Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[RoyalChick]

Two Lightbars now and I think one more is on the way.

Congratulations to Fret, Henry and of course you, Shad!
Very exciting. Looking forward to seeing pictures of them.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

I hate to be that person, and I know you've said that this only applies for your flock, but well, I'm going to be that person. I think to some extent its environmental. Cruella has two chicks that are on par, and one that is behind. Supposedly a cockerel. So, shouldn't all females have the same development Cruella's chicks have? Well, no, the brooder babies are way ahead. They have the exact same genes running through them, and it would be a one in a trillion coincidence that all the chicks in the brooder were the ones that had the fast feathering gene. Photo one, Cruella's "male", photo two, Cruella's "females" photo three brooder babies. I guess they'd be sorority sistersView attachment 3610605View attachment 3610606View attachment 3610607View attachment 3610608View attachment 3610609

Hahaha you're welcome to be 'that person' - that's how we all get more information. I assume genetics because that's my observation. Perhaps I should have said epigenetic. I don't hatch with incubators so I've not been able to see that sort of comparison. I also have a whole lot of genetics happening and I imagine I'll lose any effects soon as they mix more every generation. What I have observed in my flock is no change in feathering speed no matter what the conditions are, what changes is how long the hen stays with her chicks. I wonder if some things are triggered during development in the egg before hatch.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Two Lightbars now and I think one more is on the way.

So exciting!!!

 

[Sally PB]

Congratulations!

Eagerly awaiting pictures...

 

[Sequel]

That is really exciting!!!!

 

[fluffycrow]

Hahaha you're welcome to be 'that person' - that's how we all get more information. I assume genetics because that's my observation. Perhaps I should have said epigenetic. I don't hatch with incubators so I've not been able to see that sort of comparison. I also have a whole lot of genetics happening and I imagine I'll lose any effects soon as they mix more every generation. What I have observed in my flock is no change in feathering speed no matter what the conditions are, what changes is how long the hen stays with her chicks. I wonder if some things are triggered during development in the egg before hatch.

Soooo...ummm, I promise I'm not doing this on purpose . The three eggs Cruella hatched were very possibly incubator eggs till day 18 (I say possibly because she was sitting under one egg that I hadn't candled, but I know for a fact that I gave her three live eggs on day 18, so they were probably in the incubator till then). I should also say that pipping started on day 18 for me, the last chick being born very very early on day 20 morning. So they also had the same developmental process, most likely. So the only factor in my babies that was different truly is their environment

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Soooo...ummm, I promise I'm not doing this on purpose . The three eggs Cruella hatched were very possibly incubator eggs till day 18 (I say possibly because she was sitting under one egg that I hadn't candled, but I know for a fact that I gave her three live eggs on day 18, so they were probably in the incubator till then). I should also say that pipping started on day 18 for me, the last chick being born very very early on day 20 morning. So they also had the same developmental process, most likely. So the only factor in my babies that was different truly is their environment

Hahahaha well, that is actually very interesting. And interesting because I've long been contemplating doing eggs in the incubator and moving them to broodies to hatch (I had one terrible experience with this and abandoned it), but have been reluctant to do so as it's not 'the point' of what I'm trying to achieve with my flock. Which is eggs that hatch with high success naturally with a broody. I was concerned I'd lose the natural selection if I did them in the incubator. It sounds like there is a lot more at play though.

 

[fluffycrow]

Hahahaha well, that is actually very interesting. And interesting because I've long been contemplating doing eggs in the incubator and moving them to broodies to hatch (I had one terrible experience with this and abandoned it), but have been reluctant to do so as it's not 'the point' of what I'm trying to achieve with my flock. Which is eggs that hatch with high success naturally with a broody. I was concerned I'd lose the natural selection if I did them in the incubator. It sounds like there is a lot more at play though.

I'd say do what I did. Give the broodies the eggs on lockdown, so just before they pip. I think it's the best way all around. Except from doing a broody hatch from the start, of course

 

[lightm]

Two Lightbars now and I think one more is on the way.

So happy for Fret, Henry and you! It sounds like you got a tent setup in the allotment?

 

[Shadrach]

My chickens must be hardcore because they absolutely savaged my gooseberries this year. One day I left to go into town. and when I got back the next day, every single berry had been stripped right down to the core of the plant. They weren't even ripe yet, but I guess the chickens have a different metric for what they consider ripe, because this isn't the first time they've eaten something before I would/could. Fortunately my other plant was protected, so I got to make some gooseberry curd.

It was the pigeons that got mine. I'll net them next year.