UK Member Please Say HI

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi welcome to the thread Dorothy Bertha and UK noob!!

Hi Barbara - Incubation went well. Of the 21 I set I got 17 hatchers. Just the one clear egg and 3 quitters at various stages. I put a couple of Amber link hens in she is with frizzle polish cockerel. Was just curious what they would be like and I got two different chicks here are a couple of pics of them and then some polish pics from this hatch

How is your processing going not too traumatic I hope?

Hi Dorothy Bertha - hope all your animals are well? I've not been out on Harry this bank holiday been doing family and house things. Went out during the week though and it was very enjoyable now the weather is picking up. Hoping to get put this week too and be a bit more regular its a good job he is not bothered if he is ridden or not.

 

[Dorothy Bertha]

Hiya, its jam packed isnt it over the weekends and especially easter egg hunting with little ones lol, my other half likes to take our son to carboots early so it gives me chance to ride

Now these lighter nights are here I also want to get Jason fit too; he isnt botherd either if we dont get out for a week,
Are those your chicks? They are beautiful!

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome to Dorothy and UK noob

Dorothy, I am assuming you have a herd of horses judging by YCs comments. How many have you got? I've got 5 (mother, father and 3 of their offspring... my sister has 2 more of their off spring) and my partner has another 3.unrelated horses... kept seperately. He hunts in the winter and carriage drives in the summer... which I help him with. I'm mostly a happy hacker myself but I also drive one of mine. Always wanted to drive pairs (which he does) but my two lad are a bit too daft and competitive with each other and you really wouldn't want to sit behind Rascal when he gets excited, as the power builds up and explodes through his back feet. I keep hoping he will get more sensible as he gets older, but sadly that's not looking likely and he will be a juvenile delinquent until the day he dies!

UK noob, it's good to have you join our "local"

community thread. I had a look at your other post and replied there. It sounds like you have a great (and colourful) flock for egg production. Hybrids are the best layers. I hope you see some eggs soon.

@ Yorkshire coop,... I'm ashamed to report I still haven't done any more processing. Things have been really hectic and now that the fine weather is here I have 101 more jobs on my "to do" list. Plus I have chicks hatching under a broody as I type (started yesterday morning), so I am frantically making a little pen for her, since the brooder is now a permanent infirmary. I'm recycling an old oval table that got dumped on my partner's doorstep for him to burn. It is the type that is in two equal semi circular halves that clamp together, so I've removed the clamps, sat each half upright on the flat end and braced them together by screwing the legs across between them to form a kind of arched cage with horizontal bars. Some discarded corrugated plastic roofing over the top and wire around the side and I'm toying with creating an upper enclosed area with a pull out droppings board and run below.... I'm still working on the design in my head whilst I work on it.... it looks like a hen ark but an upside down U instead of A shape.
Pleased to report my two invalids are holding their own and go out in a pen in the stack yard through the day when the weather is fine which they love and they are still laying me the odd egg.
Trying to decide if I am being irresponsible by raising more chicks when I have Marek's in the flock, but I've only had a small percentage suffer symptoms and only one have to be culled. I wonder if being broody reared and free ranged gives them more resilience or if I've just been lucky so far. If this batch have problems then I probably won't try again but since I don't sell any, it's really only allowing my broodies to express their natural instinct and the thrill of having chicks of course that motivates me to let them. I don't think it is any worse than people in the states ordering day old chicks for delivery in the winter and knowing that many will die in the post or on arrival as a result of the cold and stress.

Anyway, I have to say, your chicks are absolutely gorgeous! The polish are cute beyond words! So pleased you had such a successful hatch. It's looking like 3 of the eggs I gave my broody are not fertile. I had my doubts them as I have not seen either of the cockerels in that pen "working" despite being nearly a year old. They come out on a morning and dance for each other but don't show any real interest in the girls whilst I am watching, so I'm starting to wonder if they are gay! They have been brought up together and never fight, but it seems that perhaps they don't make love either!!! They are both Welsummers and I had wanted to keep one for breeding but not looking good for either of them... and more processing for me!!!. I'm going to have to remove those eggs from the broody later today, if they are still showing no signs of life, so that she can start to look after the chicks that have hatched. I hadn't had time to candle them, so it was always going to be pot luck. The chicks are from 3 Copper Marans eggs and a CCLxRIR olive egg possibly back to the CCL cock, but can't be sure. The hen that laid it is my favourite, so I really hope the chick turns out to be a pullet.

Anyway, must go and get cracking as lunch time is now over.

Best wishes to you all

Barbara

 

[UK noob]

Thank you Barbara they certainly are earning their keep in entertainment, if nothing else! I am pretty sure that Elsie Bluebell is going to be my first layer, but she'd better get a move on!

Those chickie pics are lovely thanks too for your welcome

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi UK noob!! Thanks on the chick pics Hope you have some eggs soon Waiting for those first ones can seem to take forever!! When my polish were coming up to the time they should lay I was constantly checking for eggs like some one possessed And when I found that first one it was just excitement to the point where you would think I had never seen egg before. Looking back it was crazy behaivour really!!
Hope you enjoy it here on BYC

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi and welcome to Dorothy and UK noob

Dorothy, I am assuming you have a herd of horses judging by YCs comments. How many have you got? I've got 5 (mother, father and 3 of their offspring... my sister has 2 more of their off spring)  and my partner has another 3.unrelated horses... kept seperately. He hunts in the winter and carriage drives in the summer... which I help him with. I'm mostly a happy hacker myself but I also drive one of mine. Always wanted to drive pairs (which he does) but my two lad are a bit too daft and competitive with each other and you really wouldn't want to sit behind Rascal when he gets excited, as the power builds up and explodes through his back feet. I keep hoping he will get more sensible as he gets older, but sadly that's not looking likely and he will be a juvenile delinquent until the day he dies!

UK noob, it's good to have you join our "local"  community thread. I had a look at your other post and replied there. It sounds like you have a great (and colourful) flock for egg production. Hybrids are the best layers. I hope you see some eggs soon.

@ Yorkshire coop,... I'm ashamed to report I still haven't done any more processing. Things have been really hectic and now that the fine weather is here I have 101 more jobs on my "to do" list. Plus I have chicks hatching under a broody as I type (started yesterday morning), so I am frantically making a little pen for her, since the brooder is now a permanent infirmary. I'm recycling an old oval table that got dumped on my partner's doorstep for him to burn. It is the type that is in two equal semi circular halves that  clamp together, so I've removed the clamps, sat each half upright on the flat end and braced them together by screwing the legs across between them to form a kind of arched cage with horizontal bars. Some discarded corrugated plastic roofing over the top and wire around the side and I'm toying with creating an upper enclosed area with a pull out droppings board and run below.... I'm still working on the design in my head whilst I work on it.... it looks like a hen ark but an upside down U instead of A shape.
Pleased to report my two invalids are holding their own and go out in a pen in the stack yard through the day when the weather is fine which they love and they are still laying me the odd egg.
Trying to decide if I am being irresponsible by raising more chicks when I have Marek's in the flock, but I've only had a small percentage suffer symptoms and only one have to be culled. I wonder if being broody reared and free ranged gives them more resilience or if I've just been lucky so far. If this batch have problems then I probably won't try again but since I don't sell any, it's  really only allowing my broodies to express their natural instinct and the thrill of having chicks of course that motivates me to let them. I don't think it is any worse than people in the states ordering day old chicks for delivery in the winter and knowing that many will die in the post or on arrival as a result of the cold and stress.

Anyway, I have to say, your chicks are absolutely gorgeous! The polish are cute beyond words! So pleased you had such a successful hatch. It's looking like 3 of the eggs I gave my broody are not fertile. I had my doubts them as I have not seen either of the cockerels in that pen "working" despite being nearly a year old. They come out on a morning and dance for each other but don't show any real interest in the girls whilst I am watching, so I'm starting to wonder if they are gay! They have been brought up together and never fight, but it seems that perhaps they don't make love either!!! They are both Welsummers and I had wanted to keep one for breeding but not looking good for either of them... and more processing for me!!!. I'm going to have to remove those eggs from the broody later today, if they are still showing no signs of life, so that she can start to look after the chicks that have hatched. I hadn't had time to candle them, so it was always going to be pot luck. The chicks are from 3 Copper Marans eggs and a CCLxRIR olive egg possibly back to the CCL cock, but can't be sure. The hen that laid it is my favourite, so I really hope the chick turns out to be a pullet.  

Anyway, must go and get cracking as lunch time is now over.

Best wishes to you all

Barbara 

Hi Barbara!! Sounds like you are super busy!! Lots of plans and chicks!! Congrats on the hatchers. Sounds good an upside down hen ark. Ahh the processing I'm sure I would too be putting it off. I've got a couple cockerels left from my first hatch of the year. I've it the advertised free to good home but no takers as yet. If they don't get a new home soon I don't know if to take them to the fur and feather sale or just knock them on the head? If they go to the sale I don't know where they will end up or how they will be looked after but at least if I got them culled I know they have had a happy healthy life and have been well looked after. It's a hard choice as I love all my birds. Thanks on the chicks was quite a good hatch more than I thought there would be. Had to move them to the shed a lot sooner than usual as the guinea cage was full with 17 in there.
Have a lovely evening

 

[Dorothy Bertha]

Hiya Rebrascora

I have a mini herd of one riding horse, jason 25yo anglo arab, my little pony who is 3yo sons riding pony but she is only 5 so they are taking it steady toghether, if he loses interest or when he gets to big I fancy teaching her to drive too, she is a shetlandxspotty mini almost 11hh now, my rescue sheep wilbert who could also pull a cart

My dog bob, 3 horse cats alimg with frodo cat who lives at home owned my cats for ten years now they are so faithful, and now my rescue chickens,
Dorothy and bert from the vets but dorothy now may be a boy!!!! Iv just posted a thread on this oh dear!!!! They love each othet so hope it will continue

Have a lovely sunny day!
Kirby.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi again Kirby

That sounds like a fun herd!

My cousin used to have a Shetland that they drove and he was fabulous. He would just trot along all day and quite happily pull a cart with 2 adults. It was like watching a Duracell battery advert, he would just find his pace and go and go and go. Trit-trot trit-trot. Anglo Arabs are lovely. Have you had him a long time? From what I have read they are the sort of horse that likes to bond with their owner and thrive on a 1:1 relationship.
Mine are TB with an 1/8 Clydesdale thrown in x cob(welsh) and have all the attitude of their mother. Their father is just a total gentleman. You can leave him in the field for a year and then throw a saddle on him and hack him out with total confidence. The lads will drop you the minute you get out of the gate if you don't pay attention. Not malicious but just daft antics. Their little sister is a bit better but she's quite strong and keen.

I too have cats. There are supposed to be 3 of them but I didn't get one of the toms cut, so he is away more often than he is home. They are my garden pest control officers, and have been particularly good at keeping the rabbits out which is what I needed as well as mice and the like..

It sounds like your egg production is not going to be good. I'm assuming Bertha became Bert and now Dorothy is looking doubtful. I suppose it's most likely that people will discard cockerels rather than deal with them themselves. I had one dumped over my yard wall in a paper feed bag once. Thankfully I found it before the horses stood on it.

Well my hatch didn't go so well. I was right about the 3 eggs that I thought weren't fertile. And you know how I said yesterday that those two lads don't fight..... well cut my tongue out! They have been at it hammer and tongs today and I've had to separate them. Maybe now the remaining one in the pen will start doing his job with the hens.!One of the Marans chicks failed to hatch. Having partially zipped it had died in the shell. I am blaming myself because I lifted the hen off to check on progress (as I was worried about those unfertilized eggs exploding) and I'm guessing the membrane dried up in that critical moment of exposure and it was shrink wrapped.
The other 3 seem strong and healthy though and I'm not desperate for more chickens so I'm happy at that.

Anyway, it's another glorious day and there is lots of work to do so I'm off out to crack on.

Best wishes

Barbara

PS. I love the idea of driving your sheep.... getting a harness and cart to fit will be the difficulty!

 

[Dorothy Bertha]

Hi Barbara!

Your story telling wonderful! Do you write?
Beany my pony is such a trooper, she sounds like your cousins, she will just go for as far as I ask and as still training really does try not yo spook and has never done anything violent, Jason I took on Jan 2014, he came to me in poor condition so I got the vets, dentist, farrier, saddle man and got him on 24/7 hay with my others some hay replacer and he looks very well now, he is the safest horse I have ever met and i choose to ride bitless and he is barefoot now , I wish I had known him years ago as with my first mare who i sadly sold on after 6 years of trying with her just to be a happy hacker, in those years i broke being thrown
My coxyix
My pubic bone
No.12 crushed vertebre
And in 2013 she fell and rolled on me and docs have only just decided now that I have a rare disease in my wrist calkes kienbocks as I cant bend my right wrist as a small bone has died!
Eurgh! Waiting to see the consultant about it, i take pain meds so i can carry on being busy.
I regret selling my mare, i tried allsorts and proffesional help with her, i stupidly sold her to "freinds" and now thry sold her on and have lost contact with her, her microchip is still logged in my name!

Anyway I knew bert is a bert lol, and now dorothy is still possibly a hen as far too big to be a youngster i think.
Aww thats sounds very traumatic about your eggs, I hope your 3 hatch perfectly, exploding eggs? I have alot to learn!
And your herd sounds lovely how they are related and how you have great choice of what sort of ride you fancy that day.

Have a lovely evening, only just teatime for us adults in the house now!

 

[sherbertdipuk]

Hi everyone, thank you for directing me here Yorkshire coop. I am in Salford (Manchester). I will be getting my first hens in he summer, we have a holiday booked so I don't want to get them before.

I've got plenty to get prepared before then in the garden though. I really want blue egg layers. I would really apriciate any local information if anyone is close to me.