multi media canvas = basically a collage of "stuff" I had around the house.

face & background

Sponge painted to get speckled paper die cuts

Added lace & dyed feathers (The kids had fun naming from whom each feather came.)
@Molpet - you may recognize a few

More flowers & butterflies

some more feathers & shiny things

Since the last pic, I added a necklace, "lip gloss" & am hoping to make some eyelashes. Then figure out a frame for it.

Nice work... turned out really good

 

[chickendreams24]

Oh My; those are cute! Are they all from your own silkies or did you trade eggs with someone? If they're from your own silkies..... why aren't you hatching them full-time?! Every time I hatch silkies, I get a much higher demand than supply. In fact on Monday I got yet another offer to buy one of DD's silkies. It seems we get 2-3 offers a month - and they're NOT even for sale!

They're all from my silkies. I love the wide array we got! I was planning to keep two but DH2B told me if we sell all of these next time we hatch silkies which we'll probably fill the incubator that I could keep as many as 10! Wow idk if I'll keep ten but wow!
I think I need to get that in writing. LOL

Yes I've gotten a lot of offers on my silkies and my OEGB all not for sale.

How much have you sold silkies for in the past?

I'm still hoping that some of the silkies I bought this April are pullets but it's not looking good. I think both the buff have streamers but I'm having a hard time telling for sure and no one screams male to me. At least not horribly. They're 10 weeks now so almost there. If both buffs are males then that only leaves the black and two blues(one the cross beak)as possible females ugh this is some bad odds.

We got a little less interest than I thought but then again most people already have their chicks and it was short notice on CL

More later night all. Thought I had already sent this

 

[Faraday40]

They're all from my silkies. I love the wide array we got! I was planning to keep two but DH2B told me if we sell all of these next time we hatch silkies which we'll probably fill the incubator that I could keep as many as 10! Wow idk if I'll keep ten but wow!
I think I need to get that in writing. LOL

Yes I've gotten a lot of offers on my silkies and my OEGB all not for sale.

How much have you sold silkies for in the past?

I'm still hoping that some of the silkies I bought this April are pullets but it's not looking good. I think both the buff have streamers but I'm having a hard time telling for sure and no one screams male to me. At least not horribly. They're 10 weeks now so almost there. If both buffs are males then that only leaves the black and two blues(one the cross beak)as possible females ugh this is some bad odds.

We got a little less interest than I thought but then again most people already have their chicks and it was short notice on CL

More later night all. Thought I had already sent this

Right now is when all those people who ordered spring chicks discover that they have a few cockerels.

OH no! They want to replace those males with females! The started pullets are in very high demand! (I know 'cause I'm almost sold out!) This weekend I plan to sell whatever hatches straight run for a week - then grow out the rest. When older, I sell the females and donate or process the males. Craigslist is funny. Sometimes all the chicks will sell in 24 hrs. Other times it takes a couple weeks. I would guess your silkies will sell fast, so go ahead & pop more eggs into the incubator!

* Another funny thing: Several of the new people buying chicks can't wait to taste fresh eggs, so I've been selling eggs too. Between the hatching & the egg sales, my own family must ration the eggs.

 

[cavemanrich]

Being in a rooster free zone, I know straight run can be challenging. One reason I would buy already known gender chickens at Kankakee Swap.
I do hear some roosters in the neighborhood occasionally. I would not chance it myself. One complaint by anyone and the SHERIFF would arrive and give me the BAD NEWS. I just keep pets and the hens have sufficient ORNAMENTAL BEAUTY for me.

 

[Faraday40]

Here are Trouble's last 2 chicks. They are 4 weeks old. No names yet but I'm thinking both may be female due to feather growth & lack of wattles. Last year's males had zero tails & tiny pink wattles at 4 week. (I may keep one.)

Here are some more random shots. Does anyone agree with me on the gender predictions?