California-Southern

[JerseyHen]

if you look on Craigslist there's a lady in Altadena who sells a backyard mix of hatching eggs for $1 each. Our school had great hatch rates from her eggs--much better than shipped eggs from breeders and hatcheries.

I will let her know to check craigslist as well.

Hey there! I'm close to Whittier and have fertile eggs! I've supplied a teacher in Torrance before for a classroom hatch.

Can you PM me your information and I will pass it along to her? Thank you!

 

[malndobe]

I believe shes a grey andulision? I got a dozen for her to sit on. I plan on putting her in a dog crate as shes currently where others go to lay. But do i lock the dog crate and put food and water in with her or leave the door open.

If the crate is big enough for her to be able to get off the nest to poop, I would lock the door and put food/water in there with her. I just had to do this with one of my broody hens. Every time I checked her some of the other girls had added new eggs to the nest, some of the eggs she'd been sitting on having been pushed out from under her with the addition of all the new ones. This will make it hard for anything to hatch. And if you just put her in the crate with the door open, the other girls may decide the crate is a great new place to lay eggs.

I also prefer it for when the eggs hatch, since it keeps mom and babies separated from the rest of the flock, and keeps the newest hatches from wandering off while mom is still trying to finish hatching out the rest of the eggs.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I made a simple chicken wire partition within the coop the small wire that chicks cant squeese through. I put food and water for the hen and she had enough room to do her broody Poop and get some food and water in. I think my broody area was about four feet long and two feet wide. I put cardboard over the top of it because it was under the roosts in my little coop,. So no one would bet pooped on. she was nesting in a small dog house.

Oh and make sure the chicks cant go behind the kennel and get stuck either block off or set the kennel away from the cage a couple of inches
deb

 

[chickencrazy21]

Its a good size kong dog crate. I wraped it in a tarp and zip tied it. She has food and water and room to poop. I had a fun time getting her in. Shes one of my not so tame burds. I waited till dark and went and got her from out under the tarp she had taken up under. Walked her down our backyard hill...in boots with a small heel on them no less. And put her in. I wasnt quick enough. Back up the hill and under the tarp she went. I followed and took her and her two eggs she had hoarded back down. Put the warm eggs with the new eggs. And set her down she didnt want to sit on them. I managed to close the cage in time and figured id check on her in an hour. Then decided instead of bugging hwr again i just gave her all night to settle in. This morning she was sitting on the eggs. Ill get better pictures later. For some reason its not letting me upload. Is the 14 eggs too much? I did mark the fertle ones i bought. I dont even know if the two she hoarded are fertle as our roo died suddenly two days ago and idk if he mated with all the hens or if he was even fertle himself. Still sad over the loss of him.

 

[chick-habit]

hi everyone! I'm in los angeles, and I'm raising chickens with dtla only a few miles away! this is my first flock of 4 chicks and I'm loving the farm life.

 

[RanchRichey]

I'm in Southern California- Norco, which is on the Riverside/Orange County border. /img/smilies/big_smile.png

I'm in So Cal...Riverside too.

If you hear of anyone interested in roosters, let me know. We can't have them here, and I have at least one, a 5 week Welsummer

 

[Amelia Egghart]

I'm in So Cal...Riverside too.

If you hear of anyone interested in roosters, let me know. We can't have them here, and I have at least one, a 5 week Welsummer

North county San Diego here, and might also be looking for a rooster home for a special needs Phoenix. If I didn't already have a rooster, he'd be a perfect one. Still no definite boy or girl characteristics.

I did hear about a farm in Temecula that takes roosters but other than that I have no specific info.

 

[malndobe]

For some reason its not letting me upload. Is the 14 eggs too much? I did mark the fertle ones i bought. I dont even know if the two she hoarded are fertle as our roo died suddenly two days ago and idk if he mated with all the hens or if he was even fertle himself. Still sad over the loss of him.

If she can cover 14 eggs that would be fine, but unless she's a big girl, or fluffy, I'd be surprised if she can consistently keep that many under her and warm. My girls can usually handle around 10 before I start finding eggs sitting next to, but not under, the hen. I have a variety of breeds, but Wyandotte, Welsummer, Rock, etc so average sized large fowl.

If your rooster was fertile, the girls can store the semen for around 2 weeks and use it to fertilize eggs. One reason if you want to be sure of a specific breeding, you need to give the hen at least 2 weeks with the chosen rooster(s) before you start collecting eggs.

 

[QueenMisha]

If she can cover 14 eggs that would be fine, but unless she's a big girl, or fluffy, I'd be surprised if she can consistently keep that many under her and warm.  My girls can usually handle around 10 before I start finding eggs sitting next to, but not under, the hen.  I have a variety of breeds, but Wyandotte, Welsummer, Rock, etc so average sized large fowl.

If your rooster was fertile, the girls can store the semen for around 2 weeks and use it to fertilize eggs.  One reason if you want to be sure of a specific breeding, you need to give the hen at least 2 weeks with the chosen rooster(s) before you start collecting eggs.

To be completely sure the offspring are the preferred cock's, I would give it four weeks. When I separated my hens from all cocks for the breeding season, I checked fertility regularly. It took three weeks for it to drop off, and four weeks for all the stragglers to become infertile. I had only 1 out of 5 or 6 hens become infertile by week two. It took two-three days after reintroducing a rooster for the eggs to become fertile again.

 

[UrbanFarmOC]

To be completely sure the offspring are the preferred cock's, I would give it four weeks. When I separated my hens from all cocks for the breeding season, I checked fertility regularly. It took three weeks for it to drop off, and four weeks for all the stragglers to become infertile. I had only 1 out of 5 or 6 hens become infertile by week two. It took two-three days after reintroducing a rooster for the eggs to become fertile again.

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing your results!