California - Northern

[ronott1]

The chicks are now 3 1/2 weeks old. I'm thinking both of the Orphingtons are boys. I've never had Orphingtons before, so I have nothing to compare them to.



The Silkies have feathered out way more than the Orphingtons. The Frizzled ones look pretty weird though.

The Orpingtons are a bit young to know for sure. Pink wattles coming out is a boy thing though. The legs are big too. You should know by 6 weeks or so.

 

[Robert Jordan]

Very nice!   Your girls must be very spoiled! 

Thanks! Yeah they get fairly spoiled. I gotta treat them right so they will treat me with eggs and chicks lol.

 

[ronott1]

@ronott1 and other hatch a holics, have you seen this thread? https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ral-nest-incubation-experiment-1-so-it-begins

Bee and I have the same Dels, Ron is hatching mine for me. It should be interesting to see if her experiment works.

Edited to add another link, to a thread that I started... anyone have gates hung on t-posts?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/855124/run-gate-hung-on-t-posts-i-would-like-to-see-yours

Thanks Kim!

I have subscribed to the thread. She has two things in her favor. Edited to add: @capayvalleychick Kim has the same advantages.

1. Not shipped eggs from a very healthy flock. Bee is amazing at caring for her flock!
2. New Heritage Dels which have a lot of vigor.

I really want to candle now!

 

[chickee]

I'm not sure of the "correct" terms for them. I got the eggs from Papa brooder. From what I understand they need one "frizzle gene" to have the frizzled feathers. If they get 2 "frizzled genes" they look weird. Papa Brooder has frizzled roosters in with Silkie hens to get this mix (I think). His eggs have a great mix of colors.

They sure are cute! There is a lady (Country is her BYC name) in Lincoln (close to me) that has great quality Silkies (her white hen took best of breed at Stockton) that also has Sizzles. I love my Silkies, and want to add some Sizzles from her this year. I need buff Silkies too. None of my buff Silkie eggs I bought from Catdance hatched

 

[juststruttin]

What do you do if yu see a hairline crack? I have one that might, but I'm not sure. I know with finch eggs you can repair the cracks if they are not too bad with a little nail polish top coat.

I toss them, but you can repair them and plenty of people do.

Keep in mine, 95% of all the eggs I set are from my own birds so I have plenty of eggs to choose from that are not cracked. However, I have always tossed eggs I buy also for fear that bacteria got inside the egg. I also wash eggs I buy so you could say I am pretty conservative.

If you do decide to repair and set cracked eggs, you will want to candle every few days to make sure the embryo is alive and developing properly. Remove egg at the first sign of chick death, blood ring etc... If bacteria did manage to breach the egg, that egg can explode and ruin your hatch.

 

[juststruttin]

I thought Bantams went into lockdown on day 17. Today is 15, today and tomorrow I was going to get the LG stablized and candle then friday put them in. I mis spoke. Do I need to do egg cartons with Bantam eggs...I only will have the two in there? They are not shipped eggs.

I have never heard that, but I learn something new every day. I always set my bantam eggs with my LF eggs and have never had any issues.

 

[chiqita]

They sure are cute! There is a lady (Country is her BYC name) in Lincoln (close to me) that has great quality Silkies (her white hen took best of breed at Stockton) that also has Sizzles. I love my Silkies, and want to add some Sizzles from her this year. I need buff Silkies too. None of my buff Silkie eggs I bought from Catdance hatched       

I may have buffs this year. I got 2 buff hens I will put with flame. I think I will get strong red buffs with some smuttthat carry the partridge gene and some buff partridge. But time will tell.
Sherry is one of the best breeders in the country however. Get eggs from her for silkies and sizzles if she is close.

Liz looking at your puctures I think your chicks have duck feet! I have never seen it before. Could just be the angle of the photos. You arent showing are you?

 

[lizanne]

Liz looking at your puctures I think your chicks have duck feet! I have never seen it before. Could just be the angle of the photos. You arent showing are you?[/quote]

Wierd. :/. Like webbed? Nope, not showing.

 

[Audio51]

Quote: This is one of the ones that is developing of course. I'm mot 100% sure it is an actual crack. It could be a thinner area of the shell, but since one arrived badly cracked I suspect it is one. This is one of the Mottle AM eggs so I would like to save it if possible.

 

[ronott1]

This is one of the ones that is developing of course. I'm mot 100% sure it is an actual crack. It could be a thinner area of the shell, but since one arrived badly cracked I suspect it is one. This is one of the Mottle AM eggs so I would like to save it if possible.

cracks show up as white spidery lines when you candle. There is usually more than one and they nearly always seep by the time you see development.

If it is a short fairly straight line then it may by a scratch in the bloom. It would not hurt to use some finger nail polish on the suspicious part of the egg and see how it goes. I would give it the sniff test every couple of days and candle often too.