Red Partridge Orpington informational hatch thread

[TheDuckGuy]

UPDATE: Day 2 today and I definitely remember why I hated this incubator so much last year. This will be the last hatch I do with it. Even with the handheld fan, and constant babysitting to move eggs around in the perpetual search for the good spots, the temperature readings are all over the place! I'll be lucky if anything hatches at all. Still air incubators shouldn't even be sold. They absolutely SUCK!!!

I know they suck I had 40 plus eggs none hatched

 

[aart]

Maybe it's because she's very low ranking.

Huh, but not the lowest?...usually they are the meanest to newbies.
Glad they are all getting along.

 

[K0k0shka]

Huh, but not the lowest?...usually they are the meanest to newbies.
Glad they are all getting along.

She might be the lowest, actually. She’s the smallest hen. It’s always been hard for me to figure out a linear pecking order with this flock. They get along pretty well, and have no obvious leader. The Orpingtons are pushier when it comes to food and dominate the Barnevelders in that context, but when it comes to laying and picking out a nest, it’s the other way around. So it’s hard to tell. This smallest hen is quite rude when laying and doesn’t respect anybody’s personal space, shoving herself in the box with the hen already in there and pushing her out (even the Orps twice her size), but in other contexts she slinks away and gives them space. She’s the least likely to peck anybody ever, though, which is why I’m assuming she’s low ranking. She still chases the chicks occasionally, but in general she’s more accepting of them than any of the Orps are.

 

[K0k0shka]

I'm farm-sitting for my friend who lets me borrow her incubator, and who's growing out my partridge boys until butcher time. She's on vacation for a week. I went to do chicken chores today, was standing upright doing something and my boys FLEW up at me from the floor and perched on my arms!!! I held my arms out and they sat down and made themselves comfortable, talking to me. This is so sweet it hurts.... It's been about two months since I dropped them off, and in that time I've had one or two brief visits, but they still remember me!!! And not just remember me, but seem to take comfort in me and enjoy my presence and proximity (and physical contact). My babies She doesn't have time to spend with them and they don't do this to her, so it looks like they were reacting to me specifically. I so hope she keeps one of them! (she's keeping one out of the 7 cockerels currently in her flock). And if not, I'm going to try to find them homes before eating them. They deserve it! Their brother from last year that she adopted was sweet until he died at 7 months old. So sweet that she could hand his big butt to children visiting the farm. I know that he still had more maturing to do and could've turned mean later, but I've heard of mean ones being mean already by 7 months, so maybe he was going to stay sweet. If his little brothers are like him, maybe they'll have a chance at life...

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm farm-sitting for my friend who lets me borrow her incubator, and who's growing out my partridge boys until butcher time. She's on vacation for a week. I went to do chicken chores today, was standing upright doing something and my boys FLEW up at me from the floor and perched on my arms!!! I held my arms out and they sat down and made themselves comfortable, talking to me. This is so sweet it hurts.... It's been about two months since I dropped them off, and in that time I've had one or two brief visits, but they still remember me!!! And not just remember me, but seem to take comfort in me and enjoy my presence and proximity (and physical contact). My babies She doesn't have time to spend with them and they don't do this to her, so it looks like they were reacting to me specifically. I so hope she keeps one of them! (she's keeping one out of the 7 cockerels currently in her flock). And if not, I'm going to try to find them homes before eating them. They deserve it! Their brother from last year that she adopted was sweet until he died at 7 months old. So sweet that she could hand his big butt to children visiting the farm. I know that he still had more maturing to do and could've turned mean later, but I've heard of mean ones being mean already by 7 months, so maybe he was going to stay sweet. If his little brothers are like him, maybe they'll have a chance at life...

Awwww.

 

[K0k0shka]

Long-overdue update: 4 months!

The chicks have really filled out and are now bigger than my adult Barnevelders! And each one of them has something quirky about her, which breaks the breed standard but also makes her more interesting and unique.

Here's Pooh. She used to be the largest when younger, but has been demoted to second-largest (after the dark one). She has the richest and most saturated colors of all, and looks like she'll have very clear and well-defined lacing once her adult feathers come in.

As you may have noticed, she looks quite buttless. The breed does have a very round shape, but this is something else - there seems to be something wrong with her tail She does have a tail nub, but it's smaller than her sisters' and she is unable to move her tail at all. It just always points straight down. She has always been like this, so it's not an injury. It's just more noticeable and prominent now that she has filled out more. It doesn't seem to bother her. She's healthy and acts normal, and is perfectly mobile otherwise, she just can't move her tail.

Here she is compared to one of her normal sisters:

Here's "the baby" - the assisted hatch, still smaller but not by much, very densely patterned pullet!

She's more yellow than her sister's orange, but also has good patterning and looks like she'll have denser lacing than Pooh's, though probably not as crisp and clearly defined (judging by my Barnevelders' feather development, which has the same double lace pattern, and so far these chicks' lacing is following the same trajectory).

The baby's unique feature is that she has blue legs. She'd be disqualified for that, but I love her blue legs! They make her look special. She's the sweetest and "babiest" of the three, and loves sleeping in my lap


And here's the dark one - the now largest of them all, the bravest, the most curious and most actively social of all! She resembles her deceased big brother the most, both in personality and in looks. The reason why we hatched this batch of chicks was so he could live on through a couple of sisters - we loved him so much! And we're very happy that at least one of them carries his spirit.

Her unique feature is her colors. She really doesn't look like the breed at all. She actually looks more like a Barnevelder! The original, red-laced variety, not the silver laced that I have. She makes a nice counterpart to my silver laced Barnevelders. I can't wait to see her final adult feathers and a nice clear double lace, next to the crisp white double lace of my Barnevelders. They'll be so pretty together! Except that she'll probably be twice their size

Fun observation: I just realized that her colors are an inverted version of what they are supposed to be. Her sisters are orange with black lacing, and she's black with orange lacing! How cool is that? And that blue-green sheen on the black is just icing on the cake!


All 3 pullets are VERY social and cuddly! They love hanging out in my lap, napping on me, climbing on my arms and shoulders, and love being held. They'll even squeeze themselves under my armpit to get a snug hug They used to all pile up in my lap together, sometimes on top of each other, but now are too big to all fit at once. So sometimes one will get pushed off, and will resort to sitting next to me instead. Last year's brood was heavily socialized and is very friendly, but I've spent even more time with this bunch and the difference is noticeable. They are even sweeter! I love love love all three of them!!!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Long-overdue update: 4 months!

The chicks have really filled out and are now bigger than my adult Barnevelders! And each one of them has something quirky about her, which breaks the breed standard but also makes her more interesting and unique.

Here's Pooh. She used to be the largest when younger, but has been demoted to second-largest (after the dark one). She has the richest and most saturated colors of all, and looks like she'll have very clear and well-defined lacing once her adult feathers come in.
View attachment 2805029
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As you may have noticed, she looks quite buttless. The breed does have a very round shape, but this is something else - there seems to be something wrong with her tail She does have a tail nub, but it's smaller than her sisters' and she is unable to move her tail at all. It just always points straight down. She has always been like this, so it's not an injury. It's just more noticeable and prominent now that she has filled out more. It doesn't seem to bother her. She's healthy and acts normal, and is perfectly mobile otherwise, she just can't move her tail.
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Here she is compared to one of her normal sisters:
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Here's "the baby" - the assisted hatch, still smaller but not by much, very densely patterned pullet!
View attachment 2805028
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She's more yellow than her sister's orange, but also has good patterning and looks like she'll have denser lacing than Pooh's, though probably not as crisp and clearly defined (judging by my Barnevelders' feather development, which has the same double lace pattern, and so far these chicks' lacing is following the same trajectory).

The baby's unique feature is that she has blue legs. She'd be disqualified for that, but I love her blue legs! They make her look special. She's the sweetest and "babiest" of the three, and loves sleeping in my lap


And here's the dark one - the now largest of them all, the bravest, the most curious and most actively social of all! She resembles her deceased big brother the most, both in personality and in looks. The reason why we hatched this batch of chicks was so he could live on through a couple of sisters - we loved him so much! And we're very happy that at least one of them carries his spirit.
View attachment 2805032
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Her unique feature is her colors. She really doesn't look like the breed at all. She actually looks more like a Barnevelder! The original, red-laced variety, not the silver laced that I have. She makes a nice counterpart to my silver laced Barnevelders. I can't wait to see her final adult feathers and a nice clear double lace, next to the crisp white double lace of my Barnevelders. They'll be so pretty together! Except that she'll probably be twice their size

Fun observation: I just realized that her colors are an inverted version of what they are supposed to be. Her sisters are orange with black lacing, and she's black with orange lacing! How cool is that? And that blue-green sheen on the black is just icing on the cake!


All 3 pullets are VERY social and cuddly! They love hanging out in my lap, napping on me, climbing on my arms and shoulders, and love being held. They'll even squeeze themselves under my armpit to get a snug hug They used to all pile up in my lap together, sometimes on top of each other, but now are too big to all fit at once. So sometimes one will get pushed off, and will resort to sitting next to me instead. Last year's brood was heavily socialized and is very friendly, but I've spent even more time with this bunch and the difference is noticeable. They are even sweeter! I love love love all three of them!!!

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They are all beautiful!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thanks for the update! They are gorgeous, all of them, but my fave is the dark one!

 

[K0k0shka]

They are all beautiful!

Thank you!

 

[K0k0shka]

Thanks for the update! They are gorgeous, all of them, but my fave is the dark one!

Thank you! Don't tell the others, but she's my favorite, too We've had a thing ever since she was a baby and would crawl up in my hand to snuggle while the others were out exploring She still does it, too!

Her shaggy forehead is hilarious


She's the only one brave enough to insert herself in with the adults and sleep on the big girl roost with them. I'll extend that roost at some point so they can all fit, but so far the other two aren't showing any interest in it yet.

That's her on the end of the tall roost closest to the baby roost. Check out how much bigger she is than the adult Barnevelder next to her!