Breeding silkied Cochin bantams to the Standard

[3KillerBs]

But as it stands right now, I think I'm going to have to bust Boba in the interest of having her eggs available to set when I need them.

Sounds like the right choice to me.

Everyone send all your Splashy vibes my way, I want me some Splashes!!

Fingers crossed for you.

 

[kurby22]

Splashy vibes SENT!!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

These birds are trying to give me a heart attack!! I just went out for my midday check and to let the birds free-range as I do when I'm home this time of day, and the loop of fence between Marka and the rest of the flock was collapsed with four other birds in there with her. I fixed the fence, removed the interlopers--and the new egg under Marka, a large fowl Marans egg so definitely conspicuous among the bantam Cochin eggs--and checked over the three eggs she's supposed to have in there. All look okay on the surface, but I won't be able to actually candle and make sure the embryos within are still going until it gets darker out. WHY did they wait until THREE DAYS FROM HATCH to do this?! Until I can candle them, I'm just trying to take comfort in the fact that none of the eggs are cracked, and that they're generally quite resilient, especially this far into incubation. It's not the most ideal situation, but could certainly have been much worse.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Reasonably sure I had something else I wanted to say, but I've forgotten it in typing the above, so I'll end this post here, I guess.

I think I remembered what I had intended to mention earlier. I have been thinking a lot about NPIP certification for my flock lately. It's proving hard to find people locally who are interested in my extras, and many who might be interested seem reluctant to buy birds unless they come from an NPIP certified flock. But I've always had this uneasy feeling about testing my flock. I know they are healthy, but what if? To lose everything I've worked so hard to build up until this point, even the mixed flock and not even just the Cochins, any of the individual birds I've come to know and love, would be beyond devastating for me. So it's always been something I've thought about, but have been hesitant to actually do.

Recently I saw someone mention that they, themselves, were certified as an NPIP tester so that they could test their own birds for flock certification. I've been looking into that in my state, and unfortunately have learned that the class for first-time certification as a tester here is only run in April, but I'm thinking about signing up for it for next year nonetheless. I figure knowing a bit more about the procedure and the processes for certifying one's flock may help to put my mind at ease with regards to having my own flock tested. And, to add to that, I won't have to have a stranger come out and handle my birds because I'll be able to test them, myself.

So... I guess what I'm saying is that my previous statement of having no plans for the near future of NPIP certifying my flock may no longer be the truth. We'll see after April of next year, I guess. That's a long time still and a lot could change between then and now... But, maybe.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I think I remembered what I had intended to mention earlier. I have been thinking a lot about NPIP certification for my flock lately. It's proving hard to find people locally who are interested in my extras, and many who might be interested seem reluctant to buy birds unless they come from an NPIP certified flock. But I've always had this uneasy feeling about testing my flock. I know they are healthy, but what if? To lose everything I've worked so hard to build up until this point, even the mixed flock and not even just the Cochins, any of the individual birds I've come to know and love, would be beyond devastating for me. So it's always been something I've thought about, but have been hesitant to actually do.

Recently I saw someone mention that they, themselves, were certified as an NPIP tester so that they could test their own birds for flock certification. I've been looking into that in my state, and unfortunately have learned that the class for first-time certification as a tester here is only run in April, but I'm thinking about signing up for it for next year nonetheless. I figure knowing a bit more about the procedure and the processes for certifying one's flock may help to put my mind at ease with regards to having my own flock tested. And, to add to that, I won't have to have a stranger come out and handle my birds because I'll be able to test them, myself.

So... I guess what I'm saying is that my previous statement of having no plans for the near future of NPIP certifying my flock may no longer be the truth. We'll see after April of next year, I guess. That's a long time still and a lot could change between then and now... But, maybe.

I know the worry of the what if. It's why I didn't get tested years ago

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

It's so tough, and having an anxiety disorder that, for me at least, is soothed quite a bit by my birds makes it all that much more tough for me. But I also feel that I can get these birds into a lot more people's hands if my flock is certified, and that's something that's very important to me. If I do ever get into more silkied varieties of other breeds, too, I want to be able to help them thrive and get other people interested. So certifying my flock seems like a logical step toward that.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

All look okay on the surface, but I won't be able to actually candle and make sure the embryos within are still going until it gets darker out.

All three of Marka's eggs are looking good as of early this morning when I peeked again, by the way! Looked like one had draw down occurring already, too!

And I see draw down in some of the eggs in the incubator as well!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

We have 5!! air breathers in the incubator this morning! And one under Marka, too!

EDIT: 8!! external pips in the incubator now!! That's more than any other batch has even had make it to lock down so far

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I went up to check thinking maybe one will have started to zip by now, and three babies are hatched already!! Two Blues and what looks like either another Blue or a Black, hard to tell until fluffed.

The maybe-Blue-maybe-Black chick is in a corner where I can't get a good angle for a picture.

So, 3 down, 8 chances left for a Splash...

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Number 4 is out, another Blue!

We've also got a new pip up there, so 5 currently are externally pipped and 4 hatched.