INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Indyshent]

Broody Cookie Update:
6 out of 7 eggs hatched, but today is the official hatch date. There's still a chance for 100%. The last egg is a dark, thick shelled, Maran egg, so there's also a chance of nothing. (I never could see into it when candling.)

Incubator:
3 chicks hatched last night. Many eggs still without pips. Looks like it could be a long 24 hrs!

DD has quickly fallen in love with a white silkie of Cookie's. She's already held it a few times & jokes of chick-napping it away from Cookie. LOL Not sure what I think of owning a silkie. I heard white silkies are hawk magnets. Does anyone here own a silkie - especially a white?

BTW- The silkie looks a little gray. I know that both parents were white. Could it be the black skin or low light making the chick look grayish?

White silkies are weird like that. I've heard of them hatching out gray, but mine hatched out buff and turned white! It's a silkie thing,.

 

[Faraday40]

White silkies are weird like that. I've heard of them hatching out gray, but mine hatched out buff and turned white! It's a silkie thing,.

Thanks. Good to know.

Do hawks try to snatch white silkies because of the color or because the silkie head poof makes it hard for them to see their surroundings?

 

[Mother2Hens]

oh forgot to add might be in florida by time i switch to this design

There are tons of predators in Florida! As ChickCrazed said, you'd need to use hardware cloth, 1/4" I'd guess. Normally, it would be wise to run hardware cloth in the ground to prevent predators from digging under the edges (easier for predators to do so in Florida's sandy soil). However, since you want to have a moveable coop, I've read about other ways to seal the edges like using heavy rocks. Other members may have ideas. You might want to search for Floridian members who can advise you. Just a note about the photo example-- IMO, it seems like there are too many chickens for that space.
@kittydoc I'll take Hershey! lol I love barred feathers. Her comb is large for a chick…I'm guessing American Orp females grow their combs faster?

Do hawks try to snatch white silkies because of the color or because the silkie head poof makes it hard for them to see their surroundings?
@Faraday40 I'm guessing that both reasons are correct. I've read that white/light colored chickens are easier for predators to see, which makes sense. My experience is that when I cut my Silkies' bangs so they could see, it made a big difference in their behavior.

 

[Indyshent]

Thanks. Good to know.

Do hawks try to snatch white silkies because of the color or because the silkie head poof makes it hard for them to see their surroundings?

My guess is both, coupled with an inability to fly away or run quickly from predators. Silkies have the deck stacked against them where predators are concerned.

 

[kittydoc]

Thanks. Good to know.

Do hawks try to snatch white silkies because of the color or because the silkie head poof makes it hard for them to see their surroundings?

I have read several places (books, blogs, etc.) that white chickens are more easily seen, so more likely to e snatched. Silkies can't see them coming or their shadows. So a white Silkie would be almost ideal hawk bait. I agree that trimming their faces so they can see could at least help them see. Even though we are totally covered, I won't ever have any mostly white chickens except the one light brahma I already have. I do not want to encourage hawk activity anywhere near my coops!

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Welcome @ChicagoClucker ! I agree with @jchny2000 that the one in front looks like a hen although her comb seems large for that age. Here are photos of orps I have or had and their approx ages.

These are my first orps that I bought in person from chickenscratchpoultry.
English Jubilee and American Lavender ~ both pullets, approx. 3 months old. It was right before my lavender injured her leg, and I eventually had to put her to sleep. (photo on right is my Jubilee grown up)


Below are two photos of an English Blue Orpington cockerel (approx. 2 months old) given to me by a member and forwarded to jchny when he turned out to be a boy.

I still had he and his sister (below) housed in a spare bedroom since it was February (2014).


Here is a picture of him with his sister, an English Blue Splash Orp. They were approx. 3 months when this was taken. He grew his comb must faster than she did. On the right is a photo of her all grown up.


My English Orp on my avatar is a bantam chocolate, so she wouldn't help your LF identification. Good luck with the outcome!

Your girls are beautiful, and I love your little splash! I am new to Orpingtons, besides the 9 BBS's I have in the brooder, they are 9 days old. I would love it if he was a she. And I have had doubts, just because he is so sweet and has the prettiest face, his comb hasn't grown much since the major growth spurt and the wattles haven't grown either. But he/she is huge! I have 4 hens all over 1 year old and he is bigger than all of them at 3 months. I am going to wait a bit, just to make sure. He is my favorite at the moment, so I would be thrilled if he turned out to be a she, but feeling a little doubtful.

 

[kittydoc]

For those of you who raise any breed of solid blue chickens, I have a stupid question.

I have six chicks from my blue Orp hens. I think 3 are clearly blue, but there's at least one that is so dark except for its face that I thought it was black, but its initial feathers are looking blue. Is this common? I assume I should go by their feather color and not the down color. I just wondered if it was normal for the down to look black or nearly black, then have the chicks' feather in blue.

THANKS!

 

[daskhan]

There are tons of predators in Florida! As ChickCrazed said, you'd need to use hardware cloth, 1/4" I'd guess. Normally, it would be wise to run hardware cloth in the ground to prevent predators from digging under the edges (easier for predators to do so in Florida's sandy soil). However, since you want to have a moveable coop, I've read about other ways to seal the edges like using heavy rocks. Other members may have ideas. You might want to search for Floridian members who can advise you. Just a note about the photo example-- IMO, it seems like there are too many chickens for that space.
what if i switch to the cloth and run it along the bottom too or some type of fencing?

 

[ChickCrazed]

For those of you who raise any breed of solid blue chickens, I have a stupid question.

I have six chicks from my blue Orp hens. I think 3 are clearly blue, but there's at least one that is so dark except for its face that I thought it was black, but its initial feathers are looking blue. Is this common? I assume I should go by their feather color and not the down color. I just wondered if it was normal for the down to look black or nearly black, then have the chicks' feather in blue.

THANKS!

There are definitely shades of blue. I have three blue isbars, two are a normal blue and one is much lighter with some darker blue "splash" feathers mixed in. I don't think she is a "proper" blue, but she is pretty. I do think they had different colors of down as chicks, but it has been a couple of years and I don't remember specifics.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

For those of you who raise any breed of solid blue chickens, I have a stupid question.

I have six chicks from my blue Orp hens. I think 3 are clearly blue, but there's at least one that is so dark except for its face that I thought it was black, but its initial feathers are looking blue. Is this common? I assume I should go by their feather color and not the down color. I just wondered if it was normal for the down to look black or nearly black, then have the chicks' feather in blue.

THANKS!

My sumatras had 2-3 of those this year. They all turned out to be roosters with the blue being really dark even for the rooster feathers.