"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[sdm111]

Just wondering if anyone around st tammany have lakenvelders? Thsnks

 

[Chica Chick]

Hello from the LA-yers. Tell us why you want SS. Curious Why someone new to chickens Would Pick a certain breed. Do you have a coop yet? Pam

Thanks for the welcoming from all!
So... Ive been reading and researching and the qualities I like are:

Disposition is calm and curious by all reports.
They are beautiful, at least the pics I've seen.
Good size.
Decent egg layers.
Overall just seems like a good fit.

We (my 6 year old and I) also like buff orpingtons but I think the light color would make them make prone to predators. They will have supervised free range when we are home, but there are always Hawks around. Seems the speckled coloring offers more camouflage.

And did I mention they are pretty???

No coop yet. Planning now. To start building in a couple weeks. Planning on a 4x8 coop with a 10x10 run.

 

[Chica Chick]

WELCOME TO BYC. We just became new best friends. I have speckled sussex, and I will be hatching babies in the near future. Mine are are backyard quality, so if you're interested in bloodlines or show birds then a breeder is the way to go. You can look through my pictures to see mine.

I absolutely LOVE the speckled sussex. Their eggs are medium sized (at least mine are) but they're so soft and gentle. They have good camouflage in dry leaves, which is important if you're planning to free range. I have 14 chickens and five of them are the SS (lost one recently) because they are my favorite.

I found mine at a poultry auction and an ad on bookoo, so I can't help much with where to get them. I've heard that Petrus in Alexandria had some a while back, so maybe they'll get more in the spring. There's a whole sussex thread you can join and look around; you can find it in my history.

As far as I know I'm the only one in this thread with the speckled sussex, so don't let anyone else change your mind.

Thanks for the welcome! Learning so much from everyone so far.
Pam, this about sums it up.
I am, however, open to other recommendations...

 

[TerriLaChicks]

Ok, bator update: added the thermometer/hygrometer last night, and one in the laundry room. My two thermometers are reading diff temps: the one that came with the bator read 100~, and the new one was 98. So I bumped it up slightly and now the new one is reading 100, but the original is around 102. Should I bump it back down and trust the original? Add a third and take an average? The humidity inside the bator is steady around 30%, dry. The humidity in the house is 60%. I reread that article and took out the second red vent plug, so we'll see how that affects the humidity. I feel bad bothering the lady on a Sunday (and there are a ton if extra vehicles, so extra family?) so I may wait til tomorrow for eggs. Then again, it would be fun to hatch over the weekend when the kids are home. So maybe I'll wait til Friday.

Better to err on the low side -- too high will cook your eggs. 102 is on the high side. I run my bator at 99 - 100. Don't overthink it; you don't need to add a 3rd & stress yourself -- remember this, every time you open the bator you are affecting the temp & humidity - it will take that much longer to stabilize. You should wait an average of TWO HOURS before rechecking your temps & humidity - it takes that long for them to re-stabilize. Less is better.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

Well tonight when we closed the coops she, I'm guessing, did several ca- Preeks then make a repetive noise Ca,Ca,Ca,Ca, ,ca... As fast as a automatic gun so funny. The wattle is small and feels more bone then wattles on a chickens. I'll take a male when I'm positive its a female Which should be Soon. Pam

Yeah, sounds like a female and I would LOVE to give you a mate - or two -- for her! Now I have to figure out how to catch those buggers... (I'll net them at night when they are on the top of the run, roosting. I've done this before). IF mine behave & live long enough. The past 2 days they've decided to go trucking right down the center of the highway in front of the house every morning -- so they may very well get themselves run over.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

Thanks for the welcoming from all!
So... Ive been reading and researching and the qualities I like are:

Disposition is calm and curious by all reports.
They are beautiful, at least the pics I've seen.
Good size.
Decent egg layers.
Overall just seems like a good fit.

We (my 6 year old and I) also like buff orpingtons but I think the light color would make them make prone to predators. They will have supervised free range when we are home, but there are always Hawks around. Seems the speckled coloring offers more camouflage.

And did I mention they are pretty???

No coop yet. Planning now. To start building in a couple weeks. Planning on a 4x8 coop with a 10x10 run.

I like the Sussex, even thought I've never raised any. You are absolutely correct that the lighter breeds attract predators -- I tried several times to raise "blue" & "splash" & they are always the first ones I've lost to predators. I like Welsummers a lot & have raised several over the years, also the Cuckoo Marans - right now have six heritage Rhode Island Reds in the brooder & looking hard at Bielefelders for the future.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

Ok ya'll I will have eggs soon and don't know whether to try a dry hatch or not. I've had the Dickeys cabinet running for a couple weeks now with temp ranging from 99.5-99.7 humidity 53-56%
Dickey suggest to keep humidity at 54% for entire hatch and mist/spray the eggs during lockdown. I don't know what to do. I started a thread in the incubating section to ask what others are doing and haven't received a single reply. I've read all the old threads on Dickey bators that I can find. Anyone have suggestions?

Just my opinion, I keep my humidity around 30=-35% --I found the higher humidity caused chicks to drown in the shells before hatching - I have better hatches with the lower humidity. I don't know how it works in those big bators though/ maybe someone w/more experience w/those will chime in. Once the hatch starts, the humidity naturally spikes up.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

Just wondering if anyone around st tammany have lakenvelders? Thsnks

Our neighbors had a few - hatchery stock - a couple years ago - they were very pretty but not great layers, don't know any breeders around here, sorry.

 

[campingshaws]

Thanks for the welcoming from all!
So... Ive been reading and researching and the qualities I like are:

Disposition is calm and curious by all reports.
They are beautiful, at least the pics I've seen.
Good size.
Decent egg layers.
Overall just seems like a good fit.

We (my 6 year old and I) also like buff orpingtons but I think the light color would make them make prone to predators. They will have supervised free range when we are home, but there are always Hawks around. Seems the speckled coloring offers more camouflage.

And did I mention they are pretty???

No coop yet. Planning now. To start building in a couple weeks. Planning on a 4x8 coop with a 10x10 run.

Bias aside, I do have to admit that my australorp is the friendliest and most relaxed chicken ever. She's been handled by my 5 to since the day we got her; the other day she rode on my shoulder for a few minutes. She's the one I hand to people who are scared of chickens. She still stands her ground, though, and has put the dogs/cat in place several times.

I think that chickens are a lot like dogs: the way they behave reflects the way they're handled. My birds are calm and gentle because I'm calm and gentle. When I've gone out of town and had people watching them, I find the birds are stressed and bitey when I get back. My ex-bat white layers are actually the friendliest (read: most huggable) of my whole flock.

I've only had chickens since August, so I'm still totally inexperienced compared to everyone else. These are just my observations.

 

[campingshaws]

Better to err on the low side -- too high will cook your eggs. 102 is on the high side. I run my bator at 99 - 100. Don't overthink it; you don't need to add a 3rd & stress yourself -- remember this, every time you open the bator you are affecting the temp & humidity - it will take that much longer to stabilize. You should wait an average of TWO HOURS before rechecking your temps & humidity - it takes that long for them to re-stabilize. Less is better.

I felt the same way. Good. Nice to know my instincts are checking out. I checked again and it was just under 102, so I nudged it again. The humidity was up around 34%, and I saw you say that's about where yours runs?

I think I'm ready. This is so exciting.