Breeding silkied Cochin bantams to the Standard

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4 of the 8 in batch 3 are still clear, not sure if that means very early embryo death since some of them did look different or if they were just clears all along.

So, this afternoon I'll see of I can split off the Blue girls and take Wyatt out there for an hour or two. Then I'll do the same tomorrow, and spend the weekend checking them more frequently to see if I can catch each bird that lays close enough to know whose eggs are whose.

In the mean time, I have 2 babies that are a little over a week from hatching, and 4 babies a little over 2 weeks from hatch!! Guess it's about time to get the brooder all set up and ready to go!

 

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Things went well with Wyatt and the girls yesterday. He's very polite, respecting their boundaries and singing and dancing for their attention. Because of how I have to separate the birds in that pen, though, the excessive wind we're having today is prohibitive to splitting them up, so I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow... and I don't think that leaves me with enough time to set eggs on Monday. So, I'm debating between setting what I have this weekend (that could only have been fathered by Gus) and seeing how fertility looks in them, delaying the set date further and being confused about hatch dates, or just skipping this week altogether and setting again next Saturday.


As for the eggs, our 6 embryos are doing marvelously still, days 14 and 7 respectively. Looking closely at the 4 in batch 3 compared to the definitely Boba egg in batch 2, I marked two as also definitely Boba's. There's a third that could be hers, but it's enough different from the others that I'm not confident enough to say it is. So, assuming all hatch, that gives me 3 keepers. Not too shabby for how early in the year it is! I'm going to have to be glued to the incubator at lockdown to make sure I catch them hatching and can mark them, though. Darn, right?

 

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Okay, I made a decision--batch 4 is in. These eggs were not stored for incubation, just plopped in a basket with the eating eggs, so hopefully that won't cause an issue. I picked out the Boba eggs I could find since they have been developing pretty well (and I can tell hers from the others' eggs for the most part), and filled out the rest of the row with whatever else I could. Thankfully I've been marking the Cochin eggs by coop so I knew which to set.

 

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Getting ready for lockdown for the two eggs of batch 2 today. Just trying to get my second incubator at the right temp before moving them over.


I've peeked at batch 4, and we're definitely looking better--but that's probably because I intentionally picked out Boba's eggs for most of that batch. Every single one of the Boba eggs is developing--5 more potential keepers!! Two eggs not from Boba that look similar enough to each other that they're probably both from the same hen have also developed. One was a blood ring when I peeked last night, but the other was still going strong at that point. The last egg in that batch, likely from a different hen based on slight differences to the others, looks clear so far. Based on the fact that she's developed a small bald spot on the back of her head, I wonder if those other eggs that are developing belong to Athena. We'll see if any of them hatch Blue!

 

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Locked down! Air cells are looking a little on the small side for my liking still, so I'm keeping the humidity lower until closer to their due date.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Locked down! Air cells are looking a little on the small side for my liking still, so I'm keeping the humidity lower until closer to their due date.

View attachment 3448271

Are those jar

 

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Yes, they're little tiny glass jars for jam samples, cleaned and then filled with water. I use them (and glass baby food jars) as heat sinks usually, and they help to hold that egg carton piece in place when the chicks hatch and are tumbling around all over in there.

 

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Last night as I was heading to bed those eggs were drawing down, and this morning it looks like they are internally pipped, though I didn't hear any peeping. I have a couple things to finish up for the brooders, but we're ready for them otherwise!


Oh, and I peeked at the others again and the one in batch 4 that I thought was a blood ring is still going! So 7 out of 8 eggs in that batch are developing!

 

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Someone's in a hurry!

 

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We are 2 for 2 air breathers for this batch!