Recent content by FlarryEyeGrey

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    Marek vaccine shedding

    Yes, that is the safest scenario with a mixed vaccinated/unvaccinated flock. The risk calculation changes slightly if you have a mature flock of vaccinated birds with confirmed Marek’s, because any unvaccinated chicks you added in would be getting a very high viral load as soon as they were...
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    Marek vaccine shedding

    Good for the keeper who’s not picking up bodies every morning, not so good for the keepers who free range or otherwise aren’t practicing much biosecurity in a badly impacted area and have unvaccinated birds.
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    Marek vaccine shedding

    For what it’s worth, I just started vaccinating my home-incubated chicks myself as I recently had a few cases of suspected Marek’s in my flock. My understanding is that all of the available vaccines use live virus (a few different strains), so shedding can definitely be expected. However, the...
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    Marek’s in my flock??

    I should add: the pullet is 22-23 weeks old. I had a rooster die mysteriously a couple of months ago — didn't look into it too closely; he had seemed perfectly healthy and was just dead and cold on the ground in the run one morning. A great horned owl found its way into the run several weeks...
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    Marek’s in my flock??

    Well, I’m freaked out as all hell. I have ONE pullet completely unable to walk or stand. For a couple of days she looked a bit limp and hunched, and I was in denial about it. The following day she was on her side with the other birds attacking her, bleeding. I've now had her separated for three...
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    Candling issues day 14.

    I usually let bad eggs go way too long — I hate to throw anything out until 2 weeks in! But I can tell you from experience that even the "iffy" eggs hardly ever turn around... if I think something looks even slightly off, 9 times out of 10 that egg won't make it to lockdown or show any sign of...
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    Candling issues day 14.

    I think these tales are just tales. That said, I just had a small hatch of Bielefelders with a very tragic end... :hmm of the 6 that made it to lockdown, 3 were malpositioned inside the egg and couldn't pip properly. I didn't assist in time and they all died, sadly. The 3 that were positioned...
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    Should you help a quail chick to hatch?

    I generally will assist a struggling chick but I'm not sure I'd ever do it for quail. The margin of error on an egg/chick that tiny is SO small! I'd be willing to put a safety hole in the air cell — anything more than that I'd worry would be much more likely to do harm than good.
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    Candling issues day 14.

    Oh, I should caveat the dry hatching thing for elevation — if you live more than a few thousand feet above sea level it's better to keep higher humidity throughout the hatch. But otherwise most people have very good results erring on the side of lower humidity until lockdown.
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    Candling issues day 14.

    I'm a big fan of dry hatching with cheap incubators and have had some of my best hatches at 16-35% humidity until lockdown! Frustrating that you have air cells all over the place but personally I'd still lower humidity, since more of your eggs are likely to benefit from that. I'd wager there's...
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    Candling issues day 14.

    I use a high-powered flashlight and a candler interchangeably, just whichever I can find first. You don't need a candler, although they're cheap and work just fine as flashlights after you're done incubating so they're not necessarily a waste of money. The curved surface of the light source is...
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    Eggs arrived in sad conditions...

    My last shipment of Ayam Cemani eggs came wrapped in tissues in a carton a bit like that, but they'd nestled the carton in packing paper. No breakages, but to be honest I think they got lucky! They didn't include any extras and I would have given them a negative review if I hadn't received the...
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    How long should a zip take? Is 6+ hrs too long?

    Glad your duckling is making progress!
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    Thermometers🌡️ And Hygrometers 💦

    I use Govees from Amazon, which run about $15 apiece: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B097HF322L/ They connect via bluetooth to an app on my phone, so as long as I'm at home it's very easy to keep an eye on them without touching the incubator. I'm currently hatching with a commercial grade...
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    New quail guy!

    Welcome! Don't be too discouraged if you don't have a good first hatch. A first try with only 6 eggs that may not be fertile, hand-turned in a cheapie incubator is a gamble for sure! Of course, you might be surprised by how well it goes. Some eggs really, really want to hatch. :D Wishing you luck!
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