Please talk me out of buying more chicks

[FrankHomestead]

As long as you don't let them cross with any other birds! Certain strains of a lot of common breeds CAN be auto sexing, especially if you select your breeding stock to carry that trait forward.

As for me, I LOVE my EE gals. They tend to be friendly, inquisitive, and I love the color of their eggs. My flock is being bred to produce: birds with small combs and non feathered feet, as well as a colorful egg basket. So EE/Ams are an important back bone of my flock. This spring, I added some birds that when crossed with my (avatar) EE roo, will produce black and red sex links that will carry the blue egg gene, and have either a pea or walnut comb.

I know, a lot of ppl have a special place in their hearts for EEs, and I was (half) kidding lol
I do think they look strange, but not nearly as strange as silkies or those fancy breeds. all the crazy feathering and such....I want my chicken to look like a chicken! lol
But everyone's different and some ppl like those looks.

 

[17 chickens]

Let us know how your broody hen does with her hatching, That is something I miss with not having a rooster. We have retired 3 years ago (early retirement) and it seems that I have less time and more jobs to do. I will be getting another 50 girls early in 2018 and maybe some fancy ones in the group if they can give me girls!

 

[Redhead Rae]

Let us know how your broody hen does with her hatching

Will do. It looks like one of the eggs broke last night/today, so she is down to 11 eggs. I think one of the eggs had a fragile shell and I didn't realize it. But she is sitting MUCH more intently today and she hasn't laid an egg of her own yet today either. Here's hoping.

 

[Redhead Rae]

Well she is still sitting with a single minded determination. YAY! I actually have to go out there once a day and pick her up off the nest so she drinks, eats and can do her business. She seems to be like "Hey, what are you doing, why are you moving me? Oh right, I'm hungry/thirsty. Ok back to work." She is also great with me handling her. She doesn't bite or fly at me. She has also stopped laying her own eggs, which she kept doing when she was on fake eggs.

 

[17 chickens]

She is going to be a great mommy!

 

[pennyJo1960]

had one looking like maybe trying to test but no cockerel just now will keep a Lavender Ameracauna cockerel when I can tell who is who in my 11

 

[Redhead Rae]

Still sitting strong, 9 days in. We lost another egg somewhere in there so she is now on 10 eggs. I guess 12 was too many or the shells might have been too thin. One hen was having trouble with egg shell thickness a little while back so I wonder if it was her eggs that broke. I'm going bring the broody tote up on the porch tonight and candle the eggs with my new egg candler.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Ive only been on this site six months....but I'm telling you the people here are horrible at math. Horrible. 6 means 12, 12 means 18......they don't know! Its like there is a disease out there that only affects chicken owners. You have 59 chickens? Have you counted them recently? You need more. 59 is 95 backward which is too close to rounding up to 100 to ignore! My advise is don't count them anymore. Take a general sense of the landscape and fill in empty spots that way. Don't trust any math people give you here...they are all infected with Chicken Math Disease. I picked it up from one of them. Although I'm not sure I have it. I have to go count.

See signature lol!
I am heavily afflicted and can infect many!
(Place crazed laugh here!)

 

[BlueBaby]

Unless you are in a State where winter doesn't come, it's too late in the year to buy chicks. Chicks grow best according to Nature's ruthym. Early and late Spring are the best times to raise chicks for best effect.
Best,
Karen

That is true. I'm over here in Arizona, and I am still hatching out chicks from my flock.

 

[Redhead Rae]

Out of the 10 eggs remaining I have....

*drumroll*

10 wiggly chicks developing!