Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[dheltzel]

Still no sexlink chicks? That's sad. It really depends on the types of your customers if CG will sell. I think they are great choice for livestock and egg color variation, but not popular pets, although I heard that they can be tamed.

3 chicks hatched last weekend (from 22 eggs set originally). 2 are brown - very cute, but I'm puzzling over the genetics of that, the EB of the hens should have over-ridden any brown or birchen chick down colors. The remaining black chick looks like a pullet (no headspot) and I will confirm in a few days when her primaries start growing in (hope they are all black, no barring). The 13th is a large hatch, I set 60 BSL eggs and so far 17 are still viable. That's only 28% fertility, but enough chicks to get a good feel for how they are sexing out.

The hatch I'm hoping to get your chicks from has 103 BSL eggs. If I don't get at least 1 really nice pullet chick for you from all those, I will be very disappointed.

Anyone know offhand how long it takes after introducing a new roo before the eggs could be "his"? I think it's only a few days, but I intend to set only the newest eggs on Friday on the hope that he has had enough time to increase the fertility of the flock. I'm thinking I will collect eggs from day 4 and onward, hopefully that will be about 75 eggs to set and see if he has had as big an impact of fertility as I hope.

 

[TillyPeeps]

3 chicks hatched last weekend (from 22 eggs set originally). 2 are brown - very cute, but I'm puzzling over the genetics of that, the EB of the hens should have over-ridden any brown or birchen chick down colors. The remaining black chick looks like a pullet (no headspot) and I will confirm in a few days when her primaries start growing in (hope they are all black, no barring). The 13th is a large hatch, I set 60 BSL eggs and so far 17 are still viable. That's only 28% fertility, but enough chicks to get a good feel for how they are sexing out.

The hatch I'm hoping to get your chicks from has 103 BSL eggs. If I don't get at least 1 really nice pullet chick for you from all those, I will be very disappointed.

Anyone know offhand how long it takes after introducing a new roo before the eggs could be "his"? I think it's only a few days, but I intend to set only the newest eggs on Friday on the hope that he has had enough time to increase the fertility of the flock. I'm thinking I will collect eggs from day 4 and onward, hopefully that will be about 75 eggs to set and see if he has had as big an impact of fertility as I hope.

Brown sexlinks? That sounds strange. Are you sure their father is not the next door neighbor (legbars, welsummers, etc.)?

 

[dheltzel]

Brown sexlinks? That sounds strange. Are you sure their father is not the next door neighbor (legbars, welsummers, etc.)?

Father should be a Wheaten Am, but could be a Lavender Am. I don't fully understand the color genetics of Wheaten, but RIR are wheaten down and they are the #1 roo for making regular black sexlinks (with BR hens). I suppose the Wheaten Am could have something else going on, but those chicks hatch yellow (wheaten). All the other possible roos are wild-type and I know they are recessive to EB.

It's a mystery, which is not bad, something to understand that I do not now. I sold 1 of the brown chicks the day it hatched (a kid wanted it and I couldn't say no to a kid !) and am going to try to keep the other (and the black one) for a few weeks.

Did I mention that 4 Bielefelders hatched? 2 pair.

 

[Chaos18]

Okay so this is a question about the other end of a chickens life. As soon as I catch the ODB he's losing his head. I have two groups of chickens (currently) both have roosters and both groups are housed separately. When the one group loses there rooster would it be a good time to incorporate both groups? One group is 6 hens and a roo thats gonna be soup and the other is 3 hens and a roo (the CCL's I got from dheltzel). Losing the top of the pecking order should make them reshuffle things so I would think it would be a good time to add some to it. Thoughts?

 

[fisherlady]

Okay so this is a question about the other end of a chickens life. As soon as I catch the ODB he's losing his head. I have two groups of chickens (currently) both have roosters and both groups are housed separately. When the one group loses there rooster would it be a good time to incorporate both groups? One group is 6 hens and a roo thats gonna be soup and the other is 3 hens and a roo (the CCL's I got from dheltzel). Losing the top of the pecking order should make them reshuffle things so I would think it would be a good time to add some to it. Thoughts?

Integration of adults is always stressful, but I would prefer it before pecking order lines are redrawn also...

 

[Chaos18]

Integration of adults is always stressful, but I would prefer it before pecking order lines are redrawn also...

So when things are in a tizzy is a good time?

 

[fisherlady]

So when things are in a tizzy is a good time?

It would be my preference to do it as soon as practical after removing the problem rooster.

 

[fisherlady]

Cute alert!

Jo hatched out her clutch of 3 Saturday night, a full day early, just like her Mama (Gracie) does.

 

[fisherlady]

Jo and chicks are in our playpen brooder for a couple of days since we picked up 13 young roosters to butcher for a friend and they are currently occupying the spare pen and causing a ruckus...much quieter in the brooder until tomorrow then they will go back out to the coop.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

The California Greys I am using to make blue egg laying black sexlinks have not been very fertile. I was suspecting the roos, but waited since they were 6 months old only yesterday, so it could have just been the pullets were too young. Anyway, today I swapped in my main black ameraucana roo that kept 15 hens fertile last year. I watched him off and on and he's taking to his new assignment with great enthusiasm. LOL. I'm thinking he can single-handedly take on the needs of all 24 pullets, or maybe I will pull out 4 pullets to put with a CG roo and get pure CG's to sell. That would leave the black Am with 20 pullets. He firmly believes he is up to the challenge. I have some other roos in there, but they are silkied Ams and don't seem to be doing the job. Some of them may come out tomorrow, if I can find a better place to put them.

Anyone else take advantage of the sunny day to clean pens? The snow made some areas really wet, I was up to my ankles in turkey poo. At least it's done for now.

Well of he's anything like the men I know, that Black Am has some Italian in him.

We tend to run a little behind the rest of the state weather wise, just getting our really warm temps and sunshine today. I do have some muddy runs, but I made the mistake of storing my straw in a shelter that is in the middle of 2 very snowy acres out front and I just don't have it in me to go trudging out there and have to climb the fence to boot. So the birds will have to make due.