She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[scflock]

I love the pretty egg collection. Can't wait to see what comes out!


Very cute!

I can't wait for my girls to start laying so I can have an excuse to make my incubator and hatch some eggs. Sadly, Sue is a no frills kind of rooster. He chases them until he corners them and mounts up. We've been finding feathers often and now we know why. For some reason I thought I wouldn't find feathers all over until a molt. I guess it's more like hair and normally shedding etc. Or he's just very active.

I have 7 roosters. 3 are gentlemen, and 4 are violent offenders

The young roosters usually get started right before the girls start laying in my experience, so maybe you will get some eggs soon. How many hens do you have? All of my roosters started with 6-7 hens, but judging by the lack of back feathers, I'm shooting for 10-12 now

 

[WalnutHill]

Ok - setting 30 eggs whenever i get temp to hold steady somewhere in the right range.


10 silkie - i'm not sure on the fertility of these .
8 backyard mix, 3 of which are EE. Getting good bulls-eyes in these eggs
3 Araucana
3 Orpington
3 Dorking
and 3 Sussex X Frizzles
These 12 are from a breeder so hopefully fertility is ok, and hopefully they survived the shipment

Will be running Dry as the ambient humidity has been 75-80 for the last week

Nice rainbow of eggs, but those Araucana eggs look awfully green to be Araucana. I look forward to seeing what hatches out!

 

[scflock]

Nice rainbow of eggs, but those Araucana eggs look awfully green to be Araucana. I look forward to seeing what hatches out!

Well, on second thought, she did say 3 araucana. 2 are most definitely blue, and the upper right corner egg seems mostly blue with a greenish tint

 

[WalnutHill]

I have 7 roosters. 3 are gentlemen, and 4 are violent offenders

The young roosters usually get started right before the girls start laying in my experience, so maybe you will get some eggs soon. How many hens do you have? All of my roosters started with 6-7 hens, but judging by the lack of back feathers, I'm shooting for 10-12 now

If the roos start hopping the girls right before they start laying, then my April hens and roos would have started laying already. Those little guys were going at it around 10 weeks. Anyone need any EE cockerels? Brahma, Cochin, Faverolle, Ameraucana genes plus mystery genes...LOL

One of my Narri toms is quite aggressive and both toms are insatiable. The Golden Narri tom is a gentleman but he asks way too much of his girls. He will have a much bigger harem next year.

 

[RubyNala97]

I am guessing that peafowl are like turkeys and you need exactly the right conditions (temp and humidity) in order to have them hatch successfully on their own due to the thick shells. If left to hatch on their own, you'd probably get 50% of them to hatch like my turkeys do in the recommended conditions, but if I intervene my success rate is virtually 100%. It's scary though, as you can't see through the shell to know when they are ready to be helped. I need a super bright LED panel under the hatching tray, and a cabinet like my blast cabinet with built in gloves so I can assist without opening. And there you have it...the Walnut Hill Hatcher (in red, of course!). Just replace the blaster mechanicals with heat source and humidity, add a super bright LED candler, and you'll be good to go.

Yes, you are exactly right. 50% is their hatch rate. The shells are very thick and the bigger the chick the less likely it will be in the proper position. How long do you wait after pip to assist with your turkeys? And once you trademark & build that incubator, sign me up to order one!

 

[scflock]

If the roos start hopping the girls right before they start laying, then my April hens and roos would have started laying already. Those little guys were going at it around 10 weeks. Anyone need any EE cockerels? Brahma, Cochin, Faverolle, Ameraucana genes plus mystery genes...LOL

One of my Narri toms is quite aggressive and both toms are insatiable. The Golden Narri tom is a gentleman but he asks way too much of his girls. He will have a much bigger harem next year.

My EE roosters are young and aggressive. The young girls are falling in line, but the older girls that were already in the pen are still at the top of the pecking order, for now. My marans roosters, Cuckoo and BC, are also very amorous. They just need more hens. The silkie rooster may as well be wearing a tuxedo. He likes to dance for them first

. His pen is also right beside the big hybrids. He will call them up to the fence, then dance for them, but that's all he can do. He has his eye on a big, black sex-link. I've thought about putting her in the pen with him, sitting down with a cold one, and enjoying the show. She's the top of the pecking order, twice his size, and I imagine she would put him in his place quickly

 

[Kraftcrazychick]

I have 7 roosters. 3 are gentlemen, and 4 are violent offenders

The young roosters usually get started right before the girls start laying in my experience, so maybe you will get some eggs soon. How many hens do you have? All of my roosters started with 6-7 hens, but judging by the lack of back feathers, I'm shooting for 10-12 now

Sue is in with 6 girls. 2 BA, 2 GLW, and 2 Doms. I saved Margo (my favorite Dom) from his advances the other night. I picked her up and set her in the coop since it was bedtime. I'm sure that didn't thrill him. Then I had to chase his stupid fluff to put him in bed. That dumb bunny didn't think to get out of the rain during a storm. They are all around 14 weeks now.

I wish it would stop raining though. I have to get in the coop to put the trim on the nest boxes.

My EE roosters are young and aggressive. The young girls are falling in line, but the older girls that were already in the pen are still at the top of the pecking order, for now. My marans roosters, Cuckoo and BC, are also very amorous. They just need more hens. The silkie rooster may as well be wearing a tuxedo. He likes to dance for them first

. His pen is also right beside the big hybrids. He will call them up to the fence, then dance for them, but that's all he can do. He has his eye on a big, black sex-link. I've thought about putting her in the pen with him, sitting down with a cold one, and enjoying the show. She's the top of the pecking order, twice his size, and I imagine she would put him in his place quickly

All Sue does is chase them. There was no wing drop, no dance. Not even a delicate way of getting behind them.

I'd watch the Silkie show too.

 

[scflock]

I have 14 BCM eggs on the turner now. If I can get 10 more by Sunday I will be in my 10 day window, and will start the set. I'm not worried about pullet eggs, but this will be my first experiment with BCM, so I'm hoping it goes well. I don't have anything to lose, as I will be hopefully keeping 20 or 30 to grow out over the winter to see if I can get some good birds. If this one doesn't go well, I will just try again in 3 or 4 weeks

 

[scflock]

Sue is in with 6 girls. 2 BA, 2 GLW, and 2 Doms. I saved Margo (my favorite Dom) from his advances the other night. I picked her up and set her in the coop since it was bedtime. I'm sure that didn't thrill him. Then I had to chase his stupid fluff to put him in bed. That dumb bunny didn't think to get out of the rain during a storm. They are all around 14 weeks now.

I wish it would stop raining though. I have to get in the coop to put the trim on the nest boxes.


All Sue does is chase them. There was no wing drop, no dance. Not even a delicate way of getting behind them.

I'd watch the Silkie show too.

My cuckoo marans rooster plays good cop/bad cop. Any time I give them treats from the garden, he will call them, take it from my hand, and drop it on the ground for them. If I put watermelon or cantaloupe in the pen, he won't eat until they have eaten. But if he is feeling randy... my goodness. No wing drop, no dance, just grab them by the neck and hang on. Doesn't matter if he is in front of them or behind them, once he grabs them, they aren't getting away.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

You guys/gals are a hoot. Did I mention I started reading this thread and made it to post 1100 and something and said forget it, I want in. I might slowly read through while trying to keep up with the chatter.

DH has lots of power tools. He's just protective of them. And messy. And he doesn't like to share. He did get my mobile run finished yesterday and I had the chickens out earlier. We have also been free ranging them under supervision. Sooo a little help? I really really want Olive eggers. We have 2 of each auracana, barred rock, silver laced Wyandotte and golden laced Wyandotte from rural king which we got May 1st. I just ordered 2 of each Easter eggers, blue laced red Wyandotte, black copper marans and
Welsummer. I'm thinking we need a rooster or 2. What would you recommend?

Welcome to the thread and

. Wow, I have trouble reading all when I get 80 posts behind, don't think I could start from the beggining and read all the way through...lol

Some pics of the chicks.

Awww.

Any dogs now, Amy? I was looking into getting a livestock guardian dog. They seem awesome. They protect the flock like they are part of it. Does anyone have one? I wish I had a bigger house..I'll have to wait till we move. No dogs right now. And yes, Amy you described my brother to a tee.
Oh my goodness! Looks like a cartoon. So so so adorable.
Ditto!

The only dog we have right now is pretty much my father's. She's a Llahsa apso-pom-a-poo. lol I had got her when she was 8 weeks and my son was about 8 months. We lived in a trailer and really couldn't get a bigger dog and I was hoping that with both of them growing up together the dog would be more tolerant of children-I was wrong. By the time my son was toddling and running around she started getting snippy and stayed with dad a majority of the time. There was a acouple times I almost rehomed her, but glad that I didn't because she is my father's joy. She splits her time with him and us but she still doesn't like my son...lol

Last fall I tried to find my son a puppy because he wants a dog so bad. I ended up taking a Australian cattle pup from a mininite family about an hour from us. ( I don't have an extra $3-600 bucks for a dog.) He was awesome with the chicks, but I could not train him to not herd my son. Cade could not walk across the room and the dog would be nipping and biting at him. We couldn't play outside with him because he would tackle my son to the ground or pull on his clothes. I just could not train him. I tried different methods, even a training collar and nothing. So I did rehome him. He's got a great home, I get pics almost every week of him and see how he's doing. They were able to do what I could not. He's not 100% calmed down, but they've made good progress with him. This is him:





That is my very first chicken-my special needs roo.
I still want to get my son a dog, but we are waiting until we know that we have found the right one. I personally would like NOT a puppy, but we will know when we find it.

Did you at least see the parade? Queenie won't like you if you didn't see the parade

If the roos start hopping the girls right before they start laying, then my April hens and roos would have started laying already. Those little guys were going at it around 10 weeks. Anyone need any EE cockerels? Brahma, Cochin, Faverolle, Ameraucana genes plus mystery genes...LOL

One of my Narri toms is quite aggressive and both toms are insatiable. The Golden Narri tom is a gentleman but he asks way too much of his girls. He will have a much bigger harem next year.

My NN roo was mounting my girls-especially one, a good two months before (if not more) they started laying.