Chicken math isn't supposed to work this way!!!!!

[PennyJo]

ok this is the person that did not want roosters at all only to find
the F-1 Olive Eggers I picked up of the 4, 3 are cockerels

 

[Beekissed]

ok this is the person that did not want roosters at all only to find
the F-1 Olive Eggers I picked up of the 4, 3 are cockerels

Yay!!!! MEAT. I'm probably one of the few people who hope that most of the chicks born in a season are males. I only carry over so many birds for the winter, so it's to my advantage if most of the chicks born are males that can put on some good meat by fall rather than females that don't put on good meat until much later in their lives.

With the females I do get, I can replace old layers that are no longer laying as well as they should or could or just layers that never did really lay well, and still go into the winter with low stocking rates.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm with you Bee, I want my first hatch to have a fair amount of pullets so I can check them out for which to keep, but after that I'm really happy with cockerels. My first hatch this year was fairly poor, only eight, so I got seven of Cackle's fry-pan specials (excess dual purpose males) from a local feed store to add to them. Those seven are in the freezer.

I seldom have a 50-50 hatch, 2 to 1 is more like it, but either male or female can be the 2. Several times I've added up my hatch over two seasons and it is always pretty close to 50-50. Even last year when my first hatch was 14 pullets and 7 cockerels the year's total was pretty close to 50-50.

 

[PennyJo]

The one Blue boy is going back to his breeder possibly the one black will join them
the other is stew no doubt with no intent to let any hatch

 

[journey11]

The chicks I hatched out of my own mixed flock are 9 weeks old now. Out of 21, it appears that only 6 are males, judging by their combs and wattles. Got to build a bigger coop! I've lost 3 which were all marked the same and probably out of the same mama. They started out with gimpy leg, but it seemed much worse after awhile, even being isolated. Is there some disease like a chicken palsy? They seemed like they couldn't hold themselves upright at all toward the end. Parent stock are all healthy.

The 8 bantam Mille Fleur d'Uccles I have are about a month older than these. They turned out to be 3 cockerels and 5 pullets. I am absolutely in love with these Mille Fleurs! They are so sweet, calm and downright cuddly. They did eventually grow in more "flowers" and are looking pretty fine now. I'll have to get some pics. Even my barnies turned out really unique and pretty. I like a lot of color in my flock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some chickens are a lot more resistant to Marek's than others. You might check Marek's out.

 

[Smart Red]

Yes, Marek's was my first thought. Hard to believe all the same type of chickens were stepped on the same way at the same time.

 

[PennyJo]

ah crud @journey11 I sure hope it isn't Marek's......
second I am pretty sure I have now lost my mind letting the Roo get to me
I am keeping Blue Boy as his name will be aka Stew

 

[journey11]

Ugh, sounds like I'll be doing an autopsy on this last one (well, he's still alive at the moment.) I get my hatchery chicks vaccinated for Marek's and cocci. These were home hatched and were not. I don't see any of the breeders on my buy/sell/trade group vaccinating for anything, so I'll have to see if this is something I can do myself. I just thought it was odd that all three were marked the same. Could only hope it was some sort of genetic instability.

 

[Smart Red]

Me, too.