B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[ki4got]

Quote: your drive can't be any worse than mine... right now requiring 4x4 or very carefully straddling the deep ruts (aka ditches) where we've had flash flooding wash out down the middle.

OR any worse than what usps does to the eggs in transit... and I hatch plenty of shipped eggs regularly.

but i'll be incubating sg's here soon enough.

 

[BlackPanther]

your drive can't be any worse than mine... right now requiring 4x4 or very carefully straddling the deep ruts (aka ditches) where we've had flash flooding wash out down the middle.

OR any worse than what usps does to the eggs in transit... and I hatch plenty of shipped eggs regularly.

but i'll be incubating sg's here soon enough.

LOL yours sounds about exactly like mine! What kind of hatch rate do you get?

 

[ki4got]

Quote: my hatch rate on shipped eggs is probably somewhere around 50-60% overall... I've had some 100% some 0. it depends on how the eggs were packed, how the postal system handles them, your own incubation technique/capability, etc. there are no guarantees... but if I do say so, I'm pretty good at hatching whatever people send me, on the whole.

I got an email today from someone I sent 6 eggs to, she had 5 hatch. so she's ecstatic about her new chicks. (easter eggers)

 

[RoosterLew]

I also have 3 eggs cooking that are due to hatch the 7th...

WELL??

 

[BlackPanther]

 

[ki4got]

Quote: well, due to an 'incubator malfunction' I lost all 6 prior to lockdown. the bearing in the fan went bad and started vibrating very hard while I was away for a couple days... all the eggs in the incubator quit. fortunately I had my 1 sfh egg in a different incubator so I wouldn't mix up hatch dates... so that's the only egg left to hatch. due the 10th.

 

[BlackPanther]

Oh no!

 

[Sazbaby]

well, due to an 'incubator malfunction' I lost all 6 prior to lockdown. the bearing in the fan went bad and started vibrating very hard while I was away for a couple days... all the eggs in the incubator quit. fortunately I had my 1 sfh egg in a different incubator so I wouldn't mix up hatch dates... so that's the only egg left to hatch. due the 10th.

Bummer!!!! So frustrating... fingers crossed for the sfh egg to hatch... thinking pullet thoughts...

Our 7 dorking chicks are down to 6, the smallest one didnt' show up at dusk last night and no sign of her today... she was one of only two females out of the 7, so poo. Mama hen quit mothering them quite suddenly just shy of 4 weeks old, so they've been on their own, I suspect something nabbed her, as she was the smallest and tended to lag a bit behind the rest of the crowd. Fingers crossed that the others will hang in there!!

On a separate note, I received my copy of the SOP a few days ago and have been trying to digest a bit of it. It just all still seems quite subjective to a newbie like me, and I was hoping that maybe we could get people to post pictures of their best males/females and point out their strengths and weaknesses?? Some of it is obvious of course, but other aspects leave a lot to my imagination... Any takers??

 

[ki4got]

Quote: honestly I think you hit the nail on the head there... the standard is written, but it's the breeder who translates that written word into the fact of what they produce. where the description doesn't have exact measurements or angles (like tail angles) is where the breeder fills in the gap with his opinions.

judging is much the same IMO. you have a written standard, and each judge is going to have an opinion of what that standard means. so 2 different judges may pick different birds based on what they think meets the standards best.

 

[ronott1]

well, due to an 'incubator malfunction' I lost all 6 prior to lockdown. the bearing in the fan went bad and started vibrating very hard while I was away for a couple days... all the eggs in the incubator quit. fortunately I had my 1 sfh egg in a different incubator so I wouldn't mix up hatch dates... so that's the only egg left to hatch. due the 10th.

I am sorry to hear that!

Is the incubator fixed now?