Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[irishrovr]

Ok I'm thinking this chicken stuff is way over my head. How would I know the eggs I have eaten for a week if from the chosen rooster? An egg is an egg to me when I am eating it. And yes, we can divide the coop, Irishrovr. Thanks for joining in. I'm thinking I will need all the help I can get.

It takes awhile for an egg to fully form. Here is a picture of some eggs taken from a dead hen to help you visualize the process. The rooster fertilizes the egg early in the process so it will be a week or so before you know for sure that the hens you sequestered with the roo are going to bear his little chickaroos.


If you eat the eggs for a week (or two) instead of collecting them you will make sure none of the other rooster's progeny are going to be hatching.

 

[irishrovr]

Ok, I bet I just figured out about the egg thing. The size and color of the egg, correct? I have four hens now who all lay in the same box, I can sometimes tell who layed what unless one lays and egg and another hen goes in right behind the first, so when I go pick the eggs, other than knowing who was in the box, I can't tell who layed what.

That won't tell you anything about the rooster. You might be able to pinpoint the hen who laid the egg but not the rooster who laid the hen,

 

[unkadan]

Where's Heather?

 

[irishrovr]

Where's Heather?

Are you lurking?

 

[Firstchic]

That won't tell you anything about the rooster. You might be able to pinpoint the hen who laid the egg but not the rooster who laid the hen,

Well, that was dang funny.

 

[Firstchic]

It takes awhile for an egg to fully form. Here is a picture of some eggs taken from a dead hen to help you visualize the process. The rooster fertilizes the egg early in the process so it will be a week or so before you know for sure that the hens you sequestered with the roo are going to bear his little chickaroos.


If you eat the eggs for a week (or two) instead of collecting them you will make sure none of the other rooster's progeny are going to be hatching.

Got that. But, if I have, for instance, all my RIR and the RIR rooster separate from the other birds, I wouldn't have to be concerned right?

 

[irishrovr]

Got that. But, if I have, for instance, all my RIR and the RIR rooster separate from the other birds, I wouldn't have to be concerned right?

Only after all the older eggs they've been processing prior to the separation have passed out of their system. Two weeks to be safe.

 

[Celtic Chick]

I have now 4 adult hens, tomorrow I am suppose to pick up 2 hens and 3 roos from one place(Goldens) and 4 hens and 1 roo from another place. Then my son has ordered form Sunnyside? 10 Black Sexlink, 10 Brown(red) sexlink, and 2 run that are S(cannot remember name, cross between RIR and NH, I think.) so it is possible I will have a total of 32 hens and 4 roos, unless the st.run turns out to be 2 roos.

Quote:
I think you need to concentrate a bit less on chicken laying/getting laid (give me your worst Dan)

and a bit more on brooder preparation/setup. It sounds like you are going to have differing ages in chicks. That doesn't always work well. The chicks you are getting this weekend can't go in with your adult hens. And a 4'x3' brooder is not going to hold 10 two month olds for very long. I hope you take a good long look at them also to make sure they are healthy before you put the chicks all together.

Is your coop almost ready for birds to go in it? Your 2 month olds are too young to go in with your adults and too old to be in with your sexlinks from Sunnyside when they come. You are going to need 3 places to house birds until they are big enough to join the main adult flock.

And just so you are aware, the sexlink birds are the ones that burn out & die right around age 2 (the ones we told you about when your hen was sick). They are strong egg layers, laying darn near every day, but they die very young.

If you house most of your birds (when they become mature) in the new coop and just had your RIR hens & roo in your current tractor, you wouldn't have to worry about mixed breed chicks out of your RIR hens. Unless you let them all out to mingle together during the day. If you want purebreds, the hens must not be exposed to any other roosters for 3 weeks before you start collecting eggs for hatching. (Sorry Irish, but Jim hatched out mutts after just 2 weeks).

If you ordered any straight run chicks, you can almost guarantee they will all be roosters.

 

[Firstchic]

Here is what I am now getting....4 RIR hens and 1 rooster. Plus these: Are they sexlink? I don't have a delivery date yet, I know it will be after July 14 for sure tho. So, let me know, cause if they are the sexlink, I don't want them. This way I will only have one rooster and will not have to worry about all that other stuff.
One other thing: the RIR were hatched on April 27. When will they be old enough to go with the 4 adults I have now?

Brown​

The males are buff color with a few dark feathers and weigh 5-6 lbs. at 20-22 weeks. The females are reddish-brown similar to the Rhode Island Red and weigh 5 lbs. at maturity. The Browns lay well, are easy to handle, extremely hardy and have excellent egg quality.

Chick Prices For 2015
St. Run $1.13 each
Pullets $1.79 each
Cockerels $.65 each
Add $6.00 on any order less than 100 total chicks
Add $10.00 on any order less than 10 total chicks
Available year round.​

Special Black​

Sunnyside's Special Black is now sexable. The Special Black is solid in color, with both the males and females predominately black. The Special Black has a reputation for great livability and hardiness. The females are excellent brown egg producers. The females will weigh 5-5 1/2 lbs. at maturity and the males 6-7 lbs. at 20-22 weeks making Sunnyside's Special Black an excellent dual purpose bird.

Chick Prices For 2015
St. Run $1.13 each
Pullets $1.79 each
Cockerels $.65 each
Add $6.00 on any order less than 100 total chicks
Add $10.00 on any order less than 10 total chicks
Available year round​

 

[Cindlady]

Hi All!

Nothing new..... Night All!