What sort of DATA do you keep on chicks????

[Minky]

I've just been a chicken owner for about 5 months now. My broody hen is in the middle of hatching out a clutch of eggs (some still to go) and I am anxiously waiting to get my hands on them!!!!!
I was going to take a few pictures of each one, weigh it, and if it looks similar to another, mark it, with either nailpolish on the leg or a braclet..
I would like to figure out who's mama each chick is (there were 4 hens and one roo) and keep track of male/female traits to sort of train myself how to tell gender apart earlier.
What are the most helpful angles to take a pic from?
Do the even/uneven feather on wings- is that for all breeds? is it even= male? uneven =female?
I will take a good top down pic and a good pic of comb.
What else do you track?

Thanks

 

[Alaskan]

Google feather sexing.....

in some breeds the females feather in faster, and I think you can tell as one or two day old chicks. A little further on (I think about 1 week of age) some breeds the males grow the tail in much more slowly. You could photograph that too, and see what hold true for your flock.


I have Dominiques and Brown Leghorns which you can tell sex by down pattern. ... So for them I would photo the chick to check for the sexual distinctions. For the Dominiques that would be head spot, feet, and beak. For the Leghorns that would be top of head and side of head for a clear look at the chipmunk stripes.

For me... I like chicks that are easy to tell the sex early on... so I like to keep track of the iffy ones and get rid of those.

Other than that I just wait until they are grown and see if I like how they look.

 

[Spartan22]

Might be a little hard to tell, are all 4 hens the same breed or different breed? Is the roo different breed also? Wing sexing is only applicable to some breeds, if sex links might be easier to tell with color feathering and features but still need a lot of knowledge about specific sex links. Hope this helps a little with your q’s.

 

[Mrs. K]

I just hope they live! I don't keep track of anything.

We have all played the game of is it a rooster or is it not. In my experience if you ever say, "Hmmm that might be a rooster...it generally IS."

Do not use red nail polish.

Good luck, raising chicks with a broody hen is grand, she does all the work, and if you left her with the flock, you don't have any integration issues.

Mrs K

 

[Minky]

thanks so much everyone! used blue polish on 3 of 8 chicks .. hoping #9 hatches, she has peeped but not zipped and we are 48 hrs after 1st chick now. she is pecking and peeping tho. will post pics in "What breed is this " later!

Possibilities are Cream Legbar over (A) buff orpington (B) barnevelder (c) Easter Egger (told it was a americauna-but i have doubts)

 

[aart]

Pretty hard to tell 'who's the mama' with a broody, unless your breeds are very distinct..even then it could be a crap shoot depending on if hens or cocks plumage dominates. I incubate and separate eggs with dividers at lockdown when I'm crossing certain birds, then band them on the way to the brooder. I use one color/leg for each years age group, adding different color bands for certain issues...like all the cockerels get a red band added once I know they are males, either at ~6wks or sexlinks right away.

Pic views I've used are front, side, and top...but taking pics of chicks gets old after awhile...kind of like the first child has hundreds of pics and the following ones have less and less..haha!

I have a spreadsheet with data and lists and notes for various aspects of my chickeneering.....mostly eggs sales and feed costs...annual supplies and other debits and credits on another sheet. But also hatches for notes on certain birds/issues as time goes by. Depends on your goals as to what data you keep, you'll probably start out with too much detail, but you can always change that as you go along....why I use a spreadsheet, can change and move and rearrange things without losing data, and it does the math(once you get it setup-which can also be changed)!

 

[aart]

used blue polish on 3 of 8 chicks .. hoping #9 hatches, she has peeped but not zipped and we are 48 hrs after 1st chick now. she is pecking and peeping tho.

Nail polish on chicks makes me cringe...toxic fumes.
And really, let her alone until things are done.

 

[Minky]

Its washable kid nailpolish, and its on the back of the leg, so you have to flip them over to see it.

My feed store didnt have baby sized legbands, and my kids tiny hair elastics were HUGE on them.

I think its fine.

 

[aart]

Its washable kid nailpolish, and its on the back of the leg, so you have to flip them over to see it.

Might wear off quickly then....banding will last longer but needs maintenance.