Sdwd

[rancher hicks]

Yard full o' rocks :

Morning all....must be something about these "exhibition bred birds"....my 21 week old BRs (Jeremys line) are like yours Cyn. Not crowing, not mating....not nothing. My girls from this group are not laying and aren't acting even close

BUT, get this, I have 8 CR cockerels that are now 7 months old as of Aug 4th (guess really almost 8 months old) that are the same way. Occasionally hear an "alarm" from one of them, but other than that, NOTHING, NADA, NOT A WORD. I noticed that several of them are sparring pretty regularly and a bit more aggressively so MAYBE the hormones are finally kickin' in. Oddly enough, their sister (hatchmate) who is the same age is still not laying.

I guess the hatcheries truly do breed for "egg production" and early maturity 'cause I've NEVER had an 8 month old not laying yet....oh well

Nice cool morning again here...lovin' it.

Take care all

I'm wondering if this is to standard of the original stock? Seems to me no one would want to wait for ever for meat and eggs.​

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
I'm wondering if this is to standard of the original stock? Seems to me no one would want to wait for ever for meat and eggs.

Well, now I am not 100% on this, but I THINK I read that they start later, but they lay soooooooo much longer ..... for years and years, even, where the hatchery birds are "done," in a couple years.

 

[catdaddyfro]

Quote:
I'm wondering if this is to standard of the original stock? Seems to me no one would want to wait for ever for meat and eggs.

Well, now I am not 100% on this, but I THINK I read that they start later, but they lay soooooooo much longer ..... for years and years, even, where the hatchery birds are "done," in a couple years.

Absolutely correctomundo ( sp.whatever he he) Mrs. Kathy your spot on

its the same principle as an Ostrich out living a Hummingbird or an Elephant out living a Mouse, even. 'Bout the same differnce in between a high strung crackhead and a mellowed out country boy huh? who you reckon lives longer,? generaly,

oops couldn't help myself there,

For example:
Down here in Louisiana we have a variety of the Red Oak family called Water oaks they grow big fast, start making acorns fast, make great shade, all in 25 to 50 years but they also die fast too (75 years old would be an old tree if still alive at that age) really a pain in the rear for property owners, unlike some other type of red oaks that live for hundreds of years (like 250 or more).

So the same thing applies here too on the slower maturing heritage type birds compared to the faster maturing production types, the homesteaders back in the day were more interested in a hen that would live for many years and produce a fair number of eggs(offspring) than a pullet that spit out all her eggs in a short life time, (they didn't need dozens of eggs per day just enough to get by on) and fell over dead in two to three years as it cost a lot of money(feed was hard to come by even if you had money still only so much to go around) to replace her than one hen that was maintained on a daily basis and had a planned future for a life time than a surprise attack of death and more or less a wasted effort to even bother with.

Ok I'll stop rambling on and on ya'll get my drift,?

till later on
Bye

Jeff

Ps its alright for them to take as long as they need to come into there own(so to speek) makes for a much better bird, Oh yeah and they are smarter too (mine are) than production types. I have both Heritage(smart) & production (dingy)

 

[kathyinmo]

I just love you, Jeff! You have that knack to make it so sensible and easy to understand! Thank you my friend!

 

[speckledhen]

Quote:
Cyn
Is that an Easter Egger in that picture? It reminds me of a couple of my Easter Eggers.
One is darker than the other........

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/31282_7-31-11m024.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/31282_7-8-11misc044.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/31282_7-8-11mis062.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/31282_8-4-2011mis005.jpg

No, Kathy, that is my Silver Phoenix, Molly. Your EEs do have similar coloring, though.

 

[Cetawin]

I took the porch fan away from my 4 heat survivors yesterday and they did great....we hit 80+ degrees and the panting started now at 90 degrees they are laying down, panting and looking worn out. So....I am going to monitor them and refill their waterer with ice water and see if they can suffer through this a few more hours before getting too overheated.



Oh and

the MIL called and heard Lancelor crowing....he is on the porch....and she says "That rooster better be out of that house before I get there or we are having chicken stew" now she was on speaker phone because I was doing other things while she rambled....well hubby later told me that my eyes flashed and he swore he saw red in them but he was not fast enough to stop my reply to her of "Well then feel free to sleep in the barn across from Jo but I warn you, she does not like being disturbed at night but in any event the rooster stays where I say he stays until I say differently NOT YOU!" then she heard a dial tone.

Hell will freeze before she tries to run this dammmmmned household. She needs to stay ticked off at her husband and stay there and face him rather than run down here to hack me off for a week because I won't take it dammmmn it! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

*deep breath* Okay better now, going back out to my coop to do some more work in there. See you all later.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Afternoon all....with Cyn's research and a call to the State Poultry vet, I think I am dealing with Aspergillosis like Cyn did. Found a BR pullet perched on the side of the nest box this AM, neck twisted, feathers ruffled, a little lathargic, even a bit disoriented.

Ordered Oxine yesterday (thanks for the source Cyn) and went to Wally World to get a vaporizer today...NOT!! Cheapest one was $30.

FORTUNATELY, just across the highway is a brand new Goodwill store. So, in I went and out I came with a 2 gallon Vicks Cool Mist Vaporizer for $4.97....seems to work just fine and looks to be in great shape. I figure if its gonna have to be outside, or in the brooder or wherever, why spend big bucks! I'm slowly getting the hang of this "bargain shopping" thing...

 

[speckledhen]

Good find, Scott!

I'm wasn't 100% sure it was aspergillosis, specifically, but I am positive it was fungal. And it makes me feel good that the state vet concurred with me. There were no discharges, just that deep gurgly pneumonia-like breathing set in by the circumstances brought on by the weather plus all the things we were trying to do to keep them cool, which led to wet straw and wet loose feathers from the juvvie molts, then spores being inhaled, etc. In any case, definitely weather-related.

Everyone is breathing fine now, thanks to a complete pen and coop clean out and misting with Oxine several times, plus some in their water. That stuff is awesome. Suede's group, Rex's group, Zane, and most of the other birds were not affected by it; only the ailing hens like Reba, the molting hens, the Delawares, Nugget and Shadow, who don't do well in the high heat index. Isaac seems great, too. Could be because of his high energy life, the way he would exert himself and breathe in so deeply, that he was more affected to the point of compromising his heart function. Amazing how good he looks and acts now. His crow is back to normal and he is even sweeter than before; maybe he realizes how much mom and dad were concerned about him.


Something exciting! Someone has been sitting in one of the nests in Rex's coop! I had just put new straw in them and a tush-shaped depression was very obvious in one so maybe there will be a pullet egg in there very soon.


Check out the pics of Cetawin's new Suedelettes! They are so cute, if I do say so myself. Can't believe I have Thor's full brother and a splash, too! And three Dusty babies... THREE! Been probably two years since any Dusty babies hatched anywhere.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=558375

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Evenin' y'all

Just came in from "visting" with my crew (chicken TV is good for the soul ya know)

Here are a few pix of a couple CR pullets I am looking to keep as breeders for next year. They are almost 5 months old. Any thoughts?

I'm headed off to bed....for some reason I'm wiped out and I think its my D@*M allergies already. Take care and I'll check in tomorrow mornin'

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
Well, now I am not 100% on this, but I THINK I read that they start later, but they lay soooooooo much longer ..... for years and years, even, where the hatchery birds are "done," in a couple years.

Absolutely correctomundo ( sp.whatever he he) Mrs. Kathy your spot on

its the same principle as an Ostrich out living a Hummingbird or an Elephant out living a Mouse, even. 'Bout the same differnce in between a high strung crackhead and a mellowed out country boy huh? who you reckon lives longer,? generaly,

oops couldn't help myself there,

For example:
Down here in Louisiana we have a variety of the Red Oak family called Water oaks they grow big fast, start making acorns fast, make great shade, all in 25 to 50 years but they also die fast too (75 years old would be an old tree if still alive at that age) really a pain in the rear for property owners, unlike some other type of red oaks that live for hundreds of years (like 250 or more).

So the same thing applies here too on the slower maturing heritage type birds compared to the faster maturing production types, the homesteaders back in the day were more interested in a hen that would live for many years and produce a fair number of eggs(offspring) than a pullet that spit out all her eggs in a short life time, (they didn't need dozens of eggs per day just enough to get by on) and fell over dead in two to three years as it cost a lot of money(feed was hard to come by even if you had money still only so much to go around) to replace her than one hen that was maintained on a daily basis and had a planned future for a life time than a surprise attack of death and more or less a wasted effort to even bother with.

Ok I'll stop rambling on and on ya'll get my drift,?

till later on
Bye

Jeff

Ps its alright for them to take as long as they need to come into there own(so to speek) makes for a much better bird, Oh yeah and they are smarter too (mine are) than production types. I have both Heritage(smart) & production (dingy)

Sorry Jeff but the only reason Elephants live longer than mice is mouse traps are easier to set. BTW do you know how to kill a blue elephant? You shoot it with a blue elephant gun. Do you know how to kill a pink elephant? You squeeze it's trunk til it turns blue and then shoot it with a blue elephant gun.