12th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-Along

[CSolis]

O sneak em in there over next few days!

You can do that?

 

[BullChick]

Good grief, I haven’t seen you in years, @Wickedchicken6 !

 

[sekeyslaks]

Morning all! It seems I can still access the internet right now,but we are under a tornado watch till 1pm today so i’m happy I have got eggs to distract me as I am terrified of storms.

 

[casportpony]

O.O.... Well then, I'm IN! 6 eggs from my black copper marans and Prince... 4 boo eggs from Snowflake and Bruce, and of course 2 from Charlie and Henrietta (Prince's parents). The Beilefelders will have to wait since I wasn't saving up her eggs... bad momma, bad bad.

Edit: Photo added.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Everything is going good so far. I was a bit worried at first about my egg turner as it had to be taken apart to be cleaned and at first thought it wasn't turning, but it is. Humidity is holding steady at about 33%. With the majority of the eggs BCM that is where it needs to be. I am worried a bit about the BCM mix eggs, as they are lighter. Their momma's are my Buff Orp, and 2 barnyard mix hens. I will Candle them at 7 days and hope they are developing. In January I tried incubating the Buff Orps eggs with the Marans and they didn't develop. If they do make it and hatch from my understanding I'll have to put leg bands on them to tell them apart from the BCM because I was told black is the dominate color. Hopefully we get to see if that is correct.

 

[Love my chickens 25]

Let us know when you set them.

Sounds good

 

[hysop]

I have eggs hatching as I type. Once they’re all done hatching and I clean the incubator I’ll add more in. It will most likely only be a small handful since these were 20 and we have no where to put em. I’ll report back when I have set some. Hatch date won’t be more than a week from Easter.

 

[Chicka_deee]

..while we're waiting and watching and candling... Anyone suggest some Easter names!? I'd love to name my chicks something Easter-y

Flower names maybe!!
Dahlia
Buttercup
Iris
Daffodil
Marigold
Poppy
Scarlet
Petunia
Tulip
Lilac
Peony
Orchid
Zinnia
and then maybe just 'Flower'

 

[ronott1]

So this isn't true?

View attachment 2572806

Spoiler: Source website

Source: https://www.livescience.com/15828-chickens-eject-sperm.html#:~:text=Chickens have their own battle,desirable, low-status roosters.

I found the original study and the abstract says:

Abstract​

The way females utilize the gametes of different males has important consequences for sexual selection, sexual conflict, and intersexual coevolution in natural populations. However, patterns of sperm utilization by females are difficult to demonstrate, and their functional significance remains unclear. Here, we experimentally study sperm ejection in the fowl Gallus gallus domesticus, where females eject preferentially the sperm of socially subordinate males. We study two measures of sperm ejection, (i) the probability that an ejaculate is ejected (“risk”) and (ii) the proportion of semen ejected (“intensity”), and show that both measures are strongly nonrandom with respect to characteristics of the ejaculate, the male, and the female. Sperm ejection neutralized on average 80% of an ejaculate, and while larger ejaculates suffered a higher ejection risk, smaller ejaculates suffered more intense ejection. After controlling for ejaculate volume, we found socially subdominant males suffered higher ejection intensity. After controlling for male and ejaculate effects, we found ejection risk increased and intensity declined as females mated with successive males. Collectively, these results reveal that sperm ejection risk and intensity are at least partly actively caused by female behavior and generate independent selective pressures on male and ejaculate phenotypes.

The article was mis interpreting the study which is normal.

First, 20% stay if there is an ejection from a sub dominant rooster. I have never seen an ejection so doubt that it is very common.

There is no conscious choice by the hen and this would only apply if you had multiple roosters in a flock.

Fertilization will still be random but will lean towards the dominant roosters sperm-- likely due to sperm volume.

My main point with this along with the older clean out myth-- where removing a rooster and adding a new one will cause the removed roosters sperm to be pushed out so that you can hatch eggs sooner, is very dangerous for a breeding program. The old roosters sperm will be there for more than 30 days sometimes.

 

[JCaseyHammond]

Flower names maybe!!
Dahlia
Buttercup
Iris
Daffodil
Marigold
Poppy
Scarlet
Petunia
Tulip
Lilac
Peony
Orchid
Zinnia
and then maybe just 'Flower'

@Chicka_deee Your name ideas are lovely!

You could have a lot of fun matching chicken breeds to flowers. Here’s what I mean:
Roses of a violet color are called “blue”.

This reminds me that chickens of a gray color are also called “blue” or “lavender”.

(Rosa ‘Heirloom’)

So now this Easter Egger’s name is Blue Rose (she also lays blue eggs)