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

[Bens-Hens]

the goal is 13% at 21 days

I would go with 40%. you can always slow down the dryout by upping the humidity at day 10 or 15.

We have some of King Geaorge's eggs due in a bit, so we will go for that target. Thanks for the info. I don't want to wonder too far from where we have been, we have only ever had 4 late deaths from all our hatches, just happens that 3 of them were this time.

Grats on your chicks Ben, I'm sure you'll have better luck with coro than I'm having.

Went out this morning to find another 2 x hatched and squashed under broody. It's almost as though she feels them wiggling under her and goes " oh no you don't, your not goin anywhere " squish. Oh well the ability to lay eggs does not a good mother make. Next lot are going under my trusty old Silkie. She has hatched Wyandotte , barnevelder, Silkie and Sussex. She knows no prejudice and has a maternal instinct to die for, and I have come to the conclusion that short of arking up the bator again, she is the only one I can trust with King George 's offspring . Reminds me of another monarchs woes with his wives ,unfit to bare him sons. Off with their heads!
Hope Riley bounces back.

Note to self, don't trust amateur broody Sussex! We will stick with the incubator on these little ones I think.

Lol, no that link really isn't an easy read. I don't understand whole sections of it but what I do understand is quite informative.

Maybe they'll develop some pretty gold leakage within the black? Just a thought.
They may not have lacing in this generation but likely carry the gene which would show up in their offspring if bred back to a laced roo...Assuming they're pullets of course!
If I remember correctly your bv's are single laced (carry Columbian restrictor)? I love seeing how the mixed ones turn out, especially knowing who the parents are and seeing what traits appear.

When we bought them, they were just called Barnevelder's, but since then, the lady is advertising them as 'Double laced Barnevelder' I can post a pic of current Curly if that helps. SOme gold in there would be nice, we have so many blacks now!

Now that is a very cool coop! Our next door neighbour had a similar cubby house a few years ago but their boy out grew it so they sold it. Would have been nearly as perfect. Will have to keep my eye out for out next upgrade.

Hahaha- seeing my kids' old play house in a whole new light!


Although I'll have to wait a few more years since they still use it occasionally.

Oh yeah, perfect, even can have a little 'A' Frame run off the side! Express emergency exit included! I am seeing an excellent grow out coop

I love the way we all post pics and talk amongst ourselves while we wait for Ben to join in on the conversation .

Hahahaha, gives me something to read when I get up and have my morning coffee! Perth is hours behind in time zones from the eastern side of the country. WA stands for Wait Awhile remember!

ME TOO!!!!

I traded my blue laced wyandottes today..... Now I have a 4th EE girl.... I named her Snickers to go along with the candy bar theme!

Very nice Lindz. I think we are quite a few generations off making EE's look like that.

Pretty EE's! I have 3 but they all look completely different from each other, even though they're related. I guess I'm guilty of what Ben said earlier - I call them ee's because at least one parent was an ee, not necessarily both. They all lay colorful eggs and have pea combs so I think of them as Easter Eggers.

I get the whole EE's name, even like it, but finding what breeds were involved is hard. Example of a nice dog, some would say, "She is a Mastiff cross Ridgeback" where with EE's, people just name them a mixed breed name, so recreating a similar look is impossible. Well, even MORE impossible because they don't breed true.

25 little furries in my office eating away, and someone out the back egg songing it up and thanks to Nova, some Lorde playing out my speakers in the back ground. Time for a refill at start on this quarters tax submission.....my day just took a turn for the worse hahahah

 

[babyfoot]

, but plenty of people seem to say that the eyeliner and 'v' method are not accurate. Our eggs came in many different forms for them too, so I am not (maybe wishful thinking)

Could someone explain the eyeliner to this novice? My chciks when hatched often have Cleopatra style eyeliner markings which disappear after a feathers have grown in, is there some significance to that and sexing?

 

[babyfoot]

Thankfully , the other 6 hens are laying upstairs in " coronation cottage " cause it's raining again.

That coop is prettier than my house, lucky chooks

 

[Fancychooklady]

Thanks babyfoot, what can I say? Fancychooks , need a fancy house!

 

[Bens-Hens]

Hi Babyfoot,

I had read that the Wellies that have eyeliner extend past the eye, like Cleopatra are female, while the ones that just have the dark line around the eye only are male. I don't know about any other breed, but that was something I had dug up on the Welsummers. Another theory with them was that if the 'V' mark on their head is a sharp well defined V then it is a female, while if the line is blurry and not as sharp then it is a boy.

Seems popular, and some swear by it as being accurate, but I have found a fair number of people that said it didn't work. Most common reason for not working seems to be related to the eggs or breeders. It should work for a true pure breed, but some say it is a little diminished in some lines and not accurate.

The males apparently do grow a comb pretty quickly, so I will be waiting for that as well as the dark chest feathers that the male grow before we are certain. I would hate to be left with a rooster after selling two pullets as a pair lol

 

[babyfoot]

Ahhhh I see, well my chicks that hatch are all a barnyard mix as I have a mostly x breeds and so on, it probably won't apply to mine then. Good info though

 

[Bens-Hens]

Here is Curly, I think she is only single laced, she is a bit flighty so hard to get nice shots of.


While I was stalking birds, I got one of one of the Silver Pencils


Finally, just as predicted, Alicia falling in love with a Fav chick


She just melted!


Also of note, little chick wing feathers are coming in, looking forward to seeing some nice light colours on those wings! Also noticed that the BA crosses have white wing feathers coming in....interested to see how they pan out.

 

[joannefiddler]

Beautiful pics Ben! I wanted to report that your hard boiled egg recipe worked like a charm, even on freshest eggs. You've now saved me from the awkward embarrassment of serving unsightly deviled eggs!

 

[Bens-Hens]

Yeeeooow!

It has worked for me every time since, so glad I found that hot tip too!

 

[Wrightsx4]

Ben, I'm doing some reading on it so I'll share what I find. Right now I'm looking into the Co gene that single-laced BV carry to see of it stops color from emerging in the breast and body feathers or if it only stops black (lol, on black bird). I'm thinking you may see gold come out in their necks though. Saw a pic of a BA x BV (double laced though) and it was black but developed a little lacing in the wings. Oh, by the way, both my BA's had/have white tips hidden within their wings. They're only visible as adults when you spread the wings.