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Post by Barbara on Feb 18, 2009 20:25:51 GMT
God that was quick girl, you don't hang about do you.  |
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Post by JennyWrenn on Feb 18, 2009 20:33:27 GMT
These are some very serious spoilt chicks ;D Cant wait to see them borned |
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Post by carolann on Feb 18, 2009 20:33:35 GMT
I have to be quick and crack the whip as they are due out on Saturday so need to get everything ready for them. Got 2 mop heads as well today but didnt get to B&Q though, will have to go tomorrow.
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Post by carolann on Feb 19, 2009 9:33:27 GMT
The chicks are starting to hatch ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D  went in this morning to remove the dividers and add some more water, I could hear them cheeping ;D |
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Post by Chuckles on Feb 19, 2009 11:37:38 GMT
Brilliant Carolann, not long now till you have all those lovely soft and fluffy yellow feathered babies. Grand job OH has done on the housing for them it's just the job. Did you manage to sort the circle out, we used to use corrugated cardboard with young pheasants. Great idea with the mop heads I've never heard that one before.
I bet you are like a broody hen waiting now for those first 2 to hatch out ;D
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Post by carolann on Feb 19, 2009 16:31:13 GMT
Have just been and had a look and 4 more eggs are starting to pip  |
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Post by Missredhead on Feb 19, 2009 16:59:20 GMT
This is sooo exciting...I love baby chicks they are all fluffy.
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Post by oldmoleskins on Feb 19, 2009 17:06:25 GMT
Brilliant Carolann, not long now till you have all those lovely soft and fluffy yellow feathered babies. Grand job OH has done on the housing for them it's just the job. Did you manage to sort the circle out, we used to use corrugated cardboard with young pheasants. Great idea with the mop heads I've never heard that one before. I bet you are like a broody hen waiting now for those first 2 to hatch out ;D I think I must have arrived at an age where I've forgotten some stuff.... for instance the 'non-suffocating circle', however: 'Industrial' chick-sexers are highly skilled in manipulating their nether-ends (chicks', that is, not chick-sexers' nether ends) to reveal the awful truth. However, from the distant past and chicken raising adventures, I do remember this: if you carefully, gently, lift a chick by the head, it will either raise its legs and tuck them against itself, or stretch them out fully. Now, the bit I can't remember, the crucial bit, is which does which... I think it's that hen chicks gather them up - but I fully appreciate this is a senior moment gone mad and of limited use to you being effectively a 50/50 guess and not exactly an advancement. However, if you'd indulge me (us) you might try it to see if some do and some don't - cos if there's a majority of one reaction you will eventually see 'what's what' and the correct way to interpret the legs will thus become clear. And, if there is a chick with remarkable colouring that you can individually monitor to the 'beyond - doubt' stage, make a note of it's reaction to the sex-lift too. Then I'll have it in writing and I will never ever forget it again. Btw, don't bother to google this - I just did and can find no ref to this remarkable bit of chicken-lore. I've probably broken some arcane Mason-like code in revealing it here. OM. ps I also know how to hypnotise a chicken, though this has limited application except for bet-winning in bars of a more remote nature where chickens potter among the customers... pps, no, I haven't been drinking. |
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Post by Spruance on Feb 19, 2009 17:13:25 GMT
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Post by oldmoleskins on Feb 19, 2009 17:20:23 GMT
Ahhh, how very literal - but did you actually read any Spru? I got similar pages, and, hoping I could give the definitive male/female, legs up/down info in my 'bit' read about chick sexing until it became a bore... never saw the head-lift method mentioned. Do, please try to find it, then Ca2 will have something to log and check. OM. |
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Post by Barbara on Feb 19, 2009 17:25:49 GMT
 Are you sure you haven't been on that cider OM.
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Post by oldmoleskins on Feb 19, 2009 17:32:20 GMT
Are you sure you haven't been on that cider OM. How very dare you, and nope - this is pure chicken-breeding gold, the good stuff, years of invaluable experience tinged with amnesia and mild eccentricity... OM. ps off-topic, but demi-johns are nicely fizzing now... |
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Post by Spruance on Feb 19, 2009 17:47:11 GMT
Not a problem OM!  This Kansas State College of Agriculture document from 1942 seems fairly comprehensive and whilst it might be some years old I don't suppose things have changed all that much since then. It's in PDF format so I have uploaded it to my Mediafire account from whence it may be downloaded via this link... www.mediafire.com/download.php?iytjcy5w3jo |
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Post by Ruthie on Feb 19, 2009 18:19:07 GMT
Oh this is so exciting carolann. That structure went up much more quickly then my studio. I can't wait for the next installment!!
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Post by carolann on Feb 19, 2009 20:59:46 GMT
OM I read in one of my books about holding the chicks up to sex them but cant find which book I read it in, after I have finished on hear I shall get them out and have another read. All the chicks will be sexed linked where the females will be Buff and the males will be White but I shall give it a whirl and see what happens just for you i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/grin.gif Got some white faced hardboard from B&Q this afternoon and made the circle, its 16" high and you can extend it as the chicks grow, we put the heat lamp up and have had it on for a few hours to see which is the best height, also put the mop heads up together. I cleaned a large clay plant pot saucer (water bowl)which I had outside and got some pebbles and cleaned them so that they will be put into the saucer so that the chicks dont drown in the water. It will be sometime on Saturday when I put the first lot of chicks in the brooder house and I will take some pics then for you all. |
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Post by Missredhead on Feb 19, 2009 21:01:46 GMT
Please add a pic of the mop heads too....I am intrigued by this ;D
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Post by carolann on Feb 20, 2009 9:07:51 GMT
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Post by Dutchy on Feb 20, 2009 9:16:30 GMT
Ooh babies. Well done Carolann. pics... yes please make me melt  |
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Post by Mr Grinch on Feb 20, 2009 10:14:23 GMT
Congrats on the chicks !! Excuse my ignorance but how can you tell the males from females ?? And what do you do with the males ? Im a guessing they will be despatched ? This must be a difficult thing to do  Regards James |
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Post by carolann on Feb 20, 2009 10:30:11 GMT
Hi James, they are sexed linked so the males come White/Gold and the females come Buff/Brown. Depending how many males we get out of the batch some will be dispatched i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/cry.gif but some will be grown and be sent to market. As the males out number the females at present all 7 will be in the brooder by 12 noon today, when I looked earlier they where all dry and fluffed up so they are ready to be moved but we want the heat lamp to be on for a few hours before we put them in the shed. Here you go Missy the mop heads.   I read about putting them in out of one of the books that I have been reading. |
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Post by Barbara on Feb 20, 2009 11:37:56 GMT
we are all grandparents ;D
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Post by carolann on Feb 20, 2009 15:40:03 GMT
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Post by Rosefriend on Feb 20, 2009 16:14:09 GMT
Well, it looks as though the "labour pains" were well worth it Carolann - congratulations.
Is that OM that I see in the middle of the second pic - did he just let his legs hang when you picked him up by his head??
RF
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Post by Dutchy on Feb 20, 2009 18:26:12 GMT
Ow Carolann how cute. Are the black ones males or females?
And as RF said what is OM doing in the middle of them all? ;D
( OM= Other Moorhen ( whistling and looking innocent))
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Post by carolann on Feb 20, 2009 18:56:21 GMT
Not done the dangling bit yet, thought I would let them get used to their new home first. The dark ones are the ladies and as you can see they are outnumbered even the ones still in the incubator are mostly males. Hope I get some more girls soon daughter has already sold some of them  Dont know if its OM but I will try that one first with the dangling. |
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Post by JennyWrenn on Feb 20, 2009 19:08:55 GMT
Oh how lovely - who has been chosen to be God-Hen Mother ;D
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Post by Ruthie on Feb 20, 2009 20:36:08 GMT
Oh how sweet they are. everything seems to be going well carolann. You must be a really good Mum!!
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Post by carolann on Feb 21, 2009 9:06:27 GMT
I have found what you where asking about OM. Leg movement: If you gently pick up a chick by its head the females will draw their legs upwards and the males will kick downwards. here are a couple of others as well. Head movement: If you hold a chick upside down the male will crane its neck upward and the female looks down. Dowsing: Being able to sex day-old chicks by holding a pendulem (any weight) on a strong thread over the chicks head. If the weight moves in a circle one way, the chick is male, and if it cirles the other direction its a female, but it dont say which way it should move for either i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/huh.gif Tail feathering: When the birds are a little older say 3-4 weeks the more rapid growth of the Pullets tail is a difference to note. Will be moving the other chicks which are ready from the incubator this morning and I will have a go with the dangling test. i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/grin.gif |
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Post by Tig on Feb 21, 2009 16:10:35 GMT
How exciting this has all been and very enjoyable to follow, thanks for sharing their birth plans Carol ;D
As for the sexy legs thing, if evalution worked in chickens wouldn't the males have learnt to mirror the females by now and live a bit longer? Nah, I s'pose not - they are male after all ;D
x Tig
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Post by Missredhead on Feb 21, 2009 17:11:00 GMT
I want to adopt the black ones ;D
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