Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[NanaLynn]

Ended up adding a RIR chick to my Sep 16th order. Hoping for a calm personality. Then placed an order for the following week for 8 broiler Roos and a buff laced polish. Chickens are an expensive but rewarding hobby for me! Spent today working on my run, expanding it and building a compost corner for it. Also playing with some dog kennel panels trying to configure a safe but temporary run for the meaties. The thing about Meyers is the possibility to place small orders. Unfortunately they were out of the broiler chicks when I went to expand my original order.

I love my RIR, Ash, she is a pretty calm chicken, kind of the #2 or #3 behind the leader BR. I did have another one earlier that laid eggs sooner and was a little bossier, but I like the RIR and I will order more in the future.

Do you process your own chickens or take them some where? They are an "expensive but rewarding hobby", plus the other advantages are that they feed us, give us compost and till the garden too! Plus the endless entertainment!

I'd love to see your final setup. We're thinking of meat birds next year.

I spent today working in the chicken run too and the coop. The little chicks had all decided to roosts on the top edge of the coop where the poop just stayed and would not fall to the ground. It got pretty nasty. Cleaned it all up, lots of scraping and blocked off that area and then gave them another roost just as high, but further out from the walls so hopefully the poop will make it to the ground.

I also opened up the separation area in the coop so now they are all together, we'll see how that goes. I made a little area in the run that has the chicks feeder in it so they can still go somewhere and eat in peace. It is setup so the little ones can get in but the big ones can't. I was planning on waiting a couple of weeks, but those chicks are so big now and I found them in the coop yesterday with the big girls resting right near each other, so they are getting along most of the time.

We got 25 meat birds and they put a separator down the middle of the box so there were less on each side. None were trampled and none were lost.

My neighbors don't supplement with light in the winter and still got tons of eggs all winter long. They have a mixed flock of BA's, Leghorns, Cochin, EE, Brown Leghorn, Partridge Rock and can't remember what else. I don't think anything stops those BA's and leghorns from laying!
I have 2 RIR's one calm and one a little nutty bossy so I think they can go either way.Hope you get what you want!


LOL Maybe Meyer is watching the thread... NB.. I like it

Thanks for the shipping price. It makes it pay to order more chicks but I don't have anyone to share with.

You mentioned about your BA and Leghorns, do BA's lay everyday almost too? Good to know, if so. I won't be doing any supplement lighting in the winter myself, don't want the extra trouble or power expense.

So all my chicks and chickens are locked up now in the coop and run. While I was out working, two huge owls flew overhead. I thought they should be sleeping at 2 pm? I hate predators!!!

 

[NanaLynn]

I Hit my record of 11 eggs yesterday with only 1 green egg. I have 13 chickens so I'm still holding out for my last EE to lay green. Still not sure if she and my NB are laying. If my EE would let me pick her up maybe I could put that lipstick trick on her vent to put me out of my misery of not knowing.

Eleven eggs!!! Awesome! Congrats!!

Ha, ha, imagine if someone is watching that camera of yours while you're trying to put lipstick on your chickens vent?!

You're braver then me!

 

[trsturself]

Eleven eggs!!! Awesome! Congrats!!

Ha, ha, imagine if someone is watching that camera of yours while you're trying to put lipstick on your chickens vent?!

You're braver then me!

That would be hilarious!


We went to a local festival today that had a chicken race. My daughter entered with our BA, Sky, and her friend took her little polish that we've been watching. My daughter and her friend both won their first heats and then her friend beat my daughter in the second heat. It was fun. They really had the only chickens that would follow them. Everyone else's were all over the place. My daughter went after about 4 rounds of other chickens barely making it across the finish line (a couple didn't even do that), Sky ran across the finish line in 9 seconds. My daughter was very proud. The announcer and crowd couldn't believe it. I was disappointed they put the two girls against each other in the next round, otherwise they both could've won.

I have a really low quality video of my daughter in her first run. I'll see if I can upload it somewhere I can post it.


Oh yeah, we sold our little sizzle roo at our local chicken swap yesterday.
And at the festival today we bought an EE while there. We just couldn't help ourselves.
I'll post a pic of her once she has settled in a bit. I can't wait to see what color eggs she lays. She is bearded with a really nice pea comb. She is 12-13 weeks old according to the guy we bought her from.

 

[trsturself]

Since I was out taking pics of the new girl I figured I'd take a few of some of the rest of flock.

Our new girl. We are calling her Falcon for now




Mona. Our Partridge Rock. I think she'll lay in the next day or two. Her comb got a little bigger in the last few days, she is 3 fingers, and has been squawking up a storm


Amber. You can see her new tail feathers. You can tell she is still missing a lot of feathers. But we are thrilled with her progress.



Mona and Amber were taking turns grooming each other. I've never even seen them stand by each other before this!



Boomerang resting under the coop.


Our three Polish (we have 2 more right now but they are a friend of ours so I didn't take pics of them)
Left to right - Boomerang, Cloudy, and Loda (short for Pina Coloda)


A close up of Loda. We had to trim her crest. She couldn't see anything and kept running into the chicken wire and hurting herself.


Marble.



And of course have to show Cinnamon. Here she is resting with Sterling (Blue Cochin) and you can see Flower's tail peaking out.

 

[NanaLynn]

Since I was out taking pics of the new girl I figured I'd take a few of some of the rest of flock.

Our new girl. We are calling her Falcon for now




Mona. Our Partridge Rock. I think she'll lay in the next day or two. Her comb got a little bigger in the last few days, she is 3 fingers, and has been squawking up a storm


Amber. You can see her new tail feathers. You can tell she is still missing a lot of feathers. But we are thrilled with her progress.



Mona and Amber were taking turns grooming each other. I've never even seen them stand by each other before this!



Boomerang resting under the coop.


Our three Polish (we have 2 more right now but they are a friend of ours so I didn't take pics of them)
Left to right - Boomerang, Cloudy, and Loda (short for Pina Coloda)


A close up of Loda. We had to trim her crest. She couldn't see anything and kept running into the chicken wire and hurting herself.


Marble.



And of course have to show Cinnamon. Here she is resting with Sterling (Blue Cochin) and you can see Flower's tail peaking out.

Beautiful chickens and of course, love those Polish! I'd love to see the chicken race video too. Congrats to your daughter!

 

[NotableNancy]

Since I was out taking pics of the new girl I figured I'd take a few of some of the rest of flock.

Our new girl. We are calling her Falcon for now




Mona. Our Partridge Rock. I think she'll lay in the next day or two. Her comb got a little bigger in the last few days, she is 3 fingers, and has been squawking up a storm


Amber. You can see her new tail feathers. You can tell she is still missing a lot of feathers. But we are thrilled with her progress.



Mona and Amber were taking turns grooming each other. I've never even seen them stand by each other before this!



Boomerang resting under the coop.


Our three Polish (we have 2 more right now but they are a friend of ours so I didn't take pics of them)
Left to right - Boomerang, Cloudy, and Loda (short for Pina Coloda)


A close up of Loda. We had to trim her crest. She couldn't see anything and kept running into the chicken wire and hurting herself.


Marble.



And of course have to show Cinnamon. Here she is resting with Sterling (Blue Cochin) and you can see Flower's tail peaking out.

Mona is very pretty and does look about ready to lay to me too. Fingers crossed!
Your Polish are adorable!!!!! and Cinnamon

Eleven eggs!!! Awesome! Congrats!!

Ha, ha, imagine if someone is watching that camera of yours while you're trying to put lipstick on your chickens vent?!

You're braver then me!

Ewwww.... I didn't think of that People already think I'm nuts about my chickens. I'd have to figure out a way to do that off camera

 

[NanaLynn]

Nancy -Yes, I'd suggest an off camera lipstick application. Some things should just be done in private!!

I thought all of you might like this link: http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/conservation-priority-list#Chickens

It has info on a lot of the breeds we have and where they originated and such. I didn't realize some of mine are considered endangered, but I guess that is really for the heritage breeds. It is interesting to see how certain breeds were developed, etc. It is more detailed then the hatchery sites too. I love info and to learn more about my chickens.

Hope everyone is having a good week so far. Happy Monday! Guess I should get to work now!

-Lynn

 

[celticgarden]

I love my RIR, Ash, she is a pretty calm chicken, kind of the #2 or #3 behind the leader BR. I did have another one earlier that laid eggs sooner and was a little bossier, but I like the RIR and I will order more in the future.

Do you process your own chickens or take them some where? They are an "expensive but rewarding hobby", plus the other advantages are that they feed us, give us compost and till the garden too! Plus the endless entertainment!

I'd love to see your final setup. We're thinking of meat birds next year.

Well, am biting my nails as far as set up. We are on 0.4 acres. Also trying to do everything inexpensively, cost of living seems to keep going up. But it has to look "Protestant" as my Scottish husband would say. And for good reason, I don't want to drag the neighborhood down. They could easily call the town on me then I'd be begging all of you (or the CT forum) to re-home my hens! Boo hoo. Once in a while I jump online and look at real estate. This farming thing is in my blood!

I'll post pics of whatever I end up keeping the little fuzz balls in. Yes, I process my own. Let me frame the scenario: corner lot, road on 2 sides, neighbors all around. Where to slaughter a bird? On a tarp of course in the garage. I won't say anything more than I felt like Hannibal Lecter (shudder). Yup, 2 private acres would be much, much better!

 

[kbh82310]

Nancy -Yes, I'd suggest an off camera lipstick application. Some things should just be done in private!! I thought all of you might like this link: http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/conservation-priority-list#Chickens It has info on a lot of the breeds we have and where they originated and such. I didn't realize some of mine are considered endangered, but I guess that is really for the heritage breeds. It is interesting to see how certain breeds were developed, etc. It is more detailed then the hatchery sites too. I love info and to learn more about my chickens. Hope everyone is having a good week so far. Happy Monday! Guess I should get to work now! -Lynn

totally agree about off camera application! I could only imagine what the friends would think. That link is really cool, I have a few of those breeds. Thanks for sharing! I'm already ready for this weekend, idk about you. Hope you had a good Monday.

My neighbors don't supplement with light in the winter and still got tons of eggs all winter long. They have a mixed flock of BA's, Leghorns, Cochin, EE, Brown Leghorn, Partridge Rock and can't remember what else. I don't think anything stops those BA's and leghorns from laying! I have 2 RIR's one calm and one a little nutty bossy so I think they can go either way.Hope you get what you want! LOL Maybe Meyer is watching the thread... NB.. I like it Thanks for the shipping price. It makes it pay to order more chicks but I don't have anyone to share with.

I hope they are watching cause I want a few. We should get first dibs since we came up with it.

Since I was out taking pics of the new girl I figured I'd take a few of some of the rest of flock. Our new girl. We are calling her Falcon for now Mona. Our Partridge Rock. I think she'll lay in the next day or two. Her comb got a little bigger in the last few days, she is 3 fingers, and has been squawking up a storm Amber. You can see her new tail feathers. You can tell she is still missing a lot of feathers. But we are thrilled with her progress. Mona and Amber were taking turns grooming each other. I've never even seen them stand by each other before this! Boomerang resting under the coop. Our three Polish (we have 2 more right now but they are a friend of ours so I didn't take pics of them) Left to right - Boomerang, Cloudy, and Loda (short for Pina Coloda) A close up of Loda. We had to trim her crest. She couldn't see anything and kept running into the chicken wire and hurting herself. Marble. And of course have to show Cinnamon. Here she is resting with Sterling (Blue Cochin) and you can see Flower's tail peaking out.

I love all your pictures, cinnamon is just so cute!

 

[MsChickenMomma]

My girls turned 18 weeks yesterday, so I went out and took some pics for all of you.




Lucy - (Golden Campine) I wasn't able to get any close-up pictures of her.

Lizzie - (Golden Campine)






Lucy - (Black Australorp)






Alice - (White Leghorn)







Annie - (White Leghorn) Both of my WL's have been giving me an egg a day for the last 3 days.

Amber - (Easter Egger) and her little white earlobes....

Ellie - (Easter Egger) Notice how big her comb is getting!

Daffodil - (Buff Orpington)







and my sweet girl, Sunni.

- (Buff Orpington)








I had to dig a large spot of mold out of the yard from some spilled chicken feed, and I put the cage over the dirt spot to keep the chickens from digging in it. The crazy birdies love standing on top of it. You'd think it would hurt their feet!