The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Mumsy]

I am so sick of you kids whining and complaining about the cold! By golly when I was a kid it was this cold ALL winter not just a couple of days. I remember we had to walk 8 miles to the school... each way....heated by a potbelly stove which rarely got it up to 45 degrees. And.... it was uphill both ways and through 3 1/2 feet of snow.
Anybody have an extra silkie? I ran out of charmin.....

 

[aoxa]

Male Stinkus.

Female Binkus.
The M Best Gray Silkie pair are nearly six months old now. Bath today. I'm exhausted and they want to go back to the barn. These two are still growing and feathering out. I'm not so sure about their wing carriage or type but I sure do like their color and temperment. No crowing and no eggs yet.

They still look very young to me. Like 4 months old when comparing them to my own at this age.

Their wing carriage may correct itself.

 

[aoxa]

We were talking earlier about too much calcium in roosters and hens not in lay. Here's a study on that.

http://www.hyline.com/redbook/Health/Gout.html


Quote:

 

[Mumsy]

They still look very young to me. Like 4 months old when comparing them to my own at this age.

Their wing carriage may correct itself.

You know? They seem young to me too. I mean...By six months nearly every Silkie boy I've owned was starting to crow a little. M Best couldn't remember how old they were when I bought them. She was thinking three and a half months. But she did say she couldn't remember. She is elderly these days. I'm 60 and I know my memory isn't what it was. I think they may have been closer to two months old when I bought them. It's hard for me to judge since it's been nearly twenty years since I had adult Silkies on my place. And I've never had M Best strains before. My White chicks from S Butler that I hatched in the bator are another strain/line I've never owned. As with all my birds, I like to take lots of pictures and keep them in files. Easy to go back someday and look at the stages of growth in certain lines.
Yes. Time may bring the wings up and more growth give the male a bit more stature when he is fully hormonal. Here's hoping!

 

[aoxa]

You know? They seem young to me too. I mean...By six months nearly every Silkie boy I've owned was starting to crow a little. M Best couldn't remember how old they were when I bought them. She was thinking three and a half months. But she did say she couldn't remember. She is elderly these days. I'm 60 and I know my memory isn't what it was. I think they may have been closer to two months old when I bought them. It's hard for me to judge since it's been nearly twenty years since I had adult Silkies on my place. And I've never had M Best strains before. My White chicks from S Butler that I hatched in the bator are another strain/line I've never owned. As with all my birds, I like to take lots of pictures and keep them in files. Easy to go back someday and look at the stages of growth in certain lines.
Yes. Time may bring the wings up and more growth give the male a bit more stature when he is fully hormonal. Here's hoping!

I have a full picture diary of development. Week by week. I do have a few that looked younger than they are, but the majority stayed right on track. By six months they looked almost adult.

Your starting pictures looked 8 -10 weeks. It's hard to keep track of everyone's ages, which is why I kept a picture diary for any future hatchings that I forget.

 

[kian]

Lol Delisha! Now its a race between the girls, your pick and Aoxa's! I'm hoping for the first egg for my birthday in early February!

 

[delisha]

Lol Delisha! Now its a race between the girls, your pick and Aoxa's! I'm hoping for the first egg for my birthday in early February!

lol...

Well I hope you get your birthday wish!!

 

[delisha]

New pictures of the NY hatch..
Only one hatched NYD..the rest hatched in stages through three days.












I missed two birds..they are very flighty and hard to catch. Stinkers
Almost all feathered out..almost 3 weeks old.

 

[Sally8]

Kind of a duty to pay it forward for my absorption of the wealth of free information I have found here.

Shawn

I agree also. So much has been given to me from experiences of others that anything I can do to help, I try. But, if I have no experience, I usually say nothing.

 

[Melabella]

Ok all you experienced egg peeps.....

Daughter home from school sick... asked for scrambled eggs and toast.....let her crack an egg open....and she gets this...
I've had blood spots before,, but this one is a bit ridunculous. Other thing, she picked this egg because it comes from my red sex link pullets. Both of them lay the largest yolks of all my girls.. they are twice the size of the other girls yolks, and take up most of the whole egg.... a lot less white part....

Thoughts?... of course I didn't feed it to her, I'm going to scramble it for the girls. Would it have been safe for us to eat.. I'm thinking yes.. but what do you all think?

MB