Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[carikermoon]

We had some chick drama over the weekend. My youngest found Bop, the white crested black Polish bantam dead on his Sunday morning rounds. Bop was my oldest son's favorite and he was extremely upset. I had checked the chicks the night before and everyone was healthy, active, eating, drinking, chirping.... But it looked to my untrained eye like Bop took a couple of pecks to the head.

After much wailing, I called the local feedstores to ask about their chicks. All had received day old chicks in the last week (making them about the same as ours) and all had typical egg layers plus one "exotic". So we we to the feedstore with Ameraucanas (they get them from Ideal). My oldest picked out a brown one. My youngest begged for one and I tried to talk home into a yellow one (there was only one yellow one left) but he was attached to a dark reddish brown one. And because I am a total idiot we ended up with all three when we went to only pick out ONE replacement. Sigh. After we got home the new brownish chicks slowly figured out to go under Angel, but the biggest, yellow one seemed to have a harder time figuring out to go under the broody hen. Or maybe she was too big to fit--now that we had SIX chicks when I had only planned on four. Yesterday, I noticed that the big yellow Ameraucana was still not under Angel, so I tried to help her. And Angel attacked her! I thought it was a mistake and shifted Angel around in the brooder to get all the chicks reshuffled, but no... Angel attacked the yellow chick three more times and refused to let the chick under her wings.

I have never seen Angel peck another creature. Maybe she thinks we have one too many chicks? Bop and the yellow chick both have fluffy yellow heads whereas everyone else has the darker heads--maybe Angel doesn't like yellow?

Anyway, I put Angel with King in the garage/outside run and pulled out the brooder heater. I am worried about the little bantam EE with all the large chicks but so far she seems to be holding her own. The chicks chirp a lot as though calling for Angel; Angel on the other hand is no longer broody and seems to be enjoying bug hunting--it probably feels good to stretch her legs.

 

[hyzenthlay]

Aww I almost got a Salmon Faverolles, instead of a Marans, but was worried it might get picked on and heard they are sometimes annoyingly loud. Our BCM is bossy and likes to complain a lot but doesn't really sing a loud egg song (well she doesn't sing any now, not laying). One day I will get some SFs from a breeder.

Our Buff Orp's eggs are often pinkish. Good breeds for pink, peach or purplish eggs as far as I know are Sussex, Orpingtons, Plymouth Rocks (especially Partridge), Delawares and Salmon Faverolles. Other brown layers will occasionally throw a pink egg, like my Golden Buff at the beginning of a laying cycle.

Our Faverolles from Meyer was friendly and curious, and she wasn't loud and never tried to escape our fence. The other two didn't seem to pick on her, either, even though she was younger by a few weeks and so came into the group as an underdog. I liked her a lot, but I have to say she was not our best layer--she laid about 20% fewer eggs than the EE and SLW, and they were slightly smaller (not enough to complain about, just an FYI), and she seemed to take longer winter breaks than the others. Also, her eggs were not cream colored, just a regular brown, maybe slightly lighter than the SLW's eggs. I was disappointed about the egg color, since I had gotten those three breeds with the hope of getting three different color eggs, for fun and so I could always tell who had laid what. She was also not salmon colored at all, more mahogany. She was still very pretty though, with a nice full beard and a spunky personality, and was great to watch in the yard. She would let my daughter pick her up and carry her around, too, which was nice (the EE and SLW are more skittish). All told, I would still definitely consider getting another one, but only because we can have more than three hens now--with just a few girls in the flock, she wasn't quite pulling her weight in the egg department. Our EEs have actually been our most consistent layers, in both heat and cold.

I hope the new Buff Orp we have coming will lay the pinkish eggs like our old one... I wasn't expecting pink eggs, but once they started showing up in the nest box I kind of got attached.

ETA: Since we're talking about her, here is a pic of our Faverolles, Pennyroyal, and a shot of the girls' three eggs together--I couldn't tell you which of the brown ones belongs to her and which was from the SLW.

 

[hyzenthlay]

@hyzenthlay

Oh oh...I so in love with my eggs right now

The very middle egg is from a cuckoo Marans and the wellie to the right of it. I'm very pleased with them!!!

Beautiful eggs! It looks like you have a really nice color variety, and it's great to see both the cuckoo marans and welsummer right next to each other!! They are definitely dark enough to set them apart from the crowd, and very pretty, too. Thanks for sharing that picture, it's a great help!!

 

[littlesparrow11]

Oh TSC.... I'm ordering 20 chicks from other places already (DH says I can only keep 6, ha ha ha...), but I just might have to stop by TSC too and see what they've got!

 

[autumnhearth]

We had some chick drama over the weekend. My youngest found Bop, the white crested black Polish bantam dead on his Sunday morning rounds. Bop was my oldest son's favorite and he was extremely upset. I had checked the chicks the night before and everyone was healthy, active, eating, drinking, chirping.... But it looked to my untrained eye like Bop took a couple of pecks to the head.

After much wailing, I called the local feedstores to ask about their chicks. All had received day old chicks in the last week (making them about the same as ours) and all had typical egg layers plus one "exotic". So we we to the feedstore with Ameraucanas (they get them from Ideal). My oldest picked out a brown one. My youngest begged for one and I tried to talk home into a yellow one (there was only one yellow one left) but he was attached to a dark reddish brown one. And because I am a total idiot we ended up with all three when we went to only pick out ONE replacement. Sigh. After we got home the new brownish chicks slowly figured out to go under Angel, but the biggest, yellow one seemed to have a harder time figuring out to go under the broody hen. Or maybe she was too big to fit--now that we had SIX chicks when I had only planned on four. Yesterday, I noticed that the big yellow Ameraucana was still not under Angel, so I tried to help her. And Angel attacked her! I thought it was a mistake and shifted Angel around in the brooder to get all the chicks reshuffled, but no... Angel attacked the yellow chick three more times and refused to let the chick under her wings.

I have never seen Angel peck another creature. Maybe she thinks we have one too many chicks? Bop and the yellow chick both have fluffy yellow heads whereas everyone else has the darker heads--maybe Angel doesn't like yellow?

Anyway, I put Angel with King in the garage/outside run and pulled out the brooder heater. I am worried about the little bantam EE with all the large chicks but so far she seems to be holding her own. The chicks chirp a lot as though calling for Angel; Angel on the other hand is no longer broody and seems to be enjoying bug hunting--it probably feels good to stretch her legs.

Aww sorry about you and your son's loss
Hehe on the chicken math at the feedstore
Oh no, that's really heartbreaking about Angel. You did the right thing though, glad you had the warmer. It's sad for the three little ones that were with her before but hopefully as soon as they feather out you can slowly start intergrating.

 

[christine9]

i have baby mealworms!!!! I can't believe its true! I haven't seen a worm in there for weeks. Just beetles. The beetles are starting to die off because their lifecycle is over. So I decided to dig around and see if there were any worms yet. I didn't expect to see any, and I almost missed them. They are so so skinny. Almost creepy. Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that a very well ventilated container is the key to success. I keep them in the laundry room because it's the warmest room in the house. My thermostat is set between 68 and 72 in the winter. I provide no suplimental heat for them. Just baby carrots whenever I remember they are there. I have a feeling my chickies will be very happy about this.

On a side note, I overheard my neighbor say "oh, those chickens" today. I'm afraid I've given them a reason to talk about us LOL! I guess I'm officially the crazy one in the neighborhood. Oh well. It's a title to live up to.

 

[carikermoon]

i have baby mealworms!!!! I can't believe its true! I haven't seen a worm in there for weeks. Just beetles. The beetles are starting to die off because their lifecycle is over. So I decided to dig around and see if there were any worms yet. I didn't expect to see any, and I almost missed them. They are so so skinny. Almost creepy. Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that a very well ventilated container is the key to success. I keep them in the laundry room because it's the warmest room in the house. My thermostat is set between 68 and 72 in the winter. I provide no suplimental heat for them. Just baby carrots whenever I remember they are there. I have a feeling my chickies will be very happy about this.

On a side note, I overheard my neighbor say "oh, those chickens" today. I'm afraid I've given them a reason to talk about us LOL! I guess I'm officially the crazy one in the neighborhood. Oh well. It's a title to live up to.

Congratulations on the baby mealworms! I use to have red worms for composting but my then husband (now ex) kept having a fit about worms in the house until I finally gave up and got rid of them.

Glad to know I'm not he only crazy one around. Maybe I'll try to works again, but this time for chickens.

 

[wermnmnmnm]

My Meyers Girls Eggnes, Edna, Eleanore, and Bobbie They came out for some dried worms then went right back in. The snow accumulated on their back after only being out about 5 minutes... We had a lovely 7 inches here in Severna Park, MD.

 

[Bushmansbliss]

Meyer sumatra

 

[Bushmansbliss]