California - Northern

[ronott1]

Quote:
Long hatches are bad that way. The water needs to be filled very couple of days so between day 18 and if they to to day 24....

 

[Happy Chooks]

I am full of questions today...I've got another one.
Does anyone not wash their eggs before eating? I try to, but I constantly forget. I haven't gotten sick or died yet, so I assume that forgetting to wash them before eating isn't THAT harmful, but I'm curious as to what you guys do & what you think.

I hardly ever wash an egg.

Ok I have a friend who hatched a chick of mine that is having eye issues. Its trying to walk eat and drink with closed eyes and is clumsy.any ideas besides eye oint MN ent, vitamins have not yet helped.

Was it a stuck chick? Sometimes their eyes can get sealed shut. Drip a bit of water over it to unstick the eyes. (or use a Q tip)

 

[lawatt]

Yeah, right now we're paying the bills for two houses while we wait for our old one to sell, so that $50 for several straight runs is more money than we can currently justify spending on chicks. My mom is the one that wants the dark layers - I think it'd be really nifty but it's not one that I "must" have. I put all my money into the chicks I'm getting, which is 1 Cream Legbar and 6 straight run Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. As long as I get one female out of the 6 I'll be happy. I get them on the 7th, I'm beyond excited!

if you lived closer to Sonoma County, i'd offer up some birchen marans with fairly dark eggs... let me know if you get down this way.

and like most others, i almost never wash an egg -- the few really grungy ones i find get donated to local wildlife (i.e. thrown into the forest), and the rest just wait on my countertop to be used... (or hatched!)

 

[sewandgrow]

I have a GQF 1550 cabinet hatcher that I use to incubate. It is great at holding temp and humidity constant with a quick recovery time after opening the door. But I don't recommend it for incubating because it doesn't have turners. All egg turning is done by hand. I am watching craigslist for a 1502 Sportsman incubator or the 1500 Professional cabinet incubator. If I had an extra $750 sitting around, I would go ahead and order a new one. I've enlisted DH to design a turner system for my 1550. Maybe it will happen this next weekend!

Debi, first I want to than you for the link to the bottle cap waterers. I ordered 6 sets.
J.S. West in Modesto does custom hatches for the public & sell their cabinet incubators after for I think 1/2 price. If that's good maybe you can get on a list of buyers. I can ask Heather if you want.

Yes, that's who I'm getting my chicks from. He only sells them as straight run, if I'm going to be buying Marans(actually my mom will be buying them as she is the one that wants chocolate egg layers) the chicks need to sexed so we only have to get one.

I don't know how to vent sex & the wing sexing was on a different breed. If you can find sexed chicks I would love to know how they do it. Although BCM cockerels are good eating.....LOL

any Lopp Rabbit (any kind) breeders in Nor Cal?

Check with your local 4H office. I bet someone in the area has them. You can try rabbit breeders assoc. on line and get a list of breeders too.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Debi, first I want to than you for the link to the bottle cap waterers. I ordered 6 sets.

Karen, I'm behind as usual, both here and on returning emails. I enjoyed visiting with you and Julie so much! My local friends tease me whenever I try to talk about chickens. It was so pleasant to spend some time talking about things that are interesting to me!

I'm behind on reading this thread, so don't know what bottle cap waterers you are talking about, but I have several metal spout thingys that go on a bottle for cage waterers. I'll donate them to the party if you would like?

 

[ronott1]

I don't know how to vent sex & the wing sexing was on a different breed. If you can find sexed chicks I would love to know how they do it. Although BCM cockerels are good eating.....LOL

Feather sexing is similar to sexlink. There has to be a difference in the speed of feathering for the Cockerels compared to the pullets:

Quote:

 

[capayvalleychick]

Can't find the past posts to quote...

@PetRock your chick pictures were beautiful!

Can't remember the name of the person on her in Paradise, but this is to you ... There is going to be a Barn/ Estate aka Yard Sale on Table Mountain Road in Oroville on Saturday. I will be there, if you are into that type of thing, come by and say hello. She will have chickens for sale. I might bring some, too. She wants me to bring pigs, but that might be too much trouble.
You were talking about getting an Orp? to Lake County? Maybe I could help with transport. I will be there on Sat. and will go back, that evening. I go Hwy 20 and turn on 16. I'm going to the Red Bluff show, so that's another option.

 

[chrissyr]

Feather sexing is similar to sexlink. There has to be a difference in the speed of feathering for the Cockerels compared to the pullets:

I found that my marans and even the AM's: boys feathered out kind of funky at first. feathers were uneven and poking here and there. the girls seemed to be more uniform, smoother and just prettier as they filled out. I know different breeds/lines are different. But i'm learning with mine.

 

[chrissyr]

I am full of questions today...I've got another one.
Does anyone not wash their eggs before eating? I try to, but I constantly forget. I haven't gotten sick or died yet, so I assume that forgetting to wash them before eating isn't THAT harmful, but I'm curious as to what you guys do & what you think.

I wash because my husband is such a city boy and refuses to eat anything not washed. I've tried to explain the whole "Bloom" thing, but he says he doesn't care. His problem is it comes out of the same hole as their poop and he can't handle it. And everyone else who gets my eggs "need" them washed.
Most of my eggs are pretty clean anyways. If they're a little dirty I wash.
A few years back I called the County Ag dept to see what they recommend. He told me the state regulations were a small amount of bleach in the water . I think it was like 1 tsp/gallon, but that smells way too strong for my preference. I don't want my eggs tasting like bleach, so i use less.
So i pour a little quickly over the egg, then rinse that off all in warm water. I don't let them sit in any water.
I do have the Manna Pro egg wash, not sure which is better.
If anyone else does it different, I'd love to hear.

 

[chiqita]

Hey if anyone is going between me and liz let me know. Im vaugly trying to get showgirls up there.