Barnevelder breeders lets work together and improve the breed

[vanalpaca]

BTW, I have 4 hens laying in my shed at the end of my garage, about 30 feet from the neighbors backdoor and they still have no idea I have chickens.......

 

[acw123]

Quote:
Thanks for the info. I have only done three hatches so far so I am truly still a novice and know that any factors could have been the cause from my error, bator problems, mail handling and the like. The eggs were so large that I really question whether I set some of them upside down, it was really hard to tell on some. So just wanted to try and gain some knowledge. I did get some Barnevelder eggs shipped from Oregon early this Spring and was worried with them coming all the way across the country to Virginia. My hatch rate with those was 50%. I received some Easter Eggers from South Carolina and my hatch rate was even better, 72%. When I got the 13 from Johan in CT I was hoping for a much better hatch rate than the resulting 23% since he was closer to me than the other supplier. Then I heard from someone else who set eggs a day or so before me (from the same supplier)that their hatch rate was also just 23%. So I know there is no way to tell why eggs don't necessarily hatch but was just curious since how far they were coming from did not seem to impact the viability of the eggs that had come to me based on the three hatches. Perhaps it truly is most dependent on the Postal Service handling while in their possession for however short or long that time may be. I understand that and don't hold the supplier responsible in any way for my low hatch rate. I hope no one thinks I am trying to find blame, just truly curious.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find anyone in Virginia or closer than CT that is a responsible and seemingly trustworthy breeder of Barnevelders who is somewhat dedicated to quality and keeping the breed true. Overall I believe I was successful in my attempt in my personal goal to get a somewhat diverse group of Barnevelders and I hope that they mature successfully and produce well. I now have a pure Johan Rooster, 3 pure Johan hens and 3 hens that are Johan line roo and Ledford, Johan X KC X Ledford hens. Diversity, as much as possible within the breeds available stock was my goal.

I have loved reading the thread and absorbing all the available knowledge from all the other Barnie owners here on the thread and am very pleased with my experiences with mine so far. The little roo is the sweetest. He loves to sit in my lap and sleep during the day for small amounts of time,to be held, or just talked to. When I open the brooder door he actually jumps up on my arm, walks up and sits on my shoulder. The hens are a bit more standoffish but still are fine with petting and holding and I am hoping that as they get older they will be just as welcoming of my and my families attention.

Thanks to all who have given me information on how their hatches have gone with their Barnevelders the varied suppliers. I look forward to reading more on the thread about everyone's experiences with this breed.

 

[RachaelS]

HELP! Okay, I know I should know better than this already, but when do I go to lockdown. I set the eggs late (9:30 PM) on April 28th. So I counted April 29th as day 1. Then I thougth my hatch date would be May 20th, but now that I am "re-counting" it looks like it is actually th 19th. So shoul I have gone into "lockdown" last night? Confused

!!!!!!

 

[enggass]

Technically last night at 9:30PM was then end of day 18 and the start of lockdown. You should be fine if you start lockdown now. May 19th at 9:30PM is the end of day 21. I would expect you to see hatching anytime Thursday - as late as Sunday...

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
Thanks for the info. I have only done three hatches so far so I am truly still a novice and know that any factors could have been the cause from my error, bator problems, mail handling and the like. The eggs were so large that I really question whether I set some of them upside down, it was really hard to tell on some. So just wanted to try and gain some knowledge. I did get some Barnevelder eggs shipped from Oregon early this Spring and was worried with them coming all the way across the country to Virginia. My hatch rate with those was 50%. I received some Easter Eggers from South Carolina and my hatch rate was even better, 72%. When I got the 13 from Johan in CT I was hoping for a much better hatch rate than the resulting 23% since he was closer to me than the other supplier. Then I heard from someone else who set eggs a day or so before me (from the same supplier)that their hatch rate was also just 23%. So I know there is no way to tell why eggs don't necessarily hatch but was just curious since how far they were coming from did not seem to impact the viability of the eggs that had come to me based on the three hatches. Perhaps it truly is most dependent on the Postal Service handling while in their possession for however short or long that time may be. I understand that and don't hold the supplier responsible in any way for my low hatch rate. I hope no one thinks I am trying to find blame, just truly curious.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find anyone in Virginia or closer than CT that is a responsible and seemingly trustworthy breeder of Barnevelders who is somewhat dedicated to quality and keeping the breed true. Overall I believe I was successful in my attempt in my personal goal to get a somewhat diverse group of Barnevelders and I hope that they mature successfully and produce well. I now have a pure Johan Rooster, 3 pure Johan hens and 3 hens that are Johan line roo and Ledford, Johan X KC X Ledford hens. Diversity, as much as possible within the breeds available stock was my goal.

I have loved reading the thread and absorbing all the available knowledge from all the other Barnie owners here on the thread and am very pleased with my experiences with mine so far. The little roo is the sweetest. He loves to sit in my lap and sleep during the day for small amounts of time,to be held, or just talked to. When I open the brooder door he actually jumps up on my arm, walks up and sits on my shoulder. The hens are a bit more standoffish but still are fine with petting and holding and I am hoping that as they get older they will be just as welcoming of my and my families attention.

Thanks to all who have given me information on how their hatches have gone with their Barnevelders the varied suppliers. I look forward to reading more on the thread about everyone's experiences with this breed.

I would recommend you purchase the Brinsea Spot Check Thermometer. It is accurate to .1 degree and I have had much better hatches since I purchased it. Before I had it, I had been incubating at too low of a temperature, which resulted in so-so hatches. It's the best thing I ever bought for hatching.

 

[acw123]

Will definitely look for that thermometer. I have bought a few others and try to take the average of them but have been so wary as to wether they were accurate at all since they ALL said a different temp and or humidity reading. Thanks for the reccommendation.

 

[RachaelS]

Quote:
I can't start lockdown until I get home tonight after my sons bball game. So that would be at 8:00 PM, I hope I did not mess up what should be a good batch. I really need to move them to the egg cartoons since they are in the turner.

 

[enggass]

Not to turn this into a hatching thread, but I also purchased the Brinsea Spot Check and it just threw another wrench into the mix of many different temps. I have the Brinsea Eco 20 Incubator. Both hatches I did this spring had over a 70% hatch rate with eggs from Washington State, Tennessee and Barnies from Trisha in California (8 out of 10 hatched). I live in Maine... That being said even the Spot Check showed a different temp than my built in thermo in the incubator. I will say when calibrating the 'bator before setting eggs it was spot on accurate with the built in - but, once I set the eggs they varied greatly. I chose to trust the built in thermo and was very pleased with my results. So many factors... I don't have an answer... I know many people have had great luck with the Brinsea Model Incubators. I do not work for Brinsea

My 2 ¢.
Steve

 

[enggass]

Quote:
I can't start lockdown until I get home tonight after my sons bball game. So that would be at 8:00 PM, I hope I did not mess up what should be a good batch. I really need to move them to the egg cartoons since they are in the turner.

I'm sure you'll be OK - the important thing is the humidity being raised a little, but I don't think that is as important until the eggs begin to pip/hatch. I used egg cartons for both of my hatches and they worked great. Remember to cut holes in the bottom and trim them back some to allow air circulation...

 

[Kenshan1]

Quote:
Our coop is an open type so they get on the outside roost & tell everyone they layed an egg. Our neighborhood all has just about .40 acre lots. When I take my daughter to the bus stop 2 houses away from ours I hear the girls. My girls are nice though in they tend to not lay till mid morning or later. Not sure if a rooster would be as nice & respectful. My coop is about 30 feet or so away from their bedroom window. We do have a large shed that could be turned into a coop but we are hoping to move in a yr or 2 & the shed might make the house sell better if it stayed a shed rather then a coop.

Shannon