California - Northern

[SpringPeeper]

Well...I just killed one of the quail. I had read just enough about them to have in my head that incubation was 16-18 days and these were set on 4/12. That makes them 20 days today. I candled several times and saw no movement and figure they were all goners. I pulled one out and prepared for an eggtopsy. Gently broke it opened on the air cell end and saw no sign of life until I tore open the membrane. Then,,,lots of blood....and a moving embryo.....

I stopped immediately and put the egg back in the incubator. Then.....I looked up incubation for Bob Whites and it is 23-24 days! I kept checking to poor thing for a couple of hours and saw no movement. I was sure it was dead. I took it back out and opened it up the est of the way to see how far along it was. I got it completely out of the shell....and saw a fully developed chick that had not absorbed any of the yolk....and I saw it gasping for air and moving it's legs slightly. The poor thing was still alive!!!!! I feel terrible!!!

Oh, no... poor thing, but mistakes happen. I hope you have good luck with the rest.

 

[chiqita]

I haven't gotten the peach bins yet. I can probably handle making framed lids for them with real hardware cloth when I do get them...it's just building the whole thing that would be tough for me. I really need predator proof because it gets too hot in the garage to keep anything in there in the summer. I want something that would be safe out on the back deck in the shade. We have had skunks an racoons mostly, but there have been mountain lions, foxes and possum too. We lost about $1000 worth of koi this past winter in 1 night from racoons.

ahh! When we were looking at houses in this area, we saw LOTS of koi ponds.. and they all had double wire tops on them lol. That was my first clue we have a lot of predators around here.

Does tractor supply sell the concentrate spray? I need to spray my coops, thank you.

of perm? they do, but its not a spray, I looked for a spray for a while only to find out its in a reg bottle, adn you dillute the crap out of it. watch your bees and your cats when you use it.

I keep detailed records on everything the past couple years. Last year's data:

167 eggs set in 2013 = 52 chicks = 31% hatch rate
26 total not fertile- some in early Spring resolved then again when hot weather set in.
47 early quitters. 42 late quitters.

This year's data is still being collected. I've had more fertility issues than last year. As of 4/7/14:
Dorkings: 11 live chicks out of 47 eggs. 23% hatch rate.
Delawares: 36 live chicks out of 52 eggs. 69% hatch rate.

Almost all the Dorking breeders (even the pros) nationwide are having the same hatching problems.

TY! and at this point, dear, you 2 are pro hatchers

Well...I just killed one of the quail. I had read just enough about them to have in my head that incubation was 16-18 days and these were set on 4/12. That makes them 20 days today. I candled several times and saw no movement and figure they were all goners. I pulled one out and prepared for an eggtopsy. Gently broke it opened on the air cell end and saw no sign of life until I tore open the membrane. Then,,,lots of blood....and a moving embryo.....

I stopped immediately and put the egg back in the incubator. Then.....I looked up incubation for Bob Whites and it is 23-24 days! I kept checking to poor thing for a couple of hours and saw no movement. I was sure it was dead. I took it back out and opened it up the est of the way to see how far along it was. I got it completely out of the shell....and saw a fully developed chick that had not absorbed any of the yolk....and I saw it gasping for air and moving it's legs slightly. The poor thing was still alive!!!!! I feel terrible!!!

MAN I wish they would call all these different birds NOT all quail!!!! They are not even related and it confuses people when this stuff happens. I'm so sorry .

 

[Audio51]

Quote:

Quote: Thanks guys..... I will definitley give the rest plenty of time. They are not due until the 5th or 6th. I also have 5 more guinea eggs due at the same time. Will they be OK to hatch in the same incubator with each other? The quail are sooooo tiny.

 

[Audio51]

Quote: Thanks.....lesson learned at least. I will definlitely be researching anything new that goes into my incubators.......

 

[Laurieks]

Quote: No worries, I'm crazy busy with my numbers, and you've got way more!
And the Del's attitude is my fault...I ran between them and pushed him, with my foot against his chest, more than once. I thought they'd reached a stage where they could free range together.

Thanks for the reminder, I'll put them both on the list for camp. The Dorking is sooo pretty, and now gets along with the other guys, but the Barnie cockerels will be maturing soon, so he can go away too. If you have extra eggs from your "keepers", I'd love to see what hatch rate I'd get.
You can have this broody hen back if you want...I'll check her leg band # for you.
Thanks!

 

[ronott1]

I keep detailed records on everything the past couple years. Last year's data:

167 eggs set in 2013 = 52 chicks = 31% hatch rate
26 total not fertile- some in early Spring resolved then again when hot weather set in.
47 early quitters. 42 late quitters.

This year's data is still being collected. I've had more fertility issues than last year. As of 4/7/14:
Dorkings: 11 live chicks out of 47 eggs. 23% hatch rate.
Delawares: 36 live chicks out of 52 eggs. 69% hatch rate.

Almost all the Dorking breeders (even the pros) nationwide are having the same hatching problems.

This years Dels are doing Great!

For this hatch, all 7 moved to the incubator of one group hatched. I did an experiment and cooled the eggs along with misting them. The 7 I moved were the most active just hatched chicks yet. They were ganging up on my and pecking the green zip ties as I was putting them onto each chick.

Very irritatingly cute little buggers!

We may double the number of Dorkings hatched this time--we might get more than 11 to hatch.....

 

[Hangtown Farms]

I am having a GREAT shipped hatch
so far 8 black penedesenca out of 14
and empordanesa too

 

[Hangtown Farms]

here are some pictures of my crele olive egger project
hens

 

[Hangtown Farms]

 

[waititout]

Anyone have any fertile LF Cochin eggs for sale in the Bay Area? I have a broody Silkie that hasn't given up in three months and would love to add Cochins to my flock!

Thanks in advance!

~Haileigh