wrote in message
...
Christina Websell wrote:
I requested a replacement he happily gave me another but would not take
back the blind bird ; it was mine to keep or dispose of.

The problem in Tina's case, I guess, is she doesn't want it to infect
her others if there is anything that can be passed on.

It's that too, but it's more that I don't want a dud.

Well, yes, but Janet was talking about being told to keep the dud and the
replacement both.

These are young POL
pullets and 18.99 is expensive for one that may never do well. 2 will
not
be enough to provide my family with eggs.

Was there any particular reason for the price being so high? Have they
gone up so muchin the last year or so?

Yes, they've gone up a lot recently.

Or is it the only supplier near you?

It was a choice of a 6 mile round trip or a 35 mile one. The further away
ones were £15 for the same types. I suspect the place I got them from
purchased them from there and just added a few quid for themselves - they
only have small batches in of 12-20 which sell out quickly and are replaced
by another batch.

Or is there something 'special' about them?

Not as such, except I think they mainly cater for the first time buyer and
charge more for the prettier/more unusual colours. I could have had red
ones for 12.99 (except they didn't have any), anything not red seemed to
cost £6 more.

I phoned them this afternoon about my concerns, they were very fair with me,
said they would make me an appointment at the vet at their expense. I said
I would prefer to swap her for another one, and they said that would be
fine. I took her back and swapped her for a chubby very cheeky Coral. I
told them the one I returned would definitely need veterinary treatment and
by the time I checked out with my new hen, waiting in the queue to see if I
needed another 7 day guarantee form or fill in another that said I'd been
explained to how to look after chickens, I had a coop ready etc etc, they
were already on the phone to the vet to make an appointment for her. They
kept her in the cardboard box I returned her in to keep her away from the
others, and gave me a posh cardboard carrier to take my new hen home in.
Fair play to them.
I can't ask for anything more. Very happy with their customer service.
I put my new hen straight in with the other two, they were together in a
group until I bought them on Monday. My remaining Pied Ranger did have a
bit of a go at her, but she can easily get away. The Copper Black Maran is
already subservient to the new Coral. I almost bought this Coral in the
first place, but she was quite dominant and pecking other birds.
The Pied Ranger is dominant so the Coral will be the middle bird. Perfick!
I will check them every couple of hours to see that no serious bullying goes
on as they sort out their new pecking order.

I don't anticipate fights to the death here, they were together until Monday
p.m!
Tina

"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
wrote in
:


I would be cautious if the farm can't sex them from as young as 1 day.
If they can't figure that out I would go somewhere else.

There is a hatchery close to me and they sex 250 thousand+, day old
chicks per day. Pullets one farm for egglaying and cockerals to another
for the table.


Baz, do you know how difficult it is to to vent-sex day old chicks from a
pure breed? It's so difficult and skilled that you would have to pay loads
to have a experienced vent-sexer.

I think you are talking about a place that breeds hybrids that are sex
linked. The girls have brown down at hatching, the boys have yellow.
That's not so difficult to sex, is it?

With pure breeds you have to wait until the males get bigger and redder
combs sooner than the females.

Baz, be honest, do you know a lot about chickens?

Tina

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
wrote in
:


I would be cautious if the farm can't sex them from as young as 1 day.
If they can't figure that out I would go somewhere else.

There is a hatchery close to me and they sex 250 thousand+, day old
chicks per day. Pullets one farm for egglaying and cockerals to another
for the table.


Baz, do you know how difficult it is to to vent-sex day old chicks from a
pure breed? It's so difficult and skilled that you would have to pay
loads to have a experienced vent-sexer.

I think you are talking about a place that breeds hybrids that are sex
linked. The girls have brown down at hatching, the boys have yellow.
That's not so difficult to sex, is it?

With pure breeds you have to wait until the males get bigger and redder
combs sooner than the females.

Baz, be honest, do you know a lot about chickens?

Tina

Tina, Baz like many others on this newsgroup, are experts at EVERYTHING

Mike


--

....................................

I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo straight.

....................................

On 31/05/2012 15:16, Baz wrote:
wrote in
:

In ge.fr
David in wrote:

On 31/05/2012 14:15, wrote:

I have just paid 15ukp each for two 8 week old Welsummers, don't
know if that is particularly expensive or not for the breed but I
have noticed that the price of eggs and chickens have gone up
considerably recently since the government or whoever banned battery
hens.


That is one of the factors that influenced us to start keeping
chickens. The price of eggs rocketed and since we have the available
land to keep some free range chickens it seemed like a good idea.
€8.50 per (hybrid) pullet from the local livestock market seems like
a bargain compared to UK prices. They are strong, healthy birds too.
Identical price on the other poultry stalls too.

Initially we inquired how much they would cost to buy from a local
breeder directly from his farm - €12 per bird! So it works out
cheaper to wait for these same people to take their livestock to the
market and buy there. Either that or he thought "some dumb English to
rip off" with a private sale.

We bought ours from a local farm, we're going to pick up two Rhode
Island Reds in a couple of weeks that we've ordered but they're a bit
too young to sex at the moment otherwise we would have picked them up
the other day.
I know we should have left them to pick up all at the same time but
our poor little girls were getting bullied and one of them has a
couple of tail feathers missing from being pecked by the larger birds.

Also the chicken run at the farm had to be covered with netting to
stop the crows (or one in particular) from killing the young chickens,
apparently the crow is just out of shotgun range.

Stephen.


I would be cautious if the farm can't sex them from as young as 1 day.
If they can't figure that out I would go somewhere else.

There is a hatchery close to me and they sex 250 thousand+, day old
chicks per day. Pullets one farm for egglaying and cockerals to another
for the table.

Baz

Might be a job there for you Baz

In message
Baz wrote:

wrote in
:

In message
David in Normandy wrote:



We bought ours from a local farm, we're going to pick up two Rhode
Island Reds in a couple of weeks that we've ordered but they're a bit
too young to sex at the moment otherwise we would have picked them up
the other day.

I would be cautious if the farm can't sex them from as young as 1 day.
If they can't figure that out I would go somewhere else.

There is a hatchery close to me and they sex 250 thousand+, day old
chicks per day. Pullets one farm for egglaying and cockerals to another
for the table.

Baz

Funny you should say that because RID chicks are one of the most
difficult breeds to sex at an early age especially at one day old.
I certainly would not go elsewhere because the breeder could not
accurately identify the sex.
The farm have been rearing chickens for a number of years and I would
expect them to know what they're talking about.

Stephen.

--

"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
wrote in
:


I would be cautious if the farm can't sex them from as young as 1
day. If they can't figure that out I would go somewhere else.

There is a hatchery close to me and they sex 250 thousand+, day old
chicks per day. Pullets one farm for egglaying and cockerals to
another for the table.


Baz, do you know how difficult it is to to vent-sex day old chicks
from a pure breed? It's so difficult and skilled that you would have
to pay loads to have a experienced vent-sexer.

I think you are talking about a place that breeds hybrids that are sex
linked. The girls have brown down at hatching, the boys have yellow.
That's not so difficult to sex, is it?

With pure breeds you have to wait until the males get bigger and
redder combs sooner than the females.

Baz, be honest, do you know a lot about chickens?

Tina




I know enough to be able to sex many breeds!

We kept chickens whan I was a lad and my dad sold them on a small scale,
so he needed to know what sex they were.

Rhode Island Red 1day pullets have a thin dark head stripe and the
cockerals don't. I have found that upwards of 90% accuracy.

All pure breeds have, I beleive, distinguishing traits to determine sex
at 1day old.

The most common method for 1day old is wing feather sexing, the pullet
has much longer wing feathers than a cockeral. Simple as that for many
breeds and 100% accuracy. After a few days though the cockerals feathers
will catch up.

Hope this helps.
Baz

"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
wrote in
:


I would be cautious if the farm can't sex them from as young as 1
day. If they can't figure that out I would go somewhere else.

There is a hatchery close to me and they sex 250 thousand+, day old
chicks per day. Pullets one farm for egglaying and cockerals to
another for the table.


Baz, do you know how difficult it is to to vent-sex day old chicks
from a pure breed? It's so difficult and skilled that you would have
to pay loads to have a experienced vent-sexer.

I think you are talking about a place that breeds hybrids that are sex
linked. The girls have brown down at hatching, the boys have yellow.
That's not so difficult to sex, is it?

With pure breeds you have to wait until the males get bigger and
redder combs sooner than the females.

Baz, be honest, do you know a lot about chickens?

Tina




I know enough to be able to sex many breeds!

Well, do tell your secret to the rest of the world if you can sex pure
breeds at a day old!

We kept chickens whan I was a lad and my dad sold them on a small scale,
so he needed to know what sex they were.

Rhode Island Red 1day pullets have a thin dark head stripe and the
cockerals don't. I have found that upwards of 90% accuracy.

All pure breeds have, I beleive, distinguishing traits to determine sex
at 1day old.

The most common method for 1day old is wing feather sexing, the pullet
has much longer wing feathers than a cockeral. Simple as that for many
breeds and 100% accuracy. After a few days though the cockerals feathers
will catch up.

day olds do not have wing feathers. They are covered in down.

I've only kept pure breeds since the 70's and don't claim to know
everything. I know enough to say that pure breeds cannot be sexed at a day
old with any degree of accuracy. Wing feathers do not come through for
several days, and although pullets often have longer wing feathers than
cockerel chicks, I've been caught out by that. IMO the most reliable way of
sexing ordinary single combed pure breeds is from comb/wattle growth colour
and size.
Silkies are a nightmare to sex as are the horn-combed breeds like
Appenzellers, you have to wait for the wattle development with the latter.
With a very large breed like Speckled Sussex you can make a guess at the sex
of chicks as sometimes the legs are thicker on cockerel chicks. Sometimes.
There is no totally reliable way of sexing most day old pure breeds.
Tina

"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
wrote in
:


I would be cautious if the farm can't sex them from as young as 1
day. If they can't figure that out I would go somewhere else.

There is a hatchery close to me and they sex 250 thousand+, day old
chicks per day. Pullets one farm for egglaying and cockerals to
another for the table.


Baz, do you know how difficult it is to to vent-sex day old chicks
from a pure breed? It's so difficult and skilled that you would
have to pay loads to have a experienced vent-sexer.

I think you are talking about a place that breeds hybrids that are
sex linked. The girls have brown down at hatching, the boys have
yellow. That's not so difficult to sex, is it?

With pure breeds you have to wait until the males get bigger and
redder combs sooner than the females.

Baz, be honest, do you know a lot about chickens?

Tina




I know enough to be able to sex many breeds!

Well, do tell your secret to the rest of the world if you can sex pure
breeds at a day old!

We kept chickens whan I was a lad and my dad sold them on a small
scale, so he needed to know what sex they were.

Rhode Island Red 1day pullets have a thin dark head stripe and the
cockerals don't. I have found that upwards of 90% accuracy.

All pure breeds have, I beleive, distinguishing traits to determine
sex at 1day old.

The most common method for 1day old is wing feather sexing, the
pullet has much longer wing feathers than a cockeral. Simple as that
for many breeds and 100% accuracy. After a few days though the
cockerals feathers will catch up.

day olds do not have wing feathers. They are covered in down.

Sorry,but most do have wing feathers, or are the hatcheries, and me
living in cloud cuckoo.

http://tinyurl.com/d2yuldu

Sorry it's a USA link but I could not find a UK link.
You are implying that I am lying and I find that very sad indeed.

Baz

In message
Baz wrote:

"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


day olds do not have wing feathers. They are covered in down.

Sorry,but most do have wing feathers, or are the hatcheries, and me
living in cloud cuckoo.

http://tinyurl.com/d2yuldu

Sorry it's a USA link but I could not find a UK link.
You are implying that I am lying and I find that very sad indeed.

Baz

That explains how they can sex one particular breed, (I didn't pick-up
what breed is was) I am still not convinced that method applies to
sexing all breeds including the Rhode Island Red.

Stephen.

--

wrote in :

In message
Baz wrote:

"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


day olds do not have wing feathers. They are covered in down.

Sorry,but most do have wing feathers, or are the hatcheries, and me
living in cloud cuckoo.

http://tinyurl.com/d2yuldu

Sorry it's a USA link but I could not find a UK link.
You are implying that I am lying and I find that very sad indeed.

Baz

That explains how they can sex one particular breed, (I didn't pick-up
what breed is was) I am still not convinced that method applies to
sexing all breeds including the Rhode Island Red.

Stephen.


Tough, I have lost interest. I already have told how to sex Rhode Island
Red and if that is not good enough then find out elsewhere.

Baz

"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
wrote in :

In message
Baz wrote:

"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


day olds do not have wing feathers. They are covered in down.

Sorry,but most do have wing feathers, or are the hatcheries, and me
living in cloud cuckoo.

http://tinyurl.com/d2yuldu

Sorry it's a USA link but I could not find a UK link.
You are implying that I am lying and I find that very sad indeed.

Baz
I have never implied that you are lying, Baz, merely that I have many years
of experience of sexing (or not sexing) pure breeds I do not agree at all
that you can sex a pure breed at a day old.
I have had Appenzellers, Sicilian Buttercups, Lakenfelders, Vorwerks,
Speckled Sussex, bantam barnvelders,
buff plymouth rocks and rhode island reds. It's not possible to sex pure
breeds for definite until the males get their red combs. Trust me on this.

"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
wrote in
:

In message
Baz wrote:

"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


day olds do not have wing feathers. They are covered in down.

Sorry,but most do have wing feathers, or are the hatcheries, and me
living in cloud cuckoo.

http://tinyurl.com/d2yuldu

Sorry it's a USA link but I could not find a UK link.
You are implying that I am lying and I find that very sad indeed.

Baz
I have never implied that you are lying, Baz, merely that I have many
years of experience of sexing (or not sexing) pure breeds I do not
agree at all that you can sex a pure breed at a day old.
I have had Appenzellers, Sicilian Buttercups, Lakenfelders, Vorwerks,
Speckled Sussex, bantam barnvelders,
buff plymouth rocks and rhode island reds. It's not possible to sex
pure breeds for definite until the males get their red combs. Trust
me on this.


We will have to differ then.

"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
wrote in
:

In message
Baz wrote:

"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


day olds do not have wing feathers. They are covered in down.

Sorry,but most do have wing feathers, or are the hatcheries, and me
living in cloud cuckoo.

http://tinyurl.com/d2yuldu

Sorry it's a USA link but I could not find a UK link.
You are implying that I am lying and I find that very sad indeed.

Baz
I have never implied that you are lying, Baz, merely that I have many
years of experience of sexing (or not sexing) pure breeds I do not
agree at all that you can sex a pure breed at a day old.
I have had Appenzellers, Sicilian Buttercups, Lakenfelders, Vorwerks,
Speckled Sussex, bantam barnvelders,
buff plymouth rocks and rhode island reds. It's not possible to sex
pure breeds for definite until the males get their red combs. Trust
me on this.


We will have to differ then.

Yes, but I hope we can still be friends on the group?
Tina

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...


I phoned them this afternoon about my concerns, they were very fair with
me, said they would make me an appointment at the vet at their expense. I
said I would prefer to swap her for another one, and they said that would
be fine. I took her back and swapped her for a chubby very cheeky Coral.
I told them the one I returned would definitely need veterinary treatment
and by the time I checked out with my new hen, waiting in the queue to see
if I needed another 7 day guarantee form or fill in another that said I'd
been explained to how to look after chickens, I had a coop ready etc etc,
they were already on the phone to the vet to make an appointment for her.
They kept her in the cardboard box I returned her in to keep her away from
the others, and gave me a posh cardboard carrier to take my new hen home
in. Fair play to them.
I can't ask for anything more. Very happy with their customer service.
I put my new hen straight in with the other two, they were together in a
group until I bought them on Monday. My remaining Pied Ranger did have a
bit of a go at her, but she can easily get away. The Copper Black Maran
is already subservient to the new Coral. I almost bought this Coral in
the first place, but she was quite dominant and pecking other birds.
The Pied Ranger is dominant so the Coral will be the middle bird.
Perfick!
I will check them every couple of hours to see that no serious bullying
goes on as they sort out their new pecking order.

I don't anticipate fights to the death here, they were together until
Monday p.m!
Tina



First egg yesterday and another one today. Same hen, I think it's the Silver
sussex, (pied ranger) but having got a Coral who lays more eggs than the
other two, it could just be her.
I'll soon find out.
I have always been able to identify who laid which egg even if had a lot of
hens. Every egg is unique in colour or shape or size

"Christina Websell" wrote in
:



We will have to differ then.

Yes, but I hope we can still be friends on the group?
Tina



That goes without saying.
A difference of opinion is natural, otherwise there would be no discussion.

The very best to you.
Baz