Java Thread

[java girl 2]

OK, MY EGGS ARE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND NO EGGS ARE BROKING!!!!!!

 

[bnjrob]

OK, MY EGGS ARE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND NO EGGS ARE BROKING!!!!!!

Yay!

 

[Chickielady]

So how is the java egg production? What size eggs are you getting?

Java eggs I have seen from 3 or 4 different bloodlines are all about the same.
They are light light tannish-pink in color like the Buckeye egg, usually longer than big around, a more torpedoe shape than round.
Size is in the commercial equivilant of a medium to large egg.
Not seeing very many double yolkers in these heritage breeds as I do in newer breeds and commercial layers who are designed to pump out OVA.
They do go broody, so far not as bad as Buckeyes do !
But they do go broody and make very good Mothers.
I have a wonderful java hen from haTHOR sitting on 11 eggs right now.
She is an absolute doll, and most talkative as well !
The hen is in a layer flock, and I gave her 11 eggs from the breeder flock of Bowen Javas.
So far, she is sitting tight !

 

[Grumpypantsmomma]

Well out of 5 Sexed pullet's I bought 2 have turned out to be Roo's. Hoping they would all be girls We ordered a little Cockerel he hatched out a week ago and is 6 wks younger then the rest, when we picked him up he was almost at heavens gate.I promptly got him home and got some save a chicks down him and he was back up and running around eating and drinking playing with the others. I am kinda hoping that He turns out to be a She then I would have 3 and 3. My question is would they be o.k. in pairs? I know not many people around here are patient in waiting for their chicks to grow and produce and their is NO way I will give them up to the feed store even if i have to build separate living quarters for the boys. I am having a hard time finding home for other chicks that hatched out.
One of the little boys likes to fly up on my hand when i am changing their water I pet his chest and he will start cuddling he doesn't even peep when i give him a little kiss on the head.

 

[bnjrob]

I read in one of my chicken books this morning that said keeping 3 roosters together rather than just 2 can help decrease problems between them.

Of course you never know - the boys might turn out to be friends. Right now the two older boys that we have are still lovey-dovey with each other and aren't having any problems getting along. Of course that could change as they mature, but for now they are happy with each other.

 

[haTHOR]

Glad my girl is sitting for you! That is something about my flock I want to KEEP--a lot of broodiness. <3

Java eggs I have seen from 3 or 4 different bloodlines are all about the same.
They are light light tannish-pink in color like the Buckeye egg, usually longer than big around, a more torpedoe shape than round.
Size is in the commercial equivilant of a medium to large egg.
Not seeing very many double yolkers in these heritage breeds as I do in newer breeds and commercial layers who are designed to pump out OVA.
They do go broody, so far not as bad as Buckeyes do !
But they do go broody and make very good Mothers.
I have a wonderful java hen from haTHOR sitting on 11 eggs right now.
She is an absolute doll, and most talkative as well !
The hen is in a layer flock, and I gave her 11 eggs from the breeder flock of Bowen Javas.
So far, she is sitting tight !

 

[Life is Good!]

My question is would they be o.k. in pairs? I know not many people around here are patient in waiting for their chicks to grow and produce and their is NO way I will give them up to the feed store even if i have to build separate living quarters for the boys.

My flock started with 6 boys and 5 girls. They grew up from brooder to 13wks together and for the most part got along fine. My trouble is too many neighbors. I had to reduce the number of crowers to one. At the end of their time together - four of the boys tended to 'get into it' by chest bumping, 'hoarding' the hens into corners from one another, etc. Not very gentlemanly behavior. Once they were seperated from the hens, it seemed like they got along better.

I've heard of folks building bachelor pens - just make sure the boys have NO line of sight to the girls - then they'll be happy enough.

 

[Life is Good!]

I know it's still 6 weeks away or so...But is anyone attending the 2012 Garfield Farm Rare Breed Show, May 20th?
I'll be in the audience that morning, wondering if anyone else will be as well!
Hoping to bring home a dozen chicks, as my flock isn't going broody. Watch, I bring home chicks and viola - someone will go broody! Isn't that how it works?!

 

[bnjrob]

Question for you experienced Java keepers - Are Javas usually quick to start getting wing feathers? Is it normal to have significant differences in the amount of wing feathers/growth in chicks of the same breed and age? (these are mottled javas)

Here's the deal - got 12 hatchlings (1 day old) last week. At 2 days old, we noticed that several had some pretty big wing feathers. I've got one now that has a full set of white wings and is bigger than everyone else. In fact, this one big thing is nearly as big as one of the 3 week old chicks that I also have.

Over the last week, we have lost 3 chicks to unknown causes. One minute they were perfectly fine, running around and then during a check on them (checking every 1-2 hours since I work from home), suddenly they were lethargic, couldn't stand. Warmth, electrolytes did nothing to help.

The first to die I think got trampled by the bigger ones - he was sitting by the feeder and there were multiple siblings walking all over it. The second had a scab on its butt - thinking it got pecked at by the others. The one that died yesterday died within an hour of me finding it weak and just laying there. Tonight, I've found one that is weak but can still stand - found it had a pasty butt so I cleaned off the vent. He is still alive but not wanting to drink and after I cleaned his butt and put him back in the brooder, one of the larger siblings came over and tried pecking his vent until I shooed it away. The rest of these guys are doing fine and running around like little lunatics. The one with the feathered wings - he (it) actually "flew" up to sit on top of the feeder jar the other day.

Hubby is a vet and we can't figure out what we are doing wrong (if it's us). We know that birds just die - hubby says he tries to touch his bird patients at work a minimal amount because birds are so prone to just croaking from being stressed by the littlest things.

Thing is, all the ones that have died have been "runty" compared to these others. The others are not only bigger, but they have if not full wing feathers, they are pretty darn close. These runts that have died - and the one that is weak tonight, did not have good feathers. One of them had no feathers at all - just fluff. The others just had the tiniest bit of teeny feathers at the ends of their wings - didn't even look like wings yet.

We also have a trio of 2 week old ones (they are now 3 weeks old) and one of them is nearly fully feathered, another is slightly smaller but has good wing feathers, and then the third is quite a bit smaller and has just the tiniest of wing feathers on the tips - it looks like the ones that have died, mostly fluff, just a little bit bigger. I've even been thinking I need to put it and one of the younger ones that is so much bigger than the rest of its group together - just to try to keep some of the smaller 1 weekers safe cuz it tramples all over them to get to food and water (even though it could just go to the other side of the feeder).

I'm getting frustrated since it isn't like I can just go out to the feed store and replace the chicks that have died. And I know that in breeding, you want the hardiest chickens cuz you don't want to pass on any genetic weaknesses. Since I don't know how fast these little Javas develop, I am trying to figure out if these guys that have so many wing feathers and are so big are going to be more likely to live and these others are dying because they are the runts and that is how nature works. Does that make sense?

So...is it normal to have a large variation in how fast they develop when they are the same age? Do they normally get feathered looking wings so young? Any ideas? It's really irritating me that I can keep all manner of mammals alive, but these little chicks have died on me - and it's really sad to see my husband the veterinarian looking at them and not be able to do anything either!

Answers? Thoughts? Am I nuts? Is there a "normal" with Java chicks?

 

[bnjrob]

Well, we lost the 4th one last night. But we think we have the mystery of the deaths solved. Hubby did a necropsy today - looked fine except there was one thing missing - FOOD! The chick didn't have any food in it.

All the ones that have died were the smallest. We think that the others are bullying and not letting the smaller ones eat. I have watched and seen how a small one will be eating and then a larger one will see the small one eating and suddenly run to the feeder and start sticking its head into the feeder hole that the small one was eating out of (instead of going to the next available open hole in the feeder). The little one will sit there and just let the big one stomp all over and eat instead of fighting for a place.

Good grief! I had no idea that they learned bullying at such an early age. So now I am debating about taking out the really big baby and maybe one or two of the other larger, more feathered wing chicks out and putting them into their own box. Then they can fight each other for the food and the rest of the ones that aren't quite as large as the biggest ones can eat in peace without getting stomped on and walked all over. Cuz this am when I got up, one of the smaller ones that are alive - that is bigger than the ones that died - was getting bullied at the feeder by that one really big thing.

Exasperated sigh. And of course the one that hubby did the necropsy on - it was a girl. At this rate, I probably have a bunch of roosters and aren't going to have any girls left to try to breed.