What's wrong with their feathers?

[NicoleRM]

How are everyone's birds doing?

I hatched out a singleton from eggs from Jubaby on Saturday. I was prepared to assist but didn't have to. He/she should be my first silkied chick! And my five F1s got moved into their big coop this weekend. They're looking like 2 roos and 3 pullets. Just waiting impatiently for them to grow to breeding age.

 

[TurtleFeathers]

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It was a no go for me. 2 made it to lockdown, 1 never pipped, 1 hatched unassisted - it looked great for 48 hours, but died on the third morning.

 

[NicoleRM]

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That's too bad. It seems shipping is really hard on these eggs, despite Julie's awesome packing. I'm crossing my fingers that my little guy doesn't keel over. Thinking of bringing my "surrogate mama" silkie hen in the house to babysit him for a few weeks.

 

[ChooksChick]

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I lost one of the F1 pullets, just at POL, as seems to be common. It was terrible, and as much as I wanted her to pull through, she just faded over about 12 hours. I still have 2 F1 roos, 2 F1 pullets, and an F2 pullet, who is the only girl laying so far.

All of the others appear to be in fine health, and the one I lost was bony and emaciated her whole short life, despite every possible effort. The others were always thin, but they are doing very well now, quite robust with glossy plumage and bright eyes.

I'm nearly done with their own coop- thought I had the right solution, but changed my mind and they're still housed with the dUccles. As docile as they are, I'm still waiting for a point to introduce them to the improvement breeders for REAL...they've shared a long fence line forever.

I have a couple of eggs under broodies...pray they don't end up 1/2 d'Uccle!

 

[KellyHM]

The good news: I'm up to 11 F2 babies between 1 week and 2 months old. All seem to be very healthy, but no fluffies.

The bad news: My F1 roo died out of nowhere.

He was soooo healthy/vibrant, then just dead.

Now I have only 1 single F1 hen left with no roo. Not sure what to do with her for right now.

The good news: Got a bunch of eggs in the bator from jubaby.

The bad news: I think only 3 out of the whole batch have developed at all. Hatch day is 6/24, so send the hatching dust this way!

 

[Jubaby]

So sorry about your rooster, Kelly!

And the shipped eggs are just not hatching well. I'm having pretty good luck hatching them myself this year, though. I have about 35 young silkied splash ameraucanas that I have hatched since spring.

I finally hatched my first F2 chicks yesterday (F1 hens X Ozzie). One blue and one splash, but I don't know yet if they are fluffy or not. I was getting frustrated that none of mine were hatching and some of you were having some success with the F2's. Most of my F2 eggs are not fertile - I think Ozzie may be getting old. And I also keep getting eggs with holes pecked in them. They are not eating eggs, but just pecking a little hole in nearly every egg. I haven't figured out the culprit, but most of the eggs are not hatchable.

I will post pictures of my chicks soon, once I can tell about their feathering.

I have recently lost two of my silkied amer. laying hens - the heat here in West Texas has been unbearable! I've hatched a few of the pure black ameraucanas to increase that flock, but they won't be laying for a while either. The project is slow going, but still moving along.

 

[KellyHM]

I lost my F1 hen yesterday.

I'm almost positive it was from the heat. She was panting and laying on her side when I found her, even though her pen is in the shade, so I brought her in the house and got some water in her, but she didn't make it. Sigh.

I still have my 11 F2 babies that all seem to be doing well (knock on wood). 3 of the SAM eggs are still growing...1 week left, so

.

 

[Jubaby]

Awwwww!

 

[Blue Ribbon Bantams]

I can't wait till fall! I want a roo or two so I can start MY breeding

 

[ChooksChick]

Knock wood, everyone seems healthy right now, and I'm doing the dose of Ivermectin that I use every 90 days. Has anyone else noticed these birds have a horrific problem with mites and lice? Even other birds in the same coop don't get it like these do, and I don't dare rock the boat with that form of sucking bug...I want them healthy and robust!

I have sent out lots of eggs to folks but it seems like the one girl laying isn't yet properly fertilized. I have eggs developing from her under a broody, but it may be that she wasn't fertile for the first few sets to go out.

*sigh* We WILL get there!