Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Leigti]

Gee, so young, that's sad.  The symptoms you mentioned sounded very much like some I've had that had a bacterial infection, but they were "off" for several weeks, they gradually layed fewer eggs and the shells got thinner over those weeks.  One produced a lash egg and that was the definitive symptom.  Comparing notes with other peeps it's obvious that birds from commercial hatchery stock comprise a much higher percentage of layers with similar symptoms, including being egg bound or having a prolapsed vent. 


Did you do, or consider having a necropsy done? 

Maybe there are just more hatchery birds out there versus homebred pure so to speak. One of my chickens died last year, she was a SLW from a feed store, she was one year old, showed no symptoms, laid an egg that morning, no change in egg quality, died in the afternoon. It was definitely hot that day but it had been much hotter earlier in the summer. So I have no idea what happened to her. All I know is it is very sad when you lose one.

 

[BGMatt]

Maybe there are just more hatchery birds out there versus homebred pure so to speak. One of my chickens died last year, she was a SLW from a feed store, she was one year old, showed no symptoms, laid an egg that morning, no change in egg quality, died in the afternoon. It was definitely hot that day but it had been much hotter earlier in the summer. So I have no idea what happened to her. All I know is it is very sad when you lose one.

Longevity isn't something a hatchery concerns themselves with, since much like the commercial egg laying farms they replace their stock at 18 months (first adult molt) because it's more cost effective. That's why they stop laying so quick and start so early too, because anything past that time frame is irrelevant to them.

 

[pennyJo1960]

@ junebuggena
I will keep you posted on the three I have here
as all my others are from Dels aka tractror supply

 

[pennyJo1960]

still looking for 4 olive egger pullets I even gave
away four barred pullets to add them

 

[Babybockbock]

We got some of our chicks tonight!
2 black English orpingtons 3 weeks old
2 lavender orphingtons 2 weeks old
1 chocolate orp/legbar mix 1 week

 

[pennyJo1960]

We got some of our chicks tonight!
2 black English orpingtons 3 weeks old
2 lavender orphingtons 2 weeks old
1 chocolate orp/legbar mix 1 week

congratulations

 

[TakeMeHomeJoJo]

We got some of our chicks tonight!
2 black English orpingtons 3 weeks old
2 lavender orphingtons 2 weeks old
1 chocolate orp/legbar mix 1 week

Cute!!

 

[TakeMeHomeJoJo]

One of my new girls started showing signs of coccidiosis on Friday. We started Sulmet on Saturday, but then switched to Corid yesterday. She's looking much better this morning! I'm hoping we're moving past it. Anyone know how long to keep putting Corid in their water?

 

[Leigti]

still looking for 4 olive egger pullets I even gave
away four barred pullets to add them

Are you trying for more colorful eggs? My plan didn't work too well. I got three Easter Eggars, one lays a blue greenish egg, one weighs a cream colored it, and one ways a brown egg. I was sort of hoping for three green or blue eggs but oh well. They are laying just about daily though so that's good. And the cream and green eggs do add a little color. I can't add any more chickens so I'm going to just live with what I have now.

 

[Duck Drover]

I am getting some hatching eggs out of some hatchery Ameraucanas (Easter Eggers) so I can put more blue and green egg layers under my Quechua rooster. I don't trust anything else that is called Easter Egger without the proof in the egg after getting beige egg layers from a breeder who guaranteed colored eggs. Some of his chicks ended up with yellow legs too so I have no idea what was in their mix.

The problem for me is that I am not willing to bring in birds that have been exposed to disease so I have to start with chicks or eggs and wait for them to start laying (after disposing of roosters). I might chance getting some hens that have been hatched and raised in a closed flock and then quarantine them for a month as long as they were not vaccinated for anything but I am not sure it is worth the risk.

By hatching my own chicks I will be able to raise healthy birds and I have broody Silkies sitting on eggs now. One only has two eggs under her so I am hoping she will hatch and raise the chicks for me. I don't know if she can cover a dozen eggs by herself so I may have to swap out the eggs under both hens and put their eggs in the incubator to finish hatching them. My coop is not set up for Silkie chicks with barbless feathers so I need to give my Silkies chicks with hard feathers so they can get in and out of the coop and the nest boxes with the hen. These two already hatched some Silkie chicks but we took them away and sold most of them. Raising these chicks will help get the hens off the nest and hopefully give me some nice hens to keep if they do a good job with them. These are first time mothers so there is a chance I will have to bring in the chicks if they don't take the chicks out to eat and drink.

I usually incubate and brood inside where I can keep the babies warm and fed but the reason we got Silkies in the first place was to let them do the work. Our Silkie coop is more secure this year since we switched the welded wire for cedar boards so I am going to try to make it into a nursery instead of raising chicks inside during duckling season, which is delayed this year while waiting for surgery and then healing so I can walk again.