Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[The Howards]

Well guys, with all the speculation running amock about if you have a male or not I got smacked with it too. Except I am sure. My little Delaware, Sandy, is a He. I always noticed that Sandy had long legs but the other day I took a good look and noticed pointy hackle and saddle feathers had appeared. The long barred tail feather should have indicated it sooner but I hadn't paid attention. So now I am thinking I am going to get rid of my SL Cochin, Jazz, (last years order sexing mistake) and keep Sandy. Jazz is just too big for any of our girls. He doesn't even have to mount the girls, just stands above them with both feet on the ground. <sigh> I have no use for 4 roosters and refuse to get rid of my silkies cause they are very easy on the girls and do not even look at me twice.
On a side note my EE, Reagan, came for a visit yesterday. The minute I pulled up the phone to take pics it was like she became a statue.
Reagan

Reagan

Sandy, my new roo.

OH! and I got a new call duck yesterday (I know it is not a meyer baby but she is too cute not to share!!)

 

[wermnmnmnm]

Question to everyone... I went to the Farm store yesterday for some crushed oyster shells.... Since the Chicken Caboodle is now 17 weeks old tomorrow, I thought it might be time to get out the Oyster Shells... I came home and opened the bag and it isn't crushed oyster shell, but oyster shell grit... Came in a brown paper bag so I didn't know until I came home... Are crushed shells better? Are they all grit? Please advise... I have no problem going out to get the correct ting from my babies...

 

[christine9]

Well guys, with all the speculation running amock about if you have a male or not I got smacked with it too. Except I am sure. My little Delaware, Sandy, is a He. I always noticed that Sandy had long legs but the other day I took a good look and noticed pointy hackle and saddle feathers had appeared. The long barred tail feather should have indicated it sooner but I hadn't paid attention. So now I am thinking I am going to get rid of my SL Cochin, Jazz, (last years order sexing mistake) and keep Sandy. Jazz is just too big for any of our girls. He doesn't even have to mount the girls, just stands above them with both feet on the ground. I have no use for 4 roosters and refuse to get rid of my silkies cause they are very easy on the girls and do not even look at me twice. On a side note my EE, Reagan, came for a visit yesterday. The minute I pulled up the phone to take pics it was like she became a statue. Reagan Reagan Sandy, my new roo. OH! and I got a new call duck yesterday (I know it is not a meyer baby but she is too cute not to share!!)

Oh no! That's a shame. My Dellie is my best layer, but also the noisiest. I hope they make sweet roos.

 

[EurekaChic]

Question to everyone... I went to the Farm store yesterday for some crushed oyster shells.... Since the Chicken Caboodle is now 17 weeks old tomorrow, I thought it might be time to get out the Oyster Shells... I came home and opened the bag and it isn't crushed oyster shell, but oyster shell grit... Came in a brown paper bag so I didn't know until I came home... Are crushed shells better? Are they all grit? Please advise... I have no problem going out to get the correct ting from my babies...

This is something we discussed on another thread a few week back (we were also talking about the timing of the feeding). At the time I did a little research on it and this is what I found (quoted directly from my post at that time):

ok, I took advantage of my university affiliation and just looked at about 12 recent journal articles describing research on the effects of the source and size of calcium supplements on egg laying rate, eggshell thickness, force needed for shell breakage, feeding efficiency, various measures of bone health, yolk size, etc. These studies were conducted mostly on ISA Brown chickens and used limestone, oystershell, and a few other sources of calcium, and various mixes of fine vs. large grit for the calcium sources. And this research suggests:

1) having some large grit improves shell quality, but has little other effect (at least, that was found consistently across studies- a few studies suggested that those eating more small particle sources might have lower feeding efficiency, I.e., eat more per egg weight layed). The proportion of large grit to fine grit doesn't seem to matter much as long as you have at least 25% larger grit.

2) calcium from oyster shell is absorbed better than calcium from limestone, but not by a huge amount.

3) feeding more/extra/different sources of calcium late in the day showed improved shell quality under some conditions (mostly in older birds) in one study, and showed no effect in another study. The other studies I looked at didn't examine timing of feeding.

4) there are LOTS of studies on the feeding of poultry. Someday when I have more time (and my glasses aren't broken), I'll look at them more seriously.

 

[autumnhearth]

wermnmnmnm- the nursery we get our grit and shavings from sells "oyster shells" the same way, there are a some actual oyster shells in there but its mostly some rock high in calcium, it's whiter and I'm pretty sure its different from grit which is small pieces of granite. Not sure if you can buy 100% oyster shells, but I imagine someplace online has them. I would be interested to hear what others get as I was puzzled by this at first.

 

[MamaShell]

I posted twice by mistake and didn't know how to delete one. Sorry you have to waste your time reading this! Lol

 

[MamaShell]

My hose is way too far from my coop to hook up to a waterer. So, I have a 5 gallon pail that I refill with gallon jugs. A little more cumbersome but definitely better than filling and cleaning the regular water jugs all the time. I have a short braided hose coming from the bottom of the bucket to the PVC pipe.

I think I will make one with the nipples directly on the bottom of the bucket for inside the coop for winter. I could insulate the pipe and heat the water in the bucket but heating that braided hose would be tough.

By the way, if you do use a bucket, get a screw on lid for your 5 gallon bucket. It will make it so much easier to refill. They sell them at Home Depot or Lowes along side of the buckets!

oh wow, thanks for the pics. I did not realize there were screw on lids?! So neat. I did originally have a 5 gallon bucket with the nipples, plus I tried the cups on a bucket, so I have those too. I may experiment and see if I can get them used to the nipples or the cups again. Work with the equipment I have first before spending more money. I am going to try out that lid though. I hope it does not cost too much.
If I can get them to use them, I may start saving for a Chicken Fountain.

The tops are $7.25 each at Lowes, well worth it! It is actually 2 pieces. You snap on the whole lid. The outer part stays on the bucket tight and the inner part screws up.

 

[trsturself]

Looks like it was my silkie laying those eggs! And now she is broody! At almost 30 weeks old!
I've got about six eggs under her but I've got to find a way to transfer her to a nest closer to the ground. Any tips on that?

You don't have to if you don't want to.. I was worried about it when our cochin was on some eggs but then I read about people's hens taking their chicks out of the nests and even up onto the roosts at night. They tuck them under their wing and carry them around. Our eggs didn't hatch so I didn't get to see this first hand but there are pics up on BYC somewhere. I tried moving my cochin and she freaked out and wouldn't sit on them anywhere but in the nest box.

Question to everyone... I went to the Farm store yesterday for some crushed oyster shells.... Since the Chicken Caboodle is now 17 weeks old tomorrow, I thought it might be time to get out the Oyster Shells... I came home and opened the bag and it isn't crushed oyster shell, but oyster shell grit... Came in a brown paper bag so I didn't know until I came home... Are crushed shells better? Are they all grit? Please advise... I have no problem going out to get the correct ting from my babies...

This is something we discussed on another thread a few week back (we were also talking about the timing of the feeding). At the time I did a little research on it and this is what I found (quoted directly from my post at that time):

ok, I took advantage of my university affiliation and just looked at about 12 recent journal articles describing research on the effects of the source and size of calcium supplements on egg laying rate, eggshell thickness, force needed for shell breakage, feeding efficiency, various measures of bone health, yolk size, etc. These studies were conducted mostly on ISA Brown chickens and used limestone, oystershell, and a few other sources of calcium, and various mixes of fine vs. large grit for the calcium sources. And this research suggests:

1) having some large grit improves shell quality, but has little other effect (at least, that was found consistently across studies- a few studies suggested that those eating more small particle sources might have lower feeding efficiency, I.e., eat more per egg weight layed). The proportion of large grit to fine grit doesn't seem to matter much as long as you have at least 25% larger grit.

2) calcium from oyster shell is absorbed better than calcium from limestone, but not by a huge amount.

3) feeding more/extra/different sources of calcium late in the day showed improved shell quality under some conditions (mostly in older birds) in one study, and showed no effect in another study. The other studies I looked at didn't examine timing of feeding.

4) there are LOTS of studies on the feeding of poultry. Someday when I have more time (and my glasses aren't broken), I'll look at them more seriously.

wermnmnmnm- the nursery we get our grit and shavings from sells "oyster shells" the same way, there are a some actual oyster shells in there but its mostly some rock high in calcium, it's whiter and I'm pretty sure its different from grit which is small pieces of granite. Not sure if you can buy 100% oyster shells, but I imagine someplace online has them. I would be interested to hear what others get as I was puzzled by this at first.

Interesting. I was doing crushed egg shells for a long time but when we moved I didn't move our stash so I bought oyster shell. It was small white rocks. I just assumed it was pulverized oyster shell and then mixed with something to make the rocks. I guess I should look. The chickens love it and we get thinner shells if they run out and I forget to refill it. I just leave it out for free feed.

 

[wermnmnmnm]

Thanks everyone.. mine look like the small white rocks, but I don't know what is in them because it comes in a plain paper bag... I am going to try to experiment with a few kinds and see what the girls like... I don't like giving the girls something in bulk that I don't know what it is... I could call and ask, I suppose...

Nothing is ever easy...

 

[NotableNancy]

Thanks everyone.. mine look like the small white rocks, but I don't know what is in them because it comes in a plain paper bag... I am going to try to experiment with a few kinds and see what the girls like... I don't like giving the girls something in bulk that I don't know what it is... I could call and ask, I suppose... :/   Nothing is ever easy... 

Mine is a name brand, Manna Pro or Purina, can't remember which. I will have to read the label but they don't like it anyway. They love real egg shells and mostly they eat them late in the day. If I put some in my hand at about 6 pm they practically rip my skin off trying to ingest it as fast as possible. But if I do it at noon, nothing. They barely peck at it. And I've started noticing that when they do eat a lot they lay the next day. I guess their body kind of craves it for the egg they are producing. I find it pretty fascinating.