Chinese New Year Hatch/February 3 2011

[MuranoFarms]

Quote:
Correct. That clear area at the bottom is the yolk. The yolk doesn't get absorbed until right before hatch so that will be there at lockdown.

 

[BooBear]

what are the contests? Did everyone decide on one?

Sorry to hear you are having a rough time again with the eggs Wolftracks. Maybe you will get some healthy ones to make it for you.

It is raining today on my day off so I can't do any outside stuff. I let the Spunky Gang out for free range and have been watching them. Despite the on again off again rain they are enjoying themselves.

Checked the bator this morning and added some water to the channels. Gave the old sniff test and every thing seems to be ok. Still have 7 more days to lockdown.
Dad has taken a real liken to the Sumatra chickens as he said he likes the roosters with the long tails. Maybe if I get some the main coop will get finished? It seems the work on the main coop keeps getting halted due to bad weather and sickness. We may have it finished in Spring if we can finally get some good sunshine to dry us out.

Right now all the chickies are in their temporary pens and I am highly thinking of purchasing a chicken tractor to add to the small pens to move everyone around when the eggs hatch.

 

[BooBear]

Muranfarms,

Sorry to hear you lost your avator.

 

[gryeyes]

I don't think we have kept up on the contests, so maybe extend the first week into this week? We need more molting pictures.

I will think hard on week three contest. But I have the prizes available (first contest prize thanks to MuranoFarms!) - it's just that there has been a lot of strife in folks' personal lives these past weeks.

My CNY eggs are cooking along nicely. I should candle them, or some of them, anyway. Just to get an idea how they're doing inside.

 

[BooBear]

yeah, need some cute distraction pics.
I am gonna check on the gang see if they are doing anything silly I can catch with the camera.

 

[daisychick]

I just don't have any molting pics or I would enter. I do think everyones minds have been else where the first half of this hatch. I can't believe the bad luck going on.

Isn't Chinese New Year's supposed to be good luck??? Hopefully that luck will kick in here soon.

Maybe you could add to the Molting contest and make it just plain ugly chickens too. Or even better call it "pictures of your chickens not looking their best" ?? Just throwing out some ideas. I can find some ugly pics I am sure.

 

[Sumatra503]

My eggs are coming along nicely. No candling here since it's still too soon. I got a new LED flashlight that's insanely bright and works like a charm, so maybe soon.

Now all I need is the Hypodermic needle and syringe and some food coloring for test run of my project for Easter. If you inject 0.5cc of food coloring into an egg between the 11th and 14th days of incubation the chicks will hatch out colored. I've done it before. You just poke a hole in the egg with a push pin, inject the coloring, and seal the hole with parafin wax.

 

[HeatherB]

What an awful week

MuranoFarms, I hope your husband is feeling better very soon. Debi and Wolftracks, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend and brother-in-law. I hope to heaven the heartaches go, and stay away, with the snow.


I finally got my cuteness picture. It's from my phone, so it's not all that great, but all the same.. these are my babies from Friday/Saturday.

And what an idiot! My little, most adorable, near-white baby that I thought I'd figured out the parentage on.. they played me.

I locked up my two Mama suspects in another pen, and found out they're where my green eggs are coming from. They must have JUST started laying. Little brats.

Meanwhile, the white eggs I was supposedly getting from them appear to be coming from the previously-broody-and-never-cares-to-lay-an-egg buff silkie and her daughter, who's only about 6 months old herself. They've been hanging out with my babies instead of the big birds recently, and I finally found white eggs stashed in there. I thought theirs were more cream colored, it never even occurred to me. So I took a closer look at the little fluffball... seems to me I see an extra toe... mama mystery is solved.

Candled! I still have 10 of the eggs I set on the 13th, and 11 of the ones I set two days later.

So far I've lost power twice for brief spats, and my MIL hit the incubator with the vacuum when she thought she'd help out and sweep my living room.. so I'm happy! Wolftracks, what breeds are you shooting for? I'm sorry you're having trouble again

I'm afraid I missed the contest post.. I'll go back and see what I can find. I do know I don't have a moulting picture

Week 3 I think is broodies, and I'm sure I have a picture somewhere.

 

[HeatherB]

Quote:
No way! How long do they stay colored? Where in the egg do you inject it, does it go into the air sac and then sink in? And what size hypodermics do you use?

I want to see some colored chicks! And I want to try this

 

[jenjscott]

Did someone say broody? how bout three of them... in one nest box. There were four of them before it was all over with.



Three little hens by jenjscott, on Flickr