5th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2014 Hatch-A-Long

[Blarneyeggs]

Quote: I DO have an annoying baby like that! I'm constantly checking on her to see if she's caught up on something, but she's a Nigerian Dwarf, out of this same doe! She's the Caramel colored one in the front:

 

[SilkieSensation]

[COLOR=0000FF]Completely unchicken related ~took my Lily goat on a 'date' today ~her fussing was REALLY getting to me…so hopefully[/COLOR] [COLOR=0000FF]in May there will be some cute kids around here….but for now, I STINK like a buck, blech! [/COLOR]

I hope you don't get an annoying baby like I did. She's cute but I swear she's part Nubian. All she does is scream whenever I go out there. Ugh she better watch it because I may just sell her if she keeps up...

[COLOR=0000FF]I DO have an annoying baby like that! I'm constantly checking on her to see if she's caught up on something, but she's a Nigerian Dwarf, out of this same doe! She's the Caramel colored one in the front:[/COLOR]

You can send them both my way. Noisy critters don't bother me at all...lol

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Sat down last night to candle with dh and 13yo dd. We see Day 10 embryos clear as day...and shadows moving in the Marans!. They are about the size of a quarter now and very active.

Then dh asks me how many do you have in there, and I tell him 31. He says...ummm...are you sure? I say yep...I started with 32 and culled a clear one this weekend. So I count and there are 32, and I am like What.The.Heck? Sure enough...there are 32 chicks and I am having a blond moment. Either that or someone slipped in another egg. But it was likely a blond moment!

Chicken math is *confusing*!

I like to think of myself as fairly intelligent...but now I can't even count eggs???

I just went back to look at my original photo...and yes there were 33.

I was hoping for a second flock of not more than a dozen. Maybe I need to get prepared to start selling eggs next summer to help pay for their feed!

As for the candling, we do it every day. Mostly because I wanted this to be a learning experience for the family. And there is NO way I could stop myself!

I have done the SAME thing! one time I was one short….I'm like,'I know the egg didn't just JUMP out of the bator all on its own..now where did it go?'

I love the goat pics people are posting. So cute. I have 2 Nigerian Dwarf does. Ive been debating on mating one of them in a few months. Im still trying to figure out her cycle. They are both 9 months old. One is large(the one I plan to mate soon) she was a single, the other is a little smaller, she is petite, she was a twin and the mom herself was petite.

I have a petite girl that I was waiting for this season to breed. I would have rather had her bred yesterday, (she's full grown now, and I have a nice small Buck all lined up for her first kidding) but Lily was SO obviously in season, and as it's already mid~December, I thought I'd better get on this.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Quote: Be careful what you wish for….

 

[Myfourladies]

I will be candling my NYD hatch eggs for the second time tomorrow and my other 8 the first time tomorrow. I hope to see lots of life signs! Especially in one egg that I have kind of called out as my favorite.

It is pink and so pretty.
Now to go to work I guess. *sigh* Everyone have a good day!

 

[mstricer]

Quote: Thank you


I candled last night and all is going great. Out of the d'Uccles I culled the 2 old eggs (those were an experiment epic failure, old eggs don't hatch) Out of the Wheaten AM I culled two eggs those I think got frozen before I gathered, so I'm down to 10 Not bad Not bad

 

[mspj]

Questions about candling. I am new at this and need help understanding what I am seeing.

I don't have a candler, I went to my local farm store yesterday and bought one but took it back as it was not as bright as the flash light I have modified with plumbing parts and I couldn't see into the eggs as well with the candler.

So to describe what I see: I cannot see any veining (I don't think my light is bright enough, all eggs are brown except one green one) but it does look like the yolks have gotten bigger as well as the air cell. Is this a good sigh?

Out of the 29 I set I see this enlarged yolk in 27, 2 still look about the same as before. Does this mean I have 27 growing?

I need a candler, but cannot decide which one I want or if I want a better flashlight. Lowes has a 500 lumen flashlight that I am leaning towards. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[brahmabreeder]

I DO have an annoying baby like that! I'm constantly checking on her to see if she's caught up on something, but she's a Nigerian Dwarf, out of this same doe! She's the Caramel colored one in the front:

Haha yeah mine is a pedigreed Nigerian too. The dam is really nice looking( type wise ) and the buck comes from excellent milking lines so I continue to keep her. Never have figured out the goat show thing, yet. I want to go but the fair has an ADGA show every year so I'll just probably do that next year along with the 4-H show.

 

[mstricer]

Questions about candling. I am new at this and need help understanding what I am seeing.

I don't have a candler, I went to my local farm store yesterday and bought one but took it back as it was not as bright as the flash light I have modified with plumbing parts and I couldn't see into the eggs as well with the candler.

So to describe what I see: I cannot see any veining (I don't think my light is bright enough, all eggs are brown except one green one) but it does look like the yolks have gotten bigger as well as the air cell. Is this a good sigh?

Out of the 29 I set I see this enlarged yolk in 27, 2 still look about the same as before. Does this mean I have 27 growing?

I need a candler, but cannot decide which one I want or if I want a better flashlight. Lowes has a 500 lumen flashlight that I am leaning towards. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I use a small flashlight with pipe insulator at the top to protect egg and to create a seal so no light comes out. You should be able to see veins at the top of egg, shine flashlight on fat end in a dark room. At 7 days you should be able to see veins and a small heart beat. I saw all even on my blue eggs. My flashlight is 100 lumens

 

[SilkieSensation]

[COLOR=0000FF]I DO have an annoying baby like that! I'm constantly checking on her to see if she's caught up on something, but she's a Nigerian Dwarf, out of this same doe! She's the Caramel colored one in the front:[/COLOR]

You can send them both my way. Noisy critters don't bother me at all...lol

[COLOR=0000FF]Be careful what you wish for…. [/COLOR]

We won't deliberately breed our pair but they are penned together every night so I'm sure my boy will take care of things himself when the time comes. I wouldn't mind a couple more does. We are wanting milkers.