March 27-28 Lockdown Hatch

I just took my turner out and my 36 eggs are under lockdown for march 27-28 hatching..in this hatch hopefully will be:
Blue/Black/Splash Orpington that will be part English
Black Orpington-has English in them
Oliver Eggers- hopefully I get girls to see if they will lay the dark olive color eggs- from someone else's eggs..
Production reds/Comet whose has a Blue Orpington daddy..lol...
2- unknown but like the pretty egg coloring- speckling

I have a Orpington Hen on my olive eggs- French Black Copper Maran rooster with 3 my Easter Eggers. Started on March 21 for April 10-11 hatch day and she has nearly 8-10 eggs I think..will check after 7th day..

Wow. It is all so exciting. I was hoping to breed for olive eggers. I had three EE hens and two beautiful EE roos. I was trying to get some BCMs or some Welsummers to cross with. One of my hens and one of my roos had muffs. But a skunk wiped out my entire flock in two nights. That was when I was in Louisiana taking care of my Momma. The guy who was feeding for me had no idea what to do after the first night and after the second night there was nothing left to do anything for. I hope to have a few hens again someday. I miss them. But I will just have a few and I will have them in a sturdy tractor near the house. That way the dogs can deter any predators.

I wish you great luck with your hatch. Looking forward to pics of the little fluff balls.

Love chick pics.Had a hatch out past week,Cleaning out the bator this morning of the eggs that did not hatch,and heard a peep. Litlle showgirl was shrink wraped bad,had to help her or him out of shell then the wrap,it had not absorbed all the yolk and it did bleed some,by then the bator was cold so put it in a butter dish and into the brooder with the others.Its seems to be doing very well and is so funny to watch,it keep peeking its head up and looking at the others,but its still not strong enough to be with them,they would trample it.If u go on my hen haven page you will see a couple videos I took

Its a showgirl

They look fury. :)

CanjunKY, you still don't have any chickens? I remember when you got wiped out. I thought you probably had some new ones by now. :( Gee, that is awful. Let us know if we can help.

I'll gladly send you some young silkie cockerals, :) :) or even some of these crazy birchen moderns, if I can get them to breed. They are just adorable and lay a small egg that is almost as big a silkie. I also have the araucanas. I have the poor things locked up right now. I'm just SO afraid something bad will happen to them before I can get more hatched out. I have three hens and one rooster.

I'm in a quandry over what to do with these little cockerels. ugh! 18 chicks hatched out from my silkie stock last summer/early fall and it looks like 15 of them are roosters. Isn't that awful? I was thinking I should put them on Craig's list and see if I get any takers. Some of the little blue ones have brown in their hackles. That isn't good. A few of them have huge crests like the daddy rooster has. A few of the others barely have a crest at all. Two that were born the blue color are some kind of splash or something. Not sure exactly what color to call it. A good splash imho should have distinct spots. These do not. They could be from my showgirl. I still don't know what color to call her.

I may try to take them to a flea market in Amarillo. I dunno. I just know I'm in a mess with these little roosters and pretty soon they will probably get into some serious fights. Right now I have three in one pen and four in another. They are still young, but I've seen my silkie roosters kill each other before, so I know the danger of this situation. They may look like sweet little stuffed animals, but they are roosters after all. Roosters fight.

See what I mean?

LFJ that is beautiful pullet.Butter dish showgirl is in with the others now and doing very well. Wish I could post viedo on here,it was so cute when she or he was in the butter dish and kept peaking up over the dish to see what the others were doing.

I'm afraid it is a rooster too. So far though, no crowing. It does seem to have long legs is why I think it's a rooster.

That was an excellent idea about the butter dish. I would never have thought of it. It protects him and gives him a chance to recoup without the others bothering him.

Wish I could show you how BLACK two of them are. Remember the hens I bought in Paradise, TX? One of the mother hens was from there. So, two chicks came out pitch black. A much better color than the other blacks I've had.

Oh and Green thanks again for telling me to get back in and dig for info on these cameras. It has taken me hours and several phone calls but they finally have the ports open and I can see my cameras online from my tablet. Hopefully they will only be for my own enjoyment and amusement, but with all the meanness going on in the world today, you just never know. The DVR is recording. Now, to fix them on the house, or wherever I can get them and run these lines to them.

Not sure where the partridge came from other than maybe the partridge rooster bred with one of the hens before he was killed.

LFJ, I would call that color a splash. Perhaps the fluffy feathering is what makes the colors indistinct.

I have not replaced my chickens because the price of feed is so high. I can get fresh, brown, free range eggs from my feed store for $2 a dozen and I can't feed a flock for that. I would like to have chickens again at some point. Just a few hens in a sturdy tractor. Right now is just not the time. I do so appreciate your offer. It is so kind of you.

You are so right about the cost of feeding chickens. What a fool I was to think I would save money on eggs. haha :D What a joke. I was not just feeding the chickens but all the sparrows in the vicinity. I put the feed in the dog house thinking that would help, but no, the sparrows just go inside the dog house too.

When it is time for you to have chickens again, it'll happen.












This message was edited Mar 26, 2014 12:00 AM

LFG,show me another pic of that splash,it sure looks like a pullet from that angle,but you should know,lol.This is a pic of my splash rooster that I had a couple years ago.Would you consider trading some silkie eggs?Are your silkies all in togather or in with your other breeds?My eggs would be showgirl and silkie as my breeding rooster is a showgirl,so you could get 50% showgirls

This message was edited Mar 26, 2014 8:43 AM

I have a rooster that looks like him and I call him a blue. ?? haha He was sold to me as a "blue".

You may be right about the little splash being a pullet. I hope so. So far it hasn't crowed. It is just that the legs look so long to me. I kept the four here in town I thought were hens. I thought it was, but the more I watch it the more I wonder.

I would like that Green. My problem is, I have 14 cockerels right now I don't know what to do with. When that is resolved we need to talk. :)

I really like these birds but they are a handful to take care of, and especially if, like me, you don't know how to sell them, and it hurts to even think about it. I should try. I really need to try. Let's face it, I'm a wimp when it comes to getting rid of birds.

Okay, I have been up at 4 am checking on my hatch..so far since last night, I have 14 hatched out of 36 in the bator..there are eggs still pipping in there as I can see thru the window of my bator..so soon as I get done with the bator...I will be posting pics of my fluffy butts!!

LFJ,are there any chicken swaps or farm swaps going on in your area?Thats how I get rid of my roosters,and there is never a problem selling my pullets and hens. I did have a man that took my roosters for me,thats all he raises is roosters,he just likes them.But the last time I called him to take some he said he had to many now.

There is a flea market in Amarillo that will let you sell anything. I've never been. It is only open on Saturdays. Pretty sure the birds need to be NPIP tested first. That is kind of a pain to do. The man drives about six hours to get here and has to take blood from at least 5 chickens. It is free, but it stresses me out. It has to be done every year too if you want to take birds to a show. It is all kind of silly in a way, because as he says, they only test for this one disease, and that disease is practically non-existent. He said he has only seen it show positive once in his entire career. He asks questions about where you bought your birds and how many you have. Half the time I can't remember.

Oh that's to bad,so far here we don't have to have that done for swaps only shows.And it costs a lot to have it done because there are only a few that do it and they have to travel so far

I was just talking to a man about buying duck eggs. He said there is an auction twice a month in Norman, OK. He said they would definitely sell them for me. He also said there were people there that bought them to eat. Usually I don't think of people eating silkies, but there are people that consider them a delicacy. He said they buy the ducks to eat too.

How silly and squeamish I can be! Facts of life, people eat chickens and ducks. News flash. :)

The man has these beautiful white ducks, the ones that have the big ball on their heads. He likes to hatch first and keep the good ones to show. I wanted eggs, so we are at a stand off. As soon as he has enough show ducks he may sell me some eggs. I decided the other night that I am getting older and not younger and if I want ducks I should have some. Katy bar the door, or no katy bar the door. So, I got brave and called him.

I like muscovies for production. They are great layers and they are big bodied so they are good for meat. They also don't quack so they are good for town living. But they are as ugly as sin. LOL

I had an ancona hen and she was very vocal. They are pretty ducks.

Here he is.

He is very handsome

I want to post some pictures of my good splash hen and this baby. She may be the mother of this little one, I'm not sure. I have heard you should always breed blacks, blues and splashes together in the same breeding pen to keep the color of the splash good. Otherwise their colors begin to fade and run together, like it seems his do. She was one of five hens that were with the rooster. Two whites, the black, the showgirl who is possibly lavender?, and the good splash hen.

So you concede that this chicken is probably a rooster? If it is he isn't real aggressive, but those legs keep bothering me.

With all those feathers, I don't know how you can tell much about his legs! However, he does seem to stand up quite tall. Also his hairdo is sort of swept back which seems to go with "roosterage".

All baby chicks doing great. The yellow legs breed are going home to my friends house soon. I am keeping the BBS Orpingtons.

Excellent, Moodene! And spring seems to finally be here. A good day for chick photos?☺☺

That is great news!! Can hardly wait for pics.

Good news

I have to wait until my new phone gets here..my old one locked up on me thru the screen button..it got stuck..so It should be here tomorrow for me to reload and get pics..lol..

Green, some of my chickens have had a nasty bacterial infection. It causes them to have a whitish/grayish diarrhea. Some have died. The vet didn't know for sure what it was, but prescribed Baytril again. The Baytril worked on four out of five of the sick ones. The last one still has not recovered. You surely would not want any eggs from me at this time. I would not want you too either. :(

I thought my good splash or lavender showgirl hen had it last week. I isolated her, but I guess it wasn't, or if it was, the medicine cleared it right up. I put her back with the flock today. She seems fine.

How long does a bacteria live outside of a host? Is it in the yard now, or do the chickens have to be in contact with one another to get it? So far, it looks like the only one still infected is the little blue rooster, and he is by himself next door. It looks like he is getting better sometimes, then he isn't. I think I'll dust him today and put him on Safeguard goat wormer too.

Baytril is prescription only and difficult to get without a prescription. I've been told you can order it from outside the country, but that isn't exactly legal either. There is some they sell for parrots and such online. I've been using that but it doesn't seem to help. The prescription from the vet worked. This other I bought online doesn't seem to. Baytril is known by different names too. Anyway, I've got problems here, as you can see.

My white hen, Polly, is not feeling well now either. No diarrhea, just isn't eating and is all fluffed up, not moving around much. So, I also isolated her and gave her safeguard worm medicine and dusted her with Sevin dust. Today, she is no better. I've got two babies that just hatched out two days ago and fear for them as well. I am guessing I could carry the bacteria in here on my hands or clothes, though I am trying to be careful.

Oh My! I really don't know what to tell you.I have never encountered this before.Do you give the ACV with the mother in it? I have always used this,1 Tbl. per gallon of water every day.You could try plain yogurt,mix it in with some scratch so they will eat it or maybe in some scrambled eggs,some chickens will eat the yogurt some will not.Try that for a week it cant hurt and it is cheap.Could you call your vet again and ask for more meds? Back yard chicken is good to go to for information to.Good luck,hope this will help.I really do encourage the ACV in the water,keeps the gut working good

My little white hen, Polly, died today. She didn't have diarrhea, and I have no idea what happened to her. I'm thinking maybe she was egg bound or something. She was fine one day, and then three days later she is gone. She's the little white baby I bought on my trip to Dallas. Well, I didn't actually buy her, the lady just scooped her up as I was heading out the door and said, "Here you can have this one". She was just a tiny little thing. Polly Purebread is what I called her. I really liked that little girl.

The showgirl recovered and is back in the yard. When I had her cooped up by herself she laid an egg. I think I'll put it in the incubator and see what happens.

Yes, I sometimes use the ACV with the mother. I don't always put it in, but I sometimes do. Guess I should be more faithful in that.

I agree with you about the website. This woman over there gave me her phone number and I was able to call her. She was saying she could buy Baytril online. She was also telling me how she treats her sick birds. First she brings them in and gets them warm, then she has a little routine she does, safeguard wormer, corrid, and I can't remember what else. She dusts them, of course. She also force feeds them.

She was telling me I MUST go to Walmart and buy a food scales to weigh my chickens. That way she could help me know just exactly how much medicine to give them.

Thanks again, Green. Sometimes they just die and we don't know why. At least I still have my new white babies, and two days ago I hatched out a blue and a light blue one. The little light blue one is spraddle legged. I've tried to help a chick before with that, with no success. It fell in the water and drowned in 1/2 inch of water. :( Anyway, I have it's little leggs hobbled and standing upright in a little box my teabags came in, with paper towels all around helping it stand up. Hope this one will be okay. I'm not putting out a dish of water for it to drown in this time. I wonder if they get better on their own without the hobbles. Everything I've read about them says they need the hobbles made out of bandaids or tape of some sort. Poor little things. Guess I'll be hand feeding him for awhile.

Ok..I got pics of the BBS Orpingtons that I am keeping..Got 16 of these fluffy butts...The other 10 belong to a friend..they went home today..
Here is a pic of my fluffy butts..at their naptime!!

I remember my first chickens, 24 silkies. They would GoGo GO, then all of a sudden they would ALL lay down at the same time for a nap. In a little bit they would ALL wake up and run around again. Then repeat. Funny how they do that.

LFJ, so sorry to hear of your problems and the loss of your dear Polly. I hope you can get a handle on it.

Really cute chicks. They have puppy dog eyes. :)

LFJ,so sorry to hear that,hopefully all will turn out well with the others. Moodene love those chick pictures

Moodene, thanks for the photos! They are so cute and just the thing to look at on this overcast Monday morning.

LFJ, sorry for your loses. I know, you are right, sometimes they just die and we really don't know why. I think mostly we do everything we can for them and it is just their time to go.

Thanks! Moving them out the big henhouse in a wire crate that I had my ferrets in. Perfect square w 3 compartments laid down flat. Got a hatch coming up on April 10. April 16. And April 26. Mommas doing those jobs. LoL

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Melanie Cheesman- Alexander http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/.../the...

I hope I done this right,I copy from facebook and pasted here.This is such a good article wanted to share.




Natural Chicken Keeping: The Benefits of Garlic, Cayenne and Apple Cider Vinegar for Your Flock
naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com
Leigh I should also mention that you can free-feed garlic and the birds will eat as much as they like.


This message was edited Apr 12, 2014 6:58 PM

This message was edited Apr 13, 2014 2:59 PM