California - Northern

[HighNDryFarm]

Good morning!!

FLUFFY BUTTS!!!


So it was a long night!! Dusty hatched at 8:50pm & Max at 9:10pm.... They both looked good so I left them alone. I could still hear one peeping inside one of the blue shells when I went to bed; I thought she would surely be here this morning, but I couldn't hear anything this am so I pipped her shell & she must have quit during the night the other 2 hadn't even developed... I think the egg was so tight she couldn't get out. I should have helped her last night, but I didn't want to interfere I'm happy I got 2!!!!
Thanks for the cheering section, guys!!!

Congratulations! They're cutie's for sure!

Quote: Thanks, I'll contact her. I really want to concentrate on the dark egg.

I knew the only real way to get an Ameraucana was from a breeder, I just didn't realize that if both parents were Ameraucana but not a recognized color they were then EE's.

Quote: To get Ameracaunas, you should get them from a Breeder. Sometimes the chicks from a breeder will not meet the standard for Ameracaunas so those will be called EEs. This is the only breed where this is true. A non standard SG Dorking is still an SG Dorking. It would be a cull.
Ah, that's where I was confused, where two Ameraucana's don't always create an Ameraucana. I've read the heated debate after debate but missed this specific detail. I assumed that if you purchased an Ameraucana from a breeder of Ameraucana's you had Ameraucanas. No wonder there's so much confusion.

My incubator is being shipped today via FedEx!!! I can hardly wait for it to get here!!!

 

[UrbanChickenSF]

Hey guys,

Time for another dumb question.

How long can you leave eggs in the nest boxes? I understand that the eggs have a natural flora on them to protect them from bacteria but I'd assume it'd not great to leave eggs out there all week long, correct?

How often do y'all collect your eggs? Daily? Every other day? What is acceptable for a 2-3 hen (average laying) coop?

 

[ronott1]

Hey guys,

Time for another dumb question.

How long can you leave eggs in the nest boxes? I understand that the eggs have a natural flora on them to protect them from bacteria but I'd assume it'd not great to leave eggs out there all week long, correct?

How often do y'all collect your eggs? Daily? Every other day? What is acceptable for a 2-3 hen (average laying) coop?

I collect daily.

Freezing is bad for them but they can stay out for days. Growing up we had hens hide their eggs in the grass. We would find the nest with 10 to 15 eggs in them and they were almost always good. You can float them in cool water to see if they float of not. Sinking is fresh, floating at an angle is a good egg. If the whole thing floats above the mid line, get it into a zip lock bag and out of the house!

 

[Deerling]

Thank you again for everyone's help with Balthazar. He seems the same today, I saw him eating but he seems sleepy and is ignoring treats. Added vitamins to their water and hoping for the best. Realistically I thought we would lose some, which is why we ordered so many in the first place. We may be looking at getting rid of up to 10 as they get older. Anyone around here think they might be interested in brown egg layers? They're all so sweet, it will be hard.

We decided to give it a go with Guineas, and I think we'll try and hatch them ourselves. Chronic Lyme disease just scares me too much, and we can't go on over half our property for fear of ticks. I just placed my order for the HovaBator 1588 with automatic turners with GQF and am SOOO excited. We're going to try with store bought eggs first (just for a trial run. I so much appreciated the offer of barnyard mix eggs from someone around here. If we needed more chickens I would do that in a heartbeat! But we really don't need any and I'm looking forward to giving this a go.) So that's exciting! Not sure when it will get here, but really looking forward to it.

Max and Dusty are adorable!!

 

[Happy Chooks]

How often do y'all collect your eggs? Daily? Every other day? What is acceptable for a 2-3 hen (average laying) coop?

Daily. When it gets really hot in the summer, I try to collect twice a day.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Deb - I blame you!

I was going to do a "small" hatch. I've ordered some eggs, collected some of mine and I now have 46 ready for the bator.

 

[SilkieRose]

I do the same with my Araucana. I just hatched a couple of chicks that were clean faced and had a few residual tail feathers. Assuming they are girls, they'll lay a beautiful blue egg, but were going as EE's. I ended up giving them to a friend that wanted blue layers for his egg flock.


Cute chicks and congratulations on your hatch. If the roo is a RIR and there is a RIR hen, then Dusty could be pure RIR. If Max's father is a RIR, then Max would most likely be an OE. Coming out of a blue egg he/she can't be a RIR.

Between her 2 roos, the RIR was most aggressive... So you're saying that mama was an EE & daddy RIR making Max an olive egger?? Really? Interesting! Dusty really looks completely RIR. I just took more pics. They are so cute!! Dusty has a dark beak & a very defined comb- so little, but jagged! Max has a flat pinkish beak. That would be awesome if Max is an OE!! Am I getting this straight??

 

[chickee]

Congratulations! They're cutie's for sure!
Thanks, I'll contact her. I really want to concentrate on the dark egg.

I knew the only real way to get an Ameraucana was from a breeder, I just didn't realize that if both parents were Ameraucana but not a recognized color they were then EE's.
Ah, that's where I was confused, where two Ameraucana's don't always create an Ameraucana. I've read the heated debate after debate but missed this specific detail. I assumed that if you purchased an Ameraucana from a breeder of Ameraucana's you had Ameraucanas. No wonder there's so much confusion.

Actually Ameraucanas from breeders that are poor examples of the breed or have disqualifying faults (such as lack of a beard) are sold as culls, and still called Ameraucanas. They will breed true to color (color mixes will not) but will pass on undesirable traits, therefore are not suitable for breeding.

Those heated discussions about it on the Ameraucana thread are unpleasant.

 

[debs_flock]

Hey guys,

Time for another dumb question.

How long can you leave eggs in the nest boxes? I understand that the eggs have a natural flora on them to protect them from bacteria but I'd assume it'd not great to leave eggs out there all week long, correct?

How often do y'all collect your eggs? Daily? Every other day? What is acceptable for a 2-3 hen (average laying) coop?

I collect mine at least twice per day, but then I'm retired so I can wander out to the chickens whenever. I think when my first birds first started to lay................I attempted to collect eggs about every half hour

Deb - I blame you!

I was going to do a "small" hatch. I've ordered some eggs, collected some of mine and I now have 46 ready for the bator.

Me? I did nothing.............. Of course, all three of my Genesis are full at the moment, I have eggs coming from a swap and I have a BUNCH collected on my counter. I'm thinking of upgrading to a cabinet incubator (it helps that I sold about $300 worth of chicks/chickens/eggs over the weekend). DH the enabler keeps saying, you worked hard all your life, it's only money, go order it NOW!

Quote:
Yup, you have that right!

 

[liz9910]

8 for 8 today