INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[pginsber]

Hey Silkie people....

Are there any Silkies that don't have crests? I'd love a predictable broody but don't like crests!!!!!

My bantam orp goes broody about 5xs a year. Basically she lays almost daily for 1-4 weeks, then comes to a broody halt. 6-8 weeks after the hatch, she starts laying & so begins the next cycle. In warm months, her non-broody laying time is only about a week.

My Bantam Orp went broody reliably at least twice yearly. We used to HATE it--having to try to find chicks to break her broody streak--then she mysteriously disappeared last year and now we miss her terribly. Turns out we actually enjoyed all the 'hassle' of her hatching eggs and raising chicks.

 

[Faraday40]

hi @kittydoc

Please show some cute baby chick pics when you can. (I miss all the cuteness, fluff & peeping.)

Do you still have "Cogburn"? Any recent pics?

Here's Cogburn's son "Mr Dummy-Pants" (black/lav split) and Cogburn's grandson "Moose" (lav)
BTW- Be careful when allowing young children to name pets. LOL
Although Moose is bigger, his daddy is still our wonderful flock leader. He does an excellent job of keeping peace in the flock and is great with people too.


Moose is still hormonal but is calming down. (Less hen raping and more dancing. A lot of dancing!) He has begun to call the hens over when he finds treats, but he does it as he's gobbling them down. Still working on those manners! He's 8.5 months

We also have a double barred choc cuckoo orp named "Brick". He's small when compared to the other two roos but was too beautiful to eat. He's also 8+mo, and a gentleman in every way. The young pullets prefer to follow Brick around. He never lets a female walk outside the run un-escorted and is always on the lookout for hawks.


The roos work together as an effective security team. So far no fighting / challenges. They are all terrific. We carry them to the garage to sleep at night (to be kind to the neighbors who want to sleep in) and bring them back out in the morning. They go through a patch of crowing & mating when they first get reunited with the hens, but after 10-20 min all is back to normal.

 

[Indyshent]

hi @kittydoc

Please show some cute baby chick pics when you can. (I miss all the cuteness, fluff & peeping.)

Do you still have "Cogburn"? Any recent pics?

Here's Cogburn's son "Mr Dummy-Pants" (black/lav split) and Cogburn's grandson "Moose" (lav)
BTW- Be careful when allowing young children to name pets. LOL
Although Moose is bigger, his daddy is still our wonderful flock leader. He does an excellent job of keeping peace in the flock and is great with people too.


Moose is still hormonal but is calming down. (Less hen raping and more dancing. A lot of dancing!) He has begun to call the hens over when he finds treats, but he does it as he's gobbling them down. Still working on those manners! He's 8.5 months

We also have a double barred choc cuckoo orp named "Brick". He's small when compared to the other two roos but was too beautiful to eat. He's also 8+mo, and a gentleman in every way. The young pullets prefer to follow Brick around. He never lets a female walk outside the run un-escorted and is always on the lookout for hawks.


The roos work together as an effective security team. So far no fighting / challenges. They are all terrific. We carry them to the garage to sleep at night (to be kind to the neighbors who want to sleep in) and bring them back out in the morning. They go through a patch of crowing & mating when they first get reunited with the hens, but after 10-20 min all is back to normal.

We purchased a few BO "pullets" a couple years ago, and all but one was a boy. Both of the boys had wonderful manners as teeny tiny chicks, and I'd been really looking forward to how they would grow up--even though I hadn't wanted a BO roo starting out. As week-old chicks, they were dancing and clucking for girls and weren't eating treats themselves. A dog killed one and my youngest accidentally stepped on the other (poor kid was so traumatized, but at least he doesn't roughhouse around the birds anymore). I couldn't sell brown eggs in this neighborhood, so I tried getting rid of all my brown layers. Still have a BO hen (she's not a fit breeder anyway--sweetest bird, but she's got an asymmetrical face and David Bowie pupils) who is my youngest's favorite, so she's staying til she dies at this rate. Real lap hen and never been broody but she lays light pinkish-brown eggs quite regularly.

 

[racinchickins]

Quote:
@racinchickins
Where did you get the silver phoenix? I seriously just want a couple hens from a broody breed.

I wonder if my new Buckeye ladies will tend broody? They are just coming into lay for the first time so they aren't a year old yet. It will be interesting to see what they do.
Mine came as part of a rare breed assortment from Murray McMurray. I've got a few crossbreed daughters of theirs that are pretty broody also, but I've never used them to raise chicks because I always go with their mothers to do it. I have a single buckeye hen, she's going on her second winter now and I don't remember her ever being broody. But that's only one example. I've had a pair of brahma hens for several years now, and they are supposed to be a broody breed. But mine have never tried.

 

[twoacrefarm]

Hey guys! Frustrated today... first we ordered 16 pullets, all came alive. Last week all but 3 sprouted tail feathers over night (one of each breed). The 13 are now about an inch and a half long. The other three are JUST NOW showing a small point of a tail... is this a good indication that they are males??

Then, one of the chicks keeps laying down and has been since the first day. Eats good, drinks good, growing feathers good, walks when necessary. I picked it up and one leg joint is bigger than the other, but doesn't act painful ... not sure whats going on. THEN.... same breed, different chick... one toe is completely horizontal. While she is walking fine, its just frustrating. I feel like I didn't get what I paid for. Don't get me wrong, if they were looking for a loving home who would take care of them no matter the problem, they got it. I have a heart for animals, they won't be food here.

Last question: we have the chicks inside in a trough in our basement now, and we are quickly seeing how much dust they are producing. Is it safe to move them to the heated (~60*F) garage with their heating lamp now? They were born Jan. 16 - making them a little over 2 weeks old.

Thanks for listening

 

[Faraday40]

Hey guys! Frustrated today... first we ordered 16 pullets, all came alive. Last week all but 3 sprouted tail feathers over night (one of each breed). The 13 are now about an inch and a half long. The other three are JUST NOW showing a small point of a tail... is this a good indication that they are males??

Then, one of the chicks keeps laying down and has been since the first day. Eats good, drinks good, growing feathers good, walks when necessary. I picked it up and one leg joint is bigger than the other, but doesn't act painful ... not sure whats going on. THEN.... same breed, different chick... one toe is completely horizontal. While she is walking fine, its just frustrating. I feel like I didn't get what I paid for. Don't get me wrong, if they were looking for a loving home who would take care of them no matter the problem, they got it. I have a heart for animals, they won't be food here.

Last question: we have the chicks inside in a trough in our basement now, and we are quickly seeing how much dust they are producing. Is it safe to move them to the heated (~60*F) garage with their heating lamp now? They were born Jan. 16 - making them a little over 2 weeks old.

Thanks for listening

Chicks need to be kept warm, but broody hens can safely raise chicks when temps are in single digits. Last year I tried an experiment using a simple "Mama Heating Pad" in the brooder. The idea is similar to those expensive heat plates & it worked great. I had 4 day old chicks in my detached garage in mid March! Even had a few days when it snowed but they did just fine. I never dared to hatch that early before. No chick dust in the house! It was a great idea.... but not mine originally. Here's a thread for inspiration:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update

I'll be using it again this year. Another benefit is that they seemed to feather out faster, so they didn't need any heat/electricity by 6 weeks. (As early as 3 weeks in the summer months!) This allowed me to put them inside a cage inside the run to allow for smoother flock introductions.

 

[JanetMarie]

Hey guys! Frustrated today... first we ordered 16 pullets, all came alive. Last week all but 3 sprouted tail feathers over night (one of each breed). The 13 are now about an inch and a half long. The other three are JUST NOW showing a small point of a tail... is this a good indication that they are males??

Then, one of the chicks keeps laying down and has been since the first day. Eats good, drinks good, growing feathers good, walks when necessary. I picked it up and one leg joint is bigger than the other, but doesn't act painful ... not sure whats going on. THEN.... same breed, different chick... one toe is completely horizontal. While she is walking fine, its just frustrating. I feel like I didn't get what I paid for. Don't get me wrong, if they were looking for a loving home who would take care of them no matter the problem, they got it. I have a heart for animals, they won't be food here.

Last question: we have the chicks inside in a trough in our basement now, and we are quickly seeing how much dust they are producing. Is it safe to move them to the heated (~60*F) garage with their heating lamp now? They were born Jan. 16 - making them a little over 2 weeks old.

Thanks for listening

Slipped tendon is the problem with one leg joint bigger than the other, and the chick not being able to straighten the leg. It may get better if taken to the right veterinarian immediately, who can stitch the tendon back into place. Until you can take it to a vet. the leg has to be worked every few hours, or kept straight in a splint, or the tendon will shorten very quickly, making it impossible to straighten the leg. My experience with slipped tendon did not have a good turn out.

 

[twoacrefarm]

Slipped tendon is the problem with one leg joint bigger than the other, and the chick not being able to straighten the leg.  It may get better if taken to the right veterinarian immediately, who can stitch the tendon back into place.  Until you can take it to a vet. the leg has to be worked every few hours, or kept straight in a splint, or the tendon will shorten very quickly, making it impossible to straighten the leg.  My experience with slipped tendon did not have a good turn out.

I'm not sure I know know a vet who does chickens. I'll call around today and find one. I'll try splinting it until. Thank you for the info!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

One more question.  Since my full English Orp chocolates and chocolate cuckoos are expensive and everyone wants pullets anyway, I have thought about crossing my chocolate cuckoo Eng Orp roo with my black Australorp pullets.  If I do that breeding, I can sex them immediately by color when they hatch, and only charge half as much since they are mixes.  It would not be ethical to pawn them off as Orps since they wouldn't be, but if you just want some colorful Orp-ish girls, it's an easy to get them.  I have 15 black Australorp pullets that should be at POL in 2-4 weeks and my young roo is doing a bang up (LOL) job.  If anyone is interested, let me know.  I can do pair breedings so I know which eggs are purebred and which are AustralorpOrps.  The pullets would all be solid chocolate or chocolate cuckoo.  I only have two black English Orp girls in that pen, so I am limited in my ability to create instantly sexable English Orp pullets of those colors.

I'm curious what people would think.  Chocolates are not cheap, and chocolate cuckoos are definitely not cheap (English Orps).  Half price would be more bearable, though I had strong demand for the English Orps last year.

I should have SGDs later this year, if my cockerel gets in gear before the girls go broody.  They really are sweet birds.  pipd was right!  The cockerel and three girls are all very sweet and gentle, and they are curious, too.  Different than Orps in size and appearance, but I think I will keep raising them if I ever get started!  They also stay cleaner since there isn't so much fluff.  That's a plus.  They have also tolerated the cold very well even they are not big birds (compared to Orps) and definitely more sleek.

Yay, so glad you're liking the Dorkings! I'm hoping to eventually become a customer, so fingers crossed your SGD boy starts getting busy, haha!

As for your question on chocolate birds, I personally would LOVE to get my hands on chocolate sexlink hatching eggs! But I'm in love with the color as is, regardless of whether it's a mix. And, to me, Australorps and Orpingtons seem fairly similar anyway, so while I could understand hesitance about getting cross breeds, I don't think anyone would mind the end product of the cross once they see them. I do agree in not pawning them off as pure bred, but I don't think you'll have trouble selling them as mixes, if that's what you're asking.

Hey guys! Frustrated today... first we ordered 16 pullets, all came alive. Last week all but 3 sprouted tail feathers over night (one of each breed). The 13 are now about an inch and a half long. The other three are JUST NOW showing a small point of a tail... is this a good indication that they are males??

Others have responded to your other two questions, so I'll address the first one. Where did you get these chicks and what breeds / varieties are they? Feathering speed is more dependent on breed and color variety than it is on the sex of the chick. That being said, feathering speed on males vs. females is a trait that can be bred for, and most hatcheries breed their stock for fast feathering females and slow feathering males. So depending on the chicks and where you got them, it can be an indication that they are males, but they could just as easily be slow feathering girls.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Lookit my silkied Cochin babies!! They're 4 weeks old today, and I'm so in love with these little munchkins! Aren't they just the cutest?!

Not to play favorites, but this little girl is definitely the prettiest. Her name is Abra.

The other little girl, who I've settled on Rowena as a name for

Ramsay was the first obvious boy:

Lucky, who's always been a spitfire so I kind of figured he was a little boy.

This little guy is the only one that I haven't come up with a name for. He's the sweetest of the three boys and loves to perch on my hand.

I just really love this picture. Ramsay, with the unnamed boy and Rowena in the background.

They're so soft with their fuzzy silkied feathers. I can't get over how precious they are!!