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

[MistyMountain]

I had a chick tangle up in my bantam Cochin's leg feathers once, so I get what you're talking about! Do post pics of what you get from Sandhill. I love Auburn Javas, was thinking about finding some of those at one point in time. I lost touch with her. Her email isn't good anymore and I wanted to tell her that I lost Isaac at the end of last year. She had some health issues and wasn't breeding anyway but I still wanted to reach out to her when he passed away so she'd know how long that sweet old guy lived.

Oh, the Auburns are so pretty! And hard to find! I struggled with finding anyone who sells or ships eggs for mottled javas, except Sandhill. I just found someone in Richmond who raises MJ's. I have been in contact with her about hatching eggs. My MIL works over there and makes the trip back home when she can. If Anna sticks, which I have no doubt she will, and the chicks do not ship on Tuesday, I may just see if I can get a doz eggs for her. 24th, 7th, and 21st are back-up dates, but from my research, sometimes those dates don't happen at all. I'd hate to waste a good broody. I could always hatch from my flock, but all I would get is EE or EE mixes. A number of my hens are aging, too, and their egg quality is on the decline. Brittle shells and yolks that break easily. Some of my fav girls and they are only 3. I guess that's hatchery chickens for ya… exactly why I am wanting to move on to better quality. I don't need a million eggs a year for two years as bad as I need enough eggs for 5 years.

I'll make sure to post pictures!

they have a good enough hatch to ship next week. I am going to give that heating pad in the brooder thing a try, with a heat lamp as back-up. I struggle with our heat lamp, it is always too hot. I bounce back and forth between bulbs and worry all night and day about a fire.

 

[speckledhen]

Oh, the Auburns are so pretty! And hard to find! I struggled with finding anyone who sells or ships eggs for mottled javas, except Sandhill. I just found someone in Richmond who raises MJ's. I have been in contact with her about hatching eggs. My MIL works over there and makes the trip back home when she can. If Anna sticks, which I have no doubt she will, and the chicks do not ship on Tuesday, I may just see if I can get a doz eggs for her. 24th, 7th, and 21st are back-up dates, but from my research, sometimes those dates don't happen at all. I'd hate to waste a good broody. I could always hatch from my flock, but all I would get is EE or EE mixes. A number of my hens are aging, too, and their egg quality is on the decline. Brittle shells and yolks that break easily. Some of my fav girls and they are only 3. I guess that's hatchery chickens for ya… exactly why I am wanting to move on to better quality. I don't need a million eggs a year for two years as bad as I need enough eggs for 5 years.

I'll make sure to post pictures!

they have a good enough hatch to ship next week. I am going to give that heating pad in the brooder thing a try, with a heat lamp as back-up. I struggle with our heat lamp, it is always too hot. I bounce back and forth between bulbs and worry all night and day about a fire.

I know what you mean. I'm limiting heat lamp usage now that we have everyone in the one big building. I may even just do deep hay for winter and in the aisle, one of the oil fired heaters to keep the air temp to a certain level; though, one of those heaters uses a lot of electricity, I can't imagine it would use more than 5-6 heat lamps in different coops. Amanda and Snow need direct heat, they suffer so badly with crippling arthritis, but that's just one heat lamp in one location. I have all the wire walls to secure the lamps to with the way the barn is constructed and I have made hardware cloth shields in the past so a broken bulb doesn't just fall into shavings. Just have to locate it or make another one with scraps of that wire I have laying around.

I may have to use one heat lamp with chicks when they go out to pen #6 but I hate to add much heat to the barn when the other birds don't need their area heated up. If I put them in the bantam coop first, they can have supplemental heat for three or four weeks and go to the barn when they don't need it anymore. By then, summer will be in full swing anyway and they'll be decently feathered, not to mention, they will have the body heat of each other in a group that size (if enough hatch).

I'm at your point, too. My elderly hens are not dying off quickly. Gosh, Amanda still lays and so does Gypsy, periodically. But the bulk of them do not, at least not that I can ever count on, but I need the eggs so unless I plan to buy nasty store eggs for quite some time, I have to hatch. I was resigned to hatching some this spring, even if I had to feed too many for a period of time. Eventually, they will start dropping and though I will miss them, they have lived a good long life.

I don't know that I'll ever had one live as long as Barnie Green! Well, maybe that hellion, Tiny, will. She'll outlive me and be flogging the person who inherits her.

 

[speckledhen]

I may have to sell/rehome #2. I was noticing this morning that his tail set is a tad high, but he was running down the top of the rock wall so I'll have to observe further. Since I surely will have a couple to choose from out of the ones hatching in a few days, he's not entirely necessary.


AND, Atlas was chasing the chicks today! He had a mouthful of feathers even. BAD Atlas! WTH is up with that? I hope I'll be able to put him with a younger male so they can be over the same hens but if not, have to figure something out.


I may have a new broody. Guess who?

RITA! Rita, who raised Atlas's dad, Rex, two and a half years ago, my red BLRW x Blue Ameraucana hen, is who I'm talking about. Rex was the only time she was ever broody. She growled at me and was clucking low in her throat and won't let go of the egg she laid today. For Rita to growl is bizarre because she's one of the sweetest hens you could imagine. She's 6 yrs old now. If she is, I could give her several Brahma eggs but I want to make sure she really is before I do that. And I'll have to figure out where to put her, too. Musical chickens again.

 

[robhuncor]

Here she is, Barnie Green, a few weeks ago. 13 years old, never a great egg layer - eggs small and infrequent, never broody in her life, but always beautiful and aloof. She's tops in the pecking order and heaven help hen, rooster or human if they try to touch her! But she's a good old girl - timeless. I appreciate her beautifulness!

 

[robhuncor]

Here's Barnie doing some fancy scratching with the Golden Campine twins on a day when they got past me out the gate and enjoyed a few minutes of freedom. I can't let anything out very long - it's predator city here. Just yesterday while I was weeding I heard growling at the nearby edge of the woods and when I went to investigate, there was a very large, very mangy raccoon scuttling along, and while I watched, a fox appeared coming along in the other direction and they passed each other like cars on a 2 lane road - unreal! This was right about noon - just imagine what's going on in the middle of the night!

 

[speckledhen]

Here she is, Barnie Green, a few weeks ago. 13 years old, never a great egg layer - eggs small and infrequent, never broody in her life, but always beautiful and aloof. She's tops in the pecking order and heaven help hen, rooster or human if they try to touch her! But she's a good old girl - timeless. I appreciate her beautifulness!

She's beautiful. She doesn't have to do anything else. (Kelly LeBrock's old commercial comes to mind-"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!")

Here's Barnie doing some fancy scratching with the Golden Campine twins on a day when they got passed me out the gate and enjoyed a few minutes of freedom. I can't let anything out very long - it's predator city here. Just yesterday while I was weeding I heard growling at the nearby edge of the woods and when I went to investigate, there was a very large, very mangy raccoon scuttling along, and while I watched, a fox appeared coming along in the other direction and they passed each other like cars on a 2 lane road - unreal! This was right about noon - just imagine what's going on in the middle of the night!

Good grief! That's crazy! Yikes! Maybe a game camera would show quite a night party!


All THREE cockerels are sold, even #2. Guy picked them up today. He wants me to call him when I have extra pullets, too. He's getting up a medium size flock. I had the two boys in a dog kennel out front and he asked me if I had more. I only had #2 to offer and since I have so many in the incubator, I went ahead and let him buy that one, too. Poor Athena is all by herself with the Evil Wench Mob tonight. Ida and her pair have moved into pen #6 as well.

The BR eggs have been moved to the hatcher. Now, we wait and peer in with a flashlight to see if they are rocking...for three days. Ack!

 

[robhuncor]

The BR eggs have been moved to the hatcher. Now, we wait and peer in with a flashlight to see if they are rocking...for three days. Ack!

 

[speckledhen]

Yup, pins and needles for three days here.

I hated to let #2 go, but I just know I'll have a good male or three out of the incubator. Out of 14 eggs, certainly at least half will hatch, even with the big air cells.

 

[1muttsfan]

OMG counting your chickens before the are hatched!!!

 

[speckledhen]

OMG counting your chickens before the are hatched!!!

Hahaha, no, that's called "gleaning from past experience"! Actually, unless some cataclysmic event happens in the next three days, I do expect at least a few of the 14 BRs left to hatch. What are the odds that they'll all be pullets? So, my guy will be in there, I bet.

Even with shipped eggs, I've never had a really terrible hatch, maybe because everyone I have gotten eggs from knew how to pack them well, even if they were different methods. I've seen true horror stories of entire boxes of smashed eggs here on BYC, but never had that experience. No huge bator issues with them after starting the hatch. If hatcheries did a better job, we wouldn't have to resort to getting our birds through mailed eggs, but alas, not going to happen. That's how they keep costs so low, I suppose, by selling a Walmart/Dollar Store type chicken.