Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[autumnhearth]

I took off from my barn mucking job today... I just couldn't imagine doing it in this cold. Although there is a heated kitchen/bathroom/laundry area in the barn with hot running water so when it does get really cold at least I can go in there to warm up. Yes, it's a really nice barn!!!

Yes, I still have Cleo. I plan on keeping her around for a while. She is still regrowing feathers after her molt so she's not laying and her head is looking darker than it used to. I think she's even prettier. She is a beardless EE that lays gigantic creamy colored eggs and isn't friendly towards me at all. In fact she's downright terrified of me. Has never squatted for me which is fine but if I need to check her for bugs or anything she screams bloody murder!!! She went broody once and I put her in a cage to break her an she squawked so much I had to keep her in the garage. Oh, and never reach under her to see if there are eggs... she'll take your hand off. But she's fine with all other chickens. Never mean to younger or older and for some reason I've really come to like her. Go figure

That last part made me smile. Can't help but love even the unfriendly ones, for all their personality quirks.

Ooo I want a barn job! Husband said I should get one. But, no I'm sure it's really hard work and I wouldn't want to do it in extreme temps either.

Aww that's good to hear that you still have her and she gets along well with her sisters. I would love to see a recent pic of her if you get the chance, though I realize she may be hard to snap a photo of. I remember you saying she was a very difficult broody but I didn't know she was afraid of you. Clara is definitely our most skittish, she does squat for us if she accidentally finds herself at our feet, but tries to avoid us if possible, even hanging back a bit when I give them treats. But we've had a few bonding moments: when she was sick as a juvenile and when she came to me to lay her first few eggs.

Clara was the only one to lay today, a really long skinny one, may be a double yoker, we'll see. Guess today is Amelia's day off for February, she and Baby both laid late yesterday. But I finally have over a dozen eggs again, so I'm happy. Can't wait for March, new chicks and hopefully no more single digits and negative temps. Remind me, are you getting babies this year or skipping?

 

[christine9]

Barn jobs? hmmm...I think I could really like that.

My girls are laying nicely. It's really hard to resist the urge to incubate them! My skelter was full this week for the first time in a looong time, but now I have more eggs than space. I boiled a bunch, but my skelter is still full. What else am I supposed to do but hatch them? LOL. We'll see how long I can hold off. My new lav orp is a bit skittish. I was surprised because everything I've read of orps is that they are so friendly. But like you guys have said, I still love the skittish ones. I can't remember the quarantine time. Anywhere from two weeks to a month, right? Can't wait to integrate.

 

[trsturself]

Our skelter is full plus two cartons on the counter. My customers are thrilled I finally have enough eggs to start selling again. We got 7 eggs today! I have no idea who is laying. I think the next day I'm home all day I'll leave the camera up on my computer with the sound on. Then anytime I hear an egg song I can check who's doing it.

I made a fermented feed feeder http://flamingarrowfarm.blogspot.com/2015/02/fermented-feed-feeder.html Hope it works and holds at least a couple days worth of food. If I like it I'll make one more for the breeding pen.

I'm looking forward to incubating again too. I gotta wait until the breeding groups are separated and then at least 2 weeks to guarantee they aren't still from the other roosters. I need to start checking fertility first though. I haven't had enough eggs to really check before. lol

 

[christine9]

I love that there is a feeder for FF. How awesome! I might have to give it a try. And you have an easy time selling chicks? I really want to get into it, but I am sooo nervous I'll end up with chicks that I don't have space for. Going to check out a feed store today that hosts a lot of swaps. Hoping this place is my golden ticket. I suppose I could always put up a poster at TSC and ads online too.

One of my babies is a little roughed up. Right at the base of her tail, it's scabby and feathers look broken off. Would you think this is from picking or roo attention? Maybe a little of both? I haven't separated her because it actually looks like it's healing pretty nicely. I have an ICU area ready, just in case.

 

[trsturself]

I love that there is a feeder for FF. How awesome! I might have to give it a try. And you have an easy time selling chicks? I really want to get into it, but I am sooo nervous I'll end up with chicks that I don't have space for. Going to check out a feed store today that hosts a lot of swaps. Hoping this place is my golden ticket. I suppose I could always put up a poster at TSC and ads online too.

One of my babies is a little roughed up. Right at the base of her tail, it's scabby and feathers look broken off. Would you think this is from picking or roo attention? Maybe a little of both? I haven't separated her because it actually looks like it's healing pretty nicely. I have an ICU area ready, just in case.

It depends a lot on the demand in your area. If you have a TSC that holds swaps I'd say demand was high enough. You may have an issue with competing sellers and supply outweighing demand but most likely not. I personally haven't had a problem selling all of my extra chicks in the past. In fact last year I had more people asking than I had chickens for. This year it seems like all the feed stores are getting their chicks in really early so I'm hoping the demand isn't gone by the time I get mine (late april). This time last year was still freezing so no one was thinking about chicks but with this unusual spring like weather I've seen a lot of interest already. I don't want to deal with chicks in frequent cold weather so I ordered mine later. Also want to see if my survival rate is higher this year. Last year I got them in march and lost a lot of them.
You can also decide if you want to go with the production birds and try to sell to the people looking for egg production or go with the more ornamental breeds for those that like the fancier breeds.

 

[christine9]

It depends a lot on the demand in your area. If you have a TSC that holds swaps I'd say demand was high enough. You may have an issue with competing sellers and supply outweighing demand but most likely not. I personally haven't had a problem selling all of my extra chicks in the past. In fact last year I had more people asking than I had chickens for. This year it seems like all the feed stores are getting their chicks in really early so I'm hoping the demand isn't gone by the time I get mine (late april). This time last year was still freezing so no one was thinking about chicks but with this unusual spring like weather I've seen a lot of interest already. I don't want to deal with chicks in frequent cold weather so I ordered mine later. Also want to see if my survival rate is higher this year. Last year I got them in march and lost a lot of them. 
You can also decide if you want to go with the production birds and try to sell to the people looking for egg production or go with the more ornamental breeds for those that like the fancier breeds. 

Good tips. I'm honestly not sure how demand is. When I first started looking for chickens, I couldn't find one anywhere. Now I have three somewhat close feed stores selling chicks and one that holds lots of swaps. So it's picking up over the last few years.

 

[NanaLynn]

Congrats on the eggs! She is so pretty too, love that coloring!

Well, I should have known!!! Thank you so much

They put a blue toy in there so I should have realized. My little terror is just biting through everything. So far one of the toys I bought is not destroyed yet. Can't give her tennis balls anymore because she's ripping the cover off and eating it. She's destroyed several other toys and even very hard plastic dog keys the breeder gave me. She chewed the end off and ate that so that had to go in the trash. Can't wait till she's finished teething. I assume she'll stop chewing like crazy then but maybe not???

I sell used kids books on ebay for newborn through early teen age. Not single books just groupings. Like 40 board books for toddlers, 30 Magic Tree House books, or huge lots of books perfect for certain ages like 50 to 100 books for 2nd graders or 50 picture books. I'm getting out of the business though bec. eBay isn't a great place to sell anymore... but great to buy!
Pretty purple girl!!!!

He seems like a little destroyer for sure. His cuteness probably will help you forgive him.

I repair analytical instruments so I travel to labs all over the place. I'm over it. I am in the process of writing a new job description for myself to see if my boss will accept it and get me out of the field so much but writing like that is not my strong point so it's taking me longer than I'd like. I'm not good at fluffing things up to sound important. lol


So true! I was in PA this morning and just walking from the rental car to their building my hands were numb and my face was stinging. It was bitterly cold! I'm glad I'm back in toasty CO. It's 64 here! I'm sure we'll get a couple more cold fronts before this winter is over but for now I'm really enjoying the spring weather.

That sounds like a neat job but I imagine the travel is just too much. I hope that you can convince the boss to let you stay closer to home.

Our skelter is full plus two cartons on the counter. My customers are thrilled I finally have enough eggs to start selling again. We got 7 eggs today! I have no idea who is laying. I think the next day I'm home all day I'll leave the camera up on my computer with the sound on. Then anytime I hear an egg song I can check who's doing it.

I made a fermented feed feeder http://flamingarrowfarm.blogspot.com/2015/02/fermented-feed-feeder.html Hope it works and holds at least a couple days worth of food. If I like it I'll make one more for the breeding pen.

I'm looking forward to incubating again too. I gotta wait until the breeding groups are separated and then at least 2 weeks to guarantee they aren't still from the other roosters. I need to start checking fertility first though. I haven't had enough eggs to really check before. lol

We're finally able to give eggs away again too. My son is picking up 9 1/2 dozen today. So nice to see the frig and skelter full. We're starting to get back to an average of 10 to 13 a day now.

Good tips. I'm honestly not sure how demand is. When I first started looking for chickens, I couldn't find one anywhere. Now I have three somewhat close feed stores selling chicks and one that holds lots of swaps. So it's picking up over the last few years.

I wonder the same for our area. The TSC we go to has swaps too but I have never known about them in time to go.

We're getting hit with this terrible weather in NC now too. We had terrible 45 to 55 mph wind gusts last night, freezing cold all this week, so I'll have to keep lugging out water each hour or so to the coop. The chicken fountain will handle a few hours below freezing with the bird bath heater, but continuous below freezing temps the nipples stay frozen.

We're due for freezing rain, snow, etc. Monday and Tuesday. I can imagine a lot of you will be hit even harder. I think this is winter's last big hit for us, we have been fortunate so far. I do love snow though, so I have mixed feelings. Especially when I am going out in freezing temps every few hours to insure the ladies have fresh water.

Sorry to be MIA for awhile a lot of family stuff going on and keeping me way too busy!

 

[Bushmansbliss]

My Meyer hatchery dark Cornish with her new brood.

 

[Watermelon123]

Not to be rude but has anyone noticed this about the "Olive eggers". The picture of the eggs on My Pet Chicken and Meyer are the same. Just the backround colour is diffrent.

Meyer:


My Pet Chicken:

 

[trsturself]

Not to be rude but has anyone noticed this about the "Olive eggers". The picture of the eggs on My Pet Chicken and Meyer are the same. Just the backround colour is diffrent.

Meyer:


My Pet Chicken:

My Pet Chicken gets their chickens from multiple hatcheries including Meyer. So they use the same pictures the hatchery they get the birds from uses.