One of my hobby's as of late is raising chickens, particularly orpingtons. I love these chickens. By far they have been the sweetest, kindest chickens, I've ever owned, so you can see why I was so very excited when I finally found myself a buff orpington rooster to go with my buff orpington hens. To my dismay though he didn't make it. He broke his neck, I think or something got to him. I have had the hardest time finding a buff rooster and blue orpington hens. I have a blue rooster, you see and two buff hens. So, I decided last season to take all the eggs from my buff hens and hatch them. Up until that point, I'd failed every single time. This time, I hatched fifteen of them. I was so excited. It was much like being an expectant mom, only without the uncomfortable feeling of having another little human inside you. Okay so it really doesn't compare to having your own children, but its still very nerve racking and yet exciting at the same time. I must have checked the thermometer a thousand times. I was constantly making sure there was enough water in the incubator. I even used two different incubators this time, one with an egg turner so I didn't forget to turn the eggs and one for the the final three days when they would be hatching. Thankfully I managed to get five blue/buff pullets out of the batch. The rest were either roosters or black. Blues throw blacks sometimes, but I didn't want blacks I wanted blues, so I gave the black pullets to my mother and turned the roosters loose in the yard. They're going to be butchered one of these days for the freezer but as of now they have not been because I just haven't wanted to do it. I may do so this week since my daughters out for spring break. She will be around to help me with her brother. Anyway, I raised up the blue buff pullets and put them back in with their father. Yes I know this is technically imbreeding but these are chickens and people do it all the time with all kinds of animals. It's called linebreeding. I hope the next batch will not have the buff color at all. I built another pen for my two buffs and my mother, God Bless her she found me that Buff rooster. I was planning on hatching out pure buff orpingtons this year, keep a few pullets and sell the rest, but as nature would have it, that's not going to happen as Mr. Buffy as my daughter called him, has gone to chicken heaven. I've considered putting one of my blue/buff roosters in with my hens but I really wanted a buff rooster. I really wanted to be able to sell some little buff chicks as they are really sought after around here. I could say I have the worst luck as a few years ago my male goat broke my female goats neck when he got too rough. My plan for her didn't go like I wanted either. For some reason, I can't seem to keep anything alive. I even lost one of my blue pullets after she got stuck in the fence during a down pour. Oh, if only my hens would lay a few eggs in the next week, I could get them in the incubator and hatch them, before they are no longer fertile. Hens can lay fertile eggs up to two weeks after being exposed to a rooster. Just as my luck would have it though, they have decided to go on strike. My blue pullets are not yet laying though I'm sure they will be soon, as their cones are getting red and the days are getting longer. I've had chickens for a long time and I have learned many lessons over the years. One you have to fence them in all around to keep predators out. Two it's a good idea to have a guardian dog such as a heeler or a shepherd of some kind. You do have to train them not to kill the chickens though, but once they learn that, their territorial instincts kick in and they run everything off that even comes near those birds. Three, they die, just out of the blue they die. Four they are stupid! Yes that's right chickens are probably the stupidest animal I've ever owned but they are so worth it to me. I love raising them. I love watching them. I don't even mind it when they peck me and they do, often. Five, they will eat anything and crap on everything. It's best to keep them off your porch. When I raise mine, I like them close but not inside the house. I keep a rubber tub on the porch to put them in with a metal grate on top and a heat lamp to keep them warm. This has worked out better for me than anything else I have tried. You have to make sure they have some kind of traction for their feet too, so I put those drawer mats that are textured in the bottom of mine and you should put shavings in it to soak up the manure and the urine. If they don't have something for traction, they can get splayed legs. One way to correct this is to take a rubber band, tie a knot in the middle of it then stick their legs through the loops on each end. After about a day in this contraption, their legs should go back to normal. I keep them in this rubber bin until they are six weeks old, then they go outside into another pen. After this age, you no longer need a light to keep them warm although it can't hurt if the nights are too cold. You can usually tell what gender they are by the time they hit 11 weeks. You look at their cones. Roosters have larger cones that get red at about this time where as a pullets will not turn red until she's ready to lay. You look at their tail feathers. One gender has rounder feathers but at the moment I can't remember which. You also want to look at the feathers on the back of their necks. Roosters or cockerels, will have longer feathers that appear somewhat pointy. Pullets do not have this. In the picture of them at 11 weeks old, the one in the front is a cockerel. Notice the larger cone that's already turning red and notice the weird tail feathers. It takes some practice but eventually you will figure it out. Sometimes I want to see a pullet but I know deep down it's a cockerel. I just have to remind myself to look at these traits and when in doubt google it. The Backyard Chickens forum has pretty much every answer to every question you have about chickens.
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| hatching out |
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| Two or Three days old |
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| Mr. Blue and my two buff hens |
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| 11 weeks old |
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| RIP Mr. Buffy |
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