Any one want to join me in waiting for eggs, posting and comparing notes?

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Crafty, doesn't the waiting just make you crazy?

I have 5 hatched so far, and 6 more pipped. In the brooder is a Silkie, a Cream Legbar (a little rooster...grrrr), and a Blue Ameraucana. In the incubator I have a Light Sussex and a Blue Laced Red Wyandotte drying. The Wyandotte seems to be having problems, possibly a genetic condition, and I'll probably have to cull.

I also have some questions about the Blue Ameraucana, which looks suspiciously like an EE. It has chipmunk coloring. I've seen pictures of this guy's flock, and I'm pretty sure if it is an EE, it must have been an accidental breed cross. His Blue Am's are really pretty.
Here are a couple of pics:

 

[CatSol]

Happy Birthday Countrygirl and jklyes1

 

[CatSol]

Brooster those are very cute. Love them. I wish you the best of luck on the rest....

 

[jklyles1]

Thanks MB and CatSol!!!

 

[Crafty chick]

Brooster~ yes! I am sitting by the incubator staring at each egg watching for rocking, listening to the side of it for chirps.... going CRAZY!

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Brooster~ yes! I am sitting by the incubator staring at each egg watching for rocking, listening to the side of it for chirps.... going CRAZY!

Best of luck! It's so exciting!

 

[jyurina]

All my sex link girls are squatting, checking out the nest boxes and are receptive to the roo. Which made me decide that Hermia going broody was really really cool. I watched to make sure she was dashing out for a quick bite and drink every morning and then settling in for the day in the nest and this afternoon I put 5 eggs that have been sitting unwashed on my counter back to her. She arranged them and got comfy within seconds. So the count is on! I was hoping to add some to the flock before our weather got beastly hot and these babies will(hopefully) be arriving around May 2. So now I get to wait for eggs and babies.

 

[Melabella]

All my sex link girls are squatting, checking out the nest boxes and are receptive to the roo. Which made me decide that Hermia going broody was really really cool. I watched to make sure she was dashing out for a quick bite and drink every morning and then settling in for the day in the nest and this afternoon I put 5 eggs that have been sitting unwashed on my counter back to her. She arranged them and got comfy within seconds. So the count is on! I was hoping to add some to the flock before our weather got beastly hot and these babies will(hopefully) be arriving around May 2. So now I get to wait for eggs and babies.

Holy smokes, hatches, pips, incubators and now a broody mama! I am going to live vicariously through you all! Good Luck to everyone with their new babies and hatches!

I have some amazing news about Duke. You know how I had two failed attempts to place him at farms near by? Well, my handyman said he would take him and do the deed for me as I know I am not up to the processing thing yet, (will I ever be?). He said after he picked him up, he arrived home and his wife told him.. "you are not killing that rooster anywhere near me!", so back in the car went Duke in my dog crate, and he drove to a farm that a friend works at in the next town over. He pulled up and asked if they might possibly want a rooster to free range. Told him he is a wonderful protector over the girls. Woman says after taking a look at him... "sure, just take him around to the back barn where the chicken barn is, we take lots of roos that need homes". I guess they aren't too worried about any quarantine. My handyman was so surprised to see what he said was at least 100 hens there. He knew they sold farm fresh eggs but had no idea that they had that many hens. He counted 5 roosters that he could see. The last he saw of Duke was him approaching the barn, doing his little wing drop dance to a group of ladies. I asked him,, "are you just trying to make me feel better?" He said...No, I promise you, drive there and take a look at him for yourself. So, if the rain holds out, I am going to go stop by and see Duke in his glory. Lots of hens, and space, and other roos to keep him sparring with, not people! I am so darn excited he found a place to live, I feel a better knowing that he didn't end up in the soup pot!

In the meantime, my girls are giving the new roo a bit of the cold shoulder. They are more than unimpressed. I let them free range for about a half hour tonight.. The new hen is very nervous, she is definitely on the bottom, even with her roo by her side. She is also a bit flighty. She has been hanging around with my loner girl Daisy. They kept going back into the coop...rather than free range. I wonder if he free ranged much where he came from, the woman had about an acre and a half, but where the birds were was less. Maybe it is just a bit too much at first. I have 6 acres, and there is 100 acre property right behind us. Lots of open spaces, and woods. I hoping it just takes time. I haven't seen him cover any girls but his own, I am guessing they just all have to get to know each other.

MB

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

MB, that's great news about Duke! Don't worry about the new roo. It often takes a few weeks for the girls to accept a new roo's advances.

So we had a terrible tragedy here. One of the cats somehow got into the room with the brooder, and killed all 3 chicks, including Mr. O'Hurn. It was so, so horrible. This has never happened!! We're so careful about leaving the door closed! My daughter will be crushed. She's with her dad until Monday. How am I going to tell her what happened? I'm desperately searching all of NC for another silkie chick. Yep...I'm the parent who's trying to pull off the whole dead pet switch-a-roo apparently. But I'm that desperate. I really am.

In the meantime, there's one hatched Light Sussex running around in the incubator, and lots of pipped eggs, but there hasn't been any progress for hours.

 

[Melabella]

MB, that's great news about Duke! Don't worry about the new roo. It often takes a few weeks for the girls to accept a new roo's advances.

So we had a terrible tragedy here. One of the cats somehow got into the room with the brooder, and killed all 3 chicks, including Mr. O'Hurn. It was so, so horrible. This has never happened!! We're so careful about leaving the door closed! My daughter will be crushed. She's with her dad until Monday. How am I going to tell her what happened? I'm desperately searching all of NC for another silkie chick. Yep...I'm the parent who's trying to pull off the whole dead pet switch-a-roo apparently. But I'm that desperate. I really am.

In the meantime, there's one hatched Light Sussex running around in the incubator, and lots of pipped eggs, but there hasn't been any progress for hours.

Brooster, i am so sensitive today, I think it is the poisen ivy covering 70% of my body area. I have cried 3 times today, now I can say 4! I am soooo sorry, what a flipping drag. And of all chicks... Mr. O'Hurn! What color was he? Crap, that stinks...

sorry love,
MB