California - Northern

[SpringPeeper]

Looking at the Brinsea Mini Advance incubator. Has anyone used it? I've heard good and bad things about the incubator and Brinsea's customer service.

I absolutely love mine. I have a bigger incubator now, but I would rather hatch in smaller batches just to use the Brinsea.



Well, I may be getting a chicken-related divorce.

I have a newborn with blood sugar issues who has to nurse every hour and a half on the dot, but through hustling and careful timing I managed to get three cockerels processed yesterday and one more today, by myself. Then my husband comes home today and surprises me with KFC for dinner because 'chicken suddenly sounded good for some reason'. I could have strangled him I was so mad (and KFC is so gross and mushy when you're used to eating your own birds). I may forgive him eventually, though.

 

[ronott1]

I absolutely love mine. I have a bigger incubator now, but I would rather hatch in smaller batches just to use the Brinsea.



Well, I may be getting a chicken-related divorce.

I have a newborn with blood sugar issues who has to nurse every hour and a half on the dot, but through hustling and careful timing I managed to get three cockerels processed yesterday and one more today, by myself. Then my husband comes home today and surprises me with KFC for dinner because 'chicken suddenly sounded good for some reason'. I could have strangled him I was so mad (and KFC is so gross and mushy when you're used to eating your own birds). I may forgive him eventually, though.

That is a great Story!

 

[Sylvester017]

I took some pictures this morning of the hens hatched from store eggs.

This one has a comb that flops to the side--very nice leghorn comb. She is looking for treats of course--ignoring the cracked wheat that the ones in the top photo are eating--she suspects that I might have something better and is holding out!

This gal may have a nice Leghorn comb flop but if she were all White Leghorn her legs would more yellow. Still, any White Leghorn crosses will always improve egg production. Legs have been my lifelong favourite egg layers but they are just too smart and assertive for me to keep with my docile timid breeds.

 

[ronott1]

This gal may have a nice Leghorn comb flop but if she were all White Leghorn her legs would more yellow. Still, any White Leghorn crosses will always improve egg production. Legs have been my lifelong favourite egg layers but they are just too smart and assertive for me to keep with my docile timid breeds.

She has yellow legs but is such a good egg laying machine that the yellow has faded. Check out yellow genetics for skin and legs if you do not believe me. The Pita Pintas do the same thing. The legs fade out and look more white and then they go back to yellow during molt.

These are Hyline white by Hy line brown. The TJ's are whit pullets x brown roosters. The Whole foods are Brown pullets x white roosters.

Hy-Line W-36

Efficient, High Performing... More Eggs in the Carton
The Hy-Line W-36 is the world’s most efficient egg layer with excellent livability. The Hy-Line W-36 lays dozens of top-quality, strong-shelled eggs with minimum feed consumption, making her the industry’s lowest cost producer of eggs. With no equal in egg solid content, she’s the only choice for customers who process eggs. The dependable Hy-Line W-36 generates maximum profits for the egg producer.
See Hy-Line W-36 Literature

Hy-Line Brown

Prolific Producer, Rich Brown Eggs, Hardy Layer
Hy-Line Brown is the world’s most balanced brown egg layer. She produces over 355 rich brown eggs to 80 weeks, peaks well and begins lay early with optimum egg size. These traits combined with unrivaled feed efficiency, the best interior egg quality in the market and excellent livability give the Hy-Line Brown the perfect balance, which means more profit for the poultry producer.
See Hy-Line Brown Literature

 

[ronott1]

The white breed could have been this one too. I do not remember which one is sold in the United States:

Hy-Line W-80

Robust, Prolific, Stong Performance in Alternative Systems, Long Single-Cycle Lay
The Hy-Line W-80 is a robust white egg layer for all housing systems and environments. This bird delivers prolific egg numbers, excellent egg shell strength, and strong performance under challenging environments and low-density feed rations.

The W-80 is adaptable to alternative production systems and remains calm for easy management. For markets requiring a larger egg size, the W-80 Plus gives producers the same great traits with an egg weight profile two grams heavier.

Its persistency for long cycles of lay means more eggs on five grams less feed. Producers gain more profitability with a feed savings of approximately two kilograms per bird per year versus competing brands.
See Hy-Line W-80 and W-80 Plus Literature

 

[ronott1]

This is what they looked like before laying eggs:



Nice yellow legs!

 

[Magnolia7330]

Hatching hens from store eggs seems like an interesting idea. Maybe I will try it some day.

 

[Sylvester017]

She has yellow legs but is such a good egg laying machine that the yellow has faded. Check out yellow genetics for skin and legs if you do not believe me. The Pita Pintas do the same thing. The legs fade out and look more white and then they go back to yellow during molt.

These are Hyline white by Hy line brown. The TJ's are whit pullets x brown roosters. The Whole foods are Brown pullets x white roosters.

Hy-Line W-36

Efficient, High Performing... More Eggs in the Carton
The Hy-Line W-36 is the world’s most efficient egg layer with excellent livability. The Hy-Line W-36 lays dozens of top-quality, strong-shelled eggs with minimum feed consumption, making her the industry’s lowest cost producer of eggs. With no equal in egg solid content, she’s the only choice for customers who process eggs. The dependable Hy-Line W-36 generates maximum profits for the egg producer.
See Hy-Line W-36 Literature

Hy-Line Brown

Prolific Producer, Rich Brown Eggs, Hardy Layer
Hy-Line Brown is the world’s most balanced brown egg layer. She produces over 355 rich brown eggs to 80 weeks, peaks well and begins lay early with optimum egg size. These traits combined with unrivaled feed efficiency, the best interior egg quality in the market and excellent livability give the Hy-Line Brown the perfect balance, which means more profit for the poultry producer.
See Hy-Line Brown Literature

Yep, I read these breeds' literature before. And, yes, the yellow fades from the legs of productive White Leghorns. My White girl's legs looked like ghosts by end of laying season LOL! I loved my pure White Leg who was a gentle alpha in the flock but after her 3rd year molt she went bonkers assertive on her flockmates so I had to give her back to the breeder. She quickly rose to the top alpha there and I was told her 4th year molt left a lot of bare skin on her. I've never had bare-skinned chickens in molt because I feed them a very fortified diet with the extra protein they need for molt regrowth. My girls' feathers will look like exploding pillows left in the yard when in molt but I've not had any problems with bare skin in my flock.
MY WHITE LEG AS A PULLET - this girl really cranked out the eggs, poor thing!


I lost an exhausted egg-layer Breda in our humid climate this past summer -- layed 10+ consecutive months 4-6/eggs weekly. I'm so sick and tired of this heat!!!

 

[Sylvester017]

Hatching hens from store eggs seems like an interesting idea. Maybe I will try it some day.

And all it will cost you is the price of a dozen fertile eggs. Some people who want to give their broodies a few chicks to hatch will slip a few of these under their broody hen. They'll use the hatched roos for the freezer and the hens turn out to be fairly productive.

 

[SpringPeeper]

Hatching hens from store eggs seems like an interesting idea. Maybe I will try it some day.

I love the girls I have hatched from Trader Joe's eggs, and the boys made good soup.