1s time hatcher pls Help! EE from brown egg? Bantam hatch w/ others?

[UrbanFarmerGirl]

Hi! Hoping someone with EE experience can help me here- I just ordered a variety of fertile hatching eggs from "MyPetChicken"- I chose that site because I have a very small flock and wanted to order just a small number of specific eggs. I ordered 3 white silkies, 3 Easter Eggers, and 3 Silver Spangled Hamburgs. They arrived today, and are 'resting' for a few hours before I put them under my broody wanna-be-mamma hen. All of the eggs are labeled by the seller with pencil. Here are my questions:

#1 RE: Easter Eggers: I received 3 eggs labeled "EE". 2 are blue-green, one is brown. I ordered Easter Eggers from under the category 'blue and green egg layers' and everyone I know who has them gets blue or green eggs. Why did they send me a brown egg? Will the chicken that (hopefully) hatches from it possibly lay blue eggs? Does the egg a mixed breed chicken hatches from indicate the color of the eggs it will lay?

#2 RE: Bantam Eggs: Can I put the bantam eggs in with normal sized? I keep reading that eggs under a hen take 21 days to hatch, but that bantam eggs can take 18-21 days. Lots of folks on here say their bantams take 20-21 days... should I put all of the eggs under her together?

#3 RE: Order of Hatching Eggs: I ordered 9 eggs, and they sent me 10. Instead of the 3 Silver Spangled Hamburgs I got 4. Did they make a mistake, or do they send an 'extra' in case one breaks, or what?

Thanks for any advice you can offer. I am totally new at this and am afraid I might mess something up, but I am so excited! Can't wait to put the eggs under my broody hen~!

 

[debilorrah]

First off your EE question. The only TRUE blue eggs come from Ameraucanas, which hatcheries sell, but they are really EE's. More than likely you will get green and brown eggs from an EE.

I hatch bantams and LF at the same time all the time. Sometimes the banties hatch sooner, but it is never an issue.

Usually they send more than one extra!!! You got jipped!!!

 

[UrbanFarmerGirl]

Thanks for answering all my questions! So, I have two more- if it hatches from a brown egg, the EE will probably lay a brown egg? Or could it lay blue eggs? What happens to the bantam babies if they hatch early? Does the Mamma hen wait for all of the eggs to hatch?

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Are these under a broody? I thought they were in a bator. If the brown egg hatches an EE, it could lay brown or green eggs. The liklihood of blue is far and few between.

 

[Illia]

Just as debiraymond said.

Your brown egg may hatch out a green layer, so don't worry too much. Often how it works in hatchery parent stock is that they use brown and green layers as well as blue layers, all to produce offspring which you receive who lay green or blue eggs.


BTW - If you get some duds and decide to crack them open, please PM me and let me know just how pale the egg yolk is. I want to know how pale the egg yolk is from hatchery stock.

 

[StormyMoon]

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Hey clue us in too lol

I have had a few duds from my hens but the yolk is always bright color orange/yellow color.

 

[Illia]

Well, I'd hope it is bright orange.

I just want to see the color from eggs one receives from a hatchery, as that gives a clue as to how poor of diet the parent stock is given. If you also think about it, not only does the poor environment and diet do bad for the parents, but it also weakens the chick, giving it less nutrients to live off of from development to the time you receive that chick in the mail.

 

[StormyMoon]

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Oh ok I see what your saying.. your so smart

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Green yes, but it won't lay blue eggs. You need a good quality Ameraucana for true blue eggs. Even my pure bred wheaten Ameraucana lays blue green eggs. Those startling blue eggs come from really good quality ameraucanas, Not EE's.

 

[UrbanFarmerGirl]

I'm sure I will get some that don't hatch... they even say on their own website that when eggs have been mailed it is considered a success to get a 50% hatch. I think they mean with an incubator- I am hoping a broody hen might be more lucky. I will check the yolks from the duds. I'm sure they aren't orange like the ones I get from my hens. I ordered the eggs because I wanted a few more chicks. I don't have a rooster (not allowed in town) - and one of my Buff Orpington hens has spent about 50% of her life (1 yr) being broody, so I thought I'd give her a shot at doing something useful since I'm not getting any eggs from her.

I have seen folks on here say that they've hatched 50-75% of a mail order batch of eggs... but if I get 1 or 2 chicks to hatch out of these 10 eggs I will feel like I won the lottery.