Illinois...

[Molpet]

I thought about a sign. I fear my neighbors will really think we are crazy then. Some don't mind at all, some enjoy the sounds of the birds and their eggs, and then there's the neighbors who are polite but obviously think we are crazy bird people.
Just today a chicken managed to open one of the sliding doors for the area we have the turkey poults in. The poults got out and went into the run. One slipped through the fence into my neighbor's yard behind us. After some failed coaxing the poult wandered through another fence into the yard next to my rear neighbor's and then through yet another fence to end up in the of my next door neighbor. He happens to be the polite one who thinks we are crazy... Now I had gone around the block and was in the yard my rear neighbor's next door neighbor (following that?), so DW went to our next door neighbor and asked to enter his yard to fetch a "chick that escaped". He let her into his yard and joined in the "chick" hunt. When he saw the poult though he said, "what kind of bird is that?" It was clear he knew it wasn't a chicken, but "chick" is unanimous for baby bird to most people so I didn't feel like we lied. I had to fess up though and say, "It's a turkey somebody gave us." The odd smile on his face most certainly expressed "oh, now you are definitely crazy." I didn't tell him that the kind person who gave us the turkey included 3 more turkeys in their gift.

Little bugger
He had a big adventure, for living in crates and brooders. Hopefully it will stay in the yard from now on.
They can squeeze through a chain link fence.

 

[BReeder!]

Little bugger
He had a big adventure, for living in crates and brooders. Hopefully it will stay in the yard from now on.
They can squeeze through a chain link fence.

I have a roll of chicken wire. I think I'm going to tack it to the fence on the 2 outer sides of the run. It might keep out the chipmunks too... thieving rascals. We had to tack it to the fence in the old run to keep the chickens from poking their heads between the boards and playing whack-a-mole with out neighbor's dog. That neighbor actually likes the chickens at least.

 

[Faraday40]

Anybody have success selling eggs? I have excess chicken and quail eggs. I could be selling a 4-6 dozen chicken eggs per month and 4 dozen quail eggs per week. I just don't have buyers. We give them away at times to a neighbor or my parents, but not at a sufficient enough rate and I refuse their money. I just created a post on Facebook Marketplace. Anybody have luck with selling eggs through there? Or any other way of selling them?

I only sell to friends, neighbors, & a few people at the kids' schools. DH's co-workers have also bought some - but he brings eggs only if asked. I sell about 4-6 doz per month during the egg glut. When I had the quail I would slip 2-3 quail eggs in place of a chicken egg to the families who I knew would like them. I really do miss their cute eggs! I'm glad yours are finally producing.

Basically anytime people find out that you raise chickens, you'll get asked, "Do you sell eggs?" The answer is always, "Yes, when we have extras" and the price per doz. I have 5 neighbors who are regularly willing to buy eggs. I cannot supply all of them with enough to meet their monthly egg needs, so they save mine for special breakfasts. I also bring eggs to give away at family gatherings and even as thank you gifts to friends. (Of course to my BYC friends who do not need eggs, I bring CHICKS! )

Since I haven't had much problem selling eggs, I have not tried CL or Facebook.

 

[Faraday40]

@BReeder!
Your little turkey hunt sounded like quite an adventure. Glad everyone's back safe at home.

 

[BReeder!]

@BReeder!
Your little turkey hunt sounded like quite an adventure. Glad everyone's back safe at home.

Yes... It was certainly an adventure. There's now pieces of wood that act as stops for the sliding doors to prevent them from being opened until I pick up some hooks and eyelets to fashion simple locks.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Problems, have I got problems.

I was taking a closer peek at my chicks today. I was looking at this batch of spitzies thinking how I wasn't loving their color.

I picked one up an snapped this picture.

Do you see that?!? My spitzie has silkie feathers with yellow? Do you know what that means?!?
@Faraday40 wanna take a guess? Betcha you know what that means. Might want to hang on to those spitzies that havent sold yet. I got 5 from my first batch that are pure, but 1 I can't use due to feathering white. All the others are acting like......well, boys. Assuming i dont lose any more girls, that leaves me with 3 girls.

Then i took a picture of this guy from my orpington batch.

When it hatched i kept wondering why it look liked a ccl chick when i dont have any....well, not full grown. Mine are only 4 weeks old and certainly not laying eggs!

Apparently either one of those brown orp hens out there carries the ccl gene, but didnt exhibit any outward appearance, or maybe ththe black roo that has that suspicious gold leakage. Now i have to get rid of two hens because I don't know which one is carrying it. Been trying to get rid of the roo. At least most of the black chicks look pure so far, but makes me wonder what is hidden in their genes.

 

[Faraday40]

Problems, have I got problems.

I was taking a closer peek at my chicks today. I was looking at this batch of spitzies thinking how I wasn't loving their color.
View attachment 1830333
I picked one up an snapped this picture.
View attachment 1830331
Do you see that?!? My spitzie has silkie feathers with yellow? Do you know what that means?!?
@Faraday40 wanna take a guess? Betcha you know what that means. Might want to hang on to those spitzies that havent sold yet. I got 5 from my first batch that are pure, but 1 I can't use due to feathering white. All the others are acting like......well, boys. Assuming i dont lose any more girls, that leaves me with 3 girls.

Then i took a picture of this guy from my orpington batch.View attachment 1830337
When it hatched i kept wondering why it look liked a ccl chick when i dont have any....well, not full grown. Mine are only 4 weeks old and certainly not laying eggs!View attachment 1830338

Apparently either one of those brown orp hens out there carries the ccl gene, but didnt exhibit any outward appearance, or maybe ththe black roo that has that suspicious gold leakage. Now i have to get rid of two hens because I don't know which one is carrying it. Been trying to get rid of the roo. At least most of the black chicks look pure so far, but makes me wonder what is hidden in their genes.

I'm not sure if your spitz has silkie feathers. (Has Jasper even been around them at all?) Of course, I also don't know what's up with the feathers. I like the white feathering & I'd definitely keep it for a while to see what develops. Mine that was all white when developing wings, didn't stay all-white when the real feathers grew in. She was just was lighter. We ended up selling her AFTER spending hours training her.

The color of that spitz chick may have a little yellow, so it's possible your buff roo got to her.... but also possible she just rolled around and is spending too much time in the sun. My white leghorn has the same yellow tinted feathers & the sun can make your white hens look yellow-aged. Time will tell, so hang in there.





Your orp that looks like a chipmunk still looks like a laced orp or a partially laced orp to me. The lacing doesn't appear until older. Blizzard looked a mess until she turned 5 months. I've been talking with some other laced orp breeders & in some cases the SLOs use 2 different diluting genes to make the white look more white. If not present in the offspring, than they can look yellow-gold or cream instead of white/silver. I believe this may be the case with my newest mystery, gold laced orp chick.

I had several partial laced orps last summer before I physically separated the birds into breeding groups. I got to see one yesterday. He's s purebred orp but mama was laced & my lav roo kept breeding all the hens - especially my pretty young laced orp hens. This boy got some frostbite last winter. He's got his mama's shape & some feathering, but his daddy's beak & leg color.

This boy's not there for breeding purposes, but he's sweet to the hens, tame around people, not aggressive toward other roos, and will protect the flock.

Now the "bad" news. DS picked out his fav spitz pullet, so we just sold the last extra female on Fri. We're planning to keep DS's chosen spitz over the summer & make the hard decisions in fall on who we're keeping. If we don't "absolutely love her" or if she doesn't fit in with the flock, then she can move into your coop. I still have the male. I think he's absolutely stunning but no one wants him. Sadly, he'll probably end up in the pot. But because he's not a problem, I'm letting him stick around another week or two just in case I can find him a home. I'll try to take & post pics of my last 2 spitz chicks soon.

If you feel I have better luck, I'd be very happy to hatch more spitzes for you. Overall, I seem to be getting more females this year. I really enjoy hatching. ..... I just can't keep and care for hundreds of chicks.
Hatching for someone else is works well for me.



....and speaking of chicks,,,,, Look what's in my incubator this afternoon.

My goal is to start another line of blue SLOs. Of course not a single egg from that pullet was fertile. While setting the eggs 3 weeks ago, a few SLOs, serama, and Jewel's eggs went in. (Jewel always makes pretty chicks.)

Now I'll have to try more of those blue pullet's eggs again!!!

 

[homeschoolin momma]

I'm not sure if your spitz has silkie feathers. (Has Jasper even been around them at all?)

Yup. I had to bite the bullet and let Jasper and Phoenix free range. I couldnt keep them locked up in a cat carrier 24/7. They hang out up by the house most of the day, but have been spending more and more time with Jake and the girls. Jasper puffs his chest, spreds his wings, and then chases off the spitz girls. He will then happily trot back to Phoenix. Its hilarious to watch and I thought he'd be too small to mate with them, but it certainly explains a lot with this batch. They are much tinier than usual with different coloring. The tiniest one died a few days ago. It was just slightly larger than the micro chicken.

The color of that spitz chick may have a little yellow, so it's possible your buff roo got to her....

Buff roos have been in the freezer since before I left for my mom's house. Definitely not the buff roos fault this time.

but also possible she just rolled around and is spending too much time in the sun.

These just hatched and havent been outside yet. They are only 1 week old. DH just built another tractor so the first batch of babies that are 4 weeks got to go out for the first time yesterday.

Your orp that looks like a chipmunk still looks like a laced orp or a partially laced orp to me. The lacing doesn't appear until older.

I guess time will tell on this one. Im still thinking ccl mix. When you brought the chocolates and the black ones, you didnt know if they were ee until 2 of them developed crests and the floppy ccl comb. It would make sense that the other chocolates and possibly that black roo that has that gold leakage could be hiding that in their genes and not expressing it. A ccl gene from chocolate mama and ccl from roo would equal ccl mix chick right? If going by sex link, at least i can say this one will probably be a girl......wonder if she would lay blue eggs. Probably not since everyone lays brown, but wouldnt that be pretty cool? If it does turn out that way i will have to let the chocolates and the roo go. I really just want to concentrate on getting a good english orpington stock.

I would hatch some more spitzies but it is getting too late in the season. By the time I isolate jasper and clear out that mess, then incubate more eggs, we are looking at hatching babies in mid August. It would be getting too close to fall and winter to be getting them fully grown for our harsh winters. I'll have to hope im wrong on these 4 spitzies that are a month already and hope a few are females, but i just have that nagging feeling they arent. I'll probably take the boy for a back up for Jake if he doesnt sell for you. As long as he's not causing problems right now.

Well the storm ran through and we've been without power for an hour and the kids are already going stir crazy. Ugh, todays kids have no idea how to independently play without something electronic.

 

[Faraday40]

I would hatch some more spitzies but it is getting too late in the season.

Well, I guess they could be Jasper's. Strange, but possible. He carries the silkied gene. Cute for a serama & other bantams, but not practical for a Spitz. All you can do is wait & watch to see how it develops.

I won't be selling the Spitz male since roosters just don't sell. He can be all yours. When you feel a little better, you can come for a visit or I can drive down to visit you to do a trade. I'd love a nice lav roo. For now I'm keeping the ONLY male lav orp we hatched this year.

I think last year's spitzes were hatched in late summer/early fall. I had a broody do the work of raising them, so they should have been self-sufficient by late Oct. - before any real cold hit.

Well the storm ran through and we've been without power for an hour and the kids are already going stir crazy. Ugh, todays kids have no idea how to independently play without something electronic.

It hit us hard too, but the power stayed on. The chicks were all outside & the wind was really picking up as the sky turned dark. I was afraid the little chick playpens would blow over....or away! DD had 4 girls over, so I yelled out for everyone to run outside & grab an armful of chicks to put them away in the garage. A mad rush of urgency mixed with a ton of cuteness.

I feel the same pain about my own kids being addicted to technology. It's so cool what they can do & design, but the cost is a lack of orig creative play. They actually play very well together, but I often feel like they play better when they're grounded from screen time.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

@Faraday40 i forgot to tell you, it looks like the other chick is feathering in white. Looks like I've got another double white recessive! Now, i wonder who the daddy is? Do you know if Mr. Dummy carried a copy of the white that he could have passed down to blackjack and then to blackbeard? Or would a second white gene come from my slo roo? So him and snow would make a double white?