Araucana thread anyone?

[Frazzemrat1]

Mom barred, dad looks like GDW. So consensus seems to be black with dot male, chipmunk stripe, female.

Well, that's sex linking for you. Females can only pass their barred genes on to their sons... so the one with the head spot (which indicates barring) would have to be male.

 

[RinaRoo]

Well, that's sex linking for you. Females can only pass their barred genes on to their sons... so the one with the head spot (which indicates barring) would have to be male.

Yay, that makes it easy to tell. Now I know who I can keep, and who will not be staying. I can't keep any boys, so they'll become food for something or us.

 

[Trish1974]

I am officially done hatching for the year...unfortunately. We have pretty harsh winters here so I need to make sure the chicks are big enough and fully feathered before the cold weather sets in.

Of the three in the incubator only one hatched - the BBR egg. I put it under Mama last night before it was dry so I'm not sure what color it is or if it is tufted. I checked in on her a little while ago and she was off the nest, but laying down. The chicks were under her but I did see two mottled clean faced chicks poking out from underneath her. There were two unhatched eggs in the nest - one blue x blue and one of hers. That means I should have two chicks from my tufted blue pair. She should have 6 chicks all together, including the one from the incubator.

So my hatching stats for my first year:
30% hatch rate in the incubator
85% hatch rate with broody hens!

Can't wait to see what the chicks from the blue pair look like, or what the BBR chick fluffed out to be. Hopefully I'll know by tonight.

 

[RinaRoo]

I lost one yesterday. In the kerfluffel of my broody she stepped on one of the SFH eggs. It was missing half its shell, and it was perfectly formed, but no way to save it. I found it dead. I'm hoping the rest hatch by Monday. I won't let them go past Tuesday or Wednesday though, I think that'll mean they're dead. Day 21 is Monday, and I have the two hatched already.

 

[Trish1974]

I lost one yesterday. In the kerfluffel of my broody she stepped on one of the SFH eggs. It was missing half its shell, and it was perfectly formed, but no way to save it. I found it dead. I'm hoping the rest hatch by Monday. I won't let them go past Tuesday or Wednesday though, I think that'll mean they're dead. Day 21 is Monday, and I have the two hatched already.

Sorry you lost a chick.
So the two chicks you have hatched on Day 18?? That's weird..

 

[RinaRoo]

No, not day 18. The 6 eggs from my own hen were laid over 1 week, and I wasn't sure if they were fertile or not. So I bought fertile eggs at day 7 for the oldest egg. Some of the others should have hatched by now since they've hit day 21, but I'll wait until the 21 days Monday have had 2 extra days just in case.

 

[Trish1974]

Of the new chicks, I have:
3 Mottled
1 Black
1 Blue
1 Splash

ALL CLEAN FACED!!!

 

[Trish1974]

@Brahma Chicken5000 you are right; I need to keep Mama. She is an exceptional mother. Plus I should line breed her back to MJ to see what I get. I hate to split up her and Manolito, but since she has been brooding he has bonded with Lil' Girl, so I know they will be okay.

I think the little black chick (Triton x the BBR hen) is tufted. I know he has at least one tuft, which is in white down, and if he is tufted on the other side it is black which is blending in with his facial down so its hard to tell. IF that chick is tufted, that makes my stats on tufted chicks 22%! YIKES! That's bad!

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

@Brahma Chicken5000 you are right; I need to keep Mama. She is an exceptional mother. Plus I should line breed her back to MJ to see what I get. I hate to split up her and Manolito, but since she has been brooding he has bonded with Lil' Girl, so I know they will be okay.

I think the little black chick (Triton x the BBR hen) is tufted. I know he has at least one tuft, which is in white down, and if he is tufted on the other side it is black which is blending in with his facial down so its hard to tell. IF that chick is tufted, that makes my stats on tufted chicks 22%! YIKES! That's bad!

Don’t be too hard on yourself Trish, it’s only your first year breeding Araucana.

 

[Trish1974]

On a positive note, I didn't hatch anything with a tail!