Mixed Chicks

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No question, just something that might make interested reading. I had one of my little old english black breasted red bantams start setting about 19 days ago. She was in some boxes where I'd had no luck getting eggs to hatch. I meant to put her in a pen and not let her hatch any more bantam chicks. (I have plenty). I got kind of tied up and forget about her for a couple of weeks. Finally, I decided that she'd earned some chicks so I went to the feed store to buy a few. We have a Christian food pantry for hungry people and I could always use a few more laying hens. The feed store was out but had some coming in the following Friday. I decided to get an interesting mixture and I paid for 4 barred rocks, 4 silver spangled Wyandots. amd 3 black austrolops (can't spell but you know what I mean). Yesterday, Tuesday, when I went down to the pen, the little hen had hatched 4 OEBB reds. Looks like I'll have a rainbow of sizes and colors, should be interesting.. I just hope the little hen accepts the newbies. If anyone's interested, and likes to do stuff like this, like I do,let me know and I'll let you know how things progress-in future posts. (I'd hate for my English lit teacher to read this) Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), June 07, 2000

Answers

Eagle: Sounds like you will have a colorful henhouse! We also have a mixed bag...ordered the rainbow layer assortment from McMurray's and I can't even identify what some of them are, yet. Very different personalities, though! Don't worry about your English Lit teacher..my husband has two master's degrees, and still talks like a country boy-so does his former English teacher! Keep us updated! Jan

-- Jan B (Janice12@aol.com), June 07, 2000.

Eagle, I love mixed varieties. Love the different colors and personalities. Hope you can get your banty to take them Sounds like she's a good mother so hopefully it will work out. Keep us posted. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), June 07, 2000.

Eagle, I love all the breeds. I want every one I see. I was confused at one point of your post though. What did the Christian Food Pantry have to do with going to the feed store to buy chicks? Did you mean you would be donating the eggs? I donate me extra eggs to the local food bank here. Trying to get free egg cartons sometimes gets hard though. Watch her carefully when you add the new babies, because she will have a couple of days to get used to 4 babies, and so many all of a sudden may confuse her or make her attack them. You may want to add them under her at night after she is sleeping and check on them at first light.

-- Jill Woods (lance1_86404@yahoo.com), June 07, 2000.

Got Dominiques not too long ago. I have always loved the barred chickens. But you'd never know with the mixtures I have. Depends on the babies I can get a hold of.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), June 08, 2000.

Jan, Gerbil, Jill, Dee, thanks for the reply. Had some bad news with 4 chicks. Please check my comment under Black Snakes in the Chicken House. Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), June 08, 2000.


Jill, sorry for the confusion. I didn't make myself clear. I have a "motor route." I deliver food to families that can't buy enough. Right now, I have only 10 or so families. I give them all my eggs and we get eggs from the Houston Food Bank. You know, the egg cartons were pretty expensive so I ordered some egg flats from McMurry. Each one holds 30 eggs and are a lot cheaper than the cartons. I usually put 2 dozen on a flat for each family. Sorry again for not making myself clear. Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), June 08, 2000.

Gerbil, the banty wouldn't take them. I have a big "naked neck" hen that I bought at the flea market a year or so ago and she always wants to sit. She took them just fine. Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), June 08, 2000.

Dee, do your dominiques have rose combs? Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), June 08, 2000.

Jan, seem like the mixtures do real well if they are raised together as babies. If I try to mix them after they are older, seems like they go to war. Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), June 08, 2000.

Re: egg cartons, when we had forty or so hens laying, we had everyone we knew saving egg cartons for us. Some of them were getting eggs from us, most were just glad to keep their cartons out of the trash can for a while longer. A form of recycling!!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 09, 2000.


Eagle,

Never really notice it. Sitting here thinking, I think they have red combs. Got them from Stromburg last year. (Straight Run) Why?

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), June 09, 2000.


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