Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[satay]

Just sold my first dozen hatching eggs from my own marans A bit exciting.

 

[Bens-Hens]

Nice Satay.

We are on wait list now for our first 'full cycle' home grown birds to lay their first eggs. I know the excitment. We have birds we have hatched grow and lay eggs, but none that were fertilised here. If we are lucky, few more weeks.

Our FWM is 16 weeks and starting to go darker in the face so hope she is an early starter, would be awesome if she started around 19 weeks. The others I think might take a bit longer.

 

[youngchooklover]

hi

 

[cluckcluckluke]

​

Hey luke. How goes the hatch? Any chicks out yet? @cluckcluckluke

YES I HAVE 3 Chicks out

...all Marans.


BUT BAD NEWS.......We had a state of emergency!! Power went out this morning ( right on hatch day )and I really didn't know what to do. I had to go off to school as well. So I wrapped the bator in a doona...but then my sister reminded me...I HAVE A BROODY!!! So we snuggled up the 3 hatched but still wet chicks in jumpers and collected the eggs from the bator and quickly made a mad dash through the cold rain to the chicken coop. There I managed to get 3 chicks and 8 eggs under my bantam broody. The 2 left over eggs that didn't fit went back up into the incubator covered in the doona and I hoped the power would come back on for them.

I have now returned home, power is back on...but no pipping from the two.
I have yet to investigate the broody, but I don't want to disturb her as the eggs/ at that time WET chicks have had enough stress.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Oh bugger!

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Oh bugger!

Bugger indeed

For chicks!!

 

[Fancychooklady]

All my hatching vibes headed your way. Lucas I just now fed the first tray of sprouts to my gang. They loved it. The 2 week old chicks even had a good go at it.
The next tray should be ready in 2 days, and I'll soak more barley tonight.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

All my hatching vibes headed your way. Lucas I just now fed the first tray of sprouts to my gang. They loved it. The 2 week old chicks even had a good go at it.
The next tray should be ready in 2 days, and I'll soak more barley tonight.

Thanks!

NICE!!! I had mold problems with mine

. Also when the chicks tried to eat it, it just pulled out as a whole blade and I had to keep catching them and pulling it out of their throats as they couldn't eat it all.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Thanks!

NICE!!! I had mold problems with mine . Also when the chicks tried to eat it, it just pulled out as a whole blade and I had to keep catching them and pulling it out of their throats as they couldn't eat it all.

I had smelly slime first time, but this time I laid it in the trays almost an inch thick. Got way more shoots and no smell or slime. It wasn't thick enough to mat last time, this time I could cut through it like a cake. Yum, sprout cake.

 

[Teila]

Howdy

For Luke and others who were interested I have an update on the rooster collar my friend LG ordered.
It arrived and she admits that she was excited to give it a try and popped it on him before bed “I knew better than to try the collar at night, rather than have a full day to make adjustments”. She got woken by his crowing the next morning but the blanket she had put over part of the coop had slipped so it was brighter than it had been on previous mornings and the garbage truck was doing it’s rounds so this might have set him off also. After some minor adjustments, the next morning she did not hear any crowing. “One of the girls likes to peck at it for him” lol.

Will keep you updated!