Set eggs February 12th! Hatch a long with me! - Page 7

Can I join in? I have 5 eggs in a still air that my gram gave me. I put them in at 2:30 on the 12th. Two of the eggs are the last ones my favorite BR & RR cross. She was killed by a hawk on the 9th.( I really hope they hatch) I also have three EE rooster to LH hens eggs in to see if I can get some blue eggs out of them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squawkbox 

That is what I suspect, no new blood. They have wierd deformities, no coordination/clumsy, horrible pecking skills (if I hold something in the palm of my hand, say a worm etc they peck at least 20 times before they finally get it). The roos that I used to have (they were culled) did not know how to breed the hens and would just lay under them instead. A few of the hens had/have only laid eggs only a handful of times at 2 years old. And, now the white hen's eggs won't incubate, they grow for a few days and die. Just a useless mess.

 

Right now, I have 6 hens (4 useful ones) and one roo (and the 6 chicks and 18 eggs lol). I am looking to get more and have been for a while but am having such a hard time to find Cochins in my area it isn't even funny. The faulty batch was my first go at chickens, so 2 years.

I can't even imagine having almost 100 chickens!! What do you do with them all?? You must get more eggs than you can handle.

 

Quote:

 

OMGosh! That sounds awful!! 

I myself, cannot seem to find ANY breeds around here except RSL,BR,ETC. all the stuff you can buy at TSC every spring.I google,and CL and all there are are Roosters and Drakes...so, almost all of my chickens I have payed shipping for or traveled to a TSC store up to 3 hours away for. 

I currently have a couple of each of these breeds in my laying flock. RIR,RSL,BSL,BJG,BB,LB,EE,NH,GLW,SLW,BO, and probably one or two that's slipping my mind at the moment! I would LOVE to get some Delawares or Cochins from a breeder but have no idea where to find one in a reasonable distance, so mine are ALL hatchery.I do have a large variety in my laying flock and it is beautiful though 

As for having almost 100 chickens, lol, yes, I get a lot of eggs, but I sell them all too.My feed bill is cut in half( I charge .50 less than everyone else around here) usually from sales.I have 6 Turkeys, a pair of Toulouse (with some Buffs on the way) and roughly 24 ducks right now as well. We are a busy acre but the numbers fluctuate as well because we raise our own meat with all of these as well.

I have a thread on here with photos of my little operation...but they are older and don't include the Turkey coop...which is at the back of my property...and the Bantam coop was not finished in those..

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/516687/so-heres-my-little-hobby-farm-pics-lots

Anyway, yes, it's a lot of chickens 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baggagolers 

Can I join in? I have 5 eggs in a still air that my gram gave me. I put them in at 2:30 on the 12th. Two of the eggs are the last ones my favorite BR & RR cross. She was killed by a hawk on the 9th.( I really hope they hatch) I also have three EE rooster to LH hens eggs in to see if I can get some blue eggs out of them.

Sorry to hear about your hen  I hope you get some of her offspring 

i wish all you guys good luck and myself cuz my mom  knocked the light switch plung in the incubator out of the wall  socet

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYRIR 

Really? I'll have to see what happens. I have 10 hens for him, If I need more, I'll have to hatch them out. I free range but not during egg collecting season. Then it's all the Dellies together. Good to know, though, and I'll be watching behavior more closely.They are hatchery stock so it may be different?

I honestly don't know if hatchery Dels are any better or not. I had horrible luck with the some hatchery Delawares, aggressive flighty nasty things I sold before they even grew up. Mine I have now are from a breeder. They're great birds, very friendly, but they are extremely active and love to forage far and wide. Yard full 'o Rocks owned Isaac's brother and said he had to have a large harem, that he was a super active breeder, too. Seems that a Delaware male can keep more hens fertile than just about any other breed of rooster I've owned. Isaac isn't slowing down yet.

I recandled the four questionable eggs since by today, Day 10, it would be evident if there was a chick in there. Removed all four of them so am down to 29, which is fine. The ones I really do need are going strong, the Belgian D'Anvers. I just hope the lone BR hatches. Was hoping for more than the one to be fertile, but c'est la vie!

Remaining eggs are:

15 D'Anvers

 2 D'Anver x Lav Cochin

 4 Delaware

 2 Delawegger

 5 Barred Easter Egger

 1 Barred Plymouth Rock

I got up this morning and my incubator had a spike to 105 and am not sure how long it was that way. So, I candled them all and I had 18 all growing yesterday and now have 13.  

Could they have died from the heat? If so, wouldn't they all have died then. Ugh