Straub’s search for colored eggs

[Tstraub]

So sorry to hear about Peanut. I was silently rooting for the little underdog.

Yea I was rooting for her as well. she wasn’t even going to get a name since these are my meat flock the plan was no emotional attachment. only keep the strongest and move the flock forward. Sometimes it’s hard to separate the feelings from the goals.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Yea I was rooting for her as well. she wasn’t even going to get a name since these are my meat flock the plan was no emotional attachment. only keep the strongest and move the flock forward. Sometimes it’s hard to separate the feelings from the goals.

I know this all too well. Case in point with Ronnie...Coppers Solo baby. Its all cute until she weaned her off then she had nobody, so she gravitated to being my little partner in crime. Pulls at the heart strings when she runs up to me and I have to put her in her special night roost spot.
I've got this little one with Shadow the BR now. She's still attached to her mom but we're watching for when she weans her off if she can attach to the others her same ish age or if she's going to be a loner.

 

[Tstraub]

Last year at molt season my flock all made it through eventually but I feel like I could have managed things better. A lot of them were mostly naked when the snow started falling in December so this year I’m going to try to help them get through it easier. I have noticed that a couple of the girls are starting to drop feathers, combs are going pale, and egg laying is slowing. All signs point to start of molt.

From what I have learned on this site and from several podcasts I listen to now is the time to change their diet to help trigger them all molt at the same time. So I am changing them from a 20% protein feed to a 16%. I guess this helps simulate the natural change of seasons and triggers them to prepare for winter. I don’t know exactly how it all works as I’m still learning but the general idea is the days are getting shorter so I need to simulate food shortages. I’ll give it a shot and once most of the birds go into a molt I’ll change to a diet that helps regrow feathers

All chicks will remain on the 20% protein

 

[Tstraub]

I know this all too well. Case in point with Ronnie...Coppers Solo baby. Its all cute until she weaned her off then she had nobody, so she gravitated to being my little partner in crime. Pulls at the heart strings when she runs up to me and I have to put her in her special night roost spot.
I've got this little one with Shadow the BR now. She's still attached to her mom but we're watching for when she weans her off if she can attach to the others her same ish age or if she's going to be a loner.

Mocha was a loner for a while. She was broody raised so she was afraid of me. all of her hatch mates were male. When I separated the cockerels she didn’t fit in with the younger group or the older group. Once she started laying she found a spot in the pecking order.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Last year at molt season my flock all made it through eventually but I feel like I could have managed things better. A lot of them were mostly naked when the snow started falling in December so this year I’m going to try to help them get through it easier. I have noticed that a couple of the girls are starting to drop feathers, combs are going pale, and egg laying is slowing. All signs point to start of molt.

From what I have learned on this site and from several podcasts I listen to now is the time to change their diet to help trigger them all molt at the same time. So I am changing them from a 20% protein feed to a 16%. I guess this helps simulate the natural change of seasons and triggers them to prepare for winter. I don’t know exactly how it all works as I’m still learning but the general idea is the days are getting shorter so I need to simulate food shortages. I’ll give it a shot and once most of the birds go into a molt I’ll change to a diet that helps regrow feathers

All chicks will remain on the 20% protein

Interesting... alot of mine have been doing a soft molt over the last month.
I feed 18% starter/grower.... I wonder if that's a happy medium between the 16/20.

 

[Tstraub]

Interesting... alot of mine have been doing a soft molt over the last month.
I feed 18% starter/grower.... I wonder if that's a happy medium between the 16/20.

I think the biggest trigger is the change. They see less daylight and lower quality feed so they prepare for a famine type of thing. The production industry does an actual fast no feed and sometimes they even restrict water and light to make them molt as fast as possible This is more humane the way of nudging them in the right direction.

 

[Tstraub]

Interesting... alot of mine have been doing a soft molt over the last month.
I feed 18% starter/grower.... I wonder if that's a happy medium between the 16/20.

I think I’m going to look into something closer to 18% for everyday feed. When I butchered a couple of my unproductive hens last week I noticed that they had a lot more fat on them than I realized. It’s hard to see what a bird looks like with all the feathers. Maybe the fact that they were so overweight is part of why they only laid about one egg a week it’s all a learning process. I feel like I learn something new every day.

 

[TwoCrows]

Good news and bad news today. I’ll start with the good, Smoky’s ninth chick(the bully) seems to have settled into the family. It went inside at sunset without any trouble and followed the group out when I opened the door this morning. I don’t see any evidence that it’s causing any problems I guess momma hen set him straight.

I don’t see any more evidence of feather picking in the brooder. The injury looks to be healing up. It’s still a bit swollen and looks irritated but I believe that is to be expected. The bleeding has stopped and the chick seems unbothered by her blue dye job on what’s left of her tail feathers.

Sadly I have to report that I found peanut dead this morning. No obvious signs of pecking or anything but she was sort of squished. I don’t know if she got squished under a pile of chicks at bedtime or got stepped trampled after death. For her first week a fully expected her to not make. Just when I was fairly confident she would pull through she died

I’m not really sure how to feel about it. I knew she wasn’t healthy from the moment I saw her hatched out I guess it’s for the best. This is the first unplanned chicken death since I started raising chickens 2 1/2 years ago. 77 birds have been on this property, 10 were rehomed, 19 butchered, 48 still alive, and one dead.

Thanks for listening to my rambling

 

[NanaK]

Very sorry about Peanut. I was rooting for this little one too.

Sometimes it’s hard to separate the feelings from the goals.

I totally understand this.

 

[Tstraub]

The chicks are 2 weeks old today. The fuzzy down has been mostly replaced with feathers. No more signs of feathers picking since I moved the offending chick outside to let Smoky care for it.

The Bresse look correct for their breed to me. The blue color is coming in to their legs and feet really nice and all feathers are white. Still too young to tell the boys from the girls but I’m starting to make guesses anyway. One definitely looks like a cockerel to me another I’m leaning cockerel and 3 that she far aren’t showing any signs


None of the BYM chicks are showing any signs that I have any sort of guess yet. It usually takes 4-5 weeks to start guessing mostly sure by 6 weeks in the past.

I have to get some housing figured out soon they are going to outgrow the brooder soon.