The 7th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-A-Long!

[chattery41]

Thanks I will post some pics for you to see if you'd like but the birds we have I'm finding are very flawed. They were bred by a man local to us and his stock was stunning but our cockeral has shown some aggressive behavior and he's on his last chance. The pullets aren't as friendly as I had hoped(one has a single comb) but mostly these chicks are an experiment for us to see how the chicks will turn out and if the aggression is passed down or heightened as it passes down. I have spoken to a few other people on BYC that have not had the lacing or aggression issues with their stock. We may try the breed again sometime if this experiment flops. Our cockeral is huge probably 12-15 lbs and the pullets are really big too so if the chicks turn out to have poor temperaments they will end up in the freezer. We are hoping to find a good heritage breed that can serve as a good meat bird as well as layers. So far my assessment of the ones we have is they're beautiful, but their eggs are kinda small, and they are a bit over the top with putting the rest of the mixed flock in their place, as well as any human aggressive bird belongs in the freezer.

Oh yea, can't have an aggressive bird. I delt with it from an OEGB but he was only about 8" tall. Wouldn't let a LF get away with that. I have kids here EVERY weekend. lol

 

[NaJoBeLe]

Well it took almost every spare moment I could find over the course of the past 4-5 days but I managed to make it through all the post. 1-2440. If I get more than 100 behind its not gonna happen again. Not sure why but I missed last years Easter HAL. First one was the 5th annual and I had a blast. Looking forward to this years. Have some of Partridge Rock mixes in the bator now as a test hatch. Not sure what I will come across to set for the HAL. And it begins all over as I was typing another post.....I will not get behind...

 

[nate1the1great1]

Twizzler isn't utilizing her clutch and is wanting to go broody, and FINALLY my one austrolorp finally started to lay, good thing my things are coming, so I can inciminate them soon...

 

[mlm Mike]

Good night! I'll be catching up on the hatching list in the morning !

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Good night! I'll be catching up on the hatching list in the morning !

Thank you Mike!!!

we know you will get them on it!!

good night

 

[GitaBooks]

Today was Isbar eggs picture day

Amazing photo! Those are some stunning eggs!

Here are some I pulled from the files, feel free to use any you want.

All of these pictures were amazing!

Just didn't want to take up too much space so I only showed two.

I've been working hard on finding the best way to photograph chickens, but I haven't reached this level yet.

Good night! I'll be catching up on the hatching list in the morning !

See you tomorrow.

 

[FuzzyHens]

Today was Isbar eggs picture day

Wow, congrats, great group of eggs!! I love my Isbar hen! They are a great breed,

 

[chickendreams24]

Oh yea, can't have an aggressive bird. I delt with it from an OEGB but he was only about 8" tall. Wouldn't let a LF get away with that. I have kids here EVERY weekend. lol

Wow that's crazy that you had an oegb that was aggressive. We have two cockerals right now and both are a bit flighty but pretty sweet once you catch them. Our black one Mickey is just stunning, him and his half sister Minnie are from show stock and I just adore them both. Random question for anyone who might know the answer would it be bad to breed them to each other? They're the only two eggs I got from a friend of ours quite by accident since they hatch the eggs themselves and sell the chicks for as much as 200$ a pair, 300$ a trio. I have had people interested in them but I don't want to give them up.

We had a cockeral last spring that was our friendliest chick, he hit twelve weeks went through puberty and went crazy, and I do mean crazy we couldn't go outside without carrying a long stick and he would stalk us and then attack when we weren't looking. He even attack if he was roosting. We finally had to put him down from a distance with a shot to the head. It sounds cruel, but it was instant and he felt no pain and no fear. He was some kind of a sebright mix we got from a bantam bin at TSC. Very clearly not pure and evil on top of it. That was really hard, but he was also awful with the flock.
Where do you guys draw the line with a cockeral?
Twitch, our silver laced wyandotte cockeral, is different though than the other one. Firstly he's great with the girls, gentle respectful, even kind to our other cockerals. He keeps them in their place but doesn't fight them. He is a great protector too. All thing I want in my roos, but I'm afraid he's escalating. It started out witha a barely felt glancing peck as he ran by, I searched and found a few suggestions on BYC. We tried some of them and they would work for a while and then he would peck again. Now my fear with that has always been that I have young cousins, nieces, and nephews. He has never gone at anyone outside of my family- myself, my Mom, and my DH2B. He hasn't gone at our dogs, despite that they love to play games where they chase each other(never the chickens though). In fact up until last night he has only ever really tried to hurt me and only once. He jumped at me feet first late last fall while I gave the flock water(in flip flops, and shorts), a kick from my DH2B(to protect me) to the chest with boots, and up until yesterday he has been much much better. He has only pecked once or twice since being kicked. Yesterday he came at my Mom while she fed scratch. It started as a peck and she slapped him away after another peck and slap, he started coming at her with intent and feet first. She says she must have kicked him back ten times before he just stopped and walked off. Ugh. We're at our wits end to be honest. We have never treated him poorly before this, never treated the girls poorly, the birds free range daily weather permitting, and we've never been rough on them or forced them to be handled. Almost 100% of his aggression is focused on me, the flock master, but I don't get it. In truth the only reason he's alive is because my Mom pleads for his life and cries when we mention processing him. I have told her this is his last chance. We already have an English orp roo lined up to replace him. We will keep trying until we find a good LF, but I admit I'm discouraged. Last year was our first year and we had to put the crazy roo, down, we had a chick drown in the first three days, had a porcelain d'uccle roo, Blue,(who protected me from the crazy roo during one bad attack that left me bloody) died in a freak accident when he missed a jump and broke his neck, had a pullet nearly cut off a whole toe pad on some sheet metal when she decided to climb a vertical building(she has since fully recovered and although there is a bit of a scar she is perfect), lost three 7-week old chicks to cocci, and have had to deal with almost certain scaley leg mites in one of our silkies cockerals. Our first year isn't technically over until May. Lol I wouldn't trade it though I adore my birds. DH2B thinks I baby them too much. I think I do it just enough. Not to mention the hatching fiascos and assisted hatch I had to do.

Sorry for the long windedness of all that. I guess my point is that I think it's all about the strains and the individual birds, and we'll keep looking until I find a roo that I can trust impeccably with my girls, my dogs, my family, and myself. I am still grateful to Twitch though as he has saved one of our EEs, Belle, from a hawk twice this last fall and winter.

 

[chickendreams24]

Goodnight all.

 

[Cynthia12]

Well it took almost every spare moment I could find over the course of the past 4-5 days but I managed to make it through all the post. 1-2440. If I get more than 100 behind its not gonna happen again. Not sure why but I missed last years Easter HAL. First one was the 5th annual and I had a blast. Looking forward to this years. Have some of Partridge Rock mixes in the bator now as a test hatch. Not sure what I will come across to set for the HAL. And it begins all over as I was typing another post.....I will not get behind...