Two chicken questions....

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Hi, this is the first time I have posted here although I have read a LOT and learned a lot from reading other threads.

I have two questions about the chicks we will be getting in a few days. First of all, our local tractor supply store marked down their Cornish Rock chicks to sixty cents each, because they were not selling. They were four weeks old and we could not pass up that price since they had been halfway raised... anyway, I know that we can't brood the chicks together, but can we brood them in the same room? I am wondering if the new chicks (just hatched) might not have enough resistance to any bacteria the older Cornish Rock chicks might carry. Any info about that would be greatly appreciated so that we can get the bigger chicks moved now and get that room scrubbed before the little chicks get here.

Second, I really like black sex link layers, and I ordered quite a few to provide eggs for our family of seven. I learned that black sex links are a cross between a Barred Rock hen and a Rhode Island rooster, so I also got a few of them as well. I ordered Buff Orpington hens to sit the eggs. (Boy this is getting complicated!) What I am wondering is if any of you have tried to breed and hatch your own sex linked chicks and if you were successful. I would rather invest in new breeding stock every year or so than in replacement pullets.

Thanks in advance for any advice you may have, Leighanne in Tennessee

-- Leighanne T. (robertt@click1.net), February 21, 2002

Answers

as to the cornish rocks, same room ok, same pen no! If memory serves me those are the chickens that are eating machines(they are also a cross)meant to be butchered at an early age (8 to 16 weeks)..I believe those are what I bought at the feed store that laid down to eat and if their pan got empty the yelled untill it was filled..they outgrew their legs ability to hold them and just laid there and ate..utterly the most gross animal adventure I have had. So long as they have seperate pens and no contact(waterers and feed pans too!) you should have no disease transmission, especially if the older chicks seem well. As for the sex link cross, what you have to do is what the hatchery does..maintain two seperate flocks of the purebred varieties and cross the correct rooster with the correct hen and hatch those eggs to get the sex links. This is more bother than most small flock folks will go through..they just order the chicks from a hatchery. Since I don't want to keep ordering new stock I am working on breeding the broody back into a strain of medium sized chickens and as I type the first hen set clutch for this year is hatching. This hen wanted to set before christmas and I finally let her. Good luck,Bee

-- Bee White (bee@hereintown.net), February 22, 2002.

A bit of info on Sex Links

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), February 22, 2002.

Bee, what kind of chickens do you have? And I bookmarked that page, Rogo.

Thanks for the help, both of you. We will eventually need the space that the Cornish Rocks are in when our other chicks are big enough but by the time we will need that area those chickens will be frozen or canned. I have to say that these are pretty disgusting little birds... we did order some more to butcher but this may be the last year that we do this. I have to wear a glove when I reach down in the brooder because they attack everything that we put in there, I guess looking for food. They are so fat that they lay in front of the feeders and just eat.

I was hoping I could pen up my Rhode Island Rooster with the Barred Rock hens and hatch a couple of clutches when it is time for replacement pullets. Perhaps I can treat this like an experiment and I will let you know how it works.

Thanks so much and I am sure I will have more questions... we also have a Saanen doe who is about ready to kid and I am sure I will have lots of questions as she gets closer to freshening.

:) Leighanne in Tennessee

-- Leighanne T. (robertt@click1.net), February 22, 2002.


Leighanne, I am working on a new breed, the foundation birds were some kind of cross sold to me as something else(sex links actually, but no way as these had feathered feet!) I had 4 hens and no rooster, so I got a blue cochin rooster for them and then later added some buff sex link for increased size of bird and egg...am working now to stabilize the result...they are a medium sized bird with good bone(no long skinney legs)large eyes,calm temperment,a beautiful golden color with some black ticking/tails(hen)darker body color for the rooster with flame red/gold hackles and green/black tails...oh yes and green or blue feet! Lay med to large brown eggs and near 50% broody rate..some to none feathering on feet..fluffy soft feathers. LOL, a work in progress, 5 years now and and 2 since the last outside blood was added..have to be careful not to sacrifice the broodyness for egg size as the smaller birds seem to go broody more often(had a small hen set 2 clutches last year and wanted to go for 3 but her condition was too poor). heh, this post will teach ya not to ask about my "girls"!!!!

-- Bee White (bee@hereintown.net), February 22, 2002.

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