Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[christine9]

Oh my goodness that is an adorable family!

I went out there to find them like that. He also had another chick under his wing on the other side. I have never in my life seen a rooster like him!

Awww!!!

 

[chickenguy222]

Does anyone have any pictures of Meyers white rocks? Also does anyone have any pictures of their female cornish X? I'm getting both and am curious as to how them turn out? Thanks!

 

[autumnhearth]

Does anyone have any pictures of Meyers white rocks? Also does anyone have any pictures of their female cornish X? I'm getting both and am curious as to how them turn out? Thanks!

No pics, sorry. We are getting a White Rock chick in a week. Are you getting the Cornish X to process at an early age or are you hoping to raise them to egg laying age? I did see someone on BYC that had a CX hen, no idea if it was from Meyer. It seemed they had no intent on eating her. She was so big and heavy they had to make special accommodations for her sleeping at night. I always feel bad for them.

 

[chickenguy222]

Let me let me known how she turns out. Im not getting mine till the first of June. All the cornish I'm getting will be raised for my 4H project as meat pens. I figured I'd try pullets this year because everyone always does the roosters? I'm getting them a week earlier than everyone else in hope that the can be some what close in weight to the roosters?

 

[autumnhearth]

Gotcha. I will definitely be posting lots of pics. We will be raising her with a Welsummer and a Light Brahma.

 

[autumnhearth]

Cream Legbars, Swedish Flower Hens, Lavender Orpingtons, Black Copper Marans and many more available on the overhatch list today! I'm guessing the overhatch list may be the only way to get Swedish Flower Hens at least for awhile. https://www.meyerhatchery.com/available_now.a5w

 

[autumnhearth]

Victoria laid her first egg since December! It's the white one in front

 

[hyzenthlay]

Hi there! Brief intro--I am new to this thread, but I got my first three Meyer chicks (also my first chicks ever) in 2009, and two of them (a SLW and a EE) are still happy and well and laying faithfully! They will be 6 years old next month!! We lost the third one, a Salmon Faverolle, to an injury last year. I got 3 more chicks from Meyer last spring (a Barred Rock, an EE, and also a sweet Buff Orp. who sadly disappeared without a trace a few weeks ago--we suspect a hawk

). We have moved to a house with a much bigger yard, so I now have an order for 5 more chicks in May/June (Buff Orp, BA, Cuckoo Marans, Welsummer, and Dorking).

Autumnhearth, I added the Dorking to my order after seeing your pictures of Victoria on this thread. She's sooo pretty, and those pictures made me go back and research the breed again. I'm excited to be able to get white eggs from a relatively docile chicken, since we still live in the city and only have a 4 foot fence, and my past research showed that most white egg layers tended to be flighty and/or noisy. Dorkings are supposed to be calm, and I remembered that the only reason I didn't get one sooner is that Meyer lists them as having smaller sized eggs. Now that we have enough space for more than a few hens, I don't mind exchanging smaller size for color variety, I think.

To Autumnhearth and any others who have had Meyer's Dorkings, how have you found their egg size to compare to your standard layers? Victoria's egg in your picture looks pretty big! And have Meyer's Dorkings been pretty calm and sweet? I was wondering if any of you other Meyer folks have had experience with the color of eggs from Meyer's Cuckoo Marans and Welsummers? I know Cuckoo Marans generally have the lightest eggs in the Marans family, but are they at least dark enough that you can distinguish them from your regular brown egg layers? And do the Welsummers have the terra-cotta coloring they're supposed to? I'd love to hear your experiences!! Thanks!

 

[autumnhearth]

Hi there! Brief intro--I am new to this thread, but I got my first three Meyer chicks (also my first chicks ever) in 2009, and two of them (a SLW and a EE) are still happy and well and laying faithfully! They will be 6 years old next month!! We lost the third one, a Salmon Faverolle, to an injury last year. I got 3 more chicks from Meyer last spring (a Barred Rock, an EE, and also a sweet Buff Orp. who sadly disappeared without a trace a few weeks ago--we suspect a hawk

). We have moved to a house with a much bigger yard, so I now have an order for 5 more chicks in May/June (Buff Orp, BA, Cuckoo Marans, Welsummer, and Dorking).

Autumnhearth, I added the Dorking to my order after seeing your pictures of Victoria on this thread. She's sooo pretty, and those pictures made me go back and research the breed again. I'm excited to be able to get white eggs from a relatively docile chicken, since we still live in the city and only have a 4 foot fence, and my past research showed that most white egg layers tended to be flighty and/or noisy. Dorkings are supposed to be calm, and I remembered that the only reason I didn't get one sooner is that Meyer lists them as having smaller sized eggs. Now that we have enough space for more than a few hens, I don't mind exchanging smaller size for color variety, I think.

To Autumnhearth and any others who have had Meyer's Dorkings, how have you found their egg size to compare to your standard layers? Victoria's egg in your picture looks pretty big! And have Meyer's Dorkings been pretty calm and sweet? I was wondering if any of you other Meyer folks have had experience with the color of eggs from Meyer's Cuckoo Marans and Welsummers? I know Cuckoo Marans generally have the lightest eggs in the Marans family, but are they at least dark enough that you can distinguish them from your regular brown egg layers? And do the Welsummers have the terra-cotta coloring they're supposed to? I'd love to hear your experiences!! Thanks!

Welcome! Aww thanks, I think Victoria would be flattered She is technically my husband's chicken, he picked out the breed, but she is honestly my favorite.

She is super calm and sweet but also quite curious. She keeps her sisters company when they are laying or sick. I have pictures of her sitting in the coop waiting for each of her sisters to lay their first eggs. She will come up and sit next to you quietly or hop on your lap. She wants to know whatever is going on in the coop but also wanders off to explore corners of the yard by herself during free range time. I think she has the widest wing span of our girls and her low full body doesn't seem to inhibit her. I would not describe her as flighty but she often hops on top of our very low fence (I think it's just over 3 ft) and occasionally over it. Though it's usually just over the gate to come to the back door when I go in to get the treats.. But she has never ended up in either of our neighbor's yards. She will occasionally hop on my shoulders and go for a ride. She can be strong willed on occasion. When I had her in the house keeping Morgaine company one afternoon I kept having to chase her out of the kitchen, but most of the time she would lay down close to Morgaine, who wasn't very mobile at the time.

She hasn't gone broody yet, though this morning I waited to see if she would sit on the egg. She did settle down on it for a few minutes but as soon as one of her sister's came toward the nest box she got up and left even though it was Amelia who is beneath her in the pecking order. I think she doesn't like conflict, she always faces the opposite direction when roosting at night. She has the best temperament of our girls and is the only one I would consider giving eggs or chicks to if she did go broody.

Her eggs are on the smaller side, but I unfortunately haven't gotten a large sample from her. She was the last to lay of our girls. She laid her first egg in early November at 30 weeks (our BCM laid at 29) and laid very well, averaging 5-6 eggs a week. However in December she started a soft molt which lasted almost 3 months. She just laid her first egg since then today. I know that hen's eggs tend to get larger after their annual molt, but probably not after an 8 month mini-molt, we'l see. While Dorkings are known to mature late, I don't think her winter molt is representative of her breed. Though perhaps how long she took is, our EE also molted but only for a couple weeks, but she was our first to lay and I chalk that up to hybrid/mutt vigor versus slow heritage breeds. Pipdzipdnreadytogo has two lovely SGD (and a Welsummer!) I would be curious to know how they have been laying this winter. I am really happy Victoria is contributing again but honestly she became my favorite chicken during the molt, she is just such a good companion. Our Buff Orp loves to snuggle but is a bit demanding and jealous.

Really excited to get a Welsummer next week. I wish we had gotten one last year. They were on the over hatch list that day but I couldn't convince my husband to let us add one more. I think the Welsummers and Silver Grey Dorkings look really pretty together That's awesome to hear about your older girls! My son was born in 2009 too, lol!

 

[COChix]

Hi there!  Brief intro--I am new to this thread, but I got my first three Meyer chicks (also my first chicks ever) in 2009, and two of them (a SLW and a EE) are still happy and well and laying faithfully!  They will be 6 years old next month!!  We lost the third one, a Salmon Faverolle, to an injury last year.  I got 3 more chicks from Meyer last spring (a Barred Rock, an EE, and also a sweet Buff Orp. who sadly disappeared without a trace a few weeks ago--we suspect a hawk  ).  We have moved to a house with a much bigger yard, so I now have an order for 5 more chicks in May/June (Buff Orp, BA, Cuckoo Marans, Welsummer..
 I was wondering if any of you other Meyer folks have had experience with the color of eggs from Meyer's Cuckoo Marans and Welsummers?  I know Cuckoo Marans generally have the lightest eggs in the Marans family, but are they at least dark enough that you can distinguish them from your regular brown egg layers?  And do the Welsummers have the terra-cotta coloring they're supposed to?  I'd love to hear your experiences!!  Thanks!    

Hi and welcome to the thread! Nice selection of girls you got there and glad to know they are still productive after 6 years, that is great. We have 5 EE from Meyer and two Welsummer's. Here is a shot of our eggs last fall when everyone was an egg laying machine. They have been very sprodadic of late but we have had flock drama. Anyway, on the Welsummer's, for us we do not add supplemental lighting, and I notice a difference in a lot the flocks eggs as far as pigment goes. The Wellie's don't seem to be as dark as when they were basking in the sun everyday.