Barred Rocks Good Shepard Poulty Ranch

[cbnovick]

Has anyone had any difficulties with hatching their GSBR’s? Fertility has been high and the eggs make it all the way to lock-down but then nothing. I have hatched maybe 5 chicks out of about 2 dozen so far but then having to help 2 of the 5 out of the shell. Some of them have even peeped but then die. All these eggs were set along with my RIR’s and NH’s and those chicks are all hatching fine.

Any thoughts on this?

This is my first year hatching my BR’s. I bought chicks from two different breeders who both had the same line, in fact one of the breeders got his start from the other breeder that mine came from. All my birds are about 10 and 11 months old right now and the eggs are all nice size. I still have a bunch of eggs in the incubator and I’m setting more tonight but I might have to go move some birds around in my breeding pens and see if that helps if this continues.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions,

Chris

Chris,

Very interesting...I have a few presumably fertile GSBR (xw poultry) eggs in the bator right now...only day 1-3 and will candle for development in about 3 days. This is my first experience so we'll see. I have however had experience with some breeder eggs that were from closely related and heavily line bred stock that definitely resulted in lower hatching ability. Perhaps that's the trade off with really pure strained stock...??? It would be good to see if anyone else chimes in on this post...have you asked the breeders of your original stock if they have experienced similar findings? I would be interested to know as well.
Cindy

 

[cbnovick]

Chris,

Very interesting...I have a few presumably fertile GSBR (xw poultry) eggs in the bator right now...only day 1-3 and will candle for development in about 3 days. This is my first experience so we'll see. I have however had experience with some breeder eggs that were from closely related and heavily line bred stock that definitely resulted in lower hatching ability. Perhaps that's the trade off with really pure strained stock...??? It would be good to see if anyone else chimes in on this post...have you asked the breeders of your original stock if they have experienced similar findings? I would be interested to know as well.
Cindy

I want to add that those 'presumably fertile' BR eggs are from my bred pullets shipped in recently (not directly purchased/shipped hatching eggs) ...I did test a few and they had the bullseye so decided to set some to go with another batch I have going now.

 

[Chris Herzog]

Chris,

Very interesting...I have a few presumably fertile GSBR (xw poultry) eggs in the bator right now...only day 1-3 and will candle for development in about 3 days. This is my first experience so we'll see. I have however had experience with some breeder eggs that were from closely related and heavily line bred stock that definitely resulted in lower hatching ability. Perhaps that's the trade off with really pure strained stock...??? It would be good to see if anyone else chimes in on this post...have you asked the breeders of your original stock if they have experienced similar findings? I would be interested to know as well.
Cindy

I hadn't talked to either one yet but if my luck stays the same I will most likely give one if not both a call and see if they have any suggestions.

Good luck with yours!

Chris

 

[tigercreek]

Has anyone had any difficulties with hatching their GSBR’s? Fertility has been high and the eggs make it all the way to lock-down but then nothing. I have hatched maybe 5 chicks out of about 2 dozen so far but then having to help 2 of the 5 out of the shell. Some of them have even peeped but then die. All these eggs were set along with my RIR’s and NH’s and those chicks are all hatching fine.

Any thoughts on this?

This is my first year hatching my BR’s. I bought chicks from two different breeders who both had the same line, in fact one of the breeders got his start from the other breeder that mine came from. All my birds are about 10 and 11 months old right now and the eggs are all nice size. I still have a bunch of eggs in the incubator and I’m setting more tonight but I might have to go move some birds around in my breeding pens and see if that helps if this continues.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions,

Chris

My GSBR are from a different source, and I had some fertility problems last year, but did not have any hatching trouble. Almost all that went to lock down were hatched and very vigorous. It is not really a closely bred line, Frank Reese has thousands of birds from what I understand........stan

 

[catdaddyfro]

My GSBR are from a different source, and I had some fertility problems last year, but did not have any hatching trouble. Almost all that went to lock down were hatched and very vigorous. It is not really a closely bred line, Frank Reese has thousands of birds from what I understand........stan

Yeah but the ones Chris got are fairly close genetically, same as me. They are out of J-whips stock that he and others have had them long enough for them to be a clannish(group) type strain.

You are correct the eggs or chicks from GS poultry will/are more than likely flock matings.

Chris get Jeremy and Matt on the horn and get some info from "the horses mouth(s)" there may be a trade secret/advice here.(need to know info)probly more nutritional than anything else IMO

Jeff

 

[DMRippy]

I have not seen a problem, but I only have GSBR roo x my Blue barred rocks so not PURE GSBR. I have eggs coming from Frank in a few weeks, we will see how that hatch goes. Good luck on finding the problem.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Wow, glad I decided to read this thread. Chris, are the eggs you are having issues with directly from Good Shepherd or from Jeremy: Any chance it may have been some sort of shipping damage? I have a dozen GSBR hatching eggs ordered from Frank Reese for delivery later this month or March and will be sure to post on development and hatch rates when the time comes. I sure hope I can get more than one or two out of the dozen eggs.

I am also supposed to be getting eggs from Jeremy later this spring as well, but if their are issues, I'll switch to chicks from him to make sure I end up with at least 10 chicks.

Oh, a bit off topic but I ordered a dozen eggs from the Duckworth line of BR's too and Jamie said I should get those in March. My fingers are crossed that these hatch pretty well for me: His birds are gorgeous (Skyline Poultry has his line).
Here is a picture of some of Skyline's Rocks...

 

[Chris Herzog]

Rhonda,
These eggs are from my own birds. I had one of two hatch last night but more going into lock-down at the end of the week.

Chris

 

[Fred's Hens]

We have this strain as well. We put 6 eggs in the 'bator last go round, just to check fertility. 4 out of 6 hatched last week. We consider that average to above average, especially for the dead of winter. Out of the 7 cockerels we got from KathyinMO, we saw enough variety that we divided them and started with two "families" immediately. We'll keep those two families apart for 6 or 7 years. Then, we'll add cross blood into the family lines. That's about all we can do.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Rhonda,
These eggs are from my own birds. I had one of two hatch last night but more going into lock-down at the end of the week.

Chris

Okay, that is strange then: I personally know how well you take care of your birds. I can't imagine what would be causing this. My first instinct would be that your temps are off, but if the other breeds hatched well, that pretty much rules that out. I sure hope that somebody can help you with the issue.