Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[OneMountainAcres]

Auror:

I have a couple of those mil spec flash lights..candling must be an art I do not have...just to let you know, I have had eggs hatch on Day 24 so don't be too quick to discount an egg....

I was so mad when I got home. .. the flashlight didn't work! Hubby says he'll look at it when he gets home from work *sigh* I was so excited too. I did manage to find enough batteries to get one of the LED ones working though (sort of) and could see veining in several of the eggs though one egg has the air sack on the side of the egg. Still couldn't see well in the darker eggs. Honestly, I don't think I'll be discounting any eggs. I'll probably let them all go the entire time and then discard what doesn't hatch. I don't trust myself enough to make the right call on an egg since this is my first hatch.

 

[emorems0]

Heard our first crow this morning... no more hoping that Romeo is somehow a girl. Looks like I definitely have two male and two female black australorps (only one crowing so far) and the verdict is still out on the mystery chick. With the 3 RIR pullets, it looks like we'll have just 5-6 hens like we originally planned. Which means I should be able to sneak another 2 or 3 past DH before needing to expand the coop size

I took these pictures about a week and a half ago...

Our two boys... such sweet, friendly chickens, I'll be sad to part with them but the hubs is being pretty firm about no roosters





This is Juliet about a week before she passed (wry neck?) She just sat around like this much of the time... I couldn't 'see' anything wrong so I tried not to worry, but I guess I should have

"Roadie" aka Roadrunner, our mystery chick. Hatched from what was supposed to be a RIR egg... obviously not, lol. Neck feathers are looking pretty skinny and comb and wattles are getting quite large, I'm thinking we have a third rooster which would be a shame because his colors are getting really neat - tail has a great, green iridescence to it and he's really soft.

 

[kada6305]

I was so mad when I got home. .. the flashlight didn't work! Hubby says he'll look at it when he gets home from work *sigh* I was so excited too. I did manage to find enough batteries to get one of the LED ones working though (sort of) and could see veining in several of the eggs though one egg has the air sack on the side of the egg. Still couldn't see well in the darker eggs. Honestly, I don't think I'll be discounting any eggs. I'll probably let them all go the entire time and then discard what doesn't hatch. I don't trust myself enough to make the right call on an egg since this is my first hatch.

I learned the hard way. Had a dark egg that I thought was done, wanted to see at what stage it stopped developing...opened the egg to a 10 day baby chick! So heartbreaking. So for now on unless I sww a bloodring, egg smells, or its a white egg and I know 100% it's dead I leave them in there.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Hello from West Chester! I didn't even know this thread existed until someone in the ducks forum directed me to it to get an answer to a question I posted there. I'm planning to start showing next season, so I'm trying to find a way to get my AI testing done at a reasonable price.I had to call around to several avian vets to even find one of those who can do it, and it's going to cost around $300. That's going to run into a lot of money if we have to have it done every month or two, so I'm really hoping some of you can give me some other alternatives. Thanks for any suggestions, and it's GREAT to see that there's a PA thread!

Welcome to the fun!

Heard our first crow this morning... no more hoping that Romeo is somehow a girl. Looks like I definitely have two male and two female black australorps (only one crowing so far) and the verdict is still out on the mystery chick. With the 3 RIR pullets, it looks like we'll have just 5-6 hens like we originally planned. Which means I should be able to sneak another 2 or 3 past DH before needing to expand the coop size I took these pictures about a week and a half ago... Our two boys... such sweet, friendly chickens, I'll be sad to part with them but the hubs is being pretty firm about no roosters This is Juliet about a week before she passed (wry neck?) She just sat around like this much of the time... I couldn't 'see' anything wrong so I tried not to worry, but I guess I should have "Roadie" aka Roadrunner, our mystery chick. Hatched from what was supposed to be a RIR egg... obviously not, lol. Neck feathers are looking pretty skinny and comb and wattles are getting quite large, I'm thinking we have a third rooster which would be a shame because his colors are getting really neat - tail has a great, green iridescence to it and he's really soft.

Roadie looks like a neat mix. I would love to see pics when he is fully grown.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Ick, I caught a head cold and can't sleep, even with NyQuil. Chicken question, has anyone seen their egg production drop yet because of day light? I have one chicken that went broody again, but I feel like I still am getting less eggs. Maybe they are upset about being penned up.

 

[dheltzel]

I learned the hard way. Had a dark egg that I thought was done, wanted to see at what stage it stopped developing...opened the egg to a 10 day baby chick! So heartbreaking. So for now on unless I sww a bloodring, egg smells, or its a white egg and I know 100% it's dead I leave them in there.

X2 - and I'll never do that again !!
Unless it smells or leaks, or I really need the incubator space (never a problem with my cabinet incubator), it stays until lockdown. At lockdown, any eggs I can clearly see through are discarded, but the dark colored eggs (Welsummer and Marans) stay anyway, though I've gotten quite good at telling which of those are duds at lockdown, but those dark eggs (for my Welbar project) are so valuable to me I won't risk anything with them.

How late do the "chronic hatchers" on here keep their incubators going? I know it's late in the season already, but it's so hard to quit . . .

 

[dheltzel]

Welcome to the fun!
Roadie looks like a neat mix. I would love to see pics when he is fully grown.

Most likely his mother was a RIR, but the father had the "extended black" gene, like a black australorp. With only 1 copy of the black gene, some dark red from the RIR leaked through, this is very common with black sex links where the father is RIR or New Hampshire. This guy is not a BSL because he is not barred.

 

[Housemom408]

Thank you... Actually she is a mutt.... she is small, though not as small as a real bantam, most likely she is a silkie mix, she does have feathers on her feet. I bought her as a pullet from a lady who had no idea what breeds any of her birds were or where most of them even came from.... she said she had gotten a bunch at a feed mill a couple of years before and they ran wild on her property. She lays a beautiful green egg when she isn't raising chicks (she is a 2 or 3 time a year broody)

That is so cute! Almost didn't see her baby at first.

 

[kada6305]

Ick, I caught a head cold and can't sleep, even with NyQuil. Chicken question, has anyone seen their egg production drop yet because of day light? I have one chicken that went broody again, but I feel like I still am getting less eggs. Maybe they are upset about being penned up.

My egg production has dropped. I usually get 5-6 eggs. Now I am lucky if I get 2! I need to replace the hen that I lost, and add a few more. Hopefully I get some hens out of these hatches! I am tempted to give them artificial daylight, just until I collect some eggs for incubation on Saturday!

 

[kada6305]

X2 - and I'll never do that again !!
Unless it smells or leaks, or I really need the incubator space (never a problem with my cabinet incubator), it stays until lockdown. At lockdown, any eggs I can clearly see through are discarded, but the dark colored eggs (Welsummer and Marans) stay anyway, though I've gotten quite good at telling which of those are duds at lockdown, but those dark eggs (for my Welbar project) are so valuable to me I won't risk anything with them.

How late do the "chronic hatchers" on here keep their incubators going? I know it's late in the season already, but it's so hard to quit . . .

I was wondering that too..I have another collection of eggs going in on Saturday. I just can't stop!