The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You are such a slave driver! Let those hens go! LOL. Actually, that fighting lasts basically a few hours one afternoon and it's done. They get it all out at one time and the order is settled, or that's how it's always been. But, yeah, they'd outgrow those bantams in no time. Even the Rocks are as large as my D'Anvers within 7-8 weeks so the Brahmas, being so tall, would probably take 5-6.

I'd pay to see your Brahma raised by a D'Anver hen. Those chicks would be sticking out everywhere, the poor momma.

 

[speckledhen]

I'd pay to see your Brahma raised by a D'Anver hen. Those chicks would be sticking out everywhere, the poor momma.

Poor thing can't even sit on two of their eggs, they're so huge. Maybe two of Cora's or Brandy's, but the other are way too large for Aimee. She'd mother them until they were a foot over her head, I bet. Spike, on the other hand, would begin to lose patience with them once they were taller than he is.

 

[getaclue]

When I first started hatching, I bought a styrobator. That year, it would rain for about 6 - 8 days, then stop for about 4 days, then rain again for 6 - 8. If you remember, I brought in a couple big loads of sand where my coop was, to elevate it enough to keep it dry. Outside humidity was anywhere from 56 - 89. It was very high that year, but would drop for the few days the rain would stop. I never had a temp problem, but humidity was all over the place. I got tired of the chicks either drowning, or shrink wrapping.

I bit the bullet, and invested into an Rcom Pro 20. I love it. Yes, it was expensive, which is the only thing I dislike about it. Other than the cost, it's totally worth it. The only thing I do adjust from the auto setting is the turn angle. It's set at 60 degrees, and I change it to 180 degrees. I add water about twice during the entire process. Clean up is a breeze. Yes, I get great hatch rates.

 

[speckledhen]

With the loss of Rowena, we have 30 hens, 5 roosters. Of the 30 hens, only 12 or so are under 5 years old. I hope the eggs from Jill give me at least three pullets. It's good to know that so far, Hector's sons have been good-tempered. That may help me sell the extra males when the time comes.

I'm good with the Genesis for incubating, as little as I do it now. With the Brahmas, I think I have enough broodies to keep me going, though so far, not one this year yet. Maybe Bonnie and Brandy are "broodied-out" after last year's marathon.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@getaclue
I hadn't seen that incubator before so took a quick look. Looks amazing! But expensive, of course. I've never had or used an incubator before, however. Always hoping for a broody which, around here, are few and far between.

 

[getaclue]

Leahs Mom, it is amazing. Holds temp, and humidity perfect, turns perfect, and has alarms for anything that goes wrong. If the power goes off, it does not lose the settings, but an alarm goes off telling you the power was off, and for how long. If it needs water, there's an alarm for that. It does the countdown, and stops turning the eggs automatically on the correct day. I love it.

 

[getaclue]

h2o, you remember Tara from "J'est Another Day in Pair-A-Dice?" Drumstick Diva says she had Mareks at one time, closed her flock, bred for resistance, and achieved it. No more losses from it. Close your flock, and hatch your own eggs from the survivors.

That is one of the things I did pick up on in the research papers for the the development of the vaccines. When they hatched eggs from the flocks they exposed to Mareks, a percentage of the chicks showed to be positive for the disease, HOWEVER, it was a false positive, since the chicks were already producing antibodies to the disease, and it was the antibodies that were producing the positive results, NOT an active case of Mareks. Of course, the pharmaceutical company was not interested in natural immunity, so if they continued researching the natural immunity, they did not release the studies.

 

[speckledhen]

Does it make coffee, too, Cheryl? LOL. Wow, pretty sweet setup, though it doesn't hold as many eggs as the larger ones. Still, that many that will more likely hatch than setting twice as many just to get 20 to hatch isn't bad, but way too pricey unless I'm trying to make money as a breeder, I think. The styro ones do go bad over time just handling them. I had the old Hovabator when we had the fire and the insurance replaced it with the preset one, which I do like. I mean, I still had my turner for it so seemed logical.

Of those 35 birds I have now, 5 being roosters, 6 of those are the Belgian D'Anvers. At my highest number, with zero bantams, I had 55 chickens, really too many for my needs. I tried to tame down the chicken math as I discovered what I liked the most and what worked best here. As I lose the elderlies, those numbers will go way down, but I need to keep a couple of girls for Hector, maybe add a couple for Bash, but that last part is debatable at this point.

 

[holm25]

Well, here is my final report on my chicken. It looks like a it is a precise DX.

Funny how the only chicken that has it is the tolbunt polish. All my other hens haven't shown any sign. I called the breeder I got her from. She said she has never had it. She used to vaccinate her chicks for it, but hasn't done it for a few years. She also takes her birds to shows. It would seem like that would be a easy place to get it. I really cant imagine everyone who has Mareks on their property doesn't sell, swap or show their chickens. Very sad but it helps me concentrate on what I can do with mine, Eat the eggs and the meat.

Our state vet said all birds carry Mareks some just don’t express it. I haven’t and don’t know of anyone who has ever had a bird get Mareks from a show. A lot of these show flocks are resistant to it. We all practice vigorous culling and the second a bird get sick they go. It’s a good way to build up a flock of Mareks resistant birds. Cull any birds that show the signs and choose your keepers from those that don’t get it.

 

[speckledhen]

Our state vet said all birds carry Mareks some just don’t express it. I haven’t and don’t know of anyone who has ever had a bird get Mareks from a show. A lot of these show flocks are resistant to it. We all practice vigorous culling and the second a bird get sick they go. It’s a good way to build up a flock of Mareks resistant birds. Cull any birds that show the signs and choose your keepers from those that don’t get it.

Your state vet is full of crap! That is ridiculous nonsense. But, I've heard nonsense from other state vets, too, so it really doesn't surprise me, but it angers me, that someone folks put their trust in would just plain lie that way. Asinine, completely asinine.

Vigorous culling is a good way to keep stronger birds, vaccines aside. Weaker ones are gone, stronger ones stay. I've always said that a strong immune system can resist infection even if exposed. If not, why wouldn't you catch everything any other patient in a doctor's waiting room has?


Adding that I am happy to see you here, Isaiah! Wish you had time to hang around with us more!