The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: NicandChic on February 18, 2014, 08:17:07 am
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Any advice for the coming weeks much appreciate as first time chick owners.
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Great photos... :thumbsup:
How many eggs did you buy from ebay to get those 6 little beauties?
I just hatched 5 out of 6 light sussex eggs from ebay and also managed to hatch 1 of my own light sussex / welsummer cross at the same time.
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My advice would be to plan space for them carefully. They will grow FAST. The biggest mistake we made on our first hatch was not being ready for that. Although, we did 40 odd so it was a bit more major. But in 10 or so weeks time you are going to have 6 nearly full grown birds. Plus, what about any cockerels? They might all be cockerels or you might not get any. Are you going to keep them? Eat them? Do you have any existing cockerels that might try to kill them? You don't want to get in that situation where you can't keep them, can't give them away and can't face killing them. Do you want the boys getting it on with their sisters?
So it's planning really. Have a good idea of where they are going to grow and live and assume they will be full grown sooner than later. This year, we are holding off hatching until we have all the brooding, housing and pens totally in place to take them through to point of lay or slaughter. Lessons learnt!
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Thanks :)
I started with 12 (I dropped 1 :rant: 4 didn't develop & 1 fully developed but never hatched, had a look & it was the wrong way round in the egg so couldn't pip :-[ )
We've got them in the spare room in a large tub with heat lamp, chick crumb & water, I've given them some blocks of wood to jump about (and poop on) they poop soooo much!
When do you start letting your guys out? I'm slowly reducing the heat, but not sure when they should be off heat completely - I imagine if they were outdoors with mum they would already be running about!
Do you have any pics of your additions? :)
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My advice would be to plan space for them carefully. They will grow FAST. The biggest mistake we made on our first hatch was not being ready for that. Although, we did 40 odd so it was a bit more major. But in 10 or so weeks time you are going to have 6 nearly full grown birds. Plus, what about any cockerels? They might all be cockerels or you might not get any. Are you going to keep them? Eat them? Do you have any existing cockerels that might try to kill them? You don't want to get in that situation where you can't keep them, can't give them away and can't face killing them. Do you want the boys getting it on with their sisters?
So it's planning really. Have a good idea of where they are going to grow and live and assume they will be full grown sooner than later. This year, we are holding off hatching until we have all the brooding, housing and pens totally in place to take them through to point of lay or slaughter. Lessons learnt!
Plan is to keep them..fatten & eat the cockerels (sell them if I bottle it) or possibly keep them to use with our next batch depending how attached I get - keep any hens for laying. Lots of space, complete enclosed stone barns with electric & water, also 2 wooden sheds (still dismantled) which I think may suit them better along with some huge mobile fencing I found over the weekend for making mobile pens. Ideally I want them to free range like the ducks then 'inside' for the night / feed & egg laying.
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At least they're not ducklings which grow twice as fast! They need to be on heat for a while yet. It's still cold outside so they need to be properly feathered before they go out - over a month away. But you probably will need a bigger indoor space for them at some point.
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Yeah, I'm thinking maybe in the next couple of weeks moving them to a larger pen in one of the barns along with the heat lamp, they will have more space, can introduce perches & things for them & will be a bit more going on for them. Theve got a few feathers starting to come through, amazing how quickly they change.
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Large silkies in there brooding pen. And some wyndotts
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Thanks Victorian Farmer, could take pics of them all day :) our 6 are supposedly Wyandottes, can see black & white feathers coming through, not sure about the yellow chick though 'Marilyn' ???
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I wish you lived nera i have a very good brooding box made of marine ply to take 25 chicks 2 heat lamp bulbs and drinkers and feeders .would like them to go to a newbe free .Its the best start chicks can have 3 weeks in the broodi nice and strong also have the 8/6 cage there in bolt to gether 6 months old .
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That's a shame, sounds fab, had a quick look & seen your up Aviemore way t'is a bit far - we had our honeymoon in Aviemore :)
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Generally it's 5 weeks to go off heat but does depend on the temp outside. Could be 4 or 7 if it's hot or cold. 6 birds in the house is going to become a struggle soon. I would look at a safe place in a barn corner where you can bung loads of straw, put in heat and keep rats etc out. Pretty soon. Once they are 5-6 weeks you can think about letting them out but there are more predators (cats / rats/ raptors) at this age so that needs thinking about.
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Thanks Stereo.
Got a rabbit run they can pop out into on sunny days for short periods to start.
I've got a room within one barn with 13 rabbits in, few pens etc so will be moving in their to start I think, when 3-4 weeks old, as you've said they will soon be too big to stay where they are!
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Made the big move from spare room to one of the barns, next Wednesday they will be 1 month old, should I look at introducing grit / sand / treats moving them on to growers pellets?
Horrible feeling I've got 5 boys & 1 girl (I'm really hoping I'm wrong)
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Growers pellets are slowly introduced at 6-8 weeks NicandChic. We used Smallholder as the pellets are smaller than other brands and make an easier transition from chick crumb. We did have one slow Orpington who refused to eat even those small pellets and we had to crush them for her. She's still a fussy girl but lays fantastic eggs.
Our first hatch of Wyandottes produced 1 magnificent hen and 8 cockerels, but over the next 6 hatches it all evened out to roughly 50:50. I think the third hatch produced 10 hens and 2 cockerels. We ended up with 23 cockerels and 19 hens if I remember correctly. I have been told 45:55 is the ratio of hens to cockerels typically.
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Anyone think temperature makes a difference? We did really well on the ratio through the warmer months but our last hatch were 19 boys to 5 girls, the best of which keeled over and died! It was colder when they hatched. The other difference is the last batch were done under broodies. We didn't really plan it but had so many broodies, I quickly knocked up a load of broody coops and we got some eggs for them. It was lovely to watch them raise the chicks but way too many boys, especially as they were mainly leghorns and legbars.
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Ebay you say? You do realise they're going to be man eating dinosaurs :tired: . We've had mixed success from ebay, great ducks, hen eggs - hmm not the ones we ordered. Yours look good though and well done on a first hatch.
I've never had much success with chick crumbs and the like, wholemeal (must be not white or 50/50) mashed to a pulp in milk went down much better and gives them the protein they need and you can gradually reduce the milk and add grain after a week or two. Cheapo Asda 50p wholemeal is best, really rough wholemeal, make sure it's really pulpy though so they can't choke on any bits, no crusts or big bits.
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Man eating dinosaurs? as long as they lay something I don't mind although not looking overly promising ;)
Thanks for the advice everyone, much appreciated.
So photo attached...still think Ive got 5 cockerels and 1 hen...what do you think?
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Bottom right is a vulture mees thinks.
You think they're all hens and you've been super lucky, then one week when they are about 7 weeks old it happens and they turn into big bad cockerels.
And just to cheer you up - did you know that very occasionally (now this IS true) that a hen lives a long and happy life as a hen and then she can turn into a cockerel? I'm not kidding.
We did the hatching thing a few times but it saddened me to see all these lovely young boys having to be dispatched. Now we just buy hens and leave the dispatching to the breeder. RSPCA website is full of cockerels people just can't bring themselves to dispatch. You can sell them by housing them all in one crate at an auction but I'm not sure what fate befalls them after that, I like to think they end up in a pie but I fear cockerel fighting may befall some, hope not. :fc:
Sorry I'm not usually this morose. ::)
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Vulture?!?...that vulture is my beautiful Zulu :P ;)
I'm going to be buying shares in Nandos sauce :-\
I don't really mind it was to be expected, like yourself goosepimple I think next time I might just buy some, could go for young still on heat chicks as I've got the lamp & stuff now.
Frodo the hen's gunna need some more friends if indeed I'm right & have 5 boys ugh!
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Well you might as well be optimistic and sorry I hope I didn't put you on a downer there! You may get lucky! All the best :fc:
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Week 5 in the wee chook hoose, enjoying their first taste of sunshine :sunshine:
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They look very healthy little birds NicandChic. I searched back through the thread to see what breeds you had bought because my first thought from the photo was they were all Wyandotte cockerels. I also see you were going to eat them, which is what we did with most of ours. At 5 weeks the combs on the pullets were almost invisible. Unlike our Orpingtons, we didn't get many late surprises of pullets becoming cockerels. The first was very obvious at 8 weeks because he was crowing. Then he went quiet, because there was a more dominant cockerel in with him who started crowing at 10 weeks.
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Thank you, they are my first chickens so learning lots, from what I've read (and youve confirmed) how they look/ behave I'm sure 5 are cockerels, suspected hen looks very different, smaller, head is lower, and as you said comb is barely visible.
I will try & sell / sensibly home the cockerels first, failing that I'd quite like to try dispatching myself (keeping one, how I will decide who I've no idea) :-J
Does mean I'm going to have to look for a couple more hens, will start my search shortly for some girls around the same age, hopefully easier to bond when still young?
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Well there has been plenty of discussion in the past about despatching NicandChic -just don't shoot yourself in the finger like I did!
Cockerels with hens is only worthwhile if you are going to breed in my opinion. Otherwise the downsides far outweigh any upsides, unless you are truly free ranging (without boundaries) in which case a cockerel is needed to keep them together and safe. Gordon, the neighbouring Black Gascone cockerel, spends a lot of time rounding up his 5 hens here. The area he covers is about 3 acres. He is running back and forwards all day. Problem is the strays out in the open could be hit by Buzzards -we had 9 circling us yesterday. Young cockerels can be very rough with the pullets and we have had to separate one of ours because of the damage to his girls.
We have an ex-Wyandotte breeder near us (which is of no use to you whatsoever) as they are a French kept breed as well. So when our Blue Laced Cock died we only had a 20 mile drive for his replacement -the only one advertised in France at the time apparently. She is packing up to concentrate on Orpingtons and rabbits. You could try the Laced Wyandotte Club, which we used to belong to, for a reputable breeder near you. Collette Roberts was the secretary 01691 780245, an email address of 'thelaced.wyandotteclub@yahoo.co.uk' is on the letterheads.
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That's great thank you.
They will be free ranging no boundaries, just in at night hopefully, same as the ducks, so keeping a cockerel sounds sensible. That's them just over 5 weeks & they have started eating sooooo much :)
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The chooks :love:
And the cat who thinks she's a dog/chicken/rabbit :-J
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They have grown well - what are your thoughts about how many cockerels now? still thinking 5 and one hen?
That white odd one out looks like a light sussex ?
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Pretty sure it's 5 cockerels & 1 hen.
Funny you should say that Q I've been googling wondering what he was - he's head honcho, everyone else follows him, he's first into everything & will feed from my hand.
I was thinking light Sussex (is that good?) or Columbian Wyandotte (not sure that's possible?) either way I think he may be staying!
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I have switched to light sussex because they lay better. Not sure your one will be laying much. :roflanim:
Our hatch was a week or so after yours & we have have 4 cockerels and 4 hens ( i think).
I also have some welsummers in the incubator at the moment because I like the darker brown egg colour.
My experience of LS cockerels isnt so good - we have one from last years hatch and he is a bit vicious. He also doesnt treat his girls so gently as the buff orpington cockerel we had before. He was so gentle & very calm.
It will be interesting to see if your LS cockerel has a nice temperament.
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Thanks Q....I think ;)
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The 2 Wyandotte keepers, also keeping Marilyn Manson the suspected light Sussex just cause he's so friendly.
All other cockerels went off to new homes Friday :eyelashes: found someone with wyandottes not too far so hoping for a few girls in the next few months.
I just love them, they are best friends with our cat which is a bit strange but all our pets seem a bit odd :innocent: