Calling all Penedesencas Owners/Breeders

[dtimoth]

I bought 12 Black Penedesenca eggs from ChickenCanoe in St Louis three weeks ago. He shipped 13 eggs on Monday, October 26. They arrived here in Phoenix very well packed and with no damage on October 28, and they were set in the incubator on October 29. Well, they hatched on Thursday and Friday (yesterday)--11 of the 13! (One is still trying to make it out of the shell (two days late), but it's unlikely it'll survive. I haven't checked the fertility of the one egg that has shown no sign of life, but overall that is a very good fertility rate AND hatch rate, especially for shipped eggs. Thank you, ChickenCanoe, for the baby black penes! I'm excited to have some finally.

 

[ronott1]

I bought 12 Black Penedesenca eggs from ChickenCanoe in St Louis three weeks ago. He shipped 13 eggs on Monday, October 26. They arrived here in Phoenix very well packed and with no damage on October 28, and they were set in the incubator on October 29. Well, they hatched on Thursday and Friday (yesterday)--11 of the 13! (One is still trying to make it out of the shell (two days late), but it's unlikely it'll survive. I haven't checked the fertility of the one egg that has shown no sign of life, but overall that is a very good fertility rate AND hatch rate, especially for shipped eggs. Thank you, ChickenCanoe, for the baby black penes! I'm excited to have some finally.

I think about stories like this when I read about shipped eggs that are broken. When I post that the eggs were likely not packed correctly, they scoff at me.

Guy knows how to pack hatching eggs!

Congrats and post pictures when you can.

 

[dtimoth]

As a follow-up on my hatching from the eggs Guy (ChickenCanoe) sent, you might all appreciate an amusing little story, but first, as I noted before, 12 of the 13 eggs shipped by ChickenCanoe hatched. That's an excellent fertility and hatch rate, so thank you Guy! Ron, you're right; Guy really knows how to wrap and care for eggs.

Here's the story: One chick of the Black Penes tried and tried to get out of its shell. I figured it would die after a couple of days while the remaining ones continued to hatch, but it didn’t give up. Any time I’ve ever helped a chick out of a shell after a couple of days of no progress, it has died. Last Thursday was hatching day. Well, the little person in the shell persisted in wanting to live. It originally pipped last Thursday morning and chirped all the way until yesterday (Monday !) with no progress. Monday morning I was sure it was dead, as the egg was completely silent. However, when I tapped on the glass, he let out a huge chirp and continued to yell vigorously for more than an hour. Until then I had just been waiting for chickeedoodle to die so I could dispose of the egg and clean up the incubator. My wife, however, being the very good mother she is, said “just help him out of the shell. He obviously wants to live”. We figured he would die one way or the other--shrink wrapped in the shell or as a result of me trying to help--so I peeled the dried shell and membrane off him. He immediately jumped up and ran around with very little effort. Now, 36 hours later, he is alive and well…thriving in fact. I couldn’t believe it and still don’t. He’s quite scrawny compared to the others that had a couple of days’ head start in eating and drinking (and his down is still well matted--bad hair day), and I have the little guy in a separate brooder box for now while he catches up. He’s eating and drinking and is very active and alert. As a result of this experience, we have named him (or her) Shelly.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Good story @dtimoth .

I highly recommend getting probiotics into chicks early on.
I use this in chicks first water. It was developed in Egypt and formulated specifically for chickens.
Any probiotic powder will work and even plain yogurt with active cultures.

http://www.gro2max.com/

I haven't had a case of pasted vent since I've been doing it.
I also use it as a starter in my fermented feed.

 

[dtimoth]

Just a quick update about Shelly. He's/she's doing great so far. Shelly is growing and is active and spry. It's now hard to tell him/her apart from the others that hatched earlier. It's still hard to believe he/she is still alive given the difficulty at birth.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

my recommendation is to leg band your birds so you'll know who was robust, compromised or whatever when they mature.

Sometimes the most compromised turn out to be the most robust. That means you definitely want to preserve their genetics.

 

[dtimoth]

Good idea, thanks, Guy.

 

[bamadude]

Subscribing.
I will be incubating black penedesenca eggs for the new years hatch along. Wish me (and the postal service) luck

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I PMed your tracking #.

Wishing you the best of luck. I'm pleased with the packaging.
The PO keeps throwing me curves. I once went to the main PO downtown with the box marked "live embryos" and they wanted $30 more dollars.
Today they wanted another $10 because it was marked fragile. That's the first time that has happened. I didn't mark it fragile. The desk clerk did when I asked if there was an additional charge. He said no so I said to go ahead and mark it. When he did, the price went from $18 to $28. Then he waived the fee.

I'm hatching eggs for Christmas. Not sure I'm joining the NYD HAL yet. I may though since I started adding light on another flock. I have to move some hens around to see who is laying what. I think I best get my butt in gear and finish my trap nests I've been promising myself to complete for longer than I want to admit.
Heated circulated water is a priority right now though since it's December.
I have 6 chicks brooding now.
I have to set my phone alarm to turn eggs all day or I would forget. I still haven't finished refurbishing my cabinet incubator/hatcher and the turner won't fit in the LG.

 

[bamadude]

Thanks CC.
Did I not get the $$$ amount correct?