Nankins

[Micki]

Ok, got some pics of my birds. Hopefully they are good enough that I can get some opinions on them. I am very interested in opinions on type especially, but everything else too of course! I REALLY need some constructive criticism on my boys, since each of them will be half of his breeding pen!

Bird #1 - male. I had trouble photographing him because he wouldn't stay still. Not sure how well it's showing up in the photo, but he has a very dark, wide pink stripe down his legs. Personality wise this is my favorite from the group. He loves to perch on my shoulder. Not too sure about his eyes though. He has a lot of wrinkles around them and it makes him look "squinty". They say don't get attached to your breeding birds, but I love this guy's personality. If not used for breeding, I will probably keep him as a pet. All the others I can be more businesslike about . I still want honest criticism on him though!

Birds #2 and #3 - males. The RC has a telescoping comb (the base of the spike dents into the back of the main part of the comb), the SC's comb is slightly crooked towards the back. They are very light colored, almost white on their chests. I'm thinking I may want to find new homes for them, unless their type looks really good.

Birds #4 and #5 - males. Both combs are VERY nice from what I can tell. The SC has the lightest legs of the 5 boys and a light colored chest. All 5 of my boys have the pink stripe though, in various shades.

Bird #6, my only female in this group.

I only plan to keep 5 cockerels for breeding, and I have 25 birds from Mary Ann that are only a few weeks old. I'm thinking out of this group maybe keeping birds 1, 4 and 5, and then 2 SC's from Mary Ann's group. I will put my female with one of Mary Ann's SC boys. That will give me 2 RC breeding pens and 3 SC breeding pens, 5 total.

 

[griffinkid02]

Some more of my chicks. This will be about 3 weeks old:














Perhaps someone could explain what's up with the darkening of my chick's beaks? I haven't seen many close-up of adults but are they supposed to be turning that dark grey? I'm noticing a lot really beautiful blue legs in mine though, happy to see that. And yes, the aftermath of the feather picking can be seen here. But, everyone seems to be healing nicely and I haven't seen any fresh picks in 72 hours now.

 

[Nankin22]

the roos with the white on the chest could be a little darker in my opinion the rose comb rooster next to it is very good

 

[Grumpypantsmomma]

how is it that all the most beautiful birds with best color end up being "just found at a show" with an unknown rogigin, lol

. Maybe I should start looking for mine next newblood on craigslist hehehehehe

LOL! I know right! I ordered 25 Nankin from Ideal after i found out what she was hoping to breed, They look nothing like her, some of them were almost white when i got them and others were darker but nothing like her color! I need to get an updated picture of her today! She is still a Beauty and is in with a Silkie cockerel until they younger boys are old enough to breed. Now that they have hits 8 wks of age they are dropping dead like flies, I sent a couple of their bodies to be necropsied only to find out they are dieting of merek's, The same thing is happening to my Assorted D'Uccle chicks that are the same age and also came in a different shipping box also from Ideal. I have lost 7 Nankin so far to it and 3 more of them are in with a D'Uccle in their own pen because they have lost movement in their limbs but are still able to scooch around to get food and water, now they are standing and able to walk again. 1 pullet had lost complete movement in one of her legs and was dragging herself around to get food, she has regained movement in the leg but her foot is curled and she cannot move her toes.

Not happy at all!

anyway no more ordering from hatcheries finding them by accident and through BYCers is the Way to go!

 

[griffinkid02]

Oh wow, that's terrible. Don't most major hatcheries medicate/vaccinate?

 

[Grumpypantsmomma]

Oh wow, that's terrible. Don't most major hatcheries medicate/vaccinate?

Yes last time i had this happen was when the hatchery used a modified live virus. The hubby has called them My Dead Chicken ever since. I called and this hatchery too used modified live virus. So before ordering chicks vaccinated i think i will ask what kind of vaccine they will be using.

 

[griffinkid02]

Dang, and vaccinating is supposed to PROTECT them, not infect them.

 

[Micki]

I am so sorry to hear about the losses. How devastating. Although they don't deal in Nankins, everything else on my farm is from Cackle Hatchery in Missouri. I have bought birds from them for 3 years, and all of the birds are gorgeous and super healthy. I know that there are people who have shown birds from them and won ribbons, so they can't be too far off the standard. I have also heard good things about Meyer Hatchery. Those are the only two I would use if going through a hatchery.

Cackle Hatchery will vaccinate against Marek's disease but you have to ask for it. None of my birds have been vaccinated. No problems yet.

Update on my crew. I found a good home for my two Nankin roos with the "bad" combs (the RC had a telescoping comb and the SC had a "kink" in his comb). They will be pets, not used for breeding, and they went to people who know chickens. That leaves me with two RC cockerels and one SC cockerel from Lund Poultry. They are maturing so beautifully! I am VERY happy with these birds. I want to enter the three of them, plus my one Lund pullet into a show or two and see how they do. How old should a bird be before showing it? I' don't know at what age the judges want the birds to be before being entered.

My 25 from Mary Ann are doing great too! All are healthy and friendly. I have 16 SC's and 9 RC's from her. I'm still playing the guessing game on cockerels vs. pullets, although it is becoming more clear. I'm guessing about half and half at this point. I don't want to keep any of the RC cockerels, and only want 2 SC cockerels. I plan to have two RC pens, with my two RC cockerels from Lunds. I will split my RC pullets from Mary Ann in half and they will go into these two pens. Then I will have the one SC cockerel from Lunds and two SC cockerels from Mary Ann. My one Lund pullet with go with one of Mary Anns cockerels, and I will split the rest of the SC girls up into the 3 SC pens. Then we wait for next spring for hatching and see how it all goes! It's all so very exciting!

 

[griffinkid02]

So, anyone else got any pics of their babies? I need to do some more of mine. I have a 5/6 week roo trying to crow. What's up with that?

 

[mycutekitties]

I don't have pics of babies but here is a few I have. I have only shown them once and the pullet was BB and cock was RB (out of 20 Nankins).