What's wrong with their feathers?

[AZBootsie]

PhiladelphiaPhlock-

I am so sorry.

 

[BeardedLadyFarm]

Quote:
He had two harems waiting for him too! He was acting perfectly normal yesterday, and then was just on the ground today. After a year of trying to get to the point of actually breeding these buggers it's a little disappointing! But yes, please, put me on your buy/trade list for whatever you are able to produce!

I hope to keep the pullet alive to mate her to the F1, but she's not "all there." I worry about her every day. I honestly think she has bad vision. She can't aim at food, so she needs a deep dish to peck at continually. Sweet bird. Just not as smart as most chickens....

 

[FireTigeris]

Anyone having nercopsies done by a vet school or a vet who loves you (IE: for free) to see if there are internal defects?

I'd hate to see this mutation die out from something that might be bred out later, or accounted for in other ways.

For the F1 deaths were they all the same age at death, what about outside temperature? Do they die when stressed?

If we had a clue we might be able to protect them until other genes can be introduced to mitigate the issue.

 

[alicefelldown]

Something I was thinking of last night - correct me if I'm wrong:

Jubaby had a male (Ozzie) and a female (Harriet). They mated and she laid some eggs, before he terrorized her and she stopped laying.

Those eggs hatched to become a a few sons and a few daughters. Jubaby culled all but one male and then penned him with the original female (mom/Harriet) and the sisters. The eggs from that mating were mailed out and are the current silkied/fluffy generation that we all have.

** Theory: The silkied birds that we hatched, the ones that are dying, could be the children of the brother/sister mating. The ones that have remained healthy and alive might instead be from the son/mother mating. I know from PMs at the time that the mom/son/daughters were in one breeding pen and she sold/traded eggs from it. **

Just a thought anyway.

 

[KellyHM]

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[KellyHM]

My F1 girl is doing well despite the cold. She's currently living with the bantam Cochins. When (if she ever) starts laying I think I'll separate her with my Wheaten Ameraucana roo since I don't have a silkied or F1 roo for her. I suppose it's better than nothing for now.

I definitely want to hatch some more eggs (from whichever generation) as soon as someone has some available! Gotta get back on my feet with this project.

ETA: Here's hoping I didn't just jinx my girl by posting that.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Hi! I am sorry to hear about the loss of your birds. I have had some of the same issues. I am down to two. One original that I hatched and one from Kathy. All the rest just died, no reason or cause.

One female at point of lay also and the male roo I think died of heart issues as his comb was purple. He was fine the night before.

I have noticed that they do not weigh much and I want to worm them but I am afraid it may be too much for them. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do. I put DE on the food once in awhile but not often.

Good luck to you all and if and when I get any F1's or origninals I would be happy to share too.

 

[kathyinmo]

I sure hope you all can continue on with the project.

Best wishes, and lotssa luck to ya!

 

[BeardedLadyFarm]

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Some vet schools are more open to this than others. I live where I'm not technically allowed to have poultry, and even though I have friends in vet school at Penn, they can't see my chickens, much less offer advise for free. It would cost many hundreds of dollars to find out what happened to my bird. And when I can't even afford health insurance for myself, this just isn't a possibility.

 

[alicefelldown]

A small teaser: some pullet eggs from the fluffy male's harem. Nothing is going into the incubator yet - want to wait for them to get a little larger - and they aren't all laying yet. Took forever to get this many for a group shot. The ones on the far right look a little green, (blame the flash), but all these are from the same two females.

My male came from some very pale blue eggs, so I'm hoping these bright blue ones will improve the color quality down the line.