The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[getaclue]

I love that butterfly material. I'd make me a dress, or at least a blouse from it.

 

[speckledhen]

Big Announcement: RACHEL IS DONE with the chicks! She walked out and went off foraging by herself and never looked back. The chicks looked slightly confused, went back in under the heat lamp and sat down. She ran off for a long time, got a big dust bath, which I removed her from and took her back to see if she was going to be hostile to the chicks. Nope, but she left again. When I went to retrieve her, she squatted for me, a sure sign she's about to come back into lay, and she was making those "uh, uh, uh" hormonal sounds when that's the time for it, so I put her in the coop with Atlas and she squatted for him. No more clucking. The chicks are 5 weeks old tomorrow.

One cockerel is larger than the others, stands taller. Another has finer barring, but he has a presence. The 3rd photo down....

 

[1muttsfan]

The poor motherless babies

 

[speckledhen]

It's weird how some hens start pecking and harassing the chicks when they're coming out of their broody spell, some let go slowly, some actually try to kill them (yeah, I'm talking about YOU, Dusty, you crazy blue wench!) and some just switch off and walk away one day.

 

[Peanutsmomma]

So 5 weeks is the magic number for Rachel. That is fantastic that she just left them without being aggressive. Looks like you have another good momma on your hands Cyn. In the next batch of Atlas babies you are hatching have you kept track of which eggs are Rachel's, Dottie's etc...?

 

[speckledhen]

So 5 weeks is the magic number for Rachel. That is fantastic that she just left them without being aggressive. Looks like you have another good momma on your hands Cyn. In the next batch of Atlas babies you are hatching have you kept track of which eggs are Rachel's, Dottie's etc...?

I did have them marked last time, but when babies hatch under mama and go all under there, you can't tell which one is which-it's like a shell game, LOL. I know that 3 are Dottie's and 1 is Rachel's and 1 is Ro's. Beyond that, I'd say that the pullets and one cockerel probably belong to Dottie and the cockerels may be the younger girls'.

I can't tell which eggs are which in the main coop among the BRs, not for sure, unless I catch them laying. All I can usually tell is which belong to the older Stukel hens and which belong to either the black hens or Rachel and Rowena-their eggs are almost impossible to tell apart. See, that tiny bit of Delaware in the black girls and Ro and Rachel make their egg shapes similar to each other-remember that Rex was 1/2 Delaware and Atlas is 1/4 Del. The eggs are more Dellie shaped than Rock shaped on all the younger girls.

 

[Peanutsmomma]

Slapping myself on the forehead.....that makes total sense that you wouldn't know which was which after they hatched because of the shuffling around in the nest and being under Rachel. After all, it is not like they are born with toe tags. LOL!!!

The hen that I thought was going broody isn't, so it looks like I will have to wait until that happens before I get some eggs from you. My husband wants to buy me an incubator so I can go ahead and hatch some but I think I want to wait and let Mother Nature take care of the hatching and teaching them to be chickens. I am afraid if I get my hands on an incubator I will go over the edge raising chicks every month! If we were on our farm that would be cool but not in a neighborhood with a cranky pants rooster hating neighbor.

 

[speckledhen]

Slapping myself on the forehead.....that makes total sense that you wouldn't know which was which after they hatched because of the shuffling around in the nest and being under Rachel. After all, it is not like they are born with toe tags. LOL!!!

The hen that I thought was going broody isn't, so it looks like I will have to wait until that happens before I get some eggs from you. My husband wants to buy me an incubator so I can go ahead and hatch some but I think I want to wait and let Mother Nature take care of the hatching and teaching them to be chickens. I am afraid if I get my hands on an incubator I will go over the edge raising chicks every month! If we were on our farm that would be cool but not in a neighborhood with a cranky pants rooster hating neighbor.

Yeah, those bators will get you in trouble! My dear husband gave me one for my birthday way back in 2006; he skipped lunches and saved up so he could buy me a Hovabator. And he says he's not romantic.

I went from 11 birds to 55 birds in no time!

And none were bantams, either. I have a nice one and a secondary one but they are tucked away in the basement. I much prefer mama raising babies to taking care of a brooder. Now, I have five 5 week olds to watch out for.

In case anyone asks, I will keep these sweet abandoned chicks until they are used to being without mama while in familiar surroundings, then I will start to locate homes for them.

 

[getaclue]

Speckled, I was reading an article about keeping track of eggs by putting a drop of food coloring inside the vent of each hen, daily, or every other day, using a different color for each hen (per coop), then whatever color was on the egg the chick hatched from, paint a little of the same color of food coloring on the chicks legs. That way you don't have to trap nest, use leg bands, or toe punches, and can keep track of both the eggs, and chicks. Yes, a lot of the food coloring comes out in the pooh, but there will always be a little left over to color the egg. I have not tried it yet, but will give it a go when I start hatching. This would also help in a situation when you have older hens, and you're trying to figure out who is still laying, and who isn't.

 

[speckledhen]

Speckled, I was reading an article about keeping track of eggs by putting a drop of food coloring inside the vent of each hen, daily, or every other day, using a different color for each hen (per coop), then whatever color was on the egg the chick hatched from, paint a little of the same color of food coloring on the chicks legs. That way you don't have to trap nest, use leg bands, or toe punches, and can keep track of both the eggs, and chicks. Yes, a lot of the food coloring comes out in the pooh, but there will always be a little left over to color the egg. I have not tried it yet, but will give it a go when I start hatching. This would also help in a situation when you have older hens, and you're trying to figure out who is still laying, and who isn't.

I have leg bands, but they tend to pick at each others' legs and mama tries to get them off so I don't use them anymore. It's not 100% necessary that I know whose baby is whose. Usually, a resemblance later on tells the tale, though of course, that's not completely reliable.