California - Northern

[Audio51]

My current hatch is done as of this morning.. 12 hatched out of 18. One pipped but died before it even started to zip. It was the largest of the BCM eggs. Chick was very large and a bit mushy, but seemed to have absorbed all the yolk. It's head was tucked under the right wing and the egg tooth was barely visible. Another (not a Marans) was not quite as far along and had not absorbed all the yolk when it died. It has not pipped. Ended up with 3 very light colored chicks, 2 bluish and 1 black from unidentified brown eggsand 6 Clean legged BCM. I am using the "Modified heat plate brooder" and I have to say I really like it! I didn't have anyway to make the tapered legs so I am just using 3 stacked plastic cups like they serve drawn butter in at Red Lobster, They are turned upside down and placed at the 2 corners of the highest end. The other end is on the floor. The heating pad is long enough that it hangs over the ends so no draft. The little things seem very comfortable with it and I may switch to it as my primary brooder.

 

[PetRock]

My current hatch is done as of this morning.. 12 hatched out of 18. One pipped but died before it even started to zip. It was the largest of the BCM eggs. Chick was very large and a bit mushy, but seemed to have absorbed all the yolk. It's head was tucked under the right wing and the egg tooth was barely visible. Another (not a Marans) was not quite as far along and had not absorbed all the yolk when it died. It has not pipped. Ended up with 3 very light colored chicks, 2 bluish and 1 black from unidentified brown eggsand 6 Clean legged BCM. I am using the "Modified heat plate brooder" and I have to say I really like it! I didn't have anyway to make the tapered legs so I am just using 3 stacked plastic cups like they serve drawn butter in at Red Lobster, They are turned upside down and placed at the 2 corners of the highest end. The other end is on the floor. The heating pad is long enough that it hangs over the ends so no draft. The little things seem very comfortable with it and I may switch to it as my primary brooder.

Congrats and that's exciting to hear about the brooder. I broke a heat lamp bulb this week and regretted that I hadn't ordered the heating pad to make one of these. I will say, don't ever go to a pet store to buy a heat lamp bulb. They are 3 times more expensive than the ones online at Ace Hardware and twice as expensive as the ones at the feed store.

 

[Dumb Kluck]

My current hatch is done as of this morning.. 12 hatched out of 18. One pipped but died before it even started to zip. It was the largest of the BCM eggs. Chick was very large and a bit mushy, but seemed to have absorbed all the yolk. It's head was tucked under the right wing and the egg tooth was barely visible. Another (not a Marans) was not quite as far along and had not absorbed all the yolk when it died. It has not pipped. Ended up with 3 very light colored chicks, 2 bluish and 1 black from unidentified brown eggsand 6 Clean legged BCM. I am using the "Modified heat plate brooder" and I have to say I really like it! I didn't have anyway to make the tapered legs so I am just using 3 stacked plastic cups like they serve drawn butter in at Red Lobster, They are turned upside down and placed at the 2 corners of the highest end. The other end is on the floor. The heating pad is long enough that it hangs over the ends so no draft. The little things seem very comfortable with it and I may switch to it as my primary brooder.

OH my, what kind of hen is that in your avatar???

 

[tls_ranch]

 
My current hatch is done as of this morning.. 12 hatched out of 18.  One pipped but died before it even started to zip.  It was the largest of the BCM eggs.  Chick was very large and a bit mushy, but seemed to have absorbed all the yolk.  It's head was tucked under the right wing and the egg tooth was barely visible.  Another (not a Marans) was not quite as far along and had not absorbed all the yolk when it died.  It has not pipped.  Ended up with 3 very light colored chicks, 2 bluish and 1 black from unidentified brown eggsand 6 Clean legged BCM.    I am using the "Modified heat plate brooder" and I have to say I really like it!  I didn't have anyway to make the tapered legs so I am just using 3 stacked plastic cups like they serve drawn butter in at Red Lobster,  They are turned upside down and placed at the 2 corners of the highest end.  The other end is on the floor.  The heating pad is long enough that it hangs over the ends so no draft.  The little things seem very comfortable with it and I may switch to it as my primary brooder.

Congrats and that's exciting to hear about the brooder.  I broke a heat lamp bulb this week and regretted that I hadn't ordered the heating pad to make one of these.  I will say, don't ever go to a pet store to buy a heat lamp bulb.  They are 3 times more expensive than the ones online at Ace Hardware and twice as expensive as the ones at the feed store.

For heat lamp bulbs, I have been using " red landscape / spot light bulbs" that are 100 watt. Works pretty good. You can find them at homedepot

 

[PetRock]

He might have had new world quail. Coturnix are crazy easy. Bobwhites are nuts and californians I think need to be in pairs? And permits in cali.

I do not recommend Bobwhites! They are cute and I love their call but they are crazy, not good layers, and monogamous. (I'm a big proponent of monogamy but not in domesticated birds that you want eggs from.) I received "free" Bobwhite quail eggs with my new incubator last year and hatched out 19 of the cute little buggers. Dh was so kind to build me a double decker 3 x 8 ft. quail pen that still wasn't big enough for the amount of quail we had. 7 died of cocci before I realized what was going on and I ended up with only 3 females so 3 pairs. They hatched last April and I have yet to get an egg from them. I listed them on craigslist and sold 2 pairs this past weekend. The third pair literally flew the coop and went over the fence into the neighbor's yard. Goodbye quail! You should have seen us trying to catch them. My DH even climbed up into the pen with a net to catch the rest of them. He couldn't believe how strong they are for such small birds. He said that he would rather catch chickens any day! They also shed copious amounts of feathers when they are stressed. We had to transfer the two pairs from a cage to a box for the buyer and our entryway looked like a feather pillow had exploded in it. I am left with 6 boys and I have one person interested but he keeps wanting my address to come over after dark and pick them up. Um...no, I don't think so. We thought about processing them but they are not very big and it just seemed like more work than it was worth. Quail are cute but I'm not planning on raising them again. I'll just stick with chickens, at least for now. The good thing is I will be able to use the $400 quail pen for outdoor brooder pens!

 

[PetRock]

For heat lamp bulbs, I have been using " red landscape / spot light bulbs" that are 100 watt. Works pretty good. You can find them at homedepot

That's good to know! My brooder bins are so deep that a 150 watt heat bulb doesn't keep the chicks warm enough for the first couple of weeks. I ordered 2 of the 250 watt heat bulbs from Ace Hardware. They are $5.99 online and $11.99 in one of our local Ace Hardware stores. Hmm...if I order them they are half the price and shipping to the store is free. That's an easy decision. The only thing is that I have to wait until they come in to get them.

 

[caychris]

@ Pet Rock I would like to learn from you sometime since you are local to me. I'd love for someone with more experience to get a look at my birds. Reading is good but actually talking to someone is better for putting things in context.

 

[Flowers of Abba]

I do not recommend Bobwhites!  They are cute and I love their call but they are crazy, not good layers, and monogamous.  (I'm a big proponent of monogamy but not in domesticated birds that you want eggs from.)  I received "free" Bobwhite quail eggs with my new incubator last year and hatched out 19 of the cute little buggers.  Dh was so kind to build me a double decker 3 x 8 ft. quail pen that still wasn't big enough for the amount of quail we had. 7 died of cocci before I realized what was going on and I ended up with only 3 females so 3 pairs.  They hatched last April and I have yet to get an egg from them.  I listed them on craigslist and sold 2 pairs this past weekend.  The third pair literally flew the coop and went over the fence into the neighbor's yard.  Goodbye quail!  You should have seen us trying to catch them.  My DH even climbed up into the pen with a net to catch the rest of them.  He couldn't believe how strong they are for such small birds.  He said that he would rather catch chickens any day!  They also shed copious amounts of feathers when they are stressed.  We had to transfer the two pairs from a cage to a box for the buyer and our entryway looked like a feather pillow had exploded in it.  I am left with 6 boys and I have one person interested but he keeps wanting my address to come over after dark and pick them up.  Um...no, I don't think so.  We thought about processing them but they are not very big and it just seemed like more work than it was worth.  Quail are cute but I'm not planning on raising them again.  I'll just stick with chickens, at least for now.  The good thing is I will be able to use the $400 quail pen for outdoor brooder pens!

Makes me glad I went with james Marie jumbo. They are so calm and sweet. Not even a flutter when we enter the Avery. We scoop them up by hand and put them in their apartments in two minutes and move on to locking up the coops.

 

[CackleJoy]

Some not great pictures but I wanted to show off these muffs. Oh these are the most darling chicks! The muffs are bigger than on my pure AM's! (Shh don't tell!

)
The black EE's are from our Brabanter and a blue egg laying EE so the eggs will still be blue.

One of the Cockerels (Brabanter)


Typical example of EE


Eggs are the blue or green variety


Brabanter x EE Can you say jowls?

Hoping for a crest too!


Don't know where the redhead came from, probably one of the really red EE's and the Blue Wheaten.



The Brabanter and Wheaten offspring.


Did I mention jowls?



A top shot of one of the wild types (I think this was an old egg from under the GLW)

Busy day around here but I snuck out to the broody box for a few quick photos anyway.

 

[member 142084]

Quote: Thank you

I have five eggs in the bator I hope they all hatch I think this strain should be spread about But honestly my double layers are from separate feed store batches a year apart. I wonder if it's the feed? My Donald (the one with the pouf on the head) And the older female have a duck together She just started laying 3 months ago and only putting out one. which is fine I didn't get doubles until they layed a while and in the warmer weather. I am curious to know if she will Ans the ducks are about to get their own mud pen. They are such messy things but they love it and I love them