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- #41
for some good hatching this spring! Do you use an incubator or the broody route, or both? Your blues are pretty dark, if you wouldn't have labeled them I would have mistaken a couple for black, but they are so fluffy I'll let it slide, lolYeah I can't stand a disheveled lawn, hubby wants to mow, so the leaves gotta go. I did the back part of the property a couple weeks ago, filled the run and stashed 1 bag. On to the front today.
I use incubators, but will consider letting some broodies hatch next year if they time their broody spells well. Normally I get a bunch of really stubborn broodies right after I've finished hatching for the year, and I really do prefer the one-on-one availability of brooder babies, but next year I'd like to hatch a lot in order to have a decent number to grow out, so it may finally be their year.
Yes, they are so dark! I've heard of it in Silkies as well, people buying what they think are Black Silkies and then they hatch Splashes out of them because they were actually super dark Blues all along! I don't know why it happens, but I do know it is possible to have a silkied bird with a decent Blue shade, so it's a goal I want to work towards with my birds.
Ah, we're in a wooded area here so not so much of a lawn to tend to or anything. It's mostly a lack of wanting to bust my back bagging them that I haven't gotten any leaves stored back yet, as there are certainly plenty available out there!
Do you plan on ever selling hatching eggs once its locked down a bit more?
I have had some inquiries and do intend to sell eggs next year, once I've made sure that fertility is good in my pens of course. I will not be pricing them to the same amount that I've bought their hatching eggs for, though, primarily because I'm just getting started with them and am not confident that their quality is worth that much just yet, but also because I am not NPIP certified and don't have any immediate plans to certify my flock, at least not in the near future. All cards on the table with that.
I am perfectly happy to connect people with farms that have them and are NPIP certified for those more comfortable with that, though, I just love to see the variety appreciated and gaining more awareness.