Allotments 4 All
Produce => Kept Animals => Topic started by: goodlife on May 01, 2014, 06:28:31
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Broody is on loan but the little ones are for me. They are now about week old :toothy10:
I've already picked my favourite...had instant love in first sight with the beige one...it HAVE TO be a girl!
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'the beige one'...
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Ahhh, they are gorgeous :drunken_smilie:
Hope you have lots of girls :icon_cheers:
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Very cute indeed. How many are you hoping for?
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If I could get 4-6 pullets out of those, that would be very nice indeed...but we'll see. It is not end of world if not....I can always introduce some more into flock later on. There is more in incubator where they came from :toothy10:
Yesterday I left them to be in peace..just popped my head through the door couple of times to check that they've settled ok and everything is as it should...oh, part from couple of photo's of course.
Today I've been shopping for some meal worms and there is already VERY excited chirping going on..they are in 'day 1' with 'goodlife treament'= read; 'how to make BIG and STRONG super chooks' :icon_cheers: :angel11:
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They are lovely! How good are you at dowsing? Said to be quite successful at chick sexing. The broodie looks a very pretty hen, how long is she on loan for?
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Fingers crossed - the broody is lovely.
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They are lovely! How good are you at dowsing? Said to be quite successful at chick sexing. The broodie looks a very pretty hen, how long is she on loan for?
Now that is something I haven't tried...hmmm...
I will keep the broody on the job until she has had enough of the chicks and she want more of 'her time' apart from the little ones..few weeks I think. I can't quite remember how long I had broody last time..it has been some time since I've had chicks. At 8 weeks they are already out and about and fully independent...I remember that well as I once bought pullets in that age..it took some 'hunting' them down from big field where they were running around...fun that I wont forget in a hurry :toothy10:
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................ and you are going to do it all over again :tongue3: :toothy10:
Only 8 weeks? that's not long. How long until you get your first eggs?
Oh, I like the black one with the white front best. Hope not too many boys.
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................ and you are going to do it all over again :tongue3: :toothy10:
Only 8 weeks? that's not long. How long until you get your first eggs?
Oh, I like the black one with the white front best. Hope not too many boys.
No it is not long. I don't do any more chicks after these..my friend who supplied the broody for loan and the chicks has some more eggs in incubator now. So what ever he 'propagate' , I'll be able choose more from his lot if needed...and when there is only few weeks age difference between these and his, adding into flock later on is not that big issue.
The point of lay with these is in about 18-20 weeks..so if the weather is on their side they might pop few eggs out this year. There is possibility that they miss the first season altogether and wait until late winter/early spring. I've had first timers laying odd egg in winter too...sometimes they just cannot help themselves as their 'hormones' are all over the place...teenagers... :tongue3:
I'm not really expecting any eggs this year...to grow them into big healthy girls is the main thing and anything after that is bonus.
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dowsing? Said to be quite successful at chick sexing.
Might come useful advise for some blokes.. :icon_cheers: :laughing7:
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dowsing? Said to be quite successful at chick sexing.
Might come useful advise for some blokes.. :icon_cheers: :laughing7:
You crack me up! :happy7: :wave:
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What are you going to do with the cockerels, Goodlife?
I have 7 hens and 5 cockerels. I know I will have to take some of the boys to market eventually, but then I am always worried that they may be bought by someone who wants them for fighting.
I have two dominant cockerels and they are kept in separate runs. One has 3 younger cockerels and 5 hens with him. The other cockerel has two hens for company. He is my favourite and is very friendly. I won't send him off to market but will keep him as a pet.
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My friend who's broody I'm using is 'dealing' with my unwanted birds. He either use them to feed his ferrets or they will go for his friend who time to time takes quantity of young 'chaps', fatten them up and they will end up as table birds.
Nothing is wasted and all birds are looked after appropriately while they are alive.
I have 'physical' block built in against killing creatures..just can't do it, but I'm ok dealing with once somebody has done the actual 'deed'...nor could I eat 'my own'..must be pretty desperate if I could.
My girls are for entertainment, eggs and poo :icon_cheers:
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We used to use the wedding ring on a chain trick to sex pregnancies at work would be the 1970s, it was never wrong. Now they have taken all the fun out of it with scans etc.
Does it work for chooks?
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We used to use the wedding ring on a chain trick to sex pregnancies at work would be the 1970s, it was never wrong. Now they have taken all the fun out of it with scans etc.
Does it work for chooks?
Lol..never tried that..perhaps I should.. :drunken_smilie:
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We used to use the wedding ring on a chain trick to sex pregnancies at work would be the 1970s, it was never wrong. Now they have taken all the fun out of it with scans etc.
Does it work for chooks?
It works for anything. However - my friend lost her purse with all her cards. I dowsed for it and got 'car'. She turned her car inside out, found nothing, and ended up cancelling her cards. Couple of days later she found her purse in her daughters toy car!!!
So when dowsing for chicks - yes DO make sure you mentally specify animal chicks clearly. :wave:
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We used to use the wedding ring on a chain trick to sex pregnancies at work would be the 1970s, it was never wrong. Now they have taken all the fun out of it with scans etc.
Does it work for chooks?
It works for anything. However - my friend lost her purse with all her cards. I dowsed for it and got 'car'. She turned her car inside out, found nothing, and ended up cancelling her cards. Couple of days later she found her purse in her daughters toy car!!!
So when dowsing for chicks - yes DO make sure you mentally specify animal chicks clearly. :wave:
So how would that work? ...dowsing stick up, a boy? :tongue3:
Or is it just about yes/no answers?
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We used to use the wedding ring on a chain trick to sex pregnancies at work would be the 1970s, it was never wrong. Now they have taken all the fun out of it with scans etc.
Does it work for chooks?
It works for anything. However - my friend lost her purse with all her cards. I dowsed for it and got 'car'. She turned her car inside out, found nothing, and ended up cancelling her cards. Couple of days later she found her purse in her daughters toy car!!!
So when dowsing for chicks - yes DO make sure you mentally specify animal chicks clearly. :wave:
So how would that work? ...dowsing stick up, a boy? :tongue3:
Or is it just about yes/no answers?
Pendulum (can be as simple as a pebble tied to a bit of string). Empty your mind apart from the thought 'female chicken', then hold the pendulum over the broody hen (who is definitely female) and see what it does. Whether it goes round in circles or swings from side to side for 'female'. Every dowser is different. You should then get the same pendulum action over a female chick and a different one for male. We all (apparently) have this as a latent sense and dowsing rods or pendulums work a bit like an antenna which amplifies this sense. But because we did not need to dowse in our daily lives, this sense is almost non existent in some of us. Native Australians are very good at it, because for them finding a water hole by dowsing is a matter of life and death in the barren outback.
It is not for everybody and it is harder to dowse some days than others. Agree with Digeroo that it worked fine for all my pregnant friends too. If you fancy, you could try it just for a bit of fun and see whether you get better than a fifty percent chance agreement.
How to discretely dowse for 'girl or boy' on a person you've just met on a night out, I really don't know :tongue3:
How are the chicks today? How big are they now?
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How are the chicks today? How big are they now?They are not that much bigger as for the size...just that their baby fluff is started to change into first proper feathers on wings and on tail...this should be one identification feature as girls are said to develop those little bit earlier than boys. Saying that, they all are pretty much in same stage..just that few are that tiny bit ganglier than others.
We are down to 7 chicks now...lost one sometimes yesterday..could have been during previous night as I didn't notice the little white one against clean pale wood shavings in a corner until afternoon. I had good look at 'her' and couldn't see nothing wrong as such. I suspect she just had got crushed..probably during night and it was the cold one...they all try to get the best place under broody and huddle so tight together. It just one of those things...others looks chirpy and healthy so I'm not concern it is health issue...accidents do happen even for the best of the broodies.
I really like to have a go with dowsing..or ring thing...it just depends of the 'mother' how close she is allowing me to get to her...broodies can be fierce when they protecting the young ones...I would not dream to try to pick on without reason...I've been that route before. Though she didn't object when I went to pick the dead one...she knew what I was doing..
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Oh that's sad! But as you say, just one of those things .............. and it was a very cold night. Ok on the feathers developing.
With all that excitement no wonder you fell asleep in the lounge :blob7:
Forgot to say: when the pendulum swings in a circle, also look at the direction. For some dowsers clockwise says 'female' and anticlockwise 'male' or the opposite (it is personal).
You don't have to be physically very close to the broodie, just 'tune in' mentally. Close physical presence makes it easier and avoids false triggers, but is not essential. How to concentrate on each chick separately with them all running round, I don't know. :toothy10:
Happy Spring!
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Dinner time!!!!
Heh...only time they are staying still so I can snap some photos. They are 'flying' like flock of sparrows around the pen..all over the place.
4 weeks old now...don't time fly when you are having fun....
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What a lovely sight! They look the size of pigeons? Glad you still have a white one and the beige one is now speckled light brown. Nice to see them thriving :sunny:
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What a lovely sight! They look the size of pigeons? Glad you still have a white one and the beige one is now speckled light brown. Nice to see them thriving :sunny:
Not quite that big..more of black bird size.
They are all doing really well and are eating food almost as fast as I can provide it. Well..supposed they are classed as young 'teenagers' now...always hungry :icon_cheers:
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Are you any closer now identifying boy/girl? How are they doing now?
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Are you any closer now identifying boy/girl? How are they doing now?
Oh yes...boys 'went away' last week and mother was returned to her home and she is already on the job again there...
In the end there was 3 boys and I'm now left with 4 girls.. :icon_cheers: The little on you liked and the one brown (my favourite) did turn out to be girls :icon_cheers: The brown one is only one with 'sort of name'...hubby calls her buzzard....she looks very bird of predator like.
As it is now, I'm happy what I've got...though it has been mentioned that there just might be little addition to come later on for the flock.
I'll try to get the girls together for photo shoot but they are bit skittish still...unless one has treat in her hands..then they jump all over the place in excitement :toothy10:
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I'm glad that's worked out so well, Goodlife. 4 girls is a nice number (and maybe more to come). hope you will get the first eggs in autumn. Looking forward to that photo of 'buzzard and friends'. :wave:
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Congratulations on your brood, Goodlife. I look forward to seeing more photos.
Is that Buzzard near the drinker at the top of the picture?
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Is that Buzzard near the drinker at the top of the picture?
Yes, that's the one... :toothy10:
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Little 'update'...here we are..whole 10 weeks old :icon_cheers:
Sorry about showing bums..but we just don't have time to stand still for the photos...!
If my owner is quick she just might get half decent picture of me (buzzard) ;
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Nom, nom...must keep eating...HUNGRY!...
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They are lovely. I can see why you call the brown one buzzard. Her eyes and beak are very raptor like.
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Nom, nom...must keep eating...HUNGRY!...
They look like proper young chickens now! No wonder with all that good food. Buzzard has all the 'looks'! Do they already have a pecking order at this stage?
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Nom, nom...must keep eating...HUNGRY!...
They look like proper young chickens now! No wonder with all that good food. Buzzard has all the 'looks'! Do they already have a pecking order at this stage?
I think by listening the noises they make...they are (re-)establishing their pecking order...but it is all quite calm really, you just hear odd squeal when one of them have been put into her place by sharp peg on head.
Yeah,,talking about 'good food'...they eat better we do!..all the different choices offered through out the day..greens, pellets, grain, clean water, berries.. :drunken_smilie: They just had arm full of beetroot tops...though they won't eat them all..but have great fun by throwing them all over the place :icon_cheers:
BTW...they are all named now....we call them 'buzzard and the ravens'... :icon_cheers:
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They are lovely, I would so like to keep hens. But OH is not keen.
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Me and my girls we had some quality time in garden today....though they might not think so.
Now that they are laying and being much heavier bird, I have finally decided to let them out from their pen for little trot around garden. Armed with bowl of corn sends them into frenzy and they are practically climbing on the pen netting trying to get their treat.
BUT..."not so quickly little girls...mum has got little surprise for youuuuu" :angel12:
couple of them have shown few rough scale patches on legs...so I'm thinking there might be bit of scaly legs developing. Bought the treatment and filled bowl with warm water...and I was planning to get them out one at the time and give them foot bath and treatment. To get over their upset, little bit of freedom and treat of corn should be good remedy for it.
None of the girls have had encounter with warm water, nor have I really handled them that much. Two of the girls are easy, they practically walk to my hands and buzzard and third one of the ravens are 'wild ones'.
The 'easy ones' quite enjoyed having their feet washed in warm bath :icon_cheers:, and catching the reminding 2 was 'fun'..and they didn't take their bath kindly neither. I'm sure buzzard was swearing and spitting right dirty old words ....good thing I don't do chicken talk (should have washed its beak for letting such a language out :tongue3:). But once they were let down, they tummy ruled and all upset was forgotten. :icon_cheers: :laughing7:
I'm quite looking forward to repeating it all in few days time... :evil6:
And .....some of my girls 'treasures'.....buzzard lay the dark ones... :icon_cheers:
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Well, how time flies... :drunken_smilie:
My girls are now just over a year old and laying well. That little beige chick, 'buzzard', is really really big girl and although laying well for her breed (welsummer) she is not quite as mean 'egg machine' as our 'raven's '.
Well, she might not lay as many eggs but look what kind of whopper she did this morning...OUTCH! ...left is goose egg, middle is her 'outch' egg and on the right is the 'normal' size she would lay. :drunken_smilie:
And yes it turned out to be a double yolker too...but it is no more...NOM NOM :glasses9:
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Goodness, that is a monster egg! Glad they are doing so well :wave: