Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[MamaShell]

I know, as soon as I finished posting I saw Nancy's post above mine and felt guilty for posting so many pics after her heartbreaking news Here is a pic from yesterday when most of the other girls were hanging farther back she edged over to me to be petted, of course our Buff Orpington was on my lap when I took this. I joked with my husband yesterday that I wish we could have all Orpingtons and Dorkings. Just reacting to the drama with our Buckeye who is very likely a roo or a really aggressive pullet, frequently picking fights. Yesterday s/he jumped up in the air and aimed her claws at another chick, twice. Finally Amelia or Golden Buff tapped her on the head twice and Clara our EE raised her hackles back at the Buckeye. I've never seen Clara have conflict with anyone, she is such a giant hawk compared to them. Seriously considering taking the Buckeye to a local TSC swap tomorrow and just cutting our losses, we were going to wait until she crowed. Her comb also just turned pink yesterday. Early suspicions were extremely slow growing tail (like had a smooth short fuzzy bottom two weeks after all the girls had one inch tails) and standing tall while the others hid when my husband had an epic sneeze. Also the loudest. Sigh.

Good luck with the buckeye! Tough decision, but, may be best to cut your losses now for some peace. The others sound wonderful.

 

[rnchick74]

You could always trade your Australorp for the Black Copper Marans *innocent smile* I was debating between the two and chose the BCM for the darker eggs, feathered feet and pretty copper neck. She is a sweetie, she used to perch on my finger, hunker down and go right to sleep. I know Australorps lay more but come on you know your son wants chocolate eggs! Lol. Though I can't actually speak for the eggs, ours are only 5 and a half weeks old

I would hate to lose the chick that is supposed to be the best producer, but I've also increased the # of chicks from 4 - 6! That is a consideration, since Marans and Orpingtons are both good producers. The only concern would be if I lose any chicks... I do have 2 polish but those are going to be more "pet" and my son wants 1 for me and 1 for him. He calls those our "special" birds...probably more special needs birds than anything!

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

rnchick74,
If you are worried about the Black Copper Marans not laying as well, my BCM hens lay about 4-5 eggs a week and they are not hatchery stock, so Meyer girls *should* lay better than that since they breed for production. I am just warning you not to expect moderately dark eggs from them.

My Meyer Buff Orps are great layers and give me about 5 eggs a week each. I think my Barred Rocks and RIR are actually the best non-hybrid layers. The BRs started laying almost a month before any of the other brown layers, they were even 2 weeks ahead of the white Leghorns.

 

[NotableNancy]

Nancy - I'm glad everyone is doing ok today. How are YOU doing? I'm sure losing the one was quite an emotional event. Make sure to take care of yourself.

I'm sure they won't be on the heat for very long, but I'm keeping them inside while they are little & we are already using the AC here in KY! I didn't want to use a heat lamp because I work outside the home & the risk of fire with cats running around. (The brooder has lids that lock down with cat proof screens). The premier 1 heat panel seems very nice & I will have it for a very long time! I ordered the waterer from premier one as well. Here is the link: http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=120914&cat_id=140

I'm doing the PT! It hurts, but I keep pushing on!

Thank you... all the girls are ok so hopefully it was a freak occurrence.
Great waterer. I may get that next time I start with chicks.

@NotableNancy
I am so very sorry for your loss. She lived a happy healthy life and no doubt you have enjoyed her company while she was with you. Some girls are just special, and we won't forget them. Rest in peace, Mrs Puff and my sweet wyandotte Baby.

Thank you... she was a sweetie. Although, since I got rid of my mean RIR they all are pretty sweet.

Sorry, with all the sadness surrounding the unexpected death of Mrs. Puff, I didn't comment on these photos. What a beauty! Victoria looks so sweet. I can see how your husband became attached to her.

X2.... I wanted to comment. They are adorable

For the big coop, I'm going to splurge and get the Chicken Fountain because I want to have the garden hose set up to constantly refill it. I work outside the home & during the summer, the weather can get quite hot here, so I don't want to risk water ever running out! I plan on keeping the main food & water dishes in the run.

I might try to rig a small drip catcher for the chick bottle - I might use it in the coop since it's so small & doesn't take a lot of room.


But I just added another bird to my order from Meyers! LOL! I'm insane!!! My son is going to be so upset with me! I added the Black Copper Maran's female Of course if one of my other 1st choices opens up, then I will switch...

I need to STOP looking at the Meyers page! I'm at my max # of chickens!!!!

Nope not insane.. chicken math gets the best of us. The farm where I work is getting chickens soon and she built the coop for 8-10 but somehow ordered 16!!! love it

You are in good company (or is it bad?), I just ordered 2 started Easter Egger pullets. I should have them on June 5th. The countdown begins . . .

Are you picking up the EE's or do they ship started pullets? I would like to try that next time rather than chicks. If they come from a hatchery do you think they have to be quarantined?

I know, as soon as I finished posting I saw Nancy's post above mine and felt guilty for posting so many pics after her heartbreaking news

Here is a pic from yesterday when most of the other girls were hanging farther back she edged over to me to be petted, of course our Buff Orpington was on my lap when I took this. I joked with my husband yesterday that I wish we could have all Orpingtons and Dorkings. Just reacting to the drama with our Buckeye who is very likely a roo or a really aggressive pullet, frequently picking fights. Yesterday s/he jumped up in the air and aimed her claws at another chick, twice. Finally Amelia or Golden Buff tapped her on the head twice and Clara our EE raised her hackles back at the Buckeye. I've never seen Clara have conflict with anyone, she is such a giant hawk compared to them. Seriously considering taking the Buckeye to a local TSC swap tomorrow and just cutting our losses, we were going to wait until she crowed. Her comb also just turned pink yesterday. Early suspicions were extremely slow growing tail (like had a smooth short fuzzy bottom two weeks after all the girls had one inch tails) and standing tall while the others hid when my husband had an epic sneeze. Also the loudest. Sigh.

NO... we should never feel bad about posting pics or telling stories of our flock if something sad is going on. Life goes on right?
You're doing a great job socializing with them. How do you keep them from pooping on the furniture??
I regret not giving away my mean RIR sooner. Just from my experience, how little it is, I don't think they change their personality. Even if it is a pullet she sounds pretty aggressive and
I doubt will change. Lynn went through it too and had the same experience. They may have something nice at the swap to replace her/him with.

Good luck with the buckeye! Tough decision, but, may be best to cut your losses now for some peace. The others sound wonderful.

X2

I would hate to lose the chick that is supposed to be the best producer, but I've also increased the # of chicks from 4 - 6! That is a consideration, since Marans and Orpingtons are both good producers. The only concern would be if I lose any chicks... I do have 2 polish but those are going to be more "pet" and my son wants 1 for me and 1 for him. He calls those our "special" birds...probably more special needs birds than anything!

For what it's worth I have 2 BA's and neither are fantastic layers. One only lays a few times a week and the other I think about 4. I would rather have ordered just 1 BA but my DH wanted a big black bird and I got 2 in case one ended up being a roo or died. I figured since he worked outside every Sat and Sun for 3 months to build my run the least I could do was get a chicken he wanted. LOL.

rnchick74,
If you are worried about the Black Copper Marans not laying as well, my BCM hens lay about 4-5 eggs a week and they are not hatchery stock, so Meyer girls *should* lay better than that since they breed for production. I am just warning you not to expect moderately dark eggs from them.

My Meyer Buff Orps are great layers and give me about 5 eggs a week each. I think my Barred Rocks and RIR are actually the best non-hybrid layers. The BRs started laying almost a month before any of the other brown layers, they were even 2 weeks ahead of the white Leghorns.

My RIR and EE's are my best layers... 6 a week and my RIR was the first to lay and my one EE the week later. Although one EE waited till she was 10 months old to lay but it's a pretty green egg so worth the wait.

 

[MamaShell]

Thank you... all the girls are ok so hopefully it was a freak occurrence.

Are you picking up the EE's or do they ship started pullets? I would like to try that next time rather than chicks. If they come from a hatchery do you think they have to be quarantined?

I am glad the others are ok!

Meyers is 9 hours away from me. It would not be practical for me to go get them. They are shipping the pullets overnight. They will ship on June 4th and I should have them before noon on the 5th. Please pray that the weather is not too hot for them!

In their catalog, it says that the started pullets "are fully vaccinated (at 8 different ages), beak trimmed, floor raised, treated for intestinal worms, and ready to move into your laying barn;" so, I am hoping that they will be ok being integrated right away. I think I will just keep them separated the first day until night and move the two EEs into the coop when all are asleep, or I will put them in the run with the others a couple of hours after I get them (after I check them out and they seem to be healthy, etc.). Either way, hopefully, they will all adjust quickly! It is kind of scary to think of losing them all from illness by introducing new chickens to the flock but I suppose getting them from Meyer is better than getting them from a local farm that doesn't vaccinate and has no health board regulating them. It's a risk that I hope will pay off. I have been kicking myself for not ordering some EEs as baby chicks and I have been so envious of all of you who have them!

Ironically, these 2 chickens are costing me about the same as 15 day old chicks. However, I haven't had to feed them for the first 16-20 weeks either, so, maybe the cost is not so much more. I really don't want to do that chicken math and see what I have spent on my chicks so far.

Well, I hope you can learn from my experiment! I will definitely keep you posted.

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

I am glad the others are ok!

Meyers is 9 hours away from me. It would not be practical for me to go get them. They are shipping the pullets overnight. They will ship on June 4th and I should have them before noon on the 5th. Please pray that the weather is not too hot for them!

In their catalog, it says that the started pullets "are fully vaccinated (at 8 different ages), beak trimmed, floor raised, treated for intestinal worms, and ready to move into your laying barn;" so, I am hoping that they will be ok being integrated right away. I think I will just keep them separated the first day until night and move the two EEs into the coop when all are asleep, or I will put them in the run with the others a couple of hours after I get them (after I check them out and they seem to be healthy, etc.). Either way, hopefully, they will all adjust quickly! It is kind of scary to think of losing them all from illness by introducing new chickens to the flock but I suppose getting them from Meyer is better than getting them from a local farm that doesn't vaccinate and has no health board regulating them. It's a risk that I hope will pay off. I have been kicking myself for not ordering some EEs as baby chicks and I have been so envious of all of you who have them!

Ironically, these 2 chickens are costing me about the same as 15 day old chicks. However, I haven't had to feed them for the first 16-20 weeks either, so, maybe the cost is not so much more. I really don't want to do that chicken math and see what I have spent on my chicks so far.

Well, I hope you can learn from my experiment! I will definitely keep you posted.

I would still quarantine, you may have to treat for mites/lice or other minor issues. Not to mention that you can't just toss two new birds into an established flock, they will most likely be bullied out of the coop and away from the food and water. A cage/pen inside the coop will help them establish themselves into the flock so when they are introduced, there shouldn't be too much fighting/bullying.

 

[MamaShell]

I would still quarantine, you may have to treat for mites/lice or other minor issues. Not to mention that you can't just toss two new birds into an established flock, they will most likely be bullied out of the coop and away from the food and water. A cage/pen inside the coop will help them establish themselves into the flock so when they are introduced, there shouldn't be too much fighting/bullying.

That's true. I didn't think about mites or lice. I did figure that I would put them in the brooder in the garage for awhile so that I could check them over. I am not sure about the bullying as the 2 new birds will be much older than all the others. They will be 16-20 weeks old while the existing flock will be only 11 weeks at that time. There are so many different opinions about how and when to integrate, it is really tough to decide. If I were to separate them in the run for awhile, I would have to bring them in and out from the garage each morning and night as I do not have any housing for them besides the main coop. Any suggestions on temporary housing inside the run that they can sleep in?

 

[autumnhearth]

Nancy I don't keep them from pooping on the furniture, though most days they only poop on the rug or me, I put the towel back on the chair last night

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

That's true. I didn't think about mites or lice. I did figure that I would put them in the brooder in the garage for awhile so that I could check them over. I am not sure about the bullying as the 2 new birds will be much older than all the others. They will be 16-20 weeks old while the existing flock will be only 11 weeks at that time. There are so many different opinions about how and when to integrate, it is really tough to decide. If I were to separate them in the run for awhile, I would have to bring them in and out from the garage each morning and night as I do not have any housing for them besides the main coop. Any suggestions on temporary housing inside the run that they can sleep in?

Oh I totally missed the part where you said the existing flock is all babies! In that case, I would worry that the new POL pullets would bully the young ones.

I would partition off a small section of the coop after the new ones go through quarantine. A large dog cage would work too. Then after a week or so, I would start letting them out during the day then locking them up at night for the next week. Or that's what I do when I introduce my younger (15wks) ones to the older established flock. Make sure you have two food and water sources just so there is no fighting over them.

 

[mimischicksnat]

Hi everyone! I'm expecting my shipment from Meyers in about a week and a half. Ordered online a couple of weeks ago, kept checking the site, called to change my order to add a Blue Americauna, then called again today to add 2 speckled sussex. It's almost like winning the lottery when what you want is available to ship at the same time as the original order!

#1 - never dreamed I'd be willing to pay $20 for one chick BAM
#2 Staff was awesome both times I added chicks to the order. Sort of chuckled when I told them today that I was keeping this addition to the order secret from my husband since I don't think he will notice I added some more...

I am waiting to bring home a batch from Murray McMurray that my sister-in-law is keeping for me for now. 3 weeks old and all doing well. She added to her flock too so some of the chicks are hers.

I don't even have them home yet and I have ants in my pants!!!