Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[fisherlady]

And it looks like the chick activity has convinced a couple of our SPR hens it is time to raise their own chicks.... they are only on their 2nd day of being parked, and I am gathering eggs for them, so if they decide to stick it out we will be repeating this weekends activities in another 3 or 4 weeks.

 

[CuteFluffyButtSilkies]

Your silver penciled rocks are beautiful @fisherlady

 

[BullChick]

It’s time for me to have eggs too!

 

[fisherlady]

Thank you... they are wonderful birds, but their 'chick obsession' can be frustrating at times!

 

[TillyPeeps]

Brooding still going strong here right through winter. We had 4 hens hatch in early December, and as soon as they heard the chicks running around we had another 5 hens 'park' with broody hormones running amok in the coop. 2 hens are young first timers, the other 3 are older and have had many, many broods before. We set some of our own eggs for them to share. Hatch was over the weekend and we now have 5 hens sharing 11 chicks. One hen by herself and the others each paired off to co-brood, which is normal for our flock. We have a senior hen paired with each 1st timer which helps my peace of mind for winter hatches. Mindy has been a happy camper having all of the baby activity to supervise! Only got a few pictures so far...
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I always love to see Mindy with chicks pictures. They just melt my heart

 

[VictoriaTemple]

BABIES!!

I lost my first nest, unfortunately. One of the eggs went rotten and I finally cleaned it out. About 25 eggs from 3 different hens, and about 3 inches of poop stacked up against the wall (that’s a first timers mistake, right?). I think a few of the eggs froze along the way. Funny, the hens parked for a few hours at a time, but never really committed to the brood. These are Cochins and Brahmas we’re talking about. I guess they were just too young. Since the clean out they are trying to rebuild in the same spot, but I won’t let them. Will build a brood box with a lumber box and hay bales later this spring, probably after Easter. It’s honestly just as well, with Hero sick I might have had fatalities anyway if the eggs hatched.

 

[dheltzel]

I get that, gotta make room for new projects . What do you have going on this year? Would you mind sharing the breed make up of the black sexlinks? *just for curiosity, lol.. I have zero intention of trying to recreate it

I put California Grey pullets (from Privett Hatchery in NM) into my pens of Black or Lavender Ameraucanas. Any white eggs from the pen were laid by the CG's and will hatch into Blue Egg Black Sexlinks where the male chicks have a white spot on top of their head and white barring on their feathers. The feather barring is a bit more accurate than the head spots, so I tried to wait a week or so before selling the females and euthanizing the males.

 

[HeartoftheMatterFarm]

Here is 2 hens I got last spring that was marked Americana. But they do not look alike. What are they? I am not talking about the brown and white ones or the black ones. Its hard to get pictures of them. They see me and go off the other way.

 

[dheltzel]

Here is 2 hens I got last spring that was marked Americana. But they do not look alike. What are they? I am not talking about the brown and white ones or the black ones. Its hard to get pictures of them. They see me and go off the other way.View attachment 2003184View attachment 2003185

They are hatchery chicks, often labeled as Ameraucanas, but not really true to the breed. They may lay blue eggs or some other color, so they are often labeled as Easter Eggers to avoid confusion with the pure bred Ameraucanas. I have black and lavender colors in Ameraucanas, and they consistently lay turquoise colored eggs. I love my Ams, but being how long it takes for them to be sexable, they may not be the best choice for everyone. I do consider Ameraucana roosters to be among the very best for protecting but not being people aggressive.

 

[VictoriaTemple]

I would love to get some real Ameraucanas someday. I have 2 Easter Eggers from different sources, a roo and a hen. The hen looks a lot like yours, @HeartoftheMatterFarm, but yours might have bluer tails. Hard to see in the pic. The roo, Danny, seems to have taken over the flock from Hero, which is probably a good thing for now. Despite being almost 2 years old, Hero is a big cockerel, and needs time to grow up in his head to be a proper flock leader. Danny is all business, and aside from being a pain in the rear to catch, I couldn’t ask for a better flock leader!