Recent content by Lady of McCamley

I'm sorry you've had to deal with this early in your efforts. Many farms practice an "all in and all out" method that means severe culling of all infected animals and complete disinfection of the farm. Once MG/MS is introduced, it is difficult to get out of the flock as the infected members...

How are you heating the chicks? I presume you mean day olds from somewhere or such. If you use a heat lamp, unless you've got protected, outdoor rated wiring, into that coop, and even then...it would be a solid no from me. I've burned a coop down with a heat lamp on a (new) outdoor quality...

A little bit should be okay, but not a lot or you'll get diarrhea. Grit isn't needed until they are given corn or other hard seeds. LofMc

Resist the temptation to put him with the flock...you know better :) Ringworm simply does NOT clear quickly. That is the bane of ringworm. You must be consistent, applying the antifungal faithfully. It takes at least 2 weeks to make an impact, likely a month to clear. You don't want this going...

If it's in the incubator now, I'd let it be and see how it does. If still with the hen, I'd recommend trying to fix the shell with superglue coat at the break, as it would be at much greater risk of breaking with the jostling from the hen. Good luck. LofMc

Yes, if you use a Birchen Blue rooster over the Cuckoo hens...but only that direction....you can't take a cuckoo rooster over a birchen blue hen to get sexing. And yes 50/50 blue or black, male and female, with males cuckoo on blue or black. Blue cuckoos are really pretty, imho. LofMc

I just checked my answers with https://kippenjungle.nl/Overzicht.htm#kipcalculator Yep....black copper over cuckoo girls....barred boys, black base (I expect some red bleed through), all black girls (I expect red bleed through). Birchen is not dominant over barred, so, as I thought barring...

How old? That will really influence my opinion. Silver and black is usually a male EE coloring, however it can be female. There are no wing bars, and looking closely, I'm not seeing clear hackle or saddle feathers. The tail looks a bit sad and not fully developed, but I'm not seeing curling...

Well that's a bummer. Going back to memory lane for me, I don't remember my Marans laying for a long period of time. They aren't a prolific breed. 2.5 years seems a bit early, but 3 years of age most non-high laying breeds will be greatly slowing down. How much really depends on the hen, the...

I'm going to take a stab at this, from some of my breeding experience with black copper marans and other breeds, some barred. (I'm breeding for easter eggers, not Marans breed standard). Your black copper with cuckoo girls will produce sex linking as the cuckoo/barred gene will follow the Z...

The fairy eggs come from two different hens, hence the different colors. I wouldn't worry about it. It's likely several of the older gals. Their egg production gets pretty funky the older they get. As long as it is the occasional, I wouldn't worry. If you start seeing the flock as a whole...

I corrected #1 in follow up comment to Silkie mix...and agreed hen. (See above). My screen resolution (which perhaps is different) makes the comb look like a flopped over single with "teeth" facing the camera...but I'll not argue if your eyes are better than mine and think rosecomb. Arguing...

Oh my...she is a precocious girl. Looking closer, at the tail feathers, she is a Silkie mix too, which is why she shows more comb and Silkie girls have no comb to speak of. Nice hens. :)

#1 Silkie...looks like a rooster with that much comb. Does it crow? #2 Easter Egger/Ameraucana mix. Nice hen. Should lay blue/green eggs. #3 Silkie mix. Looks to be a hen. #4 Could be a number of things but I'm thinking Blue Orpington, if it lays cream to light tan eggs. It *might* be a Blue...

And that's the sad truth of broody hatching. It can be such a crap shoot some years, even with very faithful, experienced hens...a disastrous year. (This was my year for it too...a skunk got into my hatches wrecking havoc on my first sets). Hopefully next clutches go better. Generally they do...