The Pita Pinta Asturiana

[chickengr]

And when you get everything figured out, the deer and squirrels and raccoons come in for the feast. Fencing is a must both for both chickens and gardens.
I just started seeds yesterday. Heat mats and lights. We can have a freeze in April.

we don't have raccoons but we do have deers, foxes, wild boars, martens, rats, etc. my new place is fenced and I have 2 german shepherds.

in theory we can have a freeze in april too but didn't happen in the last 8 years at least.

to return to pita pinta chicken: they are a very rare breed here. only 1 person imported them and I have never heard anyone else sells them. I bought 10 eggs last year and sent them to a friend who has a chicken farm. only 1 cockerel hatched. the guy was going to sell us a hen but some predator got the cockerel when he was 4 mo. I didn't see him as my friend lives far from me. she was devastated. she said he had been the best cockerel she had ever seen. I hope to have better luck next time.

 

[Pensmaster]

we don't have raccoons but we do have deers, foxes, wild boars, martens, rats, etc. my new place is fenced and I have 2 german shepherds.

in theory we can have a freeze in april too but didn't happen in the last 8 years at least.

to return to pita pinta chicken: they are a very rare breed here. only 1 person imported them and I have never heard anyone else sells them. I bought 10 eggs last year and sent them to a friend who has a chicken farm. only 1 cockerel hatched. the guy was going to sell us a hen but some predator got the cockerel when he was 4 mo. I didn't see him as my friend lives far from me. she was devastated. she said he had been the best cockerel she had ever seen. I hope to have better luck next time.

The breed is calm compared to the others I have. When going into coop they don’t run. Other breeds bolt like lightning

 

[PasoRoblesEgger]

Here's some pictures of the chicks born 2-1-22. Two roos and a hen, sorry the pictures aren't so great. Those little boogers are fast! The biggest roo chick is very friendly and likes to be picked up, the pullet and other rooster not so friendly.

Fourth picture is my broody out in the coop. Went out today and there is another hen sitting in the nest with her. Broody 1 doesn't seem upset that broody 2 is sitting on part of the eggs. They are due to hatch in the next day or so. Is this problematic? Do I need to remove broody 2 from the nest? This just happened during the day today some time.

We took the turner out and went into lockdown with the 7 in the incubator.

 

[ronott1]

Here's some pictures of the chicks born 2-1-22. Two roos and a hen, sorry the pictures aren't so great. Those little boogers are fast! The biggest roo chick is very friendly and likes to be picked up, the pullet and other rooster not so friendly.

Fourth picture is my broody out in the coop. Went out today and there is another hen sitting in the nest with her. Broody 1 doesn't seem upset that broody 2 is sitting on part of the eggs. They are due to hatch in the next day or so. Is this problematic? Do I need to remove broody 2 from the nest? This just happened during the day today some time.

We took the turner out and went into lockdown with the 7 in the incubator.

Nice!

I move my two week old chicks out to a hutch in the garage today. It is nice to get them out of the bedroom!

 

[PasoRoblesEgger]

Nice!

I move my two week old chicks out to a hutch in the garage today. It is nice to get them out of the bedroom!

Nice!! Have you ever tried to wing sex chicks?

 

[ronott1]

Nice!! Have you ever tried to wing sex chicks?

wing sexing only works for hybrid crosses and does not work within a breed.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/sex-linked-information.261208/

From that thread:

Feather Sexing Chicks

Color sexing chicks can be a difficult task and is dependent upon the phenotype of the chick. If a chick does not have the correct down color, then you can not color sex the chick. There is a way of using another sex-linked trait to sex chicks based upon the size of the primary and secondary feathers on the wing of a newly hatched chick.

Feather sexing chicks can be accomplished by crossing males that are homozygous for rapid feather growth or carry two rapid feather growth alleles ( k+/k+) with females that are hemizygous or carry only one slow feather growth allele ( K/_W).

The female parent contributes a dominant gene for slow feather growth (K) to all the male offspring while the female offspring will inherit only one rapid feather growth allele ( k+) from the father. This cross produces males that have slow feather growth (K/k+) and females that have rapid feather growth (k+/_W).


The following site provides an excellent example of how to tell the difference between a rapid feathering female (pullet) chick and a slow feathering male (cockerel) chick. You have to examine the feathers on the wings of the newly hatched chick. Wait until the down dries and examine the wing feathers.

http://animalsciences.missouri.edu/reprod/ReproTech/Feathersex/sld006.htm


The table below contains some of the birds that can be crossed to produce chicks that can be feather sexed.

Any of the males in the table, can be crossed with any of the females in the table to produce offspring that can be feather sexed. If you purchased your birds from a hatchery, check with the hatchery to see if the hatchery feather sexed the birds you purchased. If your stock was feather sexed, then the chickens can not be used for feather sexing crosses.

 

[PasoRoblesEgger]

wing sexing only works for hybrid crosses and does not work within a breed.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/sex-linked-information.261208/

From that thread:

Feather Sexing Chicks

Color sexing chicks can be a difficult task and is dependent upon the phenotype of the chick. If a chick does not have the correct down color, then you can not color sex the chick. There is a way of using another sex-linked trait to sex chicks based upon the size of the primary and secondary feathers on the wing of a newly hatched chick.

Feather sexing chicks can be accomplished by crossing males that are homozygous for rapid feather growth or carry two rapid feather growth alleles ( k+/k+) with females that are hemizygous or carry only one slow feather growth allele ( K/_W).

The female parent contributes a dominant gene for slow feather growth (K) to all the male offspring while the female offspring will inherit only one rapid feather growth allele ( k+) from the father. This cross produces males that have slow feather growth (K/k+) and females that have rapid feather growth (k+/_W).


The following site provides an excellent example of how to tell the difference between a rapid feathering female (pullet) chick and a slow feathering male (cockerel) chick. You have to examine the feathers on the wings of the newly hatched chick. Wait until the down dries and examine the wing feathers.

http://animalsciences.missouri.edu/reprod/ReproTech/Feathersex/sld006.htm


The table below contains some of the birds that can be crossed to produce chicks that can be feather sexed.

Any of the males in the table, can be crossed with any of the females in the table to produce offspring that can be feather sexed. If you purchased your birds from a hatchery, check with the hatchery to see if the hatchery feather sexed the birds you purchased. If your stock was feather sexed, then the chickens can not be used for feather sexing crosses.

Wow, thanks for that info!!

 

[PasoRoblesEgger]

Catching up with the latest on my PP Flock

The group of eggs we put under the second broody never hatched, not a single one. Of the seven that went to lockdown in the incubator, six hatched. We assisted one who was unable to make it out on it's own. The reason was clear after we got her out, all her organs were outside of her body. I've never seen anything like that. But the other five were healthy and are thriving.

So my flock now consists of five adult hens. The three born from the first broody on 2-1 & 2-2 - two roosters & one pullet. The five born 3-22, which are too young to sex. I'll likely set another group of eggs in a month or two.

 

[PasoRoblesEgger]

Nice!

I move my two week old chicks out to a hutch in the garage today. It is nice to get them out of the bedroom!

How many hens did you end up with?

 

[PasoRoblesEgger]

Well I've got seven hens and six roosters now, lol.

Out of the five born in March four are roosters, see bottom picture. The second picture is the roo we named Buddy. He's the one that runs up to you when you open the back door and wants to be picked up and held and boy does he talk a lot, that little chirpy chatter nonstop. He's a character, never had a hen like that, let alone a rooster.

Do you all think I could put two roosters in with the big girls? Fourteen hens, of various breeds. I'll put another in with the seven Pita hens who are in a separate pen, so I can breed a pure line.

My daughter is going to take a rooster, so I'll only have two to find homes for.