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

[SunnySkies]

Oh! The goats distracted me! LOL I came home today and there was 2 very cute bantam hens in the bus shed next to our driveway. I think I am going to see if I can lure them into my yard....then into the coop. Hehe. I found them.... they FOLLOWED me home.... that is my story and I am sticking to it.  
They are roosting in there and I am not 100% positive were they came from. It is so cold and nasty out for them not to be taken care of. 

Do NOT lure them into a coop where your birds are sleeping!! This would so easily give your birds any illnesses they could be carrying. MG is one...they can be carriers but not sick. Put them in a coop by themselves for 30 days first then integrate if you can't find the owners.

 

[SilkieSensation]

Yes!  You sent so many, I have to have some take!   Hope I get some of those green ones to take, and I love those big cream ones..that you said are the leghorns?  Wow.  Nice.   I'm excited to see tomorrow night what shows up when I candle.   Come on bullseyes. 

Those are from the tetra tint. She's a hybrid layer that uses leghorn as the base. She has the big floppy leghorn comb, smaller body size & big eggs of the leghorn but she isn't pure white. She has a few random black streaks scattered throughout her feathers & a bit of a light rust color on her neck & chest. She is my oldest hen, head hen & 1 of my top layers. She will be 2 yrs old in Feb & still lays nearly daily just as she always has.

 

[SunnySkies]

Yay! Every single egg you gave me that I can see into (some of the Marans are too dark) is developing! It's a good and bad thing!

You are gonna be overrun with chicks! I can't wait to hear what hatches from those bantam eggs..

Some of those Marans are dark...they came from various show lines lines and were selected for uber dark eggs as well as quality. Good and bad indeed. The sires are not Marans, so they are crossbred chicks in those eggs, but should lay a very dark egg themselves.

 

[FeyRaine]

Well I'm really bummed, I've lost my H. Buckeye pullet, Penny to a predator. I'm really shocked b/c Mr Buckeye killed a raccoon last spring so she was the last bird I was worried about, I mean I have an oddly tiny mutt pullet w/ a huge polish Crest I'm terrified the barn cats are going to eat (cats have been on double rations since I've started free ranging that little bird w/ her flock of FL layers). Losing Penny is just my last straw & the last hope on my Heritage Buckeye project Started w/ a Trio last Feb & had nothing but bad luck since they arrived, I finally decided awhile back that the Roo's 1st name had to be Murphy as in Murphy's Law. The hen, Helen, was crazy broody, would sit on thin air & I couldn't stop her, she was so perfect looking it was spooky when I found her dead, apparently of heat stroke on a pile of eggs I finally let her sit, on the only zero wind day I we have ever had on our mtn top (97F over 90% humidity). Mr Buckeye had made many ribbon winning babies b/f I got him, but in 10 months I only got 3 fertile eggs, w/ zero hatched (he is getting up there in age) all I wanted was 1 replacement Roo from him so I could work w/ the girls on the line, but w/o Penny obviously that isn't going to happen. The whole entire reason I started ever incubating eggs (1st set was for NYDH last yr) was so I'd know what I was doing so I could work w/ the Buckeyes. I've hatched hundreds of other chicks in 2013, gotten some other diff. purebreeds etc. but it was originally all about some H. Buckeyes so I'm just totally perplexed about it all now.

I did candle & at least 8 are showing veins, maybe more (45 shipped eggs, 4 homegrown under 2 diff. young CL roos) so thats not great but all things considered it isn't so bad, not gonna win any hatch rate prizes but I could be ok about 8 hatching if that is what it is...

 

[champer]

My Genesis went crazy this weekend with the temps, it's a wonder all the eggs weren't cooked.
There were some clears, but some had veins, so that's encouraging.

I also got my shipped eggs, but with the bator misbehaving, I gave the eggs to 2 broodies. One hen is sticking like glue to them, but the other hen tossed them out the first night, stinker!

It's gonna be a long 2 more weeks!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I was restocking the water in my 1588 so I decided to do quick candle. the eggs are at day 4.5 so no real development expected. Still the odd shaped egg had tiny air bubbles floating from the bottom to the top so it must have been leaking. I pulled it. No development. 4 of the eggs were too dark to see anything with a flashlight. I'm hoping for a few chicks to hatch but if not I'm blaming the hen age and the below freezing temps here. Currently there are 7 eggs still sitting. I may set some more in a couple of days if these don't work out.

 

[ronott1]

Out of 24 trader joes eggs I only see 5 or 6 with veining. I'm not positive but I think I see some of the marans eggs developing! I will be so happy, considering they were lost for 8 days. Overall, I won't win the best hatch contest but I'm still happy to see any development!

Anything more than two hatching is good hatch!

It is so sad when only one hatches.

 

[ronott1]

My Genesis went crazy this weekend with the temps, it's a wonder all the eggs weren't cooked.
There were some clears, but some had veins, so that's encouraging.

I also got my shipped eggs, but with the bator misbehaving, I gave the eggs to 2 broodies. One hen is sticking like glue to them, but the other hen tossed them out the first night, stinker!

It's gonna be a long 2 more weeks!

I am sorry about the temp spikes!

There is a way to reset the old ones to factory defaults. If is a new one, try cleaning the sensor with a brush.

 

[carriebain]

I have one that will hatch in the next couple of days, poor uno, I might have to pick up a friend so she isn't alone

 

[Penny Hen]

They will keep your woods clean. There are different types. Since all goats will browse on brush, you can make your choices based on availability, among other factors. Avoid using active dairy goats, as constant exposure to heavy brush can cause udder damage. Goats you're raising for their coats, such as cashmere or angora caprines, likely will suffer damage to their hair while performing brush control duties. Pygmies can do the job, but they're smaller so the work takes longer. Small goats can't reach as high when standing on their hind legs to browse. Larger meat goats, like the Boer, do a good job. You also can mix different types and sizes of goats, with the little guys thoroughly cleaning up what the big guys left behind. Whatever type of goat you choose, make sure it is healthy. Check the teeth carefully to ensure they are in good condition and the goat has no apparent dental problems. If you have a large area 5-10 acres I would go with Boer's. You would need less. If you want the little cute Pygmy goats you would need more of them than the Boer's. If it's just an acre or two I would go with the little cute one's. Who doesn't like cute?

We have pygmy's. Word of warning though. We chose not to dehorn our's and last week we lost our very first billy and our very first baby that was born on the farm from them getting gored and not knowing it. Also our room mate got her leg gored by one also. There is a danger risk with goats when it comes to feeding time.

On the other hand if you are watchful the horns of grown goats are good handles. Once you have your hand on their horn you control them even if they are large. But I ****** off my billy once by tugging his ear when he wouldn't follow me on the leash and he flicked his head and took the tip of his horn from just above the ankle to my hip. Longest bruise I have ever seen. Never grab goats under 18 month by the horns. They will slip off in your hand leaving he bone core bleeding like crazy. If it happens that they knock them off themselves or you forget and grab anyway, pour sugar on the bloody horn bone to stop the bleeding then wrap it in gauze and duct tape and change it every couple of days. The sugar will help the horn to swiftly grow and cover the bone. It will also stop the bleeding.