BYM Hatching Derby - Hatch-Along

[2ndTink]

Hahaha! Oh goodness yes that would have definitely stuck!
We lost her and their brother at about 8 weeks old while we were working out the kinks in the outdoor setup. She had a bit of a rhythm to her walk but she was getting around fine. It's okay though, things happen. Lol things happen... we thought Kev-hen was a boy until about 16 weeks!

Gotta love the ones who keep you guessing on their gender, I had a TSC silkie last year that had us going back and forth, she developed a comb pretty early, not much of a crest, small wattles. If post updates photos about every week on here and we were all unsure, or mostly sure she was a cockerel... then I caught her in the nesting box

I'm sorry Gherkin didn't make it, unfortunately all the good and wonderful things about chickens also come with unexpected losses, sickness, and heartbreak.

 

[UncleChuck]

My sweet, precious Tenderheart did it! This chick had wry neck so bad she was doing constant backflips. He named her Stargazer and we're keeping her with the dowsed batch that just hatched this weekend (I set two eggs that dowsed male with [W, W] egg genes and there are three bumpy-winged chicks in the whole clutch of 19 and two of them are the ones that were supposed to be boys!!!)

 

[2ndTink]

Go Tenderheart and Stargazer! That is wonderful news!

Dowsed male? Please tell more! And the bumpy wings too?

 

[UncleChuck]

Go Tenderheart and Stargazer! That is wonderful news!

Dowsed male? Please tell more! And the bumpy wings too?

I used a pendulum to dowse my eggs before incubation. I've seen folks talk about it but rarely follow-up with their results. Males spin counterclockwise (electrical energy in the northern hemisphere) and females spin clockwise (magnetism).
for the blue gene, it would spin counterclockwise for homozygous white, vertical for heterozygous, and clockwise for homozygous blue. I tested it on the CCL (100% heterozygous) and the cemani (100% homozygous white) eggs and tested all of Marilyn and Kev-hen's eggs until I found two males homozygous for blue.
What I mean by bumpy wings, so I know wing shape sexing isn't reliable all the time. But all have smooth wings except 3. Also I know Kev-hen throws sex-linked chicks and all 3 of hers are girls. It's too early to tell for sure because I don't know how to vent sex. If my memory serves me correctly, when I hatched their parents last year the tail vs fluffy butt method was pretty accurate.

 

[2ndTink]

I used a pendulum to dowse my eggs before incubation. I've seen folks talk about it but rarely follow-up with their results. Males spin counterclockwise (electrical energy in the northern hemisphere) and females spin clockwise (magnetism).
for the blue gene, it would spin counterclockwise for homozygous white, vertical for heterozygous, and clockwise for homozygous blue. I tested it on the CCL (100% heterozygous) and the cemani (100% homozygous white) eggs and tested all of Marilyn and Kev-hen's eggs until I found two males homozygous for blue.
What I mean by bumpy wings, so I know wing shape sexing isn't reliable all the time. But all have smooth wings except 3. Also I know Kev-hen throws sex-linked chicks and all 3 of hers are girls. It's too early to tell for sure because I don't know how to vent sex. If my memory serves me correctly, when I hatched their parents last year the tail vs fluffy butt method was pretty accurate.

We need follow up! So next time, before I set 100 eggs, can you swing by and help me cut out a few cockerels? I get attached and don't want to eat them or sell them to a not good home

 

[UncleChuck]

We need follow up! So next time, before I set 100 eggs, can you swing by and help me cut out a few cockerels? I get attached and don't want to eat them or sell them to a not good home

Oh I know the feeling. We had to send one cockerel to freezer camp who was just gorgeous and funny but way too aggressive toward people. I wanted to keep him so bad and still miss him. Sounds crazy to miss a chicken that I ate because he was mean.

There was another one who was just a jerk to everyone all the time and kept attacking my Tom turkey who I love. He was the bird I learned to butcher on.

I will follow up. Kinda wish I'd taken better records of some details (which tested female and [O, o], for example) for the end data. It took me a month or so to figure out which of 7 hens laid which color egg. 18 hatched and I intended for two males. If there are 5 or less, I'd be pretty convinced it was better than chance. But I dunno, there isn't a single dot neck and all the lighter colored chipmunks are not from the CCL. And one of the 'boys' especially just has a boyish look and attitude about him. I'll follow up with tails and fluffy butts.

 

[2ndTink]

Oh I know the feeling. We had to send one cockerel to freezer camp who was just gorgeous and funny but way too aggressive toward people. I wanted to keep him so bad and still miss him. Sounds crazy to miss a chicken that I ate because he was mean.

There was another one who was just a jerk to everyone all the time and kept attacking my Tom turkey who I love. He was the bird I learned to butcher on.

I will follow up. Kinda wish I'd taken better records of some details (which tested female and [W, W], for example) for the end data. It took me a month or so to figure out which of 7 hens laid which color egg. 18 hatched and I intended for two males. If there are 5 or less, I'd be pretty convinced it was better than chance. But I dunno, there isn't a single dot neck and all the lighter colored chipmunks are not from the CCL. And one of the 'boys' especially just has a boyish look and attitude about him. I'll follow up with tails and fluffy butts.

I have a mean rooster we've been talking about processing for over 2 years, maybe this coming weekend... my favorite silkie frizzle rooster has turned mean, he's not correct to the SOP (overly bumpy comb, loose wings for starts) so I'm not really wanting to breed him (I do but I don't ) I'm just not sure what to do with him. He was my little buddy until maybe 6 weeks ago and now he's a terror.

I've been watching my little chicks and I'm picking out the ones I think are cockerels already.

 

[UncleChuck]

I have a mean rooster we've been talking about processing for over 2 years, maybe this coming weekend... my favorite silkie frizzle rooster has turned mean, he's not correct to the SOP (overly bumpy comb, loose wings for starts) so I'm not really wanting to breed him (I do but I don't ) I'm just not sure what to do with him. He was my little buddy until maybe 6 weeks ago and now he's a terror.

I've been watching my little chicks and I'm picking out the ones I think are cockerels already.

LOL is it like this coming weekend for the past 100 weekends?

That's unfortunate about the little silkie. Maybe he's just in a hormonal phase (what i keep saying about Well, Sir)

They're a few weeks old now, yeah? Do they have tails?

 

[2ndTink]

LOL is it like this coming weekend for the past 100 weekends?

That's unfortunate about the little silkie. Maybe he's just in a hormonal phase (what i keep saying about Well, Sir)

They're a few weeks old now, yeah? Do they have tails?

So pretty much yes, we've been saying we will for a long time, but this coming weekend has a slightly higher chance of it actually happening

They are 2 1/2 weeks now! Some have tails but I have a mix of breeds so not the easiest way to compare. One of my paint chicks already tried to tower over the others (easy because he's the biggest) and then hovers over their heads before he pecks the tops of their heads yeah, pretty sure he's a boy!

 

[2ndTink]

I couldn't find a current photo of him alone, but in this group photo, he is the giant towering over everyone his sire was the same way, always wanted to be dominant and started chasing the other chicks around at maybe 10 to 12 weeks old. He caused so much chaos and screeching of the other chicks trying to get away from him, I finally was fed up one morning and marched his butt up to a layer coop and dropped him off he thought he was crowned king, he is so stinking proud of his ladies. They don't like him and avoid him but he just doesn't care he's the sweetest little guy, he's not human aggressive at all surprisingly / thankfully!

But see the big white guy in the back of this photo who are you and how dare you take my photo!