Sdwd

[kathyinmo]

Kathy, don't shoot me, but what happened to the leg color on some of them? Seems like they would be old enough to show yellow legs already. I'm not being critical, just asking. Seems because of the cross, they shouldn't lose that color, right?

How much red bleed-thru are you still fighting with this latest generation? And this may be a weird question, but will there come a time when you have to pull back from the heavy-meat-bird weights on these? Delawares have an SOP weight they should be, so I could see them actually becoming too large. Some look like they could be on the verge of that, though they are really looking handsome right now, both the males and females. Or is that a dumb question?

I can not keep good yellow legs here - unless I use feed with tagetes (marigold extract). Don't know if it is the sun, or what???? No idea. Someone else told me it could be due to the minerals in the soil here. My 4H buddy has some of my birds, and he keeps them inside most of the time. He feeds Purina Flockraiser (which does not have tagetes) and the birds have very yellow legs. I just bought feed yesterday, and I switched from Kent game bird breeder (that I love) to Nutrena (with tagetes). Someone else told me to feed more corn - I have not done that. I dunno - we will see!

So far, the F3s have not shown any red bleed through - but they are young. Tim told me to use the cock bird with the least (or none) for matings, and I did that. The size - correct. I do see these as being larger than the SOP calls for. I need to weigh them.

 

[Cetawin]

Brandon..what is your schedule like nowadays? Wat's up with you? Call me when you get a chance.

 

[speckledhen]

I can not keep good yellow legs here - unless I use feed with tagetes (marigold extract). Don't know if it is the sun, or what???? No idea. Someone else told me it could be due to the minerals in the soil here. My 4H buddy has some of my birds, and he keeps them inside most of the time. He feeds Purina Flockraiser (which does not have tagetes) and the birds have very yellow legs. I just bought feed yesterday, and I switched from Kent game bird breeder (that I love) to Nutrena (with tagetes). Someone else told me to feed more corn - I have not done that. I dunno - we will see!

So far, the F3s have not shown any red bleed through - but they are young. Tim told me to use the cock bird with the least (or none) for matings, and I did that. The size - correct. I do see these as being larger than the SOP calls for. I need to weigh them.

What I would be concerned about with feeding more corn would be yellowing of the plumage. Bizarro thing with the leg color. As you've seen, Ike's kids have bright yellow legs, so I was wondering why on earth you would lose that with the two breeds/lines you crossed. Hope you can figure it out. Those hens are looking nice.

 

[kathyinmo]

I have also read, "Once you lose it, it is harder to get back." This was written in response to a concern about yellow legs fading. I took that to mean that I will have to use the feed with tagetes longer before I will notice it.

I shall see! Tyler works at the local farm store and gets a 15% discount, so I guess I will just buy feed there - the Nutrena with tagetes. I hate that it is a vegetarian feed though. I think I will supplement with a little cat food or fish food (we feed the fish in the pond).

 

[speckledhen]

With all you have to feed, I'd sure go with the discount, as long as they have feed in 50# bags. If they short you by 10#, that may offset the discount, but I haven't looked at the Nutrena layer to see the weight. I saw that the Nutrena starter is in 40# bags, a real gip if you ask me, plus it costs several bucks more than the 50# of Tucker Milling I buy at the co-op.

 

[kathyinmo]

I wish we had Tucker here. No such luck. Actually, the local MFA feed is fine with me - it has animal byproducts, too. The problem is - it is just tooooooo dusty! The price is good. I just wish it wasn't half a bag of dust!

 

[halo]

Kathy, are these Delawares bigger than the NHs and BRs that you started with?

 

[speckledhen]

I wish we had Tucker here. No such luck. Actually, the local MFA feed is fine with me - it has animal byproducts, too. The problem is - it is just tooooooo dusty! The price is good. I just wish it wasn't half a bag of dust!

Don't ya just hate that? I wish you had the Tucker Milling, too.



ETA: Suede felt better today. He even sounded a little better and I noticed he held his head higher. He wasn't laying around on the ground and he didn't go in ahead of his hens tonight, either. It was much, much cooler today as well, so that probably perked the old guy up quite a bit.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

Cyn, I am glad Suade had a better day yesterday.

 

[speckledhen]

Today was really much cooler, very damp. Suede seemed back to more down in the mouth, droopy wings, tucked in head. This evening, I believe his breathing was even labored somewhat, like he may be coming down with pneumonia. Will check in the morning since it was very subtle and I want to be sure he didn't just suck in some water weird or the like, but this wild weather change may not do him any good. It didn't get above about 70* today and rained off and on all day.