OHio ~ Come on Buckeyes, let me know your out there!

[Stevens21]

I know these aren't chickens, but.....

I have one remaining pair of mute swan juvies for sale. May 31, 2013 hatch date, DNA sexed, regular deworming and spoiled rotten! My adult male is starting to get pushy towards them so it is time for them to find a pond of their own. Please PM me for details...

 

[DrRockso]

Cuyahoga Falls, just off Rt. 8.
We don't have the ordinance yet, but our community is in talks about Backyard chickens in residential neighborhoods! Both my wife and I have written our Mayor and our district councilman in support of the proposal. We're really hoping it passes muster and we can have our chickens!

 

[Eleisha]

Something has been eating a lot of my chickens here lately, I thought I would look on here first. As of right now I am hoping to find a young Blue Copper Marans Rooster for my girls I have one laying right now the other should be soon I hope. Just hoping not to have to go too far to get him.

I found this in trying to figure out what ate one of my hens the other day. Hope it helps!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/18670/poultry-predator-identification

 

[mlm Mike]

It's that time of year again so,

Grab some eggs & Join us!
Great fun, Great Prizes & GREAT friends!

5th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

 

[brahmabreeder]

For any one who is attempting to hatch out some chicks. Have you been experiencing fertility problems due to the cold? I am having a heck of a time getting fertile eggs. I don't know if the eggs are getting too cold( although a few eggs that I gathered were just recently laid when I grabbed them ) or if it's something else. Every time I candle the eggs they are clear. This is at a week into incubation. Then I set another batch and this cycle just repeats.

 

[mlm Mike]

For any one who is attempting to hatch out some chicks. Have you been experiencing fertility problems due to the cold? I am having a heck of a time getting fertile eggs. I don't know if the eggs are getting too cold( although a few eggs that I gathered were just recently laid when I grabbed them ) or if it's something else. Every time I candle the eggs they are clear. This is at a week into incubation. Then I set another batch and this cycle just repeats.

I haven't checked fertility yet. I haven't noticed my roosters being overly active yet. The warmer days they seemed to get a little busy, but slowed down now that it's cold again. What's your hen to rooster ratio and how old are the roosters?

 

[brahmabreeder]

Well in a way the ratio is 1 male to 2 females and in a way it's 1 male to 4 females. Depends on how you look at it. I lost the other male I was going to breed with this season, so now I have to have the two pens share the one male. He gets two days in one pen and then two days in the next and so forth. He's a little over a year old and the hens are like two years old. I used all four hens last year as breeders. Next year I will most certainly keep a few extra boys, but I'm still int he process of building up my stock.

 

[mlm Mike]

Well your rooster is old enough, and the ratio certainly isn't bad. Have you seen him cover any hens yet, have you considered leaving hime in with the same two for a bit longer?

 

[brahmabreeder]

We've only been doing the two day thing for like a week or so. Before that he was in with the two hens all the time. Maybe four days would work better? I just don't want fertility to get low towards the end in the pen without the boy because they aren't getting covered often enough. Not that it matters right now...I've seen him go after the hens to try, but haven't recently seen him mate. I have seen him mate before. Now I'm thinking that maybe the hens aren't adjusting to him going back and forth, so they won't let him mate? They usually hop into the nesting boxes when he tries. You wouldn't happen to know how long after a mating they will produce 100% or close to that in fertility? I know two weeks after they give fertile eggs, but does the fertility get hit and miss towards the end? I wonder if a week is too long for a pen to go without getting fertilized?

 

[vwright0401]

Looked them up last night. Sounds like my best bet. Online, they only advertise pricing for a minimum 15 hens. Surely I can go there and get 4...
Any downside or common problems with Rhode Island Reds? That what I've been looking at, or maybe Leghorns. I've got little kids and large seasonal
Temperature swings. Those are my two main concerns.

I bought meat birds from them last year, we picked up 100 birds, did very well with low mortality. No real complaints. My parents bought chicks for us from there as kids, we grew up in that area. They've been around a very long time. I know they've had some issues with salmonella, but that's definitely an issue with birds anyway.