California - Northern

[Feathersprings]

Looks like the total for Tuesdays chick hatch is 7! There are still more pipping and such but 7 have hatched today, what look like 3 Maran or maran crosses. Two OE's, 1 EE and 1 that came from a beige egg and is still wet so I have no clue what it is. Super excited to see what awaits us tomorrow morning. I just hope I can sleep through the peeping.

That is my problem this morning. My first chick hatched a 4:30 am and is very noisy lol! Hopefully the rest get hatched today... yawn....

 

[tommysgirl]

Hi Ali Red Stars, as I understand it are a RIR roo...which I have access to and a Delaware Hen which I own. I can put them in a breeding pen for you this summer if you want. At that point I may have another Delaware hen too. I was considering doing it anyway when/if I get a broody. I love my red star girls too!

 

[Hangtown Farms]

Just a tip...... Never unplug your styrofoam incubator after a hatch and leave it sit for a few days..... Holy moly that was gross!

I was going clean it out the very next day, but one urgent thing after another kept popping up and as a single mom of a 6 year old sometimes things get put on the backburner. Wow! Never again. This is now considered the urgent item!

On another gross side note, meal worm colonies are down right creepy. They are bugs and I am voluntarily growing them, and I keep them IN my house because everywhere else was too cold. That is just not normal. Everytime I go check on them I ask myself WHY I am doing it? At first it was an experiment and because meal worms are expensive. But I keep looking at them and ewwwwwwwwww. How am I going to get the worms out of that mess to give to the chickens???? I don't really even see that many worms right now. I saw a literal ball of beetles in one drawer. One half pupated beetle walking around. Bleck! Makes my skin crawl!

. (Sorry went off on a self analysis tangent there.....you know one of those what is wrong with me tangents?)

I would like some opinions please. Months ago I put in an order for some chicks from My Pet Chicken. Now I have taken up hatching some. We will see how it goes as I set my eggs Saturday.

There are a couple of breeds I want but don't really see them offered much as hatching eggs.

Here is the list. Red Star, Belgian D'Uccle (Millie Fleur), Sultan, White Leghorn or other white egg production breed, Black Jersey Giant and Langshan. .

I could get hatchery stock female chicks of these if I keep my order placed. BUT I kind of like hatching and would really prefer hatching my own if I could find the eggs.

Have you all seen these hatching eggs available?

My Red Star was the best chicken. So sweet, head hen and laid 29 days a month. I want another but don't want to have to order 9 minimum chickens from MPC to get one.

What do you think? Do you think I can find those breeds in hatching eggs?

yes at least put a rough clean in on it. I clean it and clean it agin before use if it sits a few days.

Ron had a good point. Jaerhorns from Molly are a good idea. Lay real well and are Auto sexable. Fairly quite if I recall correct.
PetRock does Langshan ( think she responded. Maybe Jersey Giant for the Giants?

Looks like the total for Tuesdays chick hatch is 7! There are still more pipping and such but 7 have hatched today, what look like 3 Maran or maran crosses. Two OE's, 1 EE and 1 that came from a beige egg and is still wet so I have no clue what it is. Super excited to see what awaits us tomorrow morning. I just hope I can sleep through the peeping.

very cool.

That is my problem this morning. My first chick hatched a 4:30 am and is very noisy lol! Hopefully the rest get hatched today... yawn....

lol that will get the rest going for sure

 

[tommysgirl]

Here's the update on my hen Cutie who was attacked by the bobcat on Sunday. She seems to be doing ok- she is eating when I provide treats although I don't think she is eating as much as she should and she did not lay an egg today. Its hard to tell if she is eating her crumbles but it seems that maybe more of the food should have been consumed from her dish. I never thought about how much a chicken eats a day - maybe the volume of a golf-ball worth of crumbles???
I've been cleaning her wound 2x daily and the Veterycin is magical - it looks like she already has a thin layer of skin over the whole wound. However I was concerned by some blue discoloration along her neck next to one edge of the wound, I posted a thread with graphic pics in the emergencies section:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...t-the-edge-of-a-large-neck-wound-graphic-pics

Does anyone have advice or input on what that could be? Should I be concerned about it??? Thanks in advance, things seemed to be going so well...

Good Job. Hope she continues to improve!

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Congrats!!

The chicks finshed hatching last night. Out of the ten that made it to lockdown (out of 12 set) I have 10 chicks!! I think I need to find more eggs to hatch.

It looks like I might have two Rhode Island reds, one Ameruacana, and the other 7 EE's (RIR, Ameruacana mixes). Has anyone tried to feather sex chicks? Any advice?

 

[PetRock]

I should have Langshan eggs in another month or two. We are building breeding pens on Saturday. They have been laying for a while and the roos are doing their business so the eggs should be fertile. All 4 colors are free ranging together right now so it's a toss up with the genetics. Hopefully, we will finish the pens in the next week so we can separate out the breeding hens and give them a 3 week vacation before putting a roo with them. I am going to give some of the fertile eggs to my head hen who has decided to go broody and is almost impossible to break of it. I might put a few in the incubator just to test them. Are you interested in a certain color?

Ali707, Just to show you how absolutely adorable Langshan chicks are, check out these pics from the hatches I did last year with eggs from Skyline and Pawhead.


Black

Blue

White & Splash

 

[threadgeek]

Looks like you have done a good job with the wound. It looks bruised. Hopefully she will recover soon and get back to normal.

Good Job. Hope she continues to improve!

Thank you! I really hope it is just bruising. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her!

 

[Miss Molly]

This is the first time hatching quail. I received 34 or so with my new incubator.  I had no plans on raising quail but now that they are hatching I may become addicted! 

Congrats on the quail. I hatch some on New Years Day. They are so dang cute. It is so hard to believe something so cute can come out of that Little bitty shell. I'm not planning on breeding them, just fun to get those beautiful little eggs. I hard boil them and put them in all my salads. The kids Gobble them up.

 

[Miss Molly]

Looks like the total for Tuesdays chick hatch is 7! There are still more pipping and such but 7 have hatched today, what look like 3 Maran or maran crosses. Two OE's, 1 EE and 1 that came from a beige egg and is still wet so I have no clue what it is. Super excited to see what awaits us tomorrow morning. I just hope I can sleep through the peeping.

Congratulations .... Let me know when your ready for more eggs..

 

[ronott1]

Here's the update on my hen Cutie who was attacked by the bobcat on Sunday. She seems to be doing ok- she is eating when I provide treats although I don't think she is eating as much as she should and she did not lay an egg today. Its hard to tell if she is eating her crumbles but it seems that maybe more of the food should have been consumed from her dish. I never thought about how much a chicken eats a day - maybe the volume of a golf-ball worth of crumbles???
I've been cleaning her wound 2x daily and the Veterycin is magical - it looks like she already has a thin layer of skin over the whole wound. However I was concerned by some blue discoloration along her neck next to one edge of the wound, I posted a thread with graphic pics in the emergencies section:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...t-the-edge-of-a-large-neck-wound-graphic-pics

Does anyone have advice or input on what that could be? Should I be concerned about it??? Thanks in advance, things seemed to be going so well...

I looked at the pictures on your thread and agree about the wound. Black or angry red and puffy are bad. Also, a sweet smell would be really bad.

They do not eat a bunch at first when they get hurt that bad. They are in shock and it takes a couple of days for them to pick up eating. So far she is healing nicely. Keep up the good work with her!