Classroom Incubation- Japan

[Free Feather]

My veranda has more space than many chicken runs I have seen in person. Yes, I live in a city but I have an instant get out of jail free card in being a foreigner. As I am on a road, there is lots of noise pollution so I am hoping that the chicks' noise will not be over loud.

Also, I did think about this, I would NEVER hatch chicks just to kill them, I can provide for them. If I could not, I would not have done this. 110% no. I have had offers from students (and their parents) to take the chicks which I have refused because I know how Japan treats pets.

I have found a sod seller, I am going to tarp the floor, lay sod, then put a coop up. It will not be palatial but it will do.


Yea, more worried about the heating and cooling. Plus, the more you handle them, the higher you chances of dropping them!

I did not want to offend you, I just know that there are a lot of people who do not think about these things before they get birds from the feed stores or whatever.
How do the Japanese treat animals?

 

[HiyokoInNippon]

I did not want to offend you, I just know that there are a lot of people who do not think about these things before they get birds from the feed stores or whatever.
How do the Japanese treat animals?

I am not sorry for my vehemence but I did think a lot about it.

You know battery hens? Yea.... about the same here on a pet level. The pet industry here is terrible.

 

[HiyokoInNippon]

Several of them look like Production Reds or production Sex Link, both of which are prolific egg layers. The scrawny black bird is a modern game (possibly Shamo). The red bird to the left of it looks to be a hybrid with possibly the PR's and the Shamo (or whatever game they are using, possibly Cornish mixture).

I went into the fertilized eggs section (with Google translator, which is hysterically non-accurate but you get the general idea)...they have a flock pictured of what look to be Production Reds/RIR.

So you appear to have a variety of layer types with some meat thrown in with the hybrid of Cornish/game type.

LofMc

Yea, I can read what it says but reading and understanding are two completely different ball parks. I knew I was going to get very... interesting mutts. This was the only way I could avoid getting silkies from pet stores (very against supporting the pet industry here plus I am not a fan of silkies). And, they looked the happiest of all the stores I looked at.

Thank you. My Google translator didn't work.

I enjoy the fact we can share things across the world and learn a little about different cultures and find that among the differences there is so much shared.

Never would have thought a few years ago that chickens would provide this opportunity, I just wanted eggs and meat.

Does it sound strange that I ditto that? I just love chickens but, I never thought I would do any of my own till I got back stateside.

Also, never thought my first eggs would be anything but Buff Orps, even if they were from... questionable lines. *coughmyerscough*

 

[chiques chicks]

Yea, I can read what it says but reading and understanding are two completely different ball parks. I knew I was going to get very... interesting mutts. This was the only way I could avoid getting silkies from pet stores (very against supporting the pet industry here plus I am not a fan of silkies). And, they looked the happiest of all the stores I looked at. Does it sound strange that I ditto that? I just love chickens but, I never thought I would do any of my own till I got back stateside. Also, never thought my first eggs would be anything but Buff Orps, even if they were from... questionable lines. *coughmyerscough*

There are far more colorful Orpington colors than buff. And they don't have to be from a hatcher.

 

[HiyokoInNippon]

There are far more colorful Orpington colors than buff. And they don't have to be from a hatcher.

I know. I actually already have the lines I want picked out. I wanted to hatch out some cheaper hatchery stock to test my mettle with chickens first before I dropped a lot of money on my favorite lines only to kill the poor things.

As for BOs, I love their color. I like solids though I also like Gold and some other colored Laces of any breed. Also, they are reputed to have the gentlest mixed breed temperment and be alright for free ranging. They ticked all of my "I want THIS in a chicken" boxes.

Also, the logic behind getting a hatchery mix (of my choosing) was to have one mutt flock for the fields with my sheep and horses. The BO flock was for close to the house with my compost heap. One more of a meat/egg flock and the other as more of a pet/selling flock.


Edit- I see you have the albino gene in Orps? Is that different from a white orp?

 

[chiques chicks]

Yes. It is true albino. Pink eye and all. Still working on isolating the gene. I get interesting color mixes, though. Hoping to isolate some cooler combinations I like and getting them to reproduce.

 

[HiyokoInNippon]

Yes. It is true albino. Pink eye and all. Still working on isolating the gene. I get interesting color mixes, though. Hoping to isolate some cooler combinations I like and getting them to reproduce.

That sounds really cool! I am boring, I want my Orps to match my golden XD. The only real breeding I am going to do is in my field flock, mostly of the "I want these x number of breeds to cross and I think their mutts a few generations down the line will be perfect." variety.

Also, I will of course be breeding the BOs to SOP and maintaining a strict culling regimin. I want to be able to sell the fertile eggs with confidence.

 

[HiyokoInNippon]

This is where the egg is on progress. The rough temp is between 35 and 36C. Right where I want it, that is hovering around 100F.

The humidity is 30% with all 4 vents open. That is a rough estimate based on 100Y store hygrometers though.

And here is a pic of the kids petting the egg, marveling at how warm they are. They are saying "yushi yushi" which basically means what you'd think. It was just so cute to see the kids being so very delicate with the egg, petting it, telling it that everything was going to be ok.

Also, had nightmares ALL NIGHT LONG about that dang dropped egg. There were only two left by the end of my dream. I kept on squishing and dropping them.

 

[HiyokoInNippon]

So, on day 7 and wow did THAT shock me! I was convinced today was day 6. It was not until I got back to my appt and thought about it that it hit me: it really was day 7! Yea, not always the brightest bulb in the shed, this one. Anyways, I checked all the eggs for fertility, only one egg was a clear although there was a pink line... on the shell? I don't know, it looked like a bacterial growth or something. Didn't stink so I left it in to show the kids the difference and in case it decided to get motivated. Also, it may just be slow?

No kids today but here is a candle pic.

In other news, some have huge air cells, others not so much. No real locational correlation but none are too big... I think *ponders*. Maybe I should whip out my handy dandy air cell chart ^^;;

 

[HiyokoInNippon]

Thinking about if they hatch, what their "hello world!" meal should be. Yogurt, oatmeal, scrambled eggs... and tofu? I kinda wanna give 'em tofu to give them a head start on their protein...