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Of the about 30 Tolbunt/GL crosses we have hatched, none of them have looked Tolbunt. They are all feathering in GL and a few with a tiny amount of white in the front of the crest. So, I wouldn't expect any of them to look Tolbunt or even close to it. Ours have varied in color range...
In most cases, people breed them back to Tolbunt. I'm not. Why? Because it doesn't help the genetics too much, and I've heard a lot of stories of 3/4 Tolbunt chicks unexpectedly dying. Instead, I'm breeding one 1/2 Tolbunt to another 1/2 Tolbunt, both with different mothers from unrelated stock...
My two that hatched (the previously shown chicks) are currently fathering Tolbunt splits (Tolbunt x Gold Laced) but nothing "purebred" yet. About half of the offspring will look like Tolbunts, half like Gold Laced, all with much better vitality than true Tolbunts.
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Hmm. . . . Now if only I had "spending" money right now.
Well, last night I gave it a shot at vent-sexing the chicks. I've done this with my last hatch as a first timer, then marked who I believe was male. To this day, the chicks are so far proving me right.
So, the verdict is. ...
Okay, so sue me someone. . . .
I opened the bator, candled the eggs and saw NO movement, then. . . Opened them up.
My method of opening is always very careful. I take a sharp screw to the top where they would normally pip the aircell, tap it through the shell, then peel away the shell until I...
Still no action on the last two.
I am SO tempted to candle them, or open them, or just make a little pip hole, or. . . .
Usually if an egg takes this long to even pip for me, . . . . It's gone by the time I take it out.
There ARE pics. . . Look at the previous page. . . . And this page. . .
I now have 2 Tolbunts and no more pips.
Here's my first Tolbunt, born last night.
Here's my second Tolbunt, born around midnight. Still has a lot of drying off to do.
The black chicks in there are my Polish x...
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Yeah, only one other has pipped so far. This one pipped last night, the second one (hasn't hatched yet) pipped midday today. The other two probably will overnight or tomorrow. I'm expecting the second to start zipping in the morning or something.
No more progress. I have all 3 Polish x EE chicks out, and two Tolbunts who have pipped (one with an actual hole) but nothing else. Been like that for hours.
I now have 1 Tolbunt pip, 2 Polish X pips, and one Polish X hatched out already!!
Much apologies for the photos - I turned on my camera this morning, and. . . Its batteries went dead before I could take a photo. I'll let it recharge for a couple hours, and by then I should have exciting news...
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Indeed it is, and a hatchery stock Polish of all things. . . (I'd think if anything, I'd have a broody New Hampshire or something. . . )But, she's being pretty faithful so far! I threw some eggs under her, but sadly nothing special.
I have a PIP!!!!
It's not from a Tolbunt, though - But from one of my Polish croses. But at least this marks the beginning. Today is day 20, so expect some BABIES TOMORROW!!
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Golly, good luck!! That's one sad story. . . . I too hope to get a frizzle!! So far I've been seeing people get smooths, even though it is a 50/50 hatch.
I think one of my Polish just went broody a couple days ago. She's making me want to scream "Why didn't you go broody 3 weeks...
I put them into lockdown, candled them just a moment later (because I forgot to earlier) and guess what I found?? A DEAD FETUS!!! It died the same day, it seems, as my other one, and for the same reason - It stuck to the eggshell and went brown. What in the world is going on?
Anyway, I'm now...
No temp spike. I hear that one thing that causes a fetus to stick is the egg not being turned. . . But all my eggs are always turned. I have an automatic turner for that.
Anyway, LOCKDOWN is in just a couple hours!!!
I'll post pics and results as to who all is going into lockdown. . . .
Today is day 15, and cull day. . . I went from 21 eggs (not all Tolbunt) to 8 eggs. I now have 5 Tolbunts left.
So, remember that egg I kept candling that eventually went weird looking and died? Well, here's how it looked when it got cracked open. . .
I knew something was up with it - The...
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I've never worn gloves when handling eggs previously, I just wash my hands. I honestly think the problem here was either A) I handled that one egg every day or B) it had nothing to do with me. . .
In other hatches I usually candle eggs more than 3 times during incubation.
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