Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[rodriguezpoultry]

I was going to say that is one of the oddest ones I have ever seen?

Here is one I found on the internet that was, luckily, already circled and enhanced.

 

[Cedarknob]

Perhaps a little off subject, but a I live on a very limited budget and just purchasing some decent quality Cornish was a strain.on it................................ feeding an ever growing flock even more so. The thread in Meat Birds about fermented feed reminded me that I have raised 'scrub' hogs, cattle, and poultry on free, 'spoiled' grains that had naturally fermented in the past, and that they always did great on it; often turning around 'poor doers' bought cheaply into healthy individuals. [Plus fed feedlot cattle and hogs from Harvestore bins and the corn from them has that same, sweet/sour smell of my fermented mix.] I had been feeding a mix of 22% protein, commercial crumbles with some corn added as a winter ration, and a few weeks ago started fermenting this ration in water that had raw, apple cider vinegar and some bread yeast added back when I started the process. My Cornish are crazy about it, they are thriving on it, and it has cut my feed bill by a third. I 'googled' fermented feed and found it is has proven in studies to have considerable benefits; the major reason it has not been used extensively as a commercial feed is the difficulty of developing low labor feeding systems appropriate to handle the wet feed. It raises protein levels, releases some nutrients, and promotes healthy digestive tracts that better utilize feed. Since I have no automatic or self feeders, the only drawback is an extra 5 minutes to start each day's batch ahead of feed day, and the added weight compared to carrying dry feed to them daily.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
lol I was looking t the front of his comb, half way betwen his feathers and tip of points-- see what I mean?

 

[thedragonlady]

Yeah mine do a lot better job than me(I don't ever remember getting a 100% hatch rate) they do and under not so much of what a lot of folks try to make an ideal situation/surroundings either. You can't copy them with artificially man-made materials, or info, for sure.

Jeff

This year I had a 95.7% hatch rate with my SOP and EBO orps. The SOP birds were hatching earlier, English birds right on time. I put it down to the heat this summer and fall. Now, I'm not so sure. I'm cranking my incubator down a 1/2 degree since I have realized that I had a 77%Cockerel hatch rate. Lets see if we can do a mama Gator experiment here........ Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Anybody else played with this ??

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Here's a better image. The 2 spikes at the base.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

This year I had a 95.7% hatch rate with my SOP and EBO orps. The SOP birds were hatching earlier, English birds right on time. I put it down to the heat this summer and fall. Now, I'm not so sure. I'm cranking my incubator down a 1/2 degree since I have realized that I had a 77%Cockerel hatch rate. Lets see if we can do a mama Gator experiment here........ Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Anybody else played with this ??

Only from what I've read here and on another forum, the sex is determined at conception and by the female (unlike in humans) These same folks state that male embryos tend to be "less fragile" than female embryos and therefore more males are likely hatched than females. I have read it to be a myth that temperature has anything to do with the male vs female outcome of a hatch. I hatched between 120 - 130 chicks last year and overall(not looking at each hatch), I had a few more pullets than cockerels but not considerably so. I hatched from Dec thru March last year

 

[Bentley]

Bentley have you ever checked/recorded the humidity level under a broody hen? I seem to have a harder time figuring out the humidity levels then temps. I know what works for my guinea eggs but I read so many different things about chick eggs, some say low humidity, some say higher, some say dry hatch, etc. It would be nice to know what the humidity levels are under a chicken when she is hatching eggs.

Penny

The best method to use, considering that most incubators can't adjust humidity like the big expensive machines is to check moisture loss, or weight loss of the eggs. Ideally, to get the best chick quality, an egg should lose 11-13% in weight from day of set until moved to the hatcher at day 18. Weigh the eggs before set then at transfer. If they lose too much weight then raise humidity by adding more water (surface area of the water). You an increase surface area of water to increase humidity bay adding a sponge or rag in the water. If they lose less than 11-13% then lower humidity to allow more moisture loss of the egg.

In general, I find the ideal humidity for most machines is about 82 F wet bulb or around 54-56% relative humidity.

 

[melroseladi]

I think it is more of survivability of the embryo. More females are supposed to survive lower temps where as males are supposed to survive higher temps. I had a friend that experimented with lowering the temps on sex-linked eggs. She did get more females then males but her hatch rate went to heck. To me that suggests, if it actually works and wasn't just a fluke, she had many more male eggs then female eggs to begin with.

Penny

 

[Bentley]

Tease!  LOL  I would be interested in the reasons, and if it's just me I'll PM you to ask

To make a long story short, developing embryos do better with elevated CO2 levels during the first 10 Days of incubation. I know, this is very contradictory to some of the old literature and common beliefs of the need for plenty of Oxygen by embryos, but recent research shows that this is not true. But the needs of the embryo are different during various stages of incubation so if you set multiple ages of eggs you need to ventilate as usual. So the hen sits tighter during early incubation.

Also, eggs (embryos) are exothermic after 13 days of development. This means that after 13 days the embryo is producing more heat than it needs so the release of heat from around the embryo is needed. Big commercial incubators full of eggs/embryos actually spend as much time cooling, especially late in incubation as they do heating. So, the hen knows this and gets off the eggs more during the later stages of incubation.

 

[Pozees]

To make a long story short, developing embryos do better with elevated CO2 levels during the first 10 Days of incubation. I know, this is very contradictory to some of the old literature and common beliefs of the need for plenty of Oxygen by embryos, but recent research shows that this is not true. But the needs of the embryo are different during various stages of incubation so if you set multiple ages of eggs you need to ventilate as usual. So hen sits tighter during early incubation.
Also, eggs (embryos) are exothermic after 13 days of development. This means that after 13 days the embryo is producing more heat than it needs so the release of heat from around the embryo is needed. Big commercial incubators full of eggs/embryos actually spend as much time cooling, especially late in incubation as they do heating. So, the hen knows this and gets off the eggs more during the later stages of incubation.

Wow, I have to admit I would never have though of the CO2 aspect - thank you!