Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[rnchick74]

My jar of fermenting feed overflowed today. Oops. And has a distinct smell kinda yeasty or like cheese. This is ok right? I stirred it and topped it off with more water.

That smell is exactly what you want! Overflowing...not quite

 

[trsturself]

My jar of fermenting feed overflowed today. Oops. And has a distinct smell kinda yeasty or like cheese. This is ok right? I stirred it and topped it off with more water.

That smell is exactly what you want! Overflowing...not quite

X2

 

[wermnmnmnm]

Mine are awesome... they are very sweet and have started clucking, but still cheep, cheep when you hold them... They are 2 1/2 months old now... These pics are 2 or 3 weeks old, but the most recent I have on the camera... still cannot figure out how to get them up on this site from my phone without a lot of hoopla.
Bobbie-Dominique, Edna-Black Australorp and Eleanor-Easter Egger
Eleanor, Eggnes-Barred Rock, Bobbie

 

[MamaShell]

Mine are awesome... they are very sweet and have started clucking, but still cheep, cheep when you hold them... They are 2 1/2 months old now... These pics are 2 or 3 weeks old, but the most recent I have on the camera... still cannot figure out how to get them up on this site from my phone without a lot of hoopla. Bobbie-Dominique, Edna-Black Australorp and Eleanor-Easter Egger Eleanor, Eggnes-Barred Rock, Bobbie

Sweet! I have an iPhone which is easy to upload photos from. But, sometimes I don't want to type on it so I email photos to myself. If you have email on your phone, you can email photos to yourself and then access them from your computer.

 

[autumnhearth]

Mine are awesome... they are very sweet and have started clucking, but still cheep, cheep when you hold them... They are 2 1/2 months old now... These pics are 2 or 3 weeks old, but the most recent I have on the camera... still cannot figure out how to get them up on this site from my phone without a lot of hoopla.
Bobbie-Dominique, Edna-Black Australorp and Eleanor-Easter Egger
Eleanor, Eggnes-Barred Rock, Bobbie

Very sweet. Will be very curious to see Bobbie and Eggnes side by side when they are grown and to see how Eleanor turns out, it seems EEs just keep on changing. I have an iPhone as well and post my photos to Facebook first, because for whatever reason they are bigger that way, then save them to a folder on my computer and upload here. Some I keep up on FB and some I delete afterwards because while some of my friends love to see the chickens grow, I don't want to overwhelm their feeds.

 

[Mohawk Chickens]

So Mayers is a good place to purchase chicks. Are their flocks 'pure'? By this I mean not much variation to the breeds. I am by no means going into the showing my girls (other than on here),

but I would like the birds to be very characteristic to the breed. And I wish to hatch my own chicks from these new birds, is why I am asking... That way I am not waiting impatiently for my girls to be delivered... LOL Only waiting impatiently for them to hatch, I can at least check on them daily in my incubator. Some one may have mentioned in the 708 pages, but I was not going to flip through.

Thanks for scratching through my post.

 

[jonsccm]

So Mayers is a good place to purchase chicks. Are their flocks 'pure'? By this I mean not much variation to the breeds. I am by no means going into the showing my girls (other than on here), e but I would like the birds to be very characteristic to the breed. And I wish to hatch my own chicks from these new birds, is why I am asking... That way I am not waiting impatiently for my girls to be delivered... LOL Only waiting impatiently for them to hatch, I can at least check on them daily in my incubator. Some one may have mentioned in the 708 pages, but I was not going to flip through.

Thanks for scratching through my post.

I have found that out of over 50 birds from them they have been very true to type. Though not so much show quality, I have gotten some very good looking birds but keep in mind show breeders only keep less then 10% of there hatches if that!
I have only had 2 that made me scratch my head. They have not lied to me I have been told by them that the focus on production not show. But they do guaranty that they will be true to type. But that does not mean other genes have not been mixed in

 

[COChix]

...

I thought I would upload another round of photos from my new set of Meyer girls. They are all 5 weeks old....This is my Blue Laced Red Wyandotte, Penelope. At first I was bummed because she was looking like she had turned out black-laced, but now the lacing is starting to look more blue. I'd love to know people's thoughts based on their own BLRW on what color she looks like to them! [\quote] Beautiful girls, Delores cracks me up! Oh and your Blue Laced Red Wyandotte peaked my interest as we have some mystery birds from Meyer we have been trying to id. Will post some pics.

- We think she is a Barnevelder's.

 

[autumnhearth]

So Meyers is a good place to purchase chicks. Are their flocks 'pure'? By this I mean not much variation to the breeds. I am by no means going into the showing my girls (other than on here),

but I would like the birds to be very characteristic to the breed. And I wish to hatch my own chicks from these new birds, is why I am asking... That way I am not waiting impatiently for my girls to be delivered... LOL Only waiting impatiently for them to hatch, I can at least check on them daily in my incubator. Some one may have mentioned in the 708 pages, but I was not going to flip through.

Thanks for scratching through my post.

Interesting question. I can only speak for the three breeds that I have (I also have a hybrid- Golden Buff and an EE but they aren't breeds). Granted mine are only a little over 16 weeks old, so they aren't finished growing and haven't started laying and I don't have much prior experience with chickens but here are my thoughts anyway.

We have a Buff Orpington who is quite fluffy, loosely feathered and has a nice U shape back. When I look out into the backyard and see her I often think she's such an Orpington. Granted she and many other hatchery Orpingtons look different than imported English Orpingtons, who are SUPER fluffy in the back and sides. She has light legs and feet as she should and though her comb is still quite small it looks like its points are imperfect, but that's okay with me. She is also very docile and affectionate, a really snuggler.

Then we have my husbands Silver Grey Dorking, a fantastic breed, very docile and quiet, pretty affectionate but not as enthusiastically so as our Buff. She's got the light legs and feet as well, with the proper extra toes. She started off as the smallest chick with beautiful eye liner, distinct dark v on her head and chipmunk stripes down her back. I know Dorkings aren't necessarily bred to be autosexing but they pretty much are naturally. As she grew she got longer but stayed low bodied as she should. They are slower to mature and her comb and wattles are still very small but she is a beauty. Silky smooth grey feathers, silver neck and rust breast which is growing nicely.

Finally my Black Copper Marans... I think Meyer's Marans vary the most out of all their breeds. Some are feather legged, some not. They say in their catalog that they are currently "breeding our Marans lines toward the French Standard which is a feather legged variety". I think most of the Black Copper, Blue Copper and Splash are feather legged. Their Cuckoo are clean legged, Golden Cuckoo they say could be either and White Marans they are working on the feathered but can't guarantee. My Marans has beautifully feathered feet and shanks, they started off light then turned black, she currently has one white feather on one foot, the rest are black. She also had some white wing feathers as a chick, then just some white tipped wing feathers and now I believe they are fully black. She does not have a copper neck as she should, someone else on this thread has an all black BCM. Just from seeing other folks Meyer BCM chicks I can tell you they vary, mine had a lot of off white on her, others start very dark. But besides the lack of copper on her neck and that she is bossy and loud I am pretty pleased with her. She has gorgeous silky black feathers with lots of green sheen and she has the proper S shape curve to her body that you find in French Marans. I don't have the highest hopes for extra dark eggs though.

I'm sure other folks on here with more experience and more chickens can give you their thoughts but I would recommend Meyer to anyone looking for a nice backyard flock. What breeds are you thinking of?

 

[christine9]

I think that Meyer birds are easily recognized for what breed they are. Of all the hatcheries, they sell the closest to the standard for most breeds (in my opinion). I think you will be happy with their quality. Which breeds are you looking at?