It never ceases to amaze me what I find in the nest boxes. My silkies especially. We let the whole lot of them run together (most times) There are blue, black, cuckoo, white, lavender, partridge, porcelain and splash. Porcelain is the new color we added last summer, but other then that the pen has remained about the same. Inevitably at the end of the season I'm usually left with a batch of chicks the silkies insisted on brooding even after the incubators were turned off.
Here's where it gets funny....first I will show you a picture from last year:
Next is the picture from this year:
Notice anything odd about that? Not 1 black chick in the first batch, not 1 white chick in the second batch! I just don't understand it....how is it that practically the same breeding group from 1 year to the next can give so many whites one year and so many blacks the next?
Well, ok...I do understand it! Not only has my 1 white hen been broody most of the summer (broody=not laying) but black just wasn't a real popular color this year this customers. I have to hand it to my white hen Q-tip. She's the best momma ever! Even if she's not being broody, if a chick gets out of a nest box and starts peeping...I will find Q-tip sitting on it shortly. She's mama hen to every chick in the coop.
Actually, this is not unusual when using the pen breeding method, as there is very little control of individual mating. When pen breeding you only control the hens and cocks available to breed, not how they choose to pair up. You will have males that have a favorite female and because of this they will often keep other males from her. That particular female may only be bred by one male, whereas other females may be bred by both males.
So where does this leave the breeding situation? Well, I have enough black chicks for now...so no more hatching till the white and porcelain girls start laying again, that's for sure! I sometimes do selective breeding and pen girls separately only allowing them the company of certain roos. Not sure I want to go that route since it is the end of the season. I suppose I'll just have a really great sale on black silkie chicks! That sounds like a plan.
Anyone want to take bets on what color hatches the most next year?
~L
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There will be another chicken swap held at the Clarion Tractor Supply Company store. The next one (last of the year?) will be held on Saturday October 13, from 12-4. If you've never been to a poultry swap check out my experiences What To Expect at a Chicken Swap.
This swap is held monthly and you just never know what will be there! I've seen lots of chickens, ducks, guineas, quail, rabbits, turkeys and even some goats. This small animal swap is pretty easy to find as it's held at the TSC right off Pennsylvania route 80 in Clarion.
Chicken swap in Clarion
We will be attending. We will have any guineas that happen to be left, some Silkies and a few Marans chicks. We're hoping to clean out the chick pens for the winter (as I'm sure many fellow breeders are!) so come ready to buy! 😉
There is a Facebook group for the swaps, just click: Clarion TSC Chicken swap and you'll find it! (they change the group name all the time so if the link does not work, please do a FB search for it) There are also poultry swaps in Butler and Hermitage every month if you can't attend this one. They also have FB groups.
Hope to see you there!
~L
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I'm usually pretty good with keeping the chickens in check when it comes to the garden. This year I screwed up a bit though. Usually the whole garden is surrounded with the green plastic fence that comes in rolls at TSC. It goes in very easy with the step-in spikes and generally keeps the chickens out.
This year however, we had a graduation party here. We decided to take the fence down to mow and once it was down I thought "That looks nice, 1 day won't hurt" LOL First...1 day became 3 and those sweet little chickens ate the broccoli plants completely clean!
Chickens in the garden
The fence was then put back around the garden, but was rerouted to leave the corn out. My thoughts were that the corn was tall enough they wouldn't kill it, but they could keep the bugs and weeds in check and have a fun little jungle to play in. Boy was I wrong! I quickly discovered that the chickens were jumping up to grab the corn and pull it down to their height...then picking those cobs clean!
So, the fence gets rerouted again (lesson learned) to keep the chickens out, and the corn is saved! Truly, I never thought they could reach most of the corn, and I didn't think they could figure out how to get it down to their height. I made them share the ruined corn with the guineas though...so everybody got their fair share!
~Lisa
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