Petee Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 #1 is the Buttless Wonder which has never had a tail to speak of. It has always been very dark with little coloring. There appear to be 4 roosters and 3 hens. We are much better at catching them since we discovered a child's butterfly net will get them, and I can dive in to snatch them when they come for food. On July 8, one hen and the roosters will be going to Gettysburg to live with my daughter who lost her entire flock to one varmint in one day. They are currently rebuilding the fence properly. First a hawk was getting them when they were out free ranging, then a varmint dug under the wire and got the rest, so her mission is to fix the fence properly before these come to live with her. Three of the roosters will be going to new homes down there. She is keeping one hen and one rooster till she can find more hens. Those eggs you sent are really getting around! Bon and LFG 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFG Posted July 3, 2017 Author Share Posted July 3, 2017 Oh my... 4 boys and 3 girls. Let me know if you want more eggs, my sales are slowing down like they do every summer, so I'll have fertile eggs about any time you want them. As a breeder, I like having plenty of boys to choose from, and #7 is your best boy. His coloring at this age is excellent, not too much, but not solid black. I see a trace of copper coming in on his saddle, and it's nice and dark. His comb is a little curved, but that will straighten out, and it looks very evenly balanced. The only deduction I see on him is a little too much color in his breast, but that will fade as he gets older, that's going to be a very nice bird. #2 has way too much color, and would be a cull for me. Like I said, #1 looks great until you get to his tail, I don't know what happened there. It's almost like those feathers are opaque. #5 has a little too much color in her breast, but not a huge deal. #6 looks to be the best if she will just develop a little copper in her hackles as she ages. I have a few that are almost totally black, and they are beautiful birds, but ideally you want a moderate copper color. I see that white underfeather, but it will probably go away. Bon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 Some of their toes are weird, one has a very crooked toe and another has an extra, very dry, toe. Is it the Redneck or the DooBwa coming out in them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFG Posted July 3, 2017 Author Share Posted July 3, 2017 1 minute ago, Petee said: #1 is the Buttless Wonder which has never had a tail to speak of. It has always been very dark with little coloring. There appear to be 4 roosters and 3 hens. We are much better at catching them since we discovered a child's butterfly net will get them, and I can dive in to snatch them when they come for food. On July 8, one hen and the roosters will be going to Gettysburg to live with my daughter who lost her entire flock to one varmint in one day. They are currently rebuilding the fence properly. First a hawk was getting them when they were out free ranging, then a varmint dug under the wire and got the rest, so her mission is to fix the fence properly before these come to live with her. Three of the roosters will be going to new homes down there. She is keeping one hen and one rooster till she can find more hens. Those eggs you sent are really getting around! Tell your daughter to take #7 if she wants to breed. That's hands-down the best boy. If you are giving her some and you want more eggs, just give me the word. I'll send you two dozen of the young girls' eggs so you'll have a better hatch this time Bon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 Next spring. My schedule has me running double duty already and it won't slow down till about August. I need a rest. LFG and Bon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFG Posted July 3, 2017 Author Share Posted July 3, 2017 2 minutes ago, Petee said: Some of their toes are weird, one has a very crooked toe and another has an extra, very dry, toe. Is it the Redneck or the DooBwa coming out in them? Crooked toe is the redneck, DooBwa added the extra toe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFG Posted July 3, 2017 Author Share Posted July 3, 2017 1 hour ago, Petee said: 1 hour ago, Petee said: Ok, just because I'm at work and bored on a slow day before a holiday I'm going to point out the good and bad differences between these two birds. The first, most obvious issue on #2 is the overcoloring. That would be too much color on a bird that is a year old, much less 2 months. The copper should only be in the hackles (neck), and darker than the brownish copper that bird is showing. There shouldn't be any copper in the wings, and he has a lot. See the sharp, straight line copper in the center of the black feathers? That is called "shafting", and is very hard to breed out if you were to use that rooster. He also looks a little long and lean, and if you remember, that was my complaint with his daddy. It could also be the way Mr. Petee is holding him, but he looks a little longer than #7. #7 is beautiful, and I'd love to see him in about 6 more months. His coloring is off to a very good start, his comb looks uniform, his wattles have a very nice rounded shape, his foot feathering looks excellent, I like the darker beak, and his eyes look very bright and calm. See the patch above his ear? That should be copper too, and his is, but it's surrounded by black where #2 just kind of blends in to the rest of the copper. That bird has a lot of potential Bon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fedup Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 And I thought this thread was gonna be about people bein' to chicken to put their parade chairs out to early. Bon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFG Posted July 3, 2017 Author Share Posted July 3, 2017 19 minutes ago, fedup said: And I thought this thread was gonna be about people bein' to chicken to put their parade chairs out to early. Nah, and if you see TPD in this thread, it means Three Pullet Dilemma Bon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 Thanks for sharing the pix Petee, I can't believe they are that big! All thanks to LFG for the excellent info. LFG and Bon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 They certainly grew up fast. You have teenagers already. Bon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Hubby built them a small run that was plenty roomy a few weeks ago and now they are getting crowded again. Time to divide the herd. I'm going to put them in with the big hens and give them a low cover in spots where they can hide but the hens can't get them. More feeding and water stations too. Penny is going to the great hunting grounds soon so that will make 3 one year old hens and two new ones. Thank that will work or is it too soon? Bon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Pompeii Posted July 4, 2017 Administrators Share Posted July 4, 2017 I merged the two topics together. Petee , the topic is located in the Gardening & Nature forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Well duh! I was looking for it in the Search Box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFG Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 On 7/3/2017 at 10:39 PM, Petee said: Hubby built them a small run that was plenty roomy a few weeks ago and now they are getting crowded again. Time to divide the herd. I'm going to put them in with the big hens and give them a low cover in spots where they can hide but the hens can't get them. More feeding and water stations too. Penny is going to the great hunting grounds soon so that will make 3 one year old hens and two new ones. Thank that will work or is it too soon? They are still kind of small, but giving them hiding room that the big girls can't get in will help. There will be pecking, no way around it, just keep an eye on the backs of the young girls' heads. If you start seeing a lot of missing feathers you may want to keep them separated a little longer. I've lost three of mine to predator attacks in the last month. I was pretty sure it was a coon, he was pulling them through the fence when they slept at night, and that was confirmed when I caught him on my trail cam last week. I've been setting the trap for two weeks, and finally got him last night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 When my daughter was first setting up the coop and run I told her specifically that she had to put wire fencing, bent into an "L" at the bottom of the run fence or something would get in there. It did. Sadly, she can't let them free range any more either because she lives near Gettysburg in the apple orchards and they have lots of coyotes. I know they keep the deer cleaned out, but I think they leave the coyotes alone to keep the bark chewing animals down. She's going to invest in an electric fence, and move them into and out of it daily, and only let them out when she's home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFG Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 1 hour ago, Petee said: When my daughter was first setting up the coop and run I told her specifically that she had to put wire fencing, bent into an "L" at the bottom of the run fence or something would get in there. It did. Sadly, she can't let them free range any more either because she lives near Gettysburg in the apple orchards and they have lots of coyotes. I know they keep the deer cleaned out, but I think they leave the coyotes alone to keep the bark chewing animals down. She's going to invest in an electric fence, and move them into and out of it daily, and only let them out when she's home. Free ranging sounds great in theory, but you will lose chickens. All of my pens have the L fence 1 foot deep, and the walls are built with 2x4s and welded wire. My mistake was running a 2ft strip of chicken wire around the grow out pens. The chicks weren't roosting, they were sleeping by the fence, and the coon was reaching in and pulling them out at night. I replaced the chicken wire with hardware cloth and haven't lost any more, but the coon was still coming around. They are so dang smart that eventually they will find a way in. If I lose a chicken to a predator it's my fault, but it sure did feel good to see the culprit behind bars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFG Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 Pompeii, steelnut and Bon 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFG Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 Oh, I just remembered what else I wanted to tell you. The overcoloring and your comment about the toes had me concerned, so I went over my birds closely yesterday. One rooster is overcolored, though not as bad as yours, but I have no extra or bent toes. None at all. I wonder if the eggs being on an airplane or the difference in incubators would have anything to do with that. Thank you for telling me, because it's definitely something I will keep an eye out for, but none that I hatched from that same batch had those issues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 When my daughter was first setting up the coop and run I told her specifically that she had to put wire fencing, bent into an "L" at the bottom of the run fence or something would get in there. It did. Sadly, she can't let them free range any more either because she lives near Gettysburg in the apple orchards and they have lots of coyotes. I know they keep the deer cleaned out, but I think they leave the coyotes alone to keep the bark chewing animals down. She's going to invest in an electric fence, and move them into and out of it daily, and only let them out when she's home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 New excitement on the horizon......one hen has decided to be the rooster. I am positive she is a hen because she plopped out an egg in the pen one day. It had a very white calcified shell but the egg was fine. She seems to be very healthy but I saw her chasing the other hens tonight and hopping onto one. That must be why a couple of them have bare spots on their backs. There may be two going to the happy hunting grounds next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFG Posted July 6, 2017 Author Share Posted July 6, 2017 13 hours ago, Petee said: New excitement on the horizon......one hen has decided to be the rooster. I am positive she is a hen because she plopped out an egg in the pen one day. It had a very white calcified shell but the egg was fine. She seems to be very healthy but I saw her chasing the other hens tonight and hopping onto one. That must be why a couple of them have bare spots on their backs. There may be two going to the happy hunting grounds next week. Do you have another rooster? For the first 3 years I only had hens, and when they got older one hen started acting like a rooster, even crowing. It was the most horrible sound, but it was an honest to goodness crow. I started looking online to see what was going on, and it was a combination of no rooster and the hens aging, kind of a "henopause". Their body chemistry changes, and when their ovaries start failing they start exhibiting more male-like characteristics. It sounds like yours is younger, though, so I'm not sure what would cause that. The funny thing was when I told a few of my Mexican friends about it. They see a crowing hen as very bad luck, and will immediately put one down. They won't even eat it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 I'd have no problems harvesting it, but I think I'll just get some saddles for the hens it likes the most! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFG Posted July 7, 2017 Author Share Posted July 7, 2017 17 hours ago, Petee said: I'd have no problems harvesting it, but I think I'll just get some saddles for the hens it likes the most! That is a very odd solution to a very odd problem, but at least you are open minded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Chicken Saddles! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KQC3EBY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2SUXRZT5JMQUC&psc=1 LFG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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