Friday, April 4, 2008
Questions and Answers
We received some questions from Daniel's class about the chicks and wanted to share them, along with the answers, here. I will post the question, Daniel's answer and then I will expand upon his answer.
1. Where do they come from?
D. hatchery
V. According to our extension agent the hatchery the chicks came from was Ideal Poultry BreedingFarms, Inc. in Texas. They hatched and were shipped the same day, which was Tuesday, but they did not arrive until Friday morning. That is a big trip for a new baby.
2. What are their names?
D. I haven't named all of them yet but so far gaz, lola, lata and my favorite zelda
V. Daniel told you the names of the four he has named so far and we will keep you updated as the rest get names. It will depend a lot on personality and markings, so we can tell them apart.
3. How fast will they grow?
D. really fast!
V. Daniel is right, they will grow really fast. The brooding period is about 6-10 weeks long, this is when they are considered adults. Then the growing period starts and by the time the pullets are about 5 months old they will start to lay eggs.
4. Are they all females, males, or a mix?
D. all females
V. For this project we received sexed chicks which means they are all female. If we had ordered straight-run chicks we would have gotten about 50% male (cockerels) and 50% female (pullets).
5. How much do they weigh?
D. ???
V. We are not sure how much the chicks weigh but it is not very much. We will try to get them still on a scale and see if we can get a weight for you.
6. Do you have any favorites for the show?
D. gaz and one i haven't named
V. It is still early to tell which ones will be best for the show. There are certain things the judges look for in poultry, some of which we will not be able to see until they are fully feathered and grown. Some of the things we must look for in the pullets are:
The head should be broad and pretty flat, not round. The eyes should be big and bright. The comb, wattle and earlobes have to be well developed. The body should be broad, deep and well developed. They should be fully feathered and the feathers should be in good condition. (For this reason we can not clip their wings) The chickens feet and toes should be normal and she should have good balance.
7. Do they get on your nerves sometimes?
D. no
V. The chicks have been so entertaining that they really have not gotten on anyone's nerves. They only peep loudly when they need something. The rest of the time, they talk to one another but it is pretty soft. They are a lot of fun to watch play.
8. What kind of food do they eat?
D. right now starter
V. Until the chicks are about 6 weeks old, they will eat Chick Starter. This has all of the protein, vitamins and minerals that they will need to get a great start in life. Next they will go to a Grower formula which will help them grow, keep them safe from disease and keep them from starting habits that lead to cannibalism. When they start laying eggs we will put them on a Layer feed. This gives them extra calcium and things they need to make strong shells and good eggs.
9. What are you going to do with them when they are grown?
D. keep them to lay eggs and hatch more chicks for meat
V. When the girls are grown, 5 of them will go to the poultry show and be auctioned off. The rest of them will stay with us and continue to give us eggs and later hatch some more chicks to be raised for meat.
10. Do they chirp at night?
D. if there's a problem
V. While chickens do sleep at night, there is always at least one that stays aware. If there is a problem she will wake the others with chirping. Because they are still under a brooding light they tend to nap and play at all hours. It is never loud enough to bother a person's sleep.
1. Where do they come from?
D. hatchery
V. According to our extension agent the hatchery the chicks came from was Ideal Poultry BreedingFarms, Inc. in Texas. They hatched and were shipped the same day, which was Tuesday, but they did not arrive until Friday morning. That is a big trip for a new baby.
2. What are their names?
D. I haven't named all of them yet but so far gaz, lola, lata and my favorite zelda
V. Daniel told you the names of the four he has named so far and we will keep you updated as the rest get names. It will depend a lot on personality and markings, so we can tell them apart.
3. How fast will they grow?
D. really fast!
V. Daniel is right, they will grow really fast. The brooding period is about 6-10 weeks long, this is when they are considered adults. Then the growing period starts and by the time the pullets are about 5 months old they will start to lay eggs.
4. Are they all females, males, or a mix?
D. all females
V. For this project we received sexed chicks which means they are all female. If we had ordered straight-run chicks we would have gotten about 50% male (cockerels) and 50% female (pullets).
5. How much do they weigh?
D. ???
V. We are not sure how much the chicks weigh but it is not very much. We will try to get them still on a scale and see if we can get a weight for you.
6. Do you have any favorites for the show?
D. gaz and one i haven't named
V. It is still early to tell which ones will be best for the show. There are certain things the judges look for in poultry, some of which we will not be able to see until they are fully feathered and grown. Some of the things we must look for in the pullets are:
The head should be broad and pretty flat, not round. The eyes should be big and bright. The comb, wattle and earlobes have to be well developed. The body should be broad, deep and well developed. They should be fully feathered and the feathers should be in good condition. (For this reason we can not clip their wings) The chickens feet and toes should be normal and she should have good balance.
7. Do they get on your nerves sometimes?
D. no
V. The chicks have been so entertaining that they really have not gotten on anyone's nerves. They only peep loudly when they need something. The rest of the time, they talk to one another but it is pretty soft. They are a lot of fun to watch play.
8. What kind of food do they eat?
D. right now starter
V. Until the chicks are about 6 weeks old, they will eat Chick Starter. This has all of the protein, vitamins and minerals that they will need to get a great start in life. Next they will go to a Grower formula which will help them grow, keep them safe from disease and keep them from starting habits that lead to cannibalism. When they start laying eggs we will put them on a Layer feed. This gives them extra calcium and things they need to make strong shells and good eggs.
9. What are you going to do with them when they are grown?
D. keep them to lay eggs and hatch more chicks for meat
V. When the girls are grown, 5 of them will go to the poultry show and be auctioned off. The rest of them will stay with us and continue to give us eggs and later hatch some more chicks to be raised for meat.
10. Do they chirp at night?
D. if there's a problem
V. While chickens do sleep at night, there is always at least one that stays aware. If there is a problem she will wake the others with chirping. Because they are still under a brooding light they tend to nap and play at all hours. It is never loud enough to bother a person's sleep.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Big Girls
The chicks are getting wing feathers. This has made them believe they are all grown up and can fly. What they actually do is leap at one another. They are giving it all they have in trying to get on top of the waterer, it is not quite working yet.
Because they are growing a bit and becoming more active, we have seperated them into two tubs. One tub has the smaller birds with a couple of the bigger ones to ensure they are getting enough time at the feeder. They seem to be adjusting to the seperation just fine.
We had been using paper towels as the traction over the newspaper but we have had to stop. The girls were tearing little bits off and then being chased down by all the others. At the moment we are just using the newspaper and with as much food as they scatter, traction does not seem to be a problem but we will be moving on to the pine shavings soon. Having two tubs it will be good to only have to clean them every couple of days instead of every day.
These girls are fun to watch and are really forming personalities. Since they are trying so hard to get higher we thought it would be fun to introduce roosts of a sort. We took small branches and leaned them up across the tub so that there is an end on the ground and then it gets higher. They were not happy about the change in environment and were a bit scared of the sticks. Now they are ok with them being there but have yet to get on them by themselves.
Because they are growing a bit and becoming more active, we have seperated them into two tubs. One tub has the smaller birds with a couple of the bigger ones to ensure they are getting enough time at the feeder. They seem to be adjusting to the seperation just fine.
We had been using paper towels as the traction over the newspaper but we have had to stop. The girls were tearing little bits off and then being chased down by all the others. At the moment we are just using the newspaper and with as much food as they scatter, traction does not seem to be a problem but we will be moving on to the pine shavings soon. Having two tubs it will be good to only have to clean them every couple of days instead of every day.
These girls are fun to watch and are really forming personalities. Since they are trying so hard to get higher we thought it would be fun to introduce roosts of a sort. We took small branches and leaned them up across the tub so that there is an end on the ground and then it gets higher. They were not happy about the change in environment and were a bit scared of the sticks. Now they are ok with them being there but have yet to get on them by themselves.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
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