Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[NanaLynn]

Alice one of my White Leghorns squatted for me today. She's 15 and a half weeks old.

It's hilarious that I was just asking yesterday when my girls might start squatting.

YAY!!! Eggs soon. My white leghorn, Snow was our first one to start and laid one pretty much everyday soon after. Prettiest white eggs ever!!! Let us know when you get that 1st egg from her.

Lynn- yea I have a 5ft ball python named Casper. He is prob bigger now tho cause its been over 6 months since I measured him.

My boys are grown and moved out on their own now, but if they were still here they'd be so jealous.

My little EE baby made it through the night, each time I would wake up and go downstairs I was holding my breath. She isn't standing up or walking but she is siting up and holds her head up. She also protests when I am feeding her, I see this as a good sign. I'm praying she pulls through. I will go to tractor supply and try to find some nutri drench today.

Yay, hope she keeps improving!

They are on my list for sure next time!! Hopefully you get some big white eggs soon. I kept reading about how flighty they are and my neighbor has 5 of them and they aren't friendly so I didn't order any but after seeing everyone's pics on here and the comments about them I will def. get at least one next time. Maybe a brown leghorn too

I love the leghorns too. You should look into the andulasions too, they lay the white eggs too and the new ones we have are so friendly.

Well I am holding my breath and crossing my fingers, the buckeye on Monday morning was my last loss. I ran out to TSC and got medication for the water and sanitized everything again. I had seperated as many of the chicks I hatched that I could recognize, most were EE mixes so it was hard to differentiate between them and I was terrified of accidentally picking a hatchery chick and having her get the rest of them sick. They are in a 100 gal water trough in my garage. All I can say is , I am very thankful that nothing appears to have spread to my babies and whatever was killing my Meyer babies seems to have subsided. I still do knot know what was affecting my poor little babies and I feel horrible for not getting them on the Terramycin meds sooner. I pray that I don't loose anymore.
I have been in contact with Meyer, they were researching to see what could be the culprit. I talked with them last on Monday and sent them an email update yesterday. It sounds like they are going to reimburse me for the lost chicks. They are such a great company, one associate was on the phone with me for half an hour or more, trying to figure it out and listening to me blubber, that definitely made me feel better about the situation. And I also want to thank YOU GUYS for your support, it means a lot. Thank you.

Glad to hear Meyer's is helping out. Such a great company! They make it hard to go anywhere else.

 

[NotableNancy]

I think my white Cochin has gone broody already! 23 weeks old. She sat in the nest for hours yesterday, slept in it last night and has been sitting in it again today for over 4 hours!
I kicked her out of the coop/nest and she's acting kinda strange. Walking around digging in the sand and she isn't squatting. Normally she squats when I'm within 3 feet of her.
Should I do anything?
There aren't even any eggs to sit on in there!

 

[NanaLynn]

I think my white Cochin has gone broody already! 23 weeks old. She sat in the nest for hours yesterday, slept in it last night and has been sitting in it again today for over 4 hours!
I kicked her out of the coop/nest and she's acting kinda strange. Walking around digging in the sand and she isn't squatting. Normally she squats when I'm within 3 feet of her.
Should I do anything?
There aren't even any eggs to sit on in there!

Oh wow! Did she even start laying eggs yet? I'd help, but too new at this myself.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

When off the nest, is she making a low, constant 'book-book-book' sound? Walking around with her feathers fluffed? Glaring, screeching, or acting threateningly toward the others if they come close? Defending her nest by growling, screeching, or pecking your hand? I have hens that spend hours on the nest while deciding if they're going to lay or not and they never go broody, but if she wanted to sleep on the nest, that sounds more like broody behavior. However, keep a close eye on her just in case. If she's not exhibiting much as far as broody behavior and just wants to sit on the nest, she may be ill and wanting to seclude herself in a dark place to rest.

As for what to do with her if she really is broody, it depends on whether you want her to raise chicks or not. If you want her to brood, leave her be and see if you can find some fertile eggs for her. She's awfully young and may not stick with it for long, though, so I wouldn't go too expensive on hatching eggs in case she quits on them.

If you don't want her to brood, keep her off the nest as much as possible. Some say if you leave them be they'll snap out of it after the amount of time it would have taken for eggs to hatch--however, I have heard of hens brooding for months and months and becoming dangerously thin. When my girls start to brood, I get a piece of fence, a dog crate, or a cage of any sort, just something to keep her off the nest but still in the flock, and keep her there until she quits. It usually doesn't take long, especially if she's in a high-traffic area and has nowhere dark or hidden to go to to keep her brain on brooding. Most of mine quit within a week or two of being kept off the nest.

 

[Poohb10454]

These are our surviving six chicks. 1 white rock, white leghorn, GLW, RIR, EE, and SLW (the sick one, but she seems to be doing a bit better already!)

How are your babies doing today? I'm hoping you haven't had any more losses.

What I did with heather was mix chick starter with electrolytes and mixed it when the chick starter was moist and took a little bit at a time and try and open her mouth (I used a tooth pick but sniped the sharp end off) and put a little in at a time. I did that every 2 hours

How long did you have to nurse heather along until she was back with the other chicks acting normally?

 

[kbh82310]

We got her wed morning and I think by sat morning she was back with her sisters. How is she doing?

 

[MsChickenMomma]

They are on my list for sure next time!!  Hopefully you get some big white eggs soon.  I kept reading about how flighty they are and my neighbor has 5 of them and they aren't friendly so I didn't order any but after seeing everyone's pics on here and the comments about them I will def. get at least one next time. Maybe a brown leghorn too

So far my two Leghorns arent at all flighty. Not like my Campines are. One of my Leghorns is very sweet. I can usually pick her up and hold her without protest. The other isnt flighty, but she isnt as sweet. They could end up flighty as they get older, but they are so beautiful in person that I think it would be worth it.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

YAY!!! Eggs soon. My white leghorn, Snow was our first one to start and laid one pretty much everyday soon after. Prettiest white eggs ever!!! Let us know when you get that 1st egg from her

I will definitely let you know as soon as they all start laying. It will be hard for me to tell when my Australorp and the two Buff Orpingtons start though because I will be intergrating them into my adult flock soon and they all lay brown eggs. I'll keep an eye on them though. Im so excited to finally be getting some eggs from my Meyer girls.

I have heard of some people saying to check the space between their pelvic bones. How do I do that, and where are the pelvic bones on a chicken? Sorry if that is a dumb question.

 

[Poohb10454]

We got her wed morning and I think by sat morning she was back with her sisters. How is she doing?

She has taken a turn for the worse. Barely holding her head up :-(

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

You can check her pelvic bones easily. Hold her so you can see her vent. You will be able to feel her pelvic bones by pressing your hand just below her vent. There will be two knobby bones sticking out, the amount of space in between the bones will tell you if she is laying or not. If you can only fit 2 fingers in between them, she's not laying. If you can fit three or more fingers between, she's either laying or going to shortly.