Thanks for the tip. Maybe I'll add a couple australorpes. I was going to stop
at 12 but maybe a couple more would be ok. LOL
Suggestions for chicken breeds please
I got the astrolorpes instead of the Black Star. They will arrive
on Mar 03. I'm so grateful for everyone's suggestions! Thank you.
Tam
Golden Comets hold the record.
I have fallen in love with Icelandic Chickens of late but haven't kept any yet. They are still very rare in the US. Three dozen hatching eggs were brought into the country in 2003, 11 hatched 7 hens 4 roosters. They lay year arround, are great foragers, and very hardy.
http://www.geocities.com/behlcascade/vikingchix.html
The story of them coming to America
This message was edited Dec 30, 2007 2:12 AM
I've had Light Brahmas for years. Love their cheerful personality.
Well it is hard to say really, I have a little of everything, Barred rock, New Hampshire, cochins, bantam, rhode island reds, Polish severa type, blue silkie cochin, and they all have really good personalities. If I were to go out and buy any I guess it would be some buff orpingtons, I had some before and they were outstanding, very friendly.
I love my barred rock girl and my little silkies. I have been so shocked at how well they've laid through the winter so far! Out of 10 silkie hens I still get about 5-7 eggs per day.
I kept silkies to sit on eggs, they hatched everything, including pheasants. Once they were broody, I just kept putting new eggs under them.
My chicks arrived today! They all survived their trip but two look awfully
stressed & probably won't make it through the night. We have them in
a huge box w/heat lamps. I followed someone's recommendations to
put the scratch on the floor of the box. I'll pick up the newspaper and
replace it and then put pine shavings down in a couple of days. Or sooner
if they really have it messy tomorrow.
So exciting!
are they eating and drinking? you could try some growgel if they sent some. or a cooked egg yolk...
i recall you have had chicks before, you probalby know what to do. hope tey make it through the night.
what did you get?
They all are eating and drinking. The two that don't seem so strong
looked kinda woosy and one was laying on her/his side. This is the
first time I've had chicks mail order. I've raised them w/o a mom once
when a racoon got the hen right before her chicks hatched.
Here's the list of what I got. A friend went in on the order and there's
about 20 for her in addition to my list.
Araucanas/Americanas - 2 (female)
Black Frizzled Cochins - 2 (straight run)
Golden Laced Wyandottes - 2 (female)
Cuckoo Marans - 3 (straight run - I sure hope I get at least ONE hen)
Black Silky Bantum - 1 (straight run)
Red Frizzled Cochin Bantum - 1 (straight run)
Lakenvelders - 2 (female)
Black Star - 2 (female)
a RED frizzled cochin BANTAM>>>???
again, may i ask where you ordered from? I am drooling with envy.
yes, it is a hard trip for them. they could have been the ones on the bottom of the pile they made to keep warm. 35 is a LOT in one box. or they could have hatched first [ a good thing if you are traveling], so they ran out of yolk sak and it weaked them.
you can also try elecrtolytes in their water. egg yolk is something most people have on hand. cook it and offer them the crumbles. if they are slow to their food and water, put them in a SMALL spearate box for the night, but leave the box in the brooder so they are still warm enough. that way they don't get trampled, disoriented, lose track of where food and water is.
another tip with a large bunch is to cover the floor of the brooder with their starter crumbles for the first few days. esp since you have different sizes in there. if the food is under foot, they can eat constantly and get strong. after about a week you can switch to wood chips or whatever and put their food in feeders. i like pie pans at first, there is plenty of room and they love to scratch in it. since mine free range i want them to learn to scartch. and they take dust baths in the left over food dust, so just pour that out onto their bedding when you change their feed.
those little tips from a breeder helped me grow some nice healthy chicks two years ago. here they are at just four weeks old. both breeds are known for being "slow growers".
have fun!
tf
I have to post a comment on chicken varieties. I have several breeds, but they were chosen for their mild temperaments as well as egg production. If you go to the ICYouSee Handy Dandy chicken chart at http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html you can get a breakdown of all types of chickens. I used this and ended up with chickens that are very good layers.
I have 20 hens and get a minimum of 1 dozen eggs a day. Way more than we need. My neighbors are very happy. I have 3 Light Brahmas, 2 Delawares, 2 Salmon Faverolles, 3 Silver Laced Wyandottes, 1 Australorp, and the rest are Americaunas. We get every shade of medium to light brown and we also get olive green and blue green eggs.
The blue green eggs are from McMurray pullets. The olive green eggs are from some pullets that I hatched from eggs I bought on eBay.
I might add, that's a fun way to do it without having to fork over big bucks for too many chicks. If you just want a few, go to eBay, pick out someone with really good feedback and buy some eggs. It's fun!
i love that chart! use it for reference all the time...
you have a lovely assortment, and they look very healthy and happy!
tf
cdenny21 Love that link!
TF thanks for posting the tips on feeding the chicks. Since I'm getting silkies along with standards should I just use newspapers w/o the shavings for a few days and sprinkle crumbles on the newspaper along with putting feed in their feeders? Just want to make sure I've got it straight!! Thanks! Sue☺
nespaper is fine as long as it is COVERED with the crumbles. that will make it easier to clean the crumbles out later before you put down shavings. slippery surfaces like slick paper are NOT a goo didea, chicks need a footing.
re-reading what you just said, makes perfect sense to me, Sue! watch for bullies. my sex-links have been just fine with our bantams, take good care of them... depends on the breed. keep the wtaer fesh and close and away from the heat lamp so it doesn't warm up...
tf
I know that ducks can get splayed legs from slippery surfaces, thinking about it chicks could have leg injuries too. Thanks TF!
sue☺
Those were great tips! Thank you. We lost a total of 8. My DH pulled
the little bantums out and put them in a box w/its own heat lamp. One
was pretty stressed and died the next day. I think those we have left are
pretty healthy looking. I have them on newspaper with crumbles all over
the floor per recommendations here. I was going to put in the woodchips
tomorrow evening.
I'll post pictures over the weekend.
Tam
i am sorry you lost so many. hopefully you can contact the hatchery and see about replacements. 8/35 is a very high loss...
;-(
tf
Its 9/35 now. The temp is between 90-95, they have two water sources
and two food sources (plus crumbles all over the box). I'm going to see if
I can get electrolytes tomorrow.
Tam
oh, goodness!