Arkansas folks speak up.........

[roche477]

If they don't exist now, I bet they will in the future!

 

[verycherry]

Chicky Tocks, you're a BIG TEASE!

Actually I was just talking about Lavender Wheaten Marans last week on one of the yahoo groups. I want to see if I can get some later on, but it will be a good long while. A few people are starting to work on Lavenders.

Hey, did anyone see my question about dirty eggs? Do you think the wet and mud had anything to do with a lower hatch rate this time? Only 13 out of about 21 eggs hatched, and these were mine, not shipped. There was development in most of them.

I feel so bad.

 

[Chicky Tocks]

Here are a picture of the blue copper marans that I was on the waiting list for. I think they're gorgeous birds, but the blacks came available first for an awesome price and I could not reeeseeest.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=171486

Maybe I'll try next year to get some of these egglets.

As for mud and rain and hatching viability, maybe yes this had something to do with your rates. Consider the chicken walking in the mud that also has chicken poo mixed in. Then she lays an egg and gets the mud mixed poo all over the nest and egg. There's your bacteria. If the eggs are at all porous, it will easily penetrate the shell bloom or not. Then you may end up with a starter that turns into a bloodring. I'm no authority by any means, but it's the best guess that I could come up with. I know when it's yucky out, my eggs come out of the nest nasty. It helps to change out the hay so maybe the hen can sorta "wipe her feet" before getting in to lay.

 

[verycherry]

Thanks CT. It probably was the mud. Most weren't too bad, but there were a few that I was worried about, but I thought I'd try since there was room in the bator. I don't think I'll try any like that again. Too disappointing.

Those are some VERY pretty Marans!

I thought about Blue Copper, but went with Blue Wheaten instead. The new BW cockerel I just got looks so much like the Blue Copper roo shown in those pictures!

Here's a pic of my new Blue Wheaten boy trying to court my big Cuckoo girl. The next photo shows just what she thinks of him, lol!!!

I think he's going to be a BIIIG BOY! He hasn't even gotten his tail yet, and his comb is still small, but he's already as tall as my mature male.

 

[Chicky Tocks]

It looks like your little/big BW is saying ARRROOO? with his eyes all big and his hackles on end. Very pretty bird. I love blues. I have one little blue cochin mixed pullet that I hatched from De's eggs. She's very, very skittish and small but she's pretty!

 

[verycherry]

Oh, I love blue birds too.....and Lavender of course.

Speaking of blues, I have 5 or 6 Blue/Black Silkie eggs from my bearded blue Silkie hen, just sitting here that I need to do something with soon. I hate to see them go to waste. I've got Ameraucana eggs coming in any day now, so I have to keep the bator empty and ready.

I also have 6 red Silkie eggs, but some of those (most) will be pure Silkie and some may be mixed. My red girl was out last week and my white Frizzle Cochin and my Mille Fleur D'Uccle might have gotten to her. That happened before and I now have a Silkie X Cochin chick that is just adorable, but she doesn't look like she's going to have frizzled feathers. So far she's cream colored. VERY cute!

I also have a chick that's half bantam Sultan and Half bantam Frizzle Cochin. He's blue and he IS frizzled. OMGosh, he's sooo cute!

 

[verycherry]

Approximately how much would it cost to ship a dozen bantam eggs?

I'm thinking of offering these Silkie eggs for sale, and need to know how much to add in to cover shipping.

Oh wait, isn't there some kind of form you have to have to ship eggs now?

 

[Jarhead]

Flat rate USPS priority box would be about $10. I don't think there is a form. I have gotten them many times like that, without anything marked on the box.

 

[Chicky Tocks]

OMGoodness my crazy cat! I went home for lunch today and my DH informs me that my cat has brought a live copperhead up on my carport. He said it was about 10 inches long, something of a baby copperhead...and my cat was just sprawled out in front of it with her legs on each side. My DH ran to get the post hole diggers to tickle the offending serpent, and said when he tickled it, my cat got up and ran away. He wasn't sure if she'd been bit or not. Scared me bad so I ran out and called my kitty and she came around the house fine as frog hair. She did go straight to where the snake was looking for it though.

 

[verycherry]

Oh, no! I hope she didn't get bit! My dad told me that dogs can get bit and survive, but will a cat? I've had them come aweful close to biting a chicken before. I doubt they'd survive.