Michigan

[Chickmate]

This is my little "bachelor group"

rmh - Those are some very handsome boys!! I LOVE Cochins, but I'm not into bantams and I understand the large fowl don't lay all that well. How old are they and do they all get along OK? When they all free range don't the bachelors go after hens who 'belong' to another roo and get in trouble? Just curious how it works with a bachelor group.

Nova - Your babies are adorable.

Mom - I'm wondering too what you are going to do with all of them! Are you bringing some of these babies to Chickenstock? They are SO cute!

Everyone seems to be getting the hang of multi quoting but are you aware that once you hit reply and the multiple quotes appear you can go into that quote and delete everything except the portion of the quote that you are wanting to reference. I think everyone would be surprised by how much repetitious reading that would eliminate.
.

Opa - I agree and it also helps to delete pictures from multi posts as they take up so much room and we've already seen them once.

BTW, the backyard looks like a junkyard, it does needs cleaning, its so bad that I can see everything in the backyard 1 mile up in space from google earth. So embarrassing

OK, I know you probably didn't mean that to be funny Daron, but it is!!!

Since the fox attacks last year I have not been letting the chickens free range unless I'm home. Until a couple of days ago when it was so beautiful out and I had to be gone all day. I let them out and kept my fingers crossed. Got home and everyone was OK. Well tonight at a church meeting one of the ladies mentioned that she and her grandaughter were driving by my house and had to slow down because four of my chickens were in the road!! She said they ran from the ditch across the road by the gravel pit in front of her car and back through the fence on my side. She knows they were my chickens because her husband built my chicken coop for me. I'm gonna have to sit everyone down and have a talk. Better yet, don't let them out when I'm not home.

RaZ - I have a question. Where are you originally from or grow up? I've noticed the spelling of some of your words is decidedly Canadian. Are you a spy?

 

[RBahmer]

So sorry. You must be exhausted. If I were closer I'd come help.

I know you would. Thanks

 

[RaZ]

RaZ - I have a question. Where are you originally from or grow up? I've noticed the spelling of some of your words is decidedly Canadian. Are you a spy?

I can't tell you. I'm in the Witless Protection Programme.

 

[RBahmer]

Rbahmer, do you flush your ewes during ovulation? Sometimes reducing their concentrate intake at that time can reduce the incidence of triplets, although my understanding of haired sheep is that they are much more prone to it than wool sheep..

No I don't do that.

 

[RBahmer]

I never knew there was a difference.....just learned something knew. Now my DD wants to google it and find out more. Also...you'll laugh at this.....when telling my DH about your busy season and all the sets of twins & triplets and having to bottle feed them my DS was looking at me wide eyed and with an OMG LOOK. He thought you had 35 children....lmbo!!


Just thinking of all the work she is doing makes me exhausted. I'd help too if I was closer....I think it would be an awesome and rewarding experience.
Well worth the exhaustion!!

35 children. Now that is funny. Hubby gave me the same look as the smiley when I read that to him LOL. Thanks for offering to help if you lived closer. I would even send the little blank blank's home with you LOL.

 

[RBahmer]

Feel better, Chcikflick...what did you do to lock up your trigger finger?
AND...whatever you guys dont want, will go to my brother-in-law. He needs his chickens replenished. SO, since I agreed to hatch for him, someone in the family has to go slaughter some roosters. He has too too many roosters, not enough hens. Not enough space for so many roos. There are a hundred things I would do different if his place was mine- starting with his chicken yard. I would expand it ten times in size- he has the room, and I would cover it so that nothing could climb in. He closes up the coop at night, but he loses alot of chickens to owls and hawks and coons. And he wont take care of the extra roosters.


me too.

Look at these feet:




and can you guess which ones are my favorites>?






There is a grey butt on the left of the picture..favorite, and there is a yellow/grey at the top right...super favorite..and one of the yellows has a beard and eyelashes. awwwwwwwwww.



top center grey and yellow have no idea what it is, but I love it..and the grey ones on the right, silkie mixes five toes. aww again.


ETA-
no taprock, I dont stop them from rolling and knocking eggs around, the chicks seem to hatch fine..however, I do think that is how the last two got stuck after they zipped. I think they had a pile of babies on top of them, and sucked the moisture right out of that membrane. It was too crowded for my liking in there- but fabulous hatch I love this new incubator!

What cute little chickies.

 

[RBahmer]

OK...chick pictures The hatch produced 6 new silkies....4 showgirls and 2 bearded. I don't know the colors of the two bearded though...any guesses? I think the one is a partridge. The other one is a pink-ish tan-ish color....ish lol these pictures don't show it's real color. I took them with my cell phone so I'll try to did out my digital and snap a few that will pop it's true color with the flash.


I'm getting the stink eye from that one lol ! those are two sleeping showgirls in front of it... and sorry this picture is upside down...

I just love those colors. Especially the first one. I would love a few partridge silkies.

 

[RBahmer]

Thanks! I do have a problem though...I have two chicks who aren't walking too upright. It's weird....I thought maybe splay legged but thier legs are under them but they don't want to stand up all the way and do a funny wobble crawl. I'm wondering if it has to do with how smooshed they were in the egg? They both made it out of the shell by themselves and seem to be bright eyed and bushy tailed but just won't get up off their belly to walk!? I bandaided both of them just in case that might help if it is splay...maybe just a mild case or something.

A couple of my chicks was like that when they hatched. I did nothing and in a day or two they were walking alright.

 

[RaZ]

A couple of my chicks was like that when they hatched. I did nothing and in a day or two they were walking alright.

I'm not trying to be an alarmist but when folks have issues with their chicks I tend to start researching. (I guess it is the biologist in me.)
I found this link, perhaps it will help.

http://poultrykeeper.com/chickens/health/crooked-and-curled-toes-in-chicks.html

You can draw your own conclusions. Good luck.

 

[Chickmate]

I can't tell you. I'm in the Witless Protection Programme.