INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! w/Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs No problem!

[daxigait]

Not the seed head, particularly when dried. The sharp seeds can embed in the gums and cause abscesses.

Hi, I was quoting you for the newbie asking about lockdown since I have no clue.

 

[Pensmaster]

That is awesome. I have something like that but not as pretty.

I don't think 4 is too old to be broody. I've had older hens than that be broody. My 7 year old ameraucana raised chicks last year. Actually she raised one or two broods a year from the time she was 1 till this year. I haven't had a single hen go broody this year. I think I have to swap some of the plastic nest pads for excelsior if I want a broody.
Too bad you didn't get a necropsy. If I have an unexplained death, I always either send the bird in or do it myself.

Are you referring to orps in general or lavenders? They are built for the cold, not heat. I've only had buffs but they started laying at about 24 weeks.

You need to get some Penedesencas. They're built for the heat. Predator proof.  Pretty eggs too.

This is why I mentioned the age part thanks, my other thought was that she wasn't getting off for water near the end. My fault if so I should have had access for her at the nest. The nest wasn't in the best location either. Lesson learned. I have another two other hens trying to share one nest. This never ends well either but at least they have a better location it will be cooler for them. I really don't need broodies right now. Maybe in a month when my Altsteirer are laying larger eggs they are starting to be fertile now.

Tell me more about Penedesencas. Flighty? Eggs? Meat? Age of maturity? That sort of thing. My largest coop has open top at 7 feet. Going to have to get netting I think. Orpington's could not get out but large hawk got in. Altsteirer definitely will get out which will cause new neighbors a fit.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

lemme know

I'll post here first if I end up biting the bullet.

I love this idea!!!! Sorry about your broody.

I know, me too - SO bad!!!! But someone else has to build it... (as I prepare to go outside again fro more lumber prep...)

The only reason I haven't gotten a bunch of hatching eggs from you yet is that I need to settle down the chicken math a bit and figure out what my goals are, since my chicken numbers are a bit more than I would like at the moment. But you may hear from me in the next year or two.

(How big do they get by about 12 or 16 weeks?)

- Ant Farm

Nothing out of the ordinary for LF. They're between the size of an Ancona and a Minorca and grow about the same rate. The Blacks are about a pound or so heavier than the Crele, Wheaten and Partridge.

 

[daxigait]

Out of the 20 eggs that were due to hatch 13 hours ago, 2 chicks are out and 5 more pips. 2 are at the wrong end.
I guess with all the wild temp swings, it was cold longer than it was hot.

Some of these eggs were getting old so that may have something to do with it too.

Sorry. .for the remaining eggs.

 

[daxigait]

@BantyChooksI am pulling for you and your chicks.

 

[Pensmaster]

That's a good idea.

What did she die from?



It wouldn't hurt. Just raise the humidity dramatically. Rocking eggs doesn't necessarily mean hatching is imminent.

What I like best about the rope light once they are older it can be strung out farther. They like to lay with their crop on it I'm guessing that helps in digestion also it's water proof. Pennies to run won't cause a fire and much cheaper that those commercial heat from above kind.

 

[Pensmaster]

I have a waiting list on the Orpington chicks to so she needs to get laying.

 

[Pensmaster]

I'll post here first if I end up biting the bullet. Nothing out of the ordinary for LF. They're between the size of an Ancona and a Minorca and grow about the same rate. The Blacks are about a pound or so heavier than the Crele, Wheaten and Partridge.

Nice chicken and eggs. Average per year on eggs? Winter layer?

 

[BantyChooks]

@BantyChooksI am pulling for you and your chicks.

Thank you!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

This is why I mentioned the age part thanks, my other thought was that she wasn't getting off for water near the end. My fault if so I should have had access for her at the nest. The nest wasn't in the best location either. Lesson learned. I have another two other hens trying to share one nest. This never ends well either but at least they have a better location it will be cooler for them. I really don't need broodies right now. Maybe in a month when my Altsteirer are laying larger eggs they are starting to be fertile now.

Tell me more about Penedesencas. Flighty? Eggs? Meat? Age of maturity? That sort of thing. My largest coop has open top at 7 feet. Going to have to get netting I think. Orpington's could not get out but large hawk got in. Altsteirer definitely will get out which will cause new neighbors a fit.

I once had a flock of 9 Penedesenca pullets and about a month or two after they started laying, 8 of them went broody in a community nest. 7 were dedicated 1 was iffy. It was a disaster. After stealing eggs from each other, only 1 hatched - then they all wanted to be the mother. It probably made the chick schizophrenic.
I try to give broodies their own apartment, their own food and water with space for the resulting chicks for a couple days before I open the door to let them forage. Basically I put them in there and forget them. I may check on them once or twice a week to make sure they have food and water but the bulk feeder will do 3 chickens one weeks so it is usually enough for a hen through the setting cycle. There is a nipple waterer in there but I also put in a fount for the chicks.
People call them flighty but that isn't the proper description for them. I call them aloof. They just don't want human contact. Or contact with anything not chicken for that matter. They can fly but prefer to run and they run like the wind.
I keep cockerels in a 2' fence and they never try to get out. However, if you corner them they'll fly out of a 10' fence.
Needless to say, they're not fond of confinement. Most of my fences are 3'. They're more likely to dig under a 3' fence than fly over it.
I think because they're considered by some to be flighty and people keep them too closely confined. If allowed to free range they're self sufficient. They venture off in the morning and put themselves to bed at night. All the flocks keep to themselves with the occasional sparring between roosters but it's not common. Once they get to about a year old, they've convinced themselves that I'm not going to eat them and they come running when I go outside. They just won't let me closer than a couple feet or so.
I know people that handle them a lot as chicks and have different results. I just don't handle my birds that much.
They lay by about 24 weeks. I tried to keep meticulous laying records this year but that only lasted about 3 months but they lay between 160 and 180 eggs a year.
The blacks are famous in Spain for the flavor of the meat. Fira del Gall (Fair of the Rooster) features the Black Penedesenca as the star of the show. It is a foodie and wine festival in Catalonia the last weekend before Christmas. People pay $50 for a rooster that they pick out and it is processed right there and that's what people eat for their Christmas dinner.
Penedes, where they are from is the oldest wine region of Europe.
http://www.turismevilafranca.com/ca/fira-del-gall-19-i-20-de-desembre
http://www.penedesencausa.com/home.html
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/penedesencas_usa/conversations/messages/778
http://www.galldelpenedes.cat/#!fira-del-gall/c20hn
http://www.galldelpenedes.cat/#!varietats/c20x9