17th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-Along

[Debbie292d]

Love the feathered feet!

I see that you use pellets instead of chips. Do you think those are better?

We've used them in the coops for a decade. It wasn't until about four years ago that I saw pictures of someone who had them in their brooder, and that minute we switched. Will they eat the pellets? No, they are too big, but even if they could, or eat some of the dustless sawdust they make when they get wet, it's just like the chips or anything else...they'll try it once, then bleh.

They keep the brooders dry and clean, except underneath the nipple waterer. There I have to change them out daily. When I don't, they "dust bathe" in them. So I cover that area with paper towels to stop that lol.

 

[gullinkambe]

Did an early day 6-candling since the sneak-peek I did a few days ago seemed a little shady.

9 out of 20 viable. No quitters, the rest look unfertilized. The young rooster has only been here a little over a month, but there might be another reason. I've been reading about comb-genetics on threads here on BYC and apparently homozygote rosecomb could give lower rooster fertility. I might have to rethink my plan for an all-rosecombed flock.

 

[TheChickenGirl16]

We've used them in the coops for a decade. It wasn't until about four years ago that I saw pictures of someone who had them in their brooder, and that minute we switched. Will they eat the pellets? No, they are too big, but even if they could, or eat some of the dustless sawdust they make when they get wet, it's just like the chips or anything else...they'll try it once, then bleh.

They keep the brooders dry and clean, except underneath the nipple waterer. There I have to change them out daily. When I don't, they "dust bathe" in them. So I cover that area with paper towels to stop that lol.

Oooo good to know!
Maybe I’ll give them a try this year!

 

[_Alicia_]

I am making the switch to pellets this year. I brood in my heated garage and the amount of dust shavings created is amazing. It has always bothered me since the babies are breathing it in if my car is covered in it. I am hopeful pellets will help cut some of that down. I also noticed that the farm store had both pellets and shavings in their brooders this year. It's possible I just never noticed before.

 

[MROO]

Did an early day 6-candling since the sneak-peek I did a few days ago seemed a little shady.

9 out of 20 viable. No quitters, the rest look unfertilized. The young rooster has only been here a little over a month, but there might be another reason. I've been reading about comb-genetics on threads here on BYC and apparently homozygote rosecomb could give lower rooster fertility. I might have to rethink my plan for an all-rosecombed flock.

I have rose-combed Nankin bantams, which are notorious for low fertilization rates. I introduced a single-comb rooster to the flock a few years back and hatch rates increased dramatically. It took a few generations to get the combs back where I wanted them, but hatch results are much better. We're back in business ... for now!

 

[TheChickenGirl16]

Eggs have bun in lockdown a day or two now!
Polish are hatching tomorrow or Wednesday, and BYMs are hatching Wednesday!

I started with 29 eggs, and had 1 quitter on day 14. But the other 28 made it safe into lockdown!
….until today. My 18m old brother got into the incubator while I was busy, and therefore wasn’t watching. He broke 2 eggs.
Everyone else seems ok. I don’t think the lid was off for too long, bc the humidity didn’t tank, and there aren’t any internal pips, and definitely no external ones.

So anyway, that’s 26 eggs I’m waiting on! Lyk what hatches!

 

[Debbie292d]

Did an early day 6-candling since the sneak-peek I did a few days ago seemed a little shady.

9 out of 20 viable. No quitters, the rest look unfertilized. The young rooster has only been here a little over a month, but there might be another reason. I've been reading about comb-genetics on threads here on BYC and apparently homozygote rosecomb could give lower rooster fertility. I might have to rethink my plan for an all-rosecombed flock.

Have you posted anywhere about this? @NatJ and @Amer are a couple of the folks here that maybe could help you.

 

[Debbie292d]

I am making the switch to pellets this year. I brood in my heated garage and the amount of dust shavings created is amazing. It has always bothered me since the babies are breathing it in if my car is covered in it. I am hopeful pellets will help cut some of that down. I also noticed that the farm store had both pellets and shavings in their brooders this year. It's possible I just never noticed before.

We use them in all coops, brooders, and hutches. No odors, chicks stay dry so coccidiosis doesn't stand a chance, and cleanup so easy. Any sawdust made like where their nipple bottle is, is clean and dust free. I still remove it because the little buggers like to sand bathe in it lol.

 

[AinaWGSD]

We tossed 4 eggs at day 14. Two clear, one early quitter with a blood ring, and one that looked like it quit around day 7-9. Air cells were looking a little small, so we dropped the humidity to 30%. We'll probably candle one more time at lockdown on Thursday, but it looks like we're going into lockdown with 52 eggs!

 

[NatJ]

Have you posted anywhere about this? @NatJ and @Amer are a couple of the folks here that maybe could help you.

9 out of 20 viable. No quitters, the rest look unfertilized. The young rooster has only been here a little over a month, but there might be another reason. I've been reading about comb-genetics on threads here on BYC and apparently homozygote rosecomb could give lower rooster fertility. I might have to rethink my plan for an all-rosecombed flock.

That is pretty much what I've read, too, about homozygous rose comb roosters being less fertile than others. I've read that the sperm does not live as long after mating (so the rooster needs to mate with each hen more often), and I've read that they tend to mate less often. I have no personal experience to back up any of this.

The obvious workaround is to have fewer hens per rooster, so it is easier for him to mate with them all frequently.

I've also read that there are two different rosecomb alleles, one with that effect on fertility and one with no problems. If you could breed a flock with the other rosecomb allele, you wouldn't have trouble with fertility-- but there is the trouble of getting the right allele in the first place, and recognizing when you have it.
A study that talks about the matter:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3386170/
"The Rose-comb Mutation in Chickens Constitutes a Structural Rearrangement Causing Both Altered Comb Morphology and Defective Sperm Motility"
Published in 2012
(Not easy reading, but it is the most authoritative source I can easily find. It does contain a table of what breeds were found to have which rosecomb alleles. I don't know if any of them would be easy for you to get, or whether they would even be welcome in your breeding program because they might bring other traits you don't want.)

For your flock, as a practical first step, I would probably give the rooster more time before you make any drastic changes. He might improve with time and practice.

If that doesn't work, I might split the flock so he is with just a few hens, the ones you most want to hatch eggs from. If you want to hatch eggs from them all, maybe give him one group, get a batch of their eggs developing nicely in the incubator, and then put the next group of hens with the rooster. You could work your way through the whole flock in small clumps.

And most of that was probably stuff you already read elsewhere, or thought of for yourself before I got around to typing it