Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[MamaShell]

Hey @christine9 have you refreshed lately? Where are your chickens? (not that the USPS tracking is up to date. . . )

 

[NotableNancy]

Last time I was down at the Farmers Market in NYC, they were selling Organic eggs for $12 a carton and free range for 8!! You won't be too far off!

Holy cow!!! I sell to one person right now. She pays $10 for 3 dz and I deliver!! I'm going to raise it when my new girls start to lay and I can sell more. I was thinking of $5 dz I have a farmers market that comes to a parking lot every Sat. and I want to check out their eggs. Both for price and to pick their brain. I'd like to buy a dz to see what the yolks look like too if they 'say' they free range.

Well two of them certainly are, working on the other three, one of which was still a lap chicken until a little over a month ago so I'm hopeful, the other two haven't been since the first few weeks. I figure I'm lucky if I have even one really affectionate one, but I'd like them all to at least be comfortable being touched, we didn't pick out any flighty breeds, just got a couple nervous Nellies. And of course I don't want any of them to turn mean. But I admit I was a bit jealous about Elda the snuggly Dorking on this thread, so I feel better now that Victoria has come over to me, because even though she was my husband's pick, I <3 Dorkings!

That's true. About half of mine will let me touch them and half squawk and jump away if I reach for them. I didn't handle them enough when they were babies, except to clean their butts. Of course, the ones who want to be touched the least are the Delawares, which were the ones that had the worst pasty butt. I do have one Dominique (Melissa) and one BR (Guinevere) who will come up to me a peck me, not hard but enough to get my attention so that I pet them. They are so sweet. The rest just come close enough to see whether I have treats for them. Oh well, better luck with the next hatch!

I'm kind of in the camp that part of the friendliness could just the chicks personality. I spent a lot of time with a few of mine and they were friendly and then just turned a bit standoffish for some reason. My friend who just got the 14 chicks at 6 weeks old were most likely never touched/played with for the first 6 weeks but I was over there today and 5 of them were climbing all over me and couldn't get enough attention! One hopped on my leg as I was crouched, then to my arm and just settled in and started to fall asleep!!
I'm going to post a pic of that one because we can't figure out the breed. It's a bantam and maybe they are friendlier. But all 3 of her BLRW and 2 SS are super sweet. The rest are kind of standoffish.

Hey @christine9 have you refreshed lately? Where are your chickens? (not that the USPS tracking is up to date. . . )

 

[trsturself]

I think it's a mixture of time spent with them and personality. Our oldest 3 (BR, BA, EE) were handled A LOT when they were chicks and we also gave them treats and trained them to come when called. All 3 squat for me and let me scratch them and pick them up with no problem. The next 3 got a lot less interaction, the cochin was friendly as a chick, got standoffish, then when she started laying she got friendly again. the D'Uccle my daughter used as her showmanship bird for 4H, she used to squat all the time but now she runs from me but she's calm if you pick her up, the last of this bunch, PR, has always been very skittish, doesn't squat, and the only time you can pet her is when she's in the nest box or on the roost. The next youngest (SLP) was one of 18 chicks and was very rarely held. She was skittish until she started laying. Now she will come check you out to see if you have treats and squat for you.
Now we come to our youngest, these were part of over 30+ chicks we had at the house. Needless to say we hardly ever held them. Some we bought from breeders that weren't held there either. Out of those 13 (?) the BLRW is the only bird I've ever had fly up onto me. She did that for awhile (she's the one we took on a road trip to KS with us) but now she runs from me. The BO will follow me around and is always underfoot but doesn't really like being picked up.

So I think they go through phases, and definitely get friendlier if they think you are a source of treats and once they start laying. But there is always those birds that are just skittish and standoffish by nature.


I sell my eggs to friends for $3/dz. I only do it because we have too many and I like animals to pull their own weight. I'm not doing it to make money off them but I like it when they can pay for the majority of their food. When the rest of my flock starts laying if I have more than my friends can buy (doubtful since they fight over them now) I will try selling at our local farmer's market for $5/dz.
I have the same philosophy with our eventual cow/goat milk. I just want the animals to pay for themselves. I was just telling DH at dinner tonight that I need to get better about recording my animal income and expenses. In fact, I'm going to go record my latest sales for this month right now!

 

[spartanchick]

Does anyone have eggs from their Olive Eggers yet from Meyers? I have 2 that were hatched March 24 so I am still waiting.

 

[christine9]

Hey @christine9 have you refreshed lately? Where are your chickens? (not that the USPS tracking is up to date. . . )

The seller contacted me and said one of them was sneezing. She didn't send them. This is so crazy. We are waiting till next week to see how she is or possibly substitute another. This is most definitely a test of patience.

 

[MamaShell]

Hey @christine9 have you refreshed lately? Where are your chickens? (not that the USPS tracking is up to date. . . )

The seller contacted me and said one of them was sneezing. She didn't send them. This is so crazy. We are waiting till next week to see how she is or possibly substitute another. This is most definitely a test of patience.

So, she reported the birds as shipped to Paypal, but, didn't ship them. I guess it is better safe than sorry. You want healthy birds, but, some communication would be nice.

Does she have other blue ameraucanas for you or would you have to get a different breed?

 

[christine9]

So, she reported the birds as shipped to Paypal, but, didn't ship them. I guess it is better safe than sorry. You want healthy birds, but, some communication would be nice.

Does she have other blue ameraucanas for you or would you have to get a different breed?

She gave me options. I want to give it till the end of the week to see if she improves. If not, I can choose another color. I really hope they are worth all this aggravation. She even offered a refund, but I'm not quite ready to start my search again.

 

[MamaShell]

I guess it is good that she is willing to work with you. I don't blame you for not wanting to start your search over or settle for a different color. You had your heart set on these two. I guess at this point, you have to believe that, if it was meant to be, it will be. I hope it works out for you!

@NotableNancy and @trsturself, I loved reading about the differences in your birds and your friend's birds and how their interactions with you have changed over time. I guess there are a lot of variables that affect how the girls interact with you. Very interesting!

I, also, find it very interesting how, in the same breed, one hen looks like it should have been laying for weeks while another is just starting to get her wattles. Her is photo of my Dominiques side by side.

Even though Desdemona is a bit blurry, you can see the difference in development. Melissa, the one that is more advanced, has always been the smaller of the two. Isn't that crazy?

Two days in a row, Jed (the most mature RIR) gave what I could only imagine was the loudest egg song possible and no egg. Is that normal? Have any of you experienced a false alarm like that?

I looked under the coop and in the run and there is no sign of an egg anywhere. I imagine if someone was eating the eggs, there would be at least a wet spot on the ground from spilled egg whites. But, I have not seen anything. Is she just practicing her song?? It is a mystery to me.

 

[wermnmnmnm]

OK, by these pics, I must have a Barred Rock as my Meyer Meal Maker... My Dominique is most definitely a hen...

Christine9... if I had those chickens, I would send you 2 of my own just to alleviate your waiting... I am sorry that I don't. If I were you, I would start looking around just to be prepared... and besides, it's kinda fun to see what is out there.

I'm here for ya chickie babe...

Margie

 

[MamaShell]

OK, by these pics, I must have a Barred Rock as my Meyer Meal Maker... My Dominique is most definitely a hen...

Christine9... if I had those chickens, I would send you 2 of my own just to alleviate your waiting... I am sorry that I don't.  If I were you, I would start looking around just to be prepared... and besides, it's kinda fun to see what is out there.

I'm here for ya chickie babe...

Margie 

Were you confused about breed or gender of one if your chicks? Post a photo and we can help you with our "educated" guesses.