The BANTAM ORPINGTON Thread

[Peanutsmomma]

@Faraday40 Remember me telling you that I was going to name one of our LF Chocolate Orp chicks in honor of Cookie? Well, as it turns out they are now 4 weeks old and both of those chocolates are cockrels. However, one of our Black Orp chicks that we thought initially might be a cockrel is more than likely a little girl. She is absolutely precious (she is roosting on my shoulder as I type this), full of personality and was the chick who taught all of those cockrels (5 out of 7 of our chicks are cockrels I think....) how to fly out of the brooder! This little angel is going to have the honor of being named after your Cookie. It is the perfect name for her as she looks like an Oreo with her chick coloring and since she is LF she can be a big ole "Double Stuff Oreo Cookie".

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40 Remember me telling you that I was going to name one of our LF Chocolate Orp chicks in honor of Cookie? Well, as it turns out they are now 4 weeks old and both of those chocolates are cockrels. However, one of our Black Orp chicks that we thought initially might be a cockrel is more than likely a little girl. She is absolutely precious (she is roosting on my shoulder as I type this), full of personality and was the chick who taught all of those cockrels (5 out of 7 of our chicks are cockrels I think....) how to fly out of the brooder! This little angel is going to have the honor of being named after your Cookie. It is the perfect name for her as she looks like an Oreo with her chick coloring and since she is LF she can be a big ole "Double Stuff Oreo Cookie".

So honored & she even resembles my Cookie as a chick.

...and a LF will fit more eggs if you want to use her as an incubator!

Up here, Cookie is being a good mom, but her chicks are WILD! I had to put them in a cage inside the run for their own safety. Cookie took them outside into the grass & some got stuck under the coop. Then our dog sadly killed the only silkie. He loves to eat rabbits & we think it was it looked too much like a baby bunny. He's always been a great hawk deterrent & he never goes after the chickens. Of course he's never been around tiny, scrambling chicks before & probably didn't know what it was. I learned my lesson & will keep them locked up in the run or chicken tractor until 4 weeks old, like I usually do.

 

[Peanutsmomma]

So honored & she even resembles my Cookie as a chick.

...and a LF will fit more eggs if you want to use her as an incubator!

Up here, Cookie is being a good mom, but her chicks are WILD! I had to put them in a cage inside the run for their own safety. Cookie took them outside into the grass & some got stuck under the coop. Then our dog sadly killed the only silkie. He loves to eat rabbits & we think it was it looked too much like a baby bunny. He's always been a great hawk deterrent & he never goes after the chickens. Of course he's never been around tiny, scrambling chicks before & probably didn't know what it was. I learned my lesson & will keep them locked up in the run or chicken tractor until 4 weeks old, like I usually do.

Oh no! I am so sorry to hear about your silkie chick. I imagine you are right in that your dog thought it was a baby bunny. What type of dog is he? I am doing some research on the best breeds to have around chickens and would be interested to get some input from chicken owners that have good "chicken dogs".

 

[Faraday40]

Oh no! I am so sorry to hear about your silkie chick. I imagine you are right in that your dog thought it was a baby bunny. What type of dog is he? I am doing some research on the best breeds to have around chickens and would be interested to get some input from chicken owners that have good "chicken dogs".

Mine are mutts from the shelter. Great, big, lovable dogs that are very patient with kids. They came before the chickens, so we had some training to do before we let the animals be outside together. One is a great dane / black lab mix. He's the 100 lb snuggler. The other is a boxer mixed with a lot of other stuff. He looked like a puppy mastiff but only 65 lbs. Very playful & tolerant. A kid could smack him in the head & he'd think it was a fun game. He also sleeps just outside the kids' doors to watch over them all night.

There are a few breeds that make excellent chicken companions, but ours are only dumb pets. We don't expect them to guard the henhouse (In fact, they'd eat all the eggs if they could!), but we do expect them to leave the chickens alone. If their presence in the yard deters predators, it's an added bonus.

Here are our dogs. I'll try to share pics of Cookie's chicks next time. The gardens needed some work, so i don't really have any pics yet.

 

[Faraday40]

Another sweet Cookie story: While Cookie(broody) was walking her chicks to their daytime run, the emergency sirens went off for monthly testing. She immediately covered her chicks & two other mature hens joined her making a circle with the little chicks inside. When the siren stopped, Cookie continued her journey to their little private run. (As you can see it's a baby play yard. I put a sheet of plywood over the top for shade & hawk protection.)



We sold some chicks this weekend from both the incubator & broody groups. Since they're all the same age, I tried mixing the groups & allowing Cookie to adopt all of them. She didn't attack the new ones, but did peck them on the head if they bothered her in some way. I brought the incubator chicks back inside. My kids will just have to mother them a while longer. Each group is down to 3 chicks now.

 

[Faraday40]

The results are in:
Our DD was awarded Best in Show for her poultry science experiment. She is beyond excited!


This year's project was to compare hatch rates of a broody hen to an incubator. The results: INCONCLUSIVE. Although she was not happy with the results she got, I told her she must accurately explain what happened & not force her results one way or another. Each trial, the eggs were fresh from the same sources.

Trial 1: Not really a trial.... The broody gave up the day before we were going to buy the fertile eggs. The incubator won b/c the broody had 0%.
Trial 2: Both got 86% when rounded, so it was a tie.
Trial 3: Surprisingly, the same broody wanted another round! Just picked up some local eggs, since we were not planning on a 3rd opportunity. Although we normally get 85-95% hatch rates in the incubator, for some reason only 54%. The broody won trial 3 with 86%.

If she averaged everything together, the incubator would win. (The busted broody in trial 1 doomed her results with 0%.) If DD didn't count trial 1 - since it never really started - then the broody would, but would the test be fair? Instead DD compared some of the Pros & Cons of each method. She liked how easy the care was for broody group & how there were no transition issues for the chicks. She also liked how many eggs could fit in the incubator & how the chicks imprinted on her. Of course she didn't like Mom always telling her to clean, water, feed the multiple brooders.

In the end, she' was awarded Best in Show for "Animal Science." (2nd year in a row)
And, she already has her project idea for next year.


Here's Cookie - our 3X broody volunteer.



Another chicken-related project (Nature art) won a class champion ribbon. She collected these feathers during molts throughout the year.


She entered & won other prizes but I won't bore you with all the non-chicken related stories.

 

[Lacy Blues]

That is wonderful! I'm so glad she did well and that the broody cooperated after all! Please tell her "Congratulations!"

I really really like that feather picture she did as well! She is quite artistic!

I think my favorite picture you shared though is the candling shot. You can JUST see your daughter in that pic and it is a very very good picture. That one should be entered into a photo contest. I bet it would do very well!

 

[Faraday40]

Here are current some pics of Cookie & her babies.
She's molting a little, so not quite her usual beautiful, fluffy self. She has really trained those chicks well. Before she finishes her "Chook Chook Chook" call, those babies are standing at attention at her side. I have also seen 2lb Cookie bully past our HUGE 9lb Bielefelder cockerel. (Of course, Cookie was his mommy 4 months ago, so perhaps that has something to do with it.)



The chicks are a Maran, Olive egger, Barnevelder, & Sebright.. They're about 5 wks old. We really don't have the room for more chickens, so they'll be leaving at some point. We may keep the Sebright b/c she's just so darn cute & how much space does a little bantam take!

 

[Faraday40]

Well, our "Bantam Menace" is living up to her nick-name again.... This morning, I heard squawking & flapping as the flock quickly ran out from under their fav tree. The source of the commotion: Little Cookie! The bantam orp had the treat bowl all to herself. I'm guessing she bullied one of the roos which made him cry out & caused the panic.

Cookie already went broody 3x this year. About 2 weeks ago, she left her last brood & started laying eggs. Just a few min ago while collecting the eggs, I found Cookie making her broody noise again. Of course this would explain why the rest of the flock ran away from her this morning. She's turning into the "Cookie Monster" again.

Is it normal for broodies to be THIS broody? How many broods can one hen have in a year? For now, I'm hoping she was just laying & grumpy. I'm still trying to get our numbers down &just finished rehoming her last chicks.

 

[Sagetown]

Hello Faraday40: My bantam orps have all quit laying. Too hot for them I suppose.