California - Northern

Well, I am not sure about Northern or Southern but how about Central?
I live in Visalia. I am relatively new to chickens but so far so good. I started out with 4 hens. I bought 6 chicks in March. 4 lived and are thriving. Basically doing this for eggs because store bought make me sick.

Thanks this is a great help.

Hart to Hart
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Northern California is just a state of mind! Welcome to our crazy active thread. Everyone here is so nice and helpful; feel free to post questions. And PICS! What kind of chickens do you have?
 
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SO excited- I set seven TJ eggs, two never started to vein up at all. Of the five that did, I can still see movement in all five on day 14! One of the ones I had to seal with wax I was having trouble seeing (and I limit myself to ten seconds of checking because I'm paranoid) but what looked like a little foot moved into and just out of view next to the wax blob twice. I was so excited I almost started jumping up and down, but luckily for the egg I didn't.

I was hoping to get one or two of the battery Leghorn type birds from this batch. Knock on wood, I could do better than that!
Whoot! White eggs are SOOOOO fun to candle. You can see everything but the sex of the chick!

We are still camping and having a great time. Went for a drive and I now have a slip of paper with a phone number for muscovies that came from the board at the OBrien store...
I know you have wanted them. That's great!

Ok so CL are hatching.
Are you ready?
12 boys and 3-4 girls so far.
Ya I can't believe it , but that's how it goes.
At least it's a great hatch lol!
1-2 more to go.
I'm banking on the boys will be great to eat.
They were all washed in either activated or unactivated oxine.
I had 18 do well on developing out of 20.
The activated washed ones had egg yolk dried on. About 6 of them.
And one in lock down still had some on it...AND HATCHED!
I'm happy with using even the activated. Don't think the yolky ones would have done well.
Due to hatch today but the first one came out Saturday! Washed in activated oxine.
Really early boy there.
I should have traded @chiqita eggs and would have had more girls
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So sorry you seem to have been hexed by the same XY curse that I am....maybe some of those "boys" are just tricking you and will be girls afterall

Well, I am not sure about Northern or Southern but how about Central?
I live in Visalia. I am relatively new to chickens but so far so good. I started out with 4 hens. I bought 6 chicks in March. 4 lived and are thriving. Basically doing this for eggs because store bought make me sick.

Thanks this is a great help.

Hart to Hart
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Hi there. So glad you stopped in. This is a very friendly thread with a bunch of experienced chicken experts who are always helpful and never mean.

I started with chickens 2 years ago for the same reason you did. I now have 15 hens a bunch of chicks either here or on the way, and a couple of roosters. I hope you enjoy your birds the way we all do and that you come back here often!

Disclaimer: I am NOT one of the experts
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Remember how I said my 4 BBS AM/EE were supposed to hatch Thursday? This morning I had 2 chicks!
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One is blue and one is not fluffed up but looks black with copper/red on her head. There is a pip in one of the two remaining eggs and I have high hopes for the 4th too. Expect pics!

Come on Splash...Come on Pullets!!!!!

Have you guys seen these designs: https://www.facebook.com/Goldeneggteeshirtshop My H got me the "certified fowl mouth" one for my bday.... I want "faster than a speeding pullet." to run in.
 
So sorry you seem to have been hexed by the same XY curse that I am....maybe some of those "boys" are just tricking you and will be girls afterall
It is Zw in chickens and the Hen determines gender:

, some fish and crustaceans such as the giant river prawn, some insects (including butterflies and moths), and some reptiles, including komodo dragons. In the ZW system, the ovum determines the sex of the offspring, in contrast to the XY sex-determination system and the X0 sex-determination system, wherein the sperm determines the sex. The letters Z and W are used to distinguish this system from the XY system. Males are the homogametic sex (ZZ), while females are the heterogametic sex (ZW). The Z chromosome is larger and has more genes, like the X chromosome in the XY system.
 
I am married. Have 4 kids 46,43, 34, and 23. 2 girls and 2 boys. We have 40 chickens, but are only getting about 18 eggs a day. We live in Montague,Ca. 30 miles from the Oregon border.
Welcome and hello from 55 miles the other side of the invisible line. Have you checked the coop for rodents at night? I have night time visitors that unsettle my girls and affect egg numbers.
 
Well, I am not sure about Northern or Southern but how about Central?
I live in Visalia. I am relatively new to chickens but so far so good. I started out with 4 hens. I bought 6 chicks in March. 4 lived and are thriving. Basically doing this for eggs because store bought make me sick.

Thanks this is a great help.

Hart to Hart
Welcome to a great thread full of great people and info! I started out like you, DH wanted eggs for us, 70+/- chickens later...
 
I'm thinking of ordering more bantam phoenix eggs from BBB and the d'Anvers are so tempting except the last time they didn't dry down enough before hatch.

I'm wondering about sanding the d'Anvers, I've seen it mentioned with marans and wondering if it helped/hurt. Any opinions out there.
 
That was great Ron. Thanks!!!
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Your Welcome!

The ZW genetics is very different. It makes Rooster important since they have a bit more genetic material passed on.

It also explains why you can have more males to females sometimes. Just like men having only Girls, Hens can lay more male eggs than female. To figure this out, you need to figure which Hens\pullets are laying more of one gender or the other.

This is why fermented feed, temperature and other environmental type of methods, including the shape of the egg will have little to do with the gender of the chicks. The Hens eggs are either male of female from the very beginning--before the pullet even hatches.
 

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