Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[autumnhearth]

Not Pip, but I've picked up chicks at the store before. Most important thing to bring : your wallet! Or a pair of eye blinders

no seriously , they keep extra chicks and bb turkey poults for sale in bins inside the store...along with just about everything chicken you could ever want or need. The one time I went, they had a huge variety of pullet chicks , that's where I got my Sultan, Columbian Wyandotte's, and buckeye.

You pretty just walk up to the desk, tell them you are there to pickup your order and they will bring your box out from the back room. Then you just pay and are in your way

Of course I love chatting with the ladies in there for a while and shopping the chick bins. So I might be there for a half an hour, thank goodness I'm 3 hours away

Boo I feel a bit cheated, there were no chicks in bins out in the store when we picked up ours in April, just merch. Prob for the best though, the husband said no extras, though I wish we have added just one more since our Buckeye turned out to be a roo. Oh well our five girls are doing well, but the coop really needs to get finished this weekend, I can't wait for them to be outside.


Clara our hawk... err Easter Egger at 6 weeks. She's so big and she may be at the top of the pecking order, she never challenges anyone and when anyone challenges her she simply flared her neck feathers, puffs up and/or raises her shoulders ever so slightly and the back down. No dancing, hopping or raising heads higher necessary.


Amelia our Golden Buff (sex-link) also six weeks. She may be the boldest but when it comes right down to it she's a big mama's girl. She and Clara don't like being picked up as much as the others, they prefer to fly to me, but once she's out of the brooder and has a bit of exploring she loves to cuddle. Those are Clara's bottom feathers next to her.


Baby Buff the Buff Orp, my lap, shoulder and here hand chicken. Funny thing about this pic from yesterday is I didn't scoop her up (though she and the Dorking are very scoopable) she hopped up onto my arm then walked down to my hand and just layed down, stayed there for 10 mins too until my son asked to go for a bike ride. Amelia is on my lap in this pic too. She may be at the bottom of the pecking order, but after the Buckeye left she was trying a brief rise in power, she the Maran and Dorking are still figuring out where they stand. She does get to perch next to Clara at night though.

Will have to take good pics of the other two today, my phone was charging when Victoria (the Dorking) and Clara were pretending to be jungle fowl yesterday in the high leafy weeds, they were seriously scratching in there for a half an hour, when I scooped them out I saw there were some thick old dead branches so prob lots of tasty bugs. Baby Buff caught a huge thick worm yesterday but took too much time pecking at it that Amelia found her out and swallowed it. Victoria also caught a mayfly mid flight. So proud.

 

[autumnhearth]

Thought I would share some pics of my Meyers gals... They've been going out in the small run (my older girls are pastured) during the day. I have a blue cochin, 2 welsummers, a speckled Sussex, and an Easter egger from Meyer that were 4 weeks old this Monday. The EE is being raised by my broody Ameraucana Poe. I also have 2 Crested cream legbars I got from a fellow BYC'er, they are 5 weeks old.


CCL in front Wellsummer in back. I was calling this CCL Etta but I'm not sure it's gonna stick. This wellie doesn't have a name yet as she still is super skittish.


My SS Olive. It's crazy how much they have tamed down in the last week. I mean they don't come running to me, but they run away much less and don't squawk like the dickens when I catch em.

CCL Poppy on the top right. My cochin in the center, thinking of calling her Lán sè (Chinese for Blue) since the Cochin originated in China I believe.
See that welsummer on the top left? Feathering in much slower than the other wellie? I'm still hoping it's a girl... But I started calling her Rue long ago. Ya know, Rue pronounced just like Roo (didn't think about it til a week or two ago when I actually said it aloud...) Hopefully I didn't jinx her! No black chest feathers yet so fingers crossed.

What a great batch! Cream Legbars, Welsummers and Speckled Sussex are all on my short list. Originally my husband ruled out SS because he thought it looked like the had lichen or mold on their feathers *eyeroll* but they are so adorable with their eyes and bibs! May get all of the above with more Dorkings in a few years and they will be the super gorgeous chicks with eye liner! I saw your pics of them as fuzzy chicks, too cute! My goal is to have three hens each of our favorite breeds when we get land, maybe a roo or two for breeding. I want to breed Favaucanas and Buff/White Laced Red Wyandottes one day and have separate flock of Buckeyes, Dorkings and Cornish for table birds.

 

[christine9]

CL s June 9 & 23!!
Woohoo! We're getting closer and closer.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Seriously 6, 7 - who can count!

Besides that, if anyone asks, the Silkie could easily be a convincing rabbit hybrid of some sort or something... (Enable, enable, enable )

Boo I feel a bit cheated, there were no chicks in bins out in the store when we picked up ours in April, just merch.

Ah, don't feel too bad. They only had a handful of one or two week old chicks when I was in there on Monday.




So I ended up ordering Legbars from a local guy, myself (because I wasn't sure I wanted to spend THAT much on young chicks!), and they apparently go into lockdown today! Fingers crossed that two healthy females hatch!

 

[rnchick74]

CL s June 9 & 23!!
Woohoo! We're getting closer and closer.

FINGERS CROSSED!!!!

 

[rnchick74]

Besides that, if anyone asks, the Silkie could easily be a convincing rabbit hybrid of some sort or something...

(Enable, enable, enable

)
Ah, don't feel too bad. They only had a handful of one or two week old chicks when I was in there on Monday.

So I ended up ordering Legbars from a local guy, myself (because I wasn't sure I wanted to spend THAT much on young chicks!), and they apparently go into lockdown today! Fingers crossed that two healthy females hatch!

You are SOOO bad! And yeah - I will be very VAGUE when it comes to how many I have with people IRL....

 

[NotableNancy]

oohhhh! I just got an email back from this breeder - he said they might have a black female available later this summer! I'm going to keep watching their chicks available page for details!!!! Cautiously optimistic!

Fair warning... but there's still no guarantee on an 8 week old Silkie is female. The breeder I got my CCL from also breeds/shows Silkies and she showed her (approximately) 8 month old girl and got 2nd place... it crowed the next week. Neither she nor any of the judges could tell it was a male at that age. Sometimes you just gotta take the plunge though. I'm taking the chance as well. I got 2 this batch but one died. So I'm really hoping Patty Patty is a girl. Maybe because she has 2 girl first names she will be??

Thought I would share some pics of my Meyers gals... They've been going out in the small run (my older girls are pastured) during the day. I have a blue cochin, 2 welsummers, a speckled Sussex, and an Easter egger from Meyer that were 4 weeks old this Monday. The EE is being raised by my broody Ameraucana Poe. I also have 2 Crested cream legbars I got from a fellow BYC'er, they are 5 weeks old.


CCL in front Wellsummer in back. I was calling this CCL Etta but I'm not sure it's gonna stick. This wellie doesn't have a name yet as she still is super skittish.


My SS Olive. It's crazy how much they have tamed down in the last week. I mean they don't come running to me, but they run away much less and don't squawk like the dickens when I catch em.

CCL Poppy on the top right. My cochin in the center, thinking of calling her Lán sè (Chinese for Blue) since the Cochin originated in China I believe.
See that welsummer on the top left? Feathering in much slower than the other wellie? I'm still hoping it's a girl... But I started calling her Rue long ago. Ya know, Rue pronounced just like Roo (didn't think about it til a week or two ago when I actually said it aloud...) Hopefully I didn't jinx her! No black chest feathers yet so fingers crossed.

Poppy again. Check out that Mohawk!

Better picture of the Cochin


and lastly, I tried to get a pic of the EE Ophelia but her momma was not cooperating. So here's Ophelia's head and a icy stare from Poe

Absolutely adorable... love your blue cochin. I would like a blue or silver laced next time.

So jealous of all you people going to Meyers!

About the Polish chicks. My Golden Laced Polish does just fine by herself and she is one of the lead chickens in my younger group of 16. She also is friendly too and squats to have her back rubbed. I would like more since they are just so much fun to watch with their hairdos, but she is fine being the lone polish in the flock. My SF is another fun one to watch too, she is so funny looking and a riot. She randomly screams out while free ranging and runs and tries to fly, but is too fat to get up in the air.

I'm hoping my Cream Brabanters with their pseudo-poofs will fulfill my desire for a Polish but I doubt it. I smile every time I see a pic of yours

Boo I feel a bit cheated, there were no chicks in bins out in the store when we picked up ours in April, just merch. Prob for the best though, the husband said no extras, though I wish we have added just one more since our Buckeye turned out to be a roo. Oh well our five girls are doing well, but the coop really needs to get finished this weekend, I can't wait for them to be outside.


Clara our hawk... err Easter Egger at 6 weeks. She's so big and she may be at the top of the pecking order, she never challenges anyone and when anyone challenges her she simply flared her neck feathers, puffs up and/or raises her shoulders ever so slightly and the back down. No dancing, hopping or raising heads higher necessary.


Amelia our Golden Buff (sex-link) also six weeks. She may be the boldest but when it comes right down to it she's a big mama's girl. She and Clara don't like being picked up as much as the others, they prefer to fly to me, but once she's out of the brooder and has a bit of exploring she loves to cuddle. Those are Clara's bottom feathers next to her.


Baby Buff the Buff Orp, my lap, shoulder and here hand chicken. Funny thing about this pic from yesterday is I didn't scoop her up (though she and the Dorking are very scoopable) she hopped up onto my arm then walked down to my hand and just layed down, stayed there for 10 mins too until my son asked to go for a bike ride. Amelia is on my lap in this pic too. She may be at the bottom of the pecking order, but after the Buckeye left she was trying a brief rise in power, she the Maran and Dorking are still figuring out where they stand. She does get to perch next to Clara at night though.

Will have to take good pics of the other two today, my phone was charging when Victoria (the Dorking) and Clara were pretending to be jungle fowl yesterday in the high leafy weeds, they were seriously scratching in there for a half an hour, when I scooped them out I saw there were some thick old dead branches so prob lots of tasty bugs. Baby Buff caught a huge thick worm yesterday but took too much time pecking at it that Amelia found her out and swallowed it. Victoria also caught a mayfly mid flight. So proud.

Cute pics. Hawk is very pretty!

 

[rnchick74]

Fair warning... but there's still no guarantee on an 8 week old Silkie is female. The breeder I got my CCL from also breeds/shows Silkies and she showed her (approximately) 8 month old girl and got 2nd place... it crowed the next week. Neither she nor any of the judges could tell it was a male at that age. Sometimes you just gotta take the plunge though. I'm taking the chance as well. I got 2 this batch but one died. So I'm really hoping Patty Patty is a girl. Maybe because she has 2 girl first names she will be??

I completely understand what you are saying. I've been reading a lot in the silkie breed threads & followed up with the breeder with that exact question. He said that he's only had 1 mis-sex that he aware of, but if we end up with a roo instead of a hen that he will switch it out for us. You gotta take the plunge & risk it sometimes. I was comparing the pics on Meyer's website vs his pics - there is no comparison...much fluffier and prettier on the breeders...of course they cost more too. And it may not happen - something may occur & one may not be available. I will take that as a sign that it is not our time. We can try next year!

 

[rnchick74]

Ok, let me say that I'm so glad everyone in this thread is very nice! I just had a pretty nasty encounter with a person on another breed specific thread that wasn't so nice! I simply posted how excited I was that I was getting one of this breed, learning more about it in that thread, etc.

This person came back saying I shouldn't get my hopes up or be too excited because hatchery birds of this breed are rarely to standard and are of lesser quality (I'm paraphrasing). Yes, the age old debate of hatchery vs breeder. I know you shouldn't be able to tell tone in an email/post...but this was quite snippy and condescending.

I should probably go back and edit my post - I said something about how I knew they were of "lesser" quality and I won't bother to share my pics there and sully their eyes with lesser quality birds.

I just had to vent for a second. Why can't people get off their high horses and get along??!!

 

[mimischicksnat]

Ok, let me say that I'm so glad everyone in this thread is very nice! I just had a pretty nasty encounter with a person on another breed specific thread that wasn't so nice! I simply posted how excited I was that I was getting one of this breed, learning more about it in that thread, etc.

This person came back saying I shouldn't get my hopes up or be too excited because hatchery birds of this breed are rarely to standard and are of lesser quality (I'm paraphrasing). Yes, the age old debate of hatchery vs breeder. I know you shouldn't be able to tell tone in an email/post...but this was quite snippy and condescending.

I should probably go back and edit my post - I said something about how I knew they were of "lesser" quality and I won't bother to share my pics there and sully their eyes with lesser quality birds.

I just had to vent for a second. Why can't people get off their high horses and get along??!!

I'm with you. I'm getting my chicks for the sheer enjoyment. I'm not even worried about how much they lay. The less they lay, the longer they will last IMO. The excitement is so hard to contain even if they aren't perfect.