# Chickens!!!!



## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

My star of a hubby built me a huge (180 egg) incubator. He's a star he is and since it's gonna be a very very long time before we have pups again and me being broody as I am. (Not for more kids tho lol) we are hatching eggs.
Getting both sides from my ebay eggs, with some all being infertile or being bang on! got Orpingtons in various colours, Japanese Batams, Silver Dorkings, Silver laced and partridge Wyandotte bantams, Polish Batams and large, Silkies, Cream Legbars (the most of lol cause these will be blue/green egg layers) Marans, Appenzeller Spitzhauben, call and runner ducks, and turkeys.

Won't be keeping all that hatch but we'll chose some really nice ones as the kids pets and our layers. Cockerals will be for the pot lol
Turkeys > on a promise to the family lol

but we bought some chickens tonight (wednesday) at Clithroe. 
1 silkie with 9 silkie chicks, 1 White Crested Polish Cockeral, 2 laying hens and a stunning Buff Transylvanian Naked Neck hen who I decided no other name than Buffy altho Ste wanted to call her Tevez and Ste's dad call her Thing but she laid us an egg on the way home lol a big one aswell
So it's chucks all the way with our home reared food lol


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## lily-jo (Mar 27, 2008)

thats great!! i want some now, but the OH not so keen lol.


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

richard loves polish :lol2: how are the Clarence house ones doing? MSN me sometime 

i am trying hard not to get some chickens now the avairys empty :whistling2: and i have seen some silver seabrights for sale :flrt:


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## dj.cazzz (Jan 24, 2008)

doing good looks like you gonna have a few on your hans if you get to many may take some off your hans whatarea are you living in


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## Iliria (Jan 19, 2007)

sounds like you're going to have some fun


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

Aye and loving every minute of it.
Really need to get myself another incubator tho lol

We've had eggs laid already off one of the wellsummers and the naked neck. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm kids loved them.


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

Buffy, Tran Naked Neck, Buff.








with wellsummer, Trinny up the top
























The Spider white crested polish cock.


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

Magdellaina and her 9 chicks (silkie)


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## sarah1207 (Dec 17, 2007)

aww they are cute


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## *mogwai* (Feb 18, 2008)

oooooh chickens. i've quite fancies having chickens for a couple of years now. i love the buff orpingtons but i really want to rescue a few ex battery hens. eventually i will have a mixture of the 2. and my mum's not far from middleton (blackley to be exact) so when your orpingtons hatch .....


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

i'll let you know. got 12 jubilee and 12 buff orpingtons so could be a mix if I get a good hatch.
Fingers crossed! :lol2:


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

God I'm mad lol
Dropping kids off at school, come home have a brew then off out to................






Pick up 4 more chucks!
1 blue Silkie and 3 Frizzle Chamois Polish all 3 weeks old.

Ste (mr pimp) has already named the 3 frizzles. 'Turk, JD and Snoop Chucky Chuck.' Kids are getting to name the blue silkie.
Photos this afternoon after I get home with them.
Can't wait till thursday next week when my first clutch is due to hatch yay!


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## suzy2869 (Jul 29, 2007)

good for you : victory: an methinks someone has a soft spot for SCRUBS yippee


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

blue silkie









Chamois Frizzle Polish


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## *mogwai* (Feb 18, 2008)

i want i want i want.

at what age do you know what sex they are? like i said earlier, i've fancied getting chickens for about 3 years & would love baby chikkies like that but i don't want to end up with a cockerel (actually wouldn't bother me but neighbours might have something to say).


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## April Snowflake (Mar 7, 2008)

Aww they are the sweetest :flrt:
The frizzles are so cute!

Yours all look great and love the names


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## vicky1804 (Dec 12, 2006)

Hya gorgeous chickens
Im actually just getting an allotment sorted now, so iv started looking around for chickens in my area.Any ideas as to where i could check?
Tried the net but cant find anything close to me

Thanks


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

Try

PekinBantams.com :: Index

or 

River Cottage :: Index

or

The Poultry Keeper :: Index

They all have advertising sections.

Those 4 I got today were from an ebay seller I had eggs from. We had 5 fertile polish out of 6, but sadly 5 infertile silkies, so she kindly offered me a blue silkie chick, but she lives in shropshire. Luckly she does school incubator hiring so they can hatch eggs at school and happened to be in manchester today and I thought what the hell, save chick being alone I'd ask what else she had for sale and chose the 3 frizzle polish lol

I've bought most of my hatching eggs via ebay, get both good and bad results.

Got 6 wellsummer eggs and all are fertile. Legbars, I have 40 fertile of those! lol Green eggs layers lol So my sisters are all getting ready to come choose their layers from me when they are ready and a few friends who are now considering having a few lol


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

you said there were cute but not that cute :flrt:


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

> at what age do you know what sex they are?


Depends on what breed you get, some are what is known as "auto sexing", meaning you can tell by the colouring whether they are male or female as soon as they hatch.
I couldn't tell for sure with my Brahmas until they were about 3 months old, with other faster maturing breeds you could tell earlier.
The ratio of males to females from eggs is roughly 1:1, so if you start with eggs or very young unsexed chicks there's a good chance you'll get 50/50.
It's safer to buy older birds if you can, but many breeders will often only sell them as trios of one cock and two hens, or will charge a premium for hens only.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

That silkie chick is to die for! I love silkies, I think they look so comical with the feathers right down their legs like they're wearing lady's pantaloons.

You're so lucky and I'm so jealous! :bash:


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

They are sooooooooo cute! Can't help cheeping at them lol
I met the mum of the 3 frizzles aswell. they go round schools teaching school children about hatching eggs and chickens and mum is lovely with children.


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## wayakinwolf (Oct 6, 2006)

*chucks*

can`t wait to see em` in the flesh next Friday hun, & also by then you`ll have some of the eggs hatched too won`t you:whistling2:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Im in love :flrt::flrt:Ive always liked Polish but Oh my God nobdy told me how CUTE the chicks are. They look like cartoon characters:flrt::flrt::flrt::flrt::flrt::flrt::flrt::flrt:


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## Bird man (Apr 4, 2008)

I breed alot of chickens for people on our farm and battery hens realy arnt worth the effort they normally cost as much if not more as normal hens due to the fact that everyone wants them , they dont lay that well (you realy want white stars for that) compared to other birds and they generally just look crap when you first get them


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

At our Sanctuary we rescued 6 Wyndottes chicks but as they have grown we have ended up with 2 hens and 4 cocks Weve had to remove the girls so the 3 White boys can live together without fighting and remove the partridge coloured boy and give him 2 girls of his own. Weve given them all Tardak( a anti male hormone injection) to help get rid of any aggression. We are trying to rehome these boys as we have tiny bantams(inc cocks) roaming round and if these giant cocks got near them they would kill them Very stressful sometimes but they are gorgeous birds


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## Bird man (Apr 4, 2008)

heres some chicks that hatched this morning Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

You can get your ex battery hens off the Battery Hen rescue she has points all over the country where you can pick them up from . They lay really well once recovered from their ordeal. I find it very satisfying to get a few birds in such bad condition and nurture them back to health.You end up with friendly happy hens who will produce lots of eggs for you to eat.


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## *mogwai* (Feb 18, 2008)

Shell195 said:


> You can get your ex battery hens off the Battery Hen rescue she has points all over the country where you can pick them up from .


is the rescue called the hen house?


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Yes I think it is


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

> Weve given them all Tardak( a anti male hormone injection) to help get rid of any aggression


I haven't heard of this, where can you get it done and does it cost much? Any side effects?


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

We do our own but you would need a vet to supply it.It isnt licensed for birds but the TARDAK company (Pziser I think) advised our vet on what dosage etc.Not noticed any side effects at the min. Seem a lot calmer with it. WE did our chinese goose and 4 cockerels They get injected into the muscle along side the breast bone. I think it is quite dear, We use it on any neutered male cats that are bullys and it works out about £16 per cat THe cockerels are huge so I think it cost more to do them as its a bigger dose


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

wayakinwolf said:


> can`t wait to see em` in the flesh next Friday hun, & also by then you`ll have some of the eggs hatched too won`t you:whistling2:


 
Hahaha and she couldn't wait until next week!

Di came round tonight with Mike to see my new chicks lol

Yup, should have first batch due to hatch on Thursday. Creams Legbars, Silver Dorkings and some Orpingtons and Wellsummers and a few bantams. Then week on Saturday I have Apricot Runners and Call Ducks.
We've been on a building frenzy lately lol Hubby making Poultry Houses and me making the runs lol


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

Well, my first lot of chicks are now 4 weeks old today.
the 3 frizzle chamois polish, 1 blue silkie and 9 silkie crosses.

I'm on pins tho cause my first lot of eggs is due to hatch on Thursday!!! Can't wait!! :lol2:

been candling eggs tonight. got 4 pure norfolk black turkey eggs fertile, 3 lavender fertile turkey eggs, 4 mixed colour turkey eggs and 3 bronze turkey eggs. I've told Ste (OH) that non of the Lavenders are for christmas, they are for life lol


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## little_chrissy (Aug 21, 2005)

i LOVE chuck chucks!!

i had two we rescued (as our b.o.p are fed day olds-frozen-from a hatchery) we got our supply in and found that one of the bags were still chirping wen our supply is meant to be frozen!! broke my heart!so i had two beautiful big fat cockerels!lucky and chance as they were known!!lucky died after 6 months was two heavy to hold his own weight as these chucks are bred for food and not really to live, so chance was put on strict diet and excersize and i had him for 2 yrs, loved him to pieces and broke my heart wen he passed away, but he went in his sleep lying warm in his shed!
miss my chuckens and cant wait to get more, best characters ever so much fun with them!


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## 11krage (Mar 9, 2008)

Looking forward to photos of the runners when they hatch, they're so funny to watch. An unknown predator likely hiding in a near abandoned patch of land right next to mine took all my ducks and chickens recently. We had 3 chickens left and a rooster that was approching 7, hatched him myself and he imprinted on me :flrt: couldn't leave the kitchen for months without the hodini wannabe running after me full pelt crying at the top of his lungs. Many a sleepless night caused, i used to walk up to the park with him on my shoulder as a kid, i'd perch him on the hanging bars while i played. Even taught him football.

Had 2 runners taken, all the chickens and rooster and two saxony ducks. Found what was left of a duck in the overgrown land next door. Not that the guy who owns it has come to do anything to it for years. Applied for planning permission a couple of years ago seeing the money in it, turned down of course as you could barely fit a shed in there, and turned his back on it again. I've lost more animals to that land than any other reason. :censor:

I love the look of that blue chick looks really cute.


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## slap (Sep 23, 2006)

*0k*

i would love some legbars
we have a light sussex
rhode island red
and two brown hens
fresh eggs bostin


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