Our introduction to keeping chickens, the high's, the lows and pics of our journey.

[NovaAman]

I have NO idea on how to get the right egg colours...
Those lavs are so pretty. Heck, they all are!

 

[Wrightsx4]

I honestly don't know which cross is better. I'm not sure it matters, which seems odd as with chicken genetics everything seems to matter, but from what I've seen others posting - both crosses seem to give the desired color. Your chicks are getting so adult looking - I love that you got so much variety in your AR's feathering. Smooth, fluffy heads, cheeks...good mix. Are you sure they're 10 weeks? I was thinking ours were 9 weeks today...or has Australia jumped a week ahead of us? Maybe I lost a week somewhere!
Oh- I went out this morning with the kids to confirm - we have chicks! I lifted a wing and two peeped out but I have no idea if more are under there. Kendahl said (I couldn't see where I was standing) the chicks weren't fully fluffed yet so I'm leaving her alone...trying really hard. Kendahl said it looked just like Baby when she hatched
oh- and there's a raccoon in our live trap. Husband is at work but I called to see what to do with it. He warned me not to shoot the trap! Lol. I guess I'll cover it with a box until he gets home tonight and let him deal with it. I don't want it watching my chickens when I let them out today.

 

[Bens-Hens]

Thanks ladies. I am liking the variety of birds too, but I am not sure which is slow development and which is genetics. I just don't have the experience to make an informed call.

I double checked the weeks age, and I have it at 9 weeks tomorrow (Sun) (except our AR's are 3 days behind, pfft, not counting those hahaha

1; Apr 14
2; Apr 21
3; Apr 28
4; May 5
5; May 12
6; May 19
7; May 26
8; Jun 2
9; Jun 9

I counted the 30th Jun in there by accident. I think I have done it for some time as my count is out everywhere DOH!

I think you might be correct, as long as the desired gene is in teh parents the sex does not matter, but I wanted to ask before I jumped to it.

 

[Wrightsx4]

R(m)x SPW(f)= ...I'm thinking that could be a sexlink...? I think pea combs and rose combs are both dominant though so you may get some odd combs. Or ARxLS would work too. Not positive about using a lav for sexlinked chicks but I quite sure they work as a solid (like a BA male or a RIR) You have lots of possibilities with your mixture to incorporate the blue egg gene AND be able to tell boys from girls - if you wanted to.

 

[Bens-Hens]

Wow, very interesting.

I was thinking of either keeping one AR male and one BV male, then separate them with which ever girls would be best suited to track who was who's eggs.

That would give me a possible combinations of;
AR male over, LS, RIR, BA, AR, SPW, BV as well as a BV male combination with the same females.

We could also keep just two AR males the better the AR genes if that was better suited. We have a male for each of those breeds at the moment, but time is limited. We heard a few attempted crows this afternoon. We can't keep eight males for long, and even two is really pushing it with the neighbors.

Is there a good thread/site where I could learn more about those gene combinations? I have not found very much other than the egg colour, so learning more about sex link combinations would be real handy.

Thanks, I appreciate the info Pam, been a big help so far. Hope DH gets that Raccoon sorted for you and the chooks

 

[NovaAman]

Well.. I am glad that you two are able to figure those things out! I will gladly sit here and learn.

I have chicks with no legs. Give me a few minutes, and I will prove it. Just feet. No legs.

 

[NovaAman]

yeah i kno the desk is full of a mess... but it is in the toy room... and coffee spoons are key to toy room sanity

 

[Wrightsx4]

Nova - I'm sure they'll grow some - lol. If they were SF I'd think it was those short leg genes they have - like dorkings. I never notice that because they're walking around in a couple inches of pine shavings.
I've done so much reading on sexlinks. Here's one
http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/black_sex_link_chickens.html

There are better ones too with charts of combinations ... will find it...

 

[Wrightsx4]

This one is great - very informative.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information/0_10

 

[ozexpat]

i was told that egg color is male dom. A blue egg roo is needed to make your easter eggs, Crossed with marans will get you olive