Chicken "mutt" club!!!

[Mygirls20]

Well 2 more have pipped just checked on them... The stress of this is really getting me lol I dont think I will sleep at all tonight. Do any of you know if making peeping noises help? I will make some noises at them then they all start peeping and rocking lol

 

[ChickNmamma]

I have a Rhode Island Red rooster he is so pretty. My hens are golden sexlinks, Americanas, Barren Rock, and dark cornish game hens. I also have a few mystery hens like the one in my avatar pic I have no clue what she is lol. I am really excited about the Americana and RIR mix hoping they will be beautiful hearty mixes . I def thought that I wasnt going to have so many make it this far (turning by hand and living at 8,200 feet in the dry CO air but I have been taking care of those eggs like crazy!!! keeping a close eye on the air cell and doing a ton of research lol.

Wow, you are doing great! What humidity have you been running at? I believe I read that higher altitudes needed higher humidity to help the chicks develop properly. Sounds like a really great job so far!

I have done an Americana (they call them Easter Eggers on this site) x New Hampshire Red (also hatchery) cross in my early years - one of the strongest/heartiest crosses I ever made. I only have one left now - the last rooster I hatched - and he is over 14 years old. Unfortunately my hens did not oblige me by hatching any of their eggs and died of old age before I thought to hatch theirs (I think they were 12 years old and still laying when they finally keeled over). And the two times I tried it with "new" hatchery hens and the old rooster I had dismal failures in my wood house with my Styrofoam incubator (first time problems with temperatures not staying steady, second time I guess the boy was just too old, all clears). So he is the only one I have left. Hefty boy though - and still trying to jump on the girls at this age..

I am trying a new mix this time, Blue Isbar boy over the new (now 7 year old and still laying) and newer (1 year old) Easter Egger girls. I am hoping for more blue feathers ... as well as blue green eggs.

Love to see pictures when they hatch out!

I think the Barred rock chicks will be sexlinked - the ones with the white spot on their heads will be male - the no spot ones will be females.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Well 2 more have pipped just checked on them... The stress of this is really getting me lol I dont think I will sleep at all tonight. Do any of you know if making peeping noises help? I will make some noises at them then they all start peeping and rocking lol

Yup, I do that too. I love it when they talk back.

I also tap on the plastic, it seems to get them wiggling.

Just let them rest awhile in between because it is tiring work to hatch... You might want to sleep too...

 

[Mygirls20]

Wow sounds like a great mix I have been doing a lot of research trying to breed something with small combs that are hearty it gets so cold up here in the rockies of CO lol. I have talked to some people that have hatched in my area they told me to start out at 20-40% then bump up 60-70% after lock down. I had them at about 40% for the first 18 days then went up to 65% we will see how they look. I am at the point were its just trail and error. A lot of old timers told me the most important thing is to keep the temp at 99-100 and just watch the air cell if it grows to fast turn up the hum. and if its not growing turn it down lol its been a crazy last three weeks for me haha I am hoping for 100% hatch but I am not counting on it.

I have had a few people tell me that mixing breeds can cause brain damage in chicks and sterile birds its nice to see people like shellz and all of you breeding mutts and having nothing but amazing healthy birds .

 

[redneck farmer]

I have a Rhode Island Red rooster he is so pretty. My hens are golden sexlinks, Americanas, Barren Rock, and dark cornish game hens. I also have a few mystery hens like the one in my avatar pic I have no clue what she is lol. I am really excited about the Americana and RIR mix hoping they will be beautiful hearty mixes . I def thought that I wasnt going to have so many make it this far (turning by hand and living at 8,200 feet in the dry CO air but I have been taking care of those eggs like crazy!!! keeping a close eye on the air cell and doing a ton of research lol.

Wow! Amerucana X RIR is my mutts that I have!!!!! You got good chicks on the way!

 

[ChickNmamma]

Wow sounds like a great mix I have been doing a lot of research trying to breed something with small combs that are hearty it gets so cold up here in the rockies of CO lol. I have talked to some people that have hatched in my area they told me to start out at 20-40% then bump up 60-70% after lock down. I had them at about 40% for the first 18 days then went up to 65% we will see how they look. I am at the point were its just trail and error. A lot of old timers told me the most important thing is to keep the temp at 99-100 and just watch the air cell if it grows to fast turn up the hum. and if its not growing turn it down lol its been a crazy last three weeks for me haha I am hoping for 100% hatch but I am not counting on it.

I have had a few people tell me that mixing breeds can cause brain damage in chicks and sterile birds its nice to see people like shellz and all of you breeding mutts and having nothing but amazing healthy birds .

... brain damage? Sterile? ..... oh dear.....

There is a thing called "Hybred Vigor" It is WHY some of the old-timers started CREATING chickens.. Cross this breed with that breed, keep what you want.. get rid of the stuff you don't want... and bring back the healthy, vigorous, fertile chickens...

It is Inbreeding and Line breeding that can cause problems in the long run - out-crossing to another "line" is necessary. It is the inbreeding and line breeding that can cause brain damage and sterility, as well as other defects, especially if it is done without keeping meticulous records. Maybe they got it backwards?

Almost all of the breeds we raise today were, at one time, cross breeds, mixes, mutts.. etc.... Man has been mixing them probably since the beginning of mankind...

I am glad you asked other people what they did in your area. That is probably the best way to get information pertaining to your location. Checking the aircells is also a really good method. The only other thing I might have added is the weight method, especially for your first few hatches. Since they need to loose a percentage of weight (moisture) while growing, knowing exactly what they are loosing by weight is more accurate than the aircell. This hatch will tell you if there was anything you didn't catch using the aircell method but so far it looks really good.

I had heard somebody was using humidity at 50% at higher altitudes.. and I also heard that the hatcheries had to add oxygen to their hatching rooms. However if you are hatching out 10,000 chickens they probably need extra air...

It sounds like you got it right so far, and your Mutts will probably hatch much better than those poor line bred, inbred, pure bred chickens

 

[thebanthams]

This is another EE and silkie cross. Look at her hat ! I am hoping she is a female

 

[ChickNmamma]

This is another EE and silkie cross. Look at her hat ! I am hoping she is a female

That is adorable!

Dang.. I wonder if my Silkie roo would like to go visit the blue egg girls. Only problem.. he is Partridge. So are most EEs. Might not be a big change there - but they would have top hats and be smaller with black skin.. hmmm.. have to think on this one.

 

[Mygirls20]

Wow! Amerucana X RIR is my mutts that I have!!!!! You got good chicks on the way!

Thanks excited one more just pipped and a chunk of the shell came off you can see a little yellow fuzzy

I have noticed that the ones that have pipped arent really rocking around as much is that ok? is my hum. to low? hope they arent drying up in there eeekkkk nevious momma here. hum is at 60%-65%

 

[Mygirls20]

... brain damage? Sterile? ..... oh dear.....

There is a thing called "Hybred Vigor" It is WHY some of the old-timers started CREATING chickens.. Cross this breed with that breed, keep what you want.. get rid of the stuff you don't want... and bring back the healthy, vigorous, fertile chickens...

It is Inbreeding and Line breeding that can cause problems in the long run - out-crossing to another "line" is necessary. It is the inbreeding and line breeding that can cause brain damage and sterility, as well as other defects, especially if it is done without keeping meticulous records. Maybe they got it backwards?

Almost all of the breeds we raise today were, at one time, cross breeds, mixes, mutts.. etc.... Man has been mixing them probably since the beginning of mankind...

I am glad you asked other people what they did in your area. That is probably the best way to get information pertaining to your location. Checking the aircells is also a really good method. The only other thing I might have added is the weight method, especially for your first few hatches. Since they need to loose a percentage of weight (moisture) while growing, knowing exactly what they are loosing by weight is more accurate than the aircell. This hatch will tell you if there was anything you didn't catch using the aircell method but so far it looks really good.

I had heard somebody was using humidity at 50% at higher altitudes.. and I also heard that the hatcheries had to add oxygen to their hatching rooms. However if you are hatching out 10,000 chickens they probably need extra air...

It sounds like you got it right so far, and your Mutts will probably hatch much better than those poor line bred, inbred, pure bred chickens

lol ya it kinda ticked me off just a little bit but these were people that were hatching super expensive birds. I am use to people like that I raised pit bull got A LOT of crap for that in the dog world and broke Mustangs and got A TON of crap for that in the horse world. Some people have their own ideas and I take it as a grain of salt. You all seem really awesome I will try the weighing thing its a good idea thank you. I dont really care what bred my chickens are as long as they are hearty healthy and can lay eggs lol