The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Mumsy]

These are my HRIR at 2 to 3 weeks.

Yes. I agree. My fourteen week old strain of HRIR eat the same amount as my barnyard pullets at the same age. Having over two dozen cockerls is what is getting me now. But....This is a sustainable dual purpose breed. I've butchered two all ready and the meat is there at fourteen weeks. I only need to feed my husband and self. We don't need huge amounts of meat for a meal.

My HRIR chicks



Some of the cockerels got tails very quickly. Some of the females did not. I did not find any significance of feathers to sex with this strain at all. In fact, at fourteen weeks, I am just now sure about a couple of them being female. Some of them were slow to show.

 

[delisha]

Have just enough time to come on this morning and share my good news. I set a dozen and a half White Silkie eggs eight days ago. Covered by my Catdance cockerel. The two Catdance pullets have been laying again and one Sheryl Butler pullet is laying. These girls got good bum trims as did the roo. The three have tried to brood a couple times but they are bad at it. They all want the same nest. Eggs get strewn all over the place. Judy the Broody hatched one beautiful little white female. So the Genesis is in full swing. . Well....Back to the good news! Did the first candle at eight days and 100% fertile and growing embryos! Never had 100% in Silkie eggs EVER!

I think my FF and them free ranging has a lot to do with it.

Super!! If you ever want to try shipping eggs next year..please let me know.

Quote: Cute and hard to tell..sometimes it takes months to be sure.

Quote:
You can get good HRIR eggs of ebay, but it is rare. They will state where the line originated from usually. Your chicks look adorable and I am sure you will love them.
Usually no tails are males. All of my chicks had the angel wings so that is not a way to sex. Some develop comb pretty late too. All in good time you will know for sure. In two more weeks, take pictures of the heads. Make sure it is pretty close. Many are very good at sexing.

 

[Bulldogma]

Hubby has been keeping things from me. Apparently There is one HRIR missing presumed dead and he found the corpse of another HRIR at the back of the barn. He thinks that a hawk got it . I know it comes with free ranging but it still makes me sad.

Oh Camille - so sorry for your loss!

Well....Back to the good news! Did the first candle at eight days and 100% fertile and growing embryos! Never had 100% in Silkie eggs EVER!

I think my FF and them free ranging has a lot to do with it.

Great news, Mumsy!!!

 

[Alibabe]

My HRIR chicks



Some of the cockerels got tails very quickly. Some of the females did not. I did not find any significance of feathers to sex with this strain at all. In fact, at fourteen weeks, I am just now sure about a couple of them being female. Some of them were slow to show.

It would appear that RIR are hard to sex until they are much older. Your chicks are really beautiful and so dark. I really hope mine get as dark even if they are not pure.

Such good news about your silkies -

for a great hatch

Cute and hard to tell..sometimes it takes months to be sure.

You can get good HRIR eggs of ebay, but it is rare. They will state where the line originated from usually. Your chicks look adorable and I am sure you will love them.
Usually no tails are males. All of my chicks had the angel wings so that is not a way to sex. Some develop comb pretty late too. All in good time you will know for sure. In two more weeks, take pictures of the heads. Make sure it is pretty close. Many are very good at sexing.

I will try but they run so quickly that it is hard to get a photo before they dart off after each other. I will do some enquiries about the eggs and see if I can find out more information at least so that I know if they are pure or not. I want to sell off excess stock so I need to ensure that I don't claim them to be HRIR when they are not.

 

[Mumsy]

I haven't mentioned it but...WOW! Some great pictures being shared of great looking birds!

I sure wish there was a magic way to know about the sex of HRIR chicks because getting eight females and fourteen males after waiting four months to know for sure has been hard. I really can sex Silkies much much earlier. Go figure.

My three little White Silkie pullets are egg laying machines. I will certainly send eggs your way del. These three girls are extremely gentle and easy going birds. The Catdance cockerel is a good breeder. He gets the job done quickly without much ruckus. I want to try out the Sheryl Butler cockerel but each time I give him a go, he is much to rough and especially to Dumpling, the crippled hen. He smashes her flat into the ground into a face plant and he keeps on her constantly all through the day. I keep him penned now until he matures and will wait and see if he matures into a better cock. Often , time is what is needed until the raging hormones calm down.

The Catdance cockerels spar a lot and I had to put my beautiful Lavender cockerel down this morning. His right leg was dragging useless. After watching him closely and giving him a couple days in a hospital cage, it was apparent he was not getting the use of that leg back. No outward signs of injury but the leg was out of socket and hung limp with no feeling. Necropsy showed broken socket at the hip and nerve was severed. I have no idea how he was rendered this way but he was suffering and so I did what needed to be done. It hurt me to do it because this bird was exquisite.

 

[Alibabe]

I haven't mentioned it but...WOW! Some great pictures being shared of great looking birds!

I sure wish there was a magic way to know about the sex of HRIR chicks because getting eight females and fourteen males after waiting four months to know for sure has been hard. I really can sex Silkies much much earlier. Go figure.

The Catdance cockerels spar a lot and I had to put my beautiful Lavender cockerel down this morning. His right leg was dragging useless. After watching him closely and giving him a couple days in a hospital cage, it was apparent he was not getting the use of that leg back. No outward signs of injury but the leg was out of socket and hung limp with no feeling. Necropsy showed broken socket at the hip and nerve was severed. I have no idea how he was rendered this way but he was suffering and so I did what needed to be done. It hurt me to do it because this bird was exquisite.

So sorry about your loss, he sure was special. Do you have any of his eggs in your incubator now? Hopefully yes and you can see his offspring.

 

[delisha]

Thank you Mumsy!!!

I am so sorry to hear of the injury. I also put down that chick that was a poor thriver. She simply was not eating enough and was loosing weight. I ended her suffering. I hated loosing another SLW.

 

[Kassaundra]

I keep my young chicks in a covered run. They share the big girls coop and can see each other through the wire inside the coop and outside, the adult chickens have access to the entire area the covered run is in, so they see each other but are separate. We do this b/c of cats and hawks until the chicks are big enough not to be bothered by them. Anyway the juveniles have now been freed into the free range area with the adults and there hasn't been any major blood letting! wooo hooo My EE are usually very easy going about new comers, my NN not so much. They have never drawn blood on a new comer, but they are much more territorial and rank sensitive then the EE.

 

[Kassaundra]

Sorry for the recent losses.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Well... I hadn't taken pics in weeks... too much rain!
Figured I should get some current ones...
Rose Comb Rhode Islands and Rhodebars are my "usual" breeds
and the SFH, my "Flower Children" as my husband calls them, are my new unplanned venture.
I'm am so NOT a photographer, but thought I'd share...

10 week old RC HRIR


5 week old Flower Children


5 week old Rhodebar cockerel

Do you mind if I ask where you got your rhodebars. I'm interested in the breed, but am going to do lots of research first. I'm also going to put lots of time into breeding my HRIRs. It would be nice to have some of both breeds eventually.