Chat Thread for the New Crazy 24 hour Auction

[swindledana]

Would anyone be interested in hatching eggs from my English Black roo over white leghorn hens. The offspring would be good layers or meat birds.

 

[Prairie Fleur]

It finally stopped raining!!! 

I'm just waiting for things to dry out now. The chickens are still wading around in 6 inches of mud.

at least it's stopped raining! We need to be able to send you some of our searing summer winds! Have most of your birds survived so far?

 

[orumpoultry]

@misfitmorgan we have four varieties of quail, and five colors of Coturnix. He will figure it out..... Maybe I can throw them in with the bobs.

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote: x2

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Bamadude asked me to repost here something I posted in another thread about pullet eggs.


"Here's all I know about the subject.
It is true that many people hatch from pullet eggs all the time with no problems.
It's also true that the smaller chicks from small pullet eggs will usually catch up in size by a year or so.
So what are reasons not to do it?

A chicken deposits about 2 grams of calcium in an egg - regardless of age. So a pullet egg shell will be thicker than one from a mature hen and possibly more difficult to escape from.

There is clearly less albumen and a smaller yolk. That means less nutrition. Mammal babies can get all the nutrition they need from the mother and the abdomen can grow to accommodate. Once that egg is laid, that's all the nutrition and space there will ever be.

I've had old timers tell me that continuing to hatch from pullet eggs will decrease egg sizes in subsequent generations.

On the other hand, albumen quality is better with young birds than older hens.

IMHO it depends upon how big the egg is supposed to be based on the breed. Eggs from the breed I raise are supposed to be 65 grams or larger. I've always tried to set eggs that were 55 grams or larger.
Then I had a predator massacre and only 3 mature hens survived. The pullets had just started laying eggs so I decided to set every egg I could get reducing my low weight limit to 45 grams. Now that those birds have matured (they're almost a year old), I see the results. Unlike past generations that started laying larger eggs by about 8 or 9 months of age, the eggs are still in the small/medium/large range rather than the XL and jumbo they should be by now.
That probably wouldn't matter to most backyard chicken people or even noticeable to those with multiple breeds. But since I've eliminated all other breeds, it's very noticeable to me. And since I'm breeding to a standard, egg and bird size is an important part of that standard.
I'm now paying much closer attention to egg size when I set and track results through adulthood and generations to follow.
I group eggs by sire, egg color and egg size. I'm tracking eggs in the 50-55 gram, 55-60 gram, 60-70 gram and 70+ ranges. In those ranges I'm checking hatch rates, chick survivability and weights. I'm weighing every 10 days for a month then monthly. In adulthood these hens are supposed to be 4.4-5.3 lbs. and cocks 5-6.6 lbs. I had been shooting to be at the high end of that range so we'll see what the future holds."


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15869849

 

[bamadude]

Thanks @ChickenCanoe

 

[bamadude]

@Thespoiledchicken: Im hoping you still have those lav silkied am eggs available at the end of this month.

 

[bamadude]

Lol @ myself after reading my above post.
The spoiledchicken: I hope those eggs sell.
I hope you have some fresh lav silkied ams eggs for me at the end of this month.

 

[minihorse927]

Lol @ myself after reading my above post.
The spoiledchicken: I hope those eggs sell.
I hope you have some fresh lav silkied ams eggs for me at the end of this month.

come on, you don't want month old eggs?

 

[bamadude]

come on, you don't want month old eggs?

Lmbo