Colorado

[chlskt]

I have some news too! So I got some eggs from Dennarahl about 21 days ago, we got 16, EE and copper maran mixes, and 2 silkies. We also added 9 quail and 5 serama from our birds. We had 5 quail hatch 3 days ago, and so far have 2 EE and 2 coppers pipped! Out of 5 batches that I've tried from shipped eggs, this is the most successful!

 

[Pozees]

I have some news too! So I got some eggs from Dennarahl about 21 days ago, we got 16, EE and copper maran mixes, and 2 silkies. We also added 9 quail and 5 serama from our birds. We had 5 quail hatch 3 days ago, and so far have 2 EE and 2 coppers pipped! Out of 5 batches that I've tried from shipped eggs, this is the most successful!

 

[Pozees]

I can see we may have to do an intervention with Adam soon! Maybe we can get some hollywood producer to film it!

Maybe we could call it The Chick Magnet

 

[dennarahl]

I have some news too! So I got some eggs from Dennarahl about 21 days ago, we got 16, EE and copper maran mixes, and 2 silkies. We also added 9 quail and 5 serama from our birds. We had 5 quail hatch 3 days ago, and so far have 2 EE and 2 coppers pipped! Out of 5 batches that I've tried from shipped eggs, this is the most successful!

Yay! e More grandbabies on the way! I'm really excited that the marans are hatching. We had no luck with her eggs in our September hatch. A note, they're cuckoo marans, not coppers.

 

[dennarahl]

A question for all of you hatching people...

My husband told me that an incubator is my valentines present. Woohoo! I think I want the gqf hovabator genesis. Is there anywhere in Colorado to pick one of those up or do they have to be ordered online? I'm ready to hatch some geese now.

Also, I have 6 narragansett turkeys and 4 broad breasted coming the first week of may. We only need 3 Narragansett and 1 broad breasted. If anyone is interested, I'll be selling the extras after I can tell boys from girls.

 

[chlskt]

Yay!

More grandbabies on the way! I'm really excited that the marans are hatching. We had no luck with her eggs in our September hatch. A note, they're cuckoo marans, not coppers.

Sweet! I don't think I was paying too much attention when I was getting the eggs cause I was too excited...

I will post pics once they are hatched out. They pipped this morning around 9am, and they are taking their time..

 

[jgurshtein]

I think the hardest part of raising chicks, and even started birds or adults, is that some simply don't make it. It is a reality of poultry keeping. Sometimes we can figure out, or think we have, what happened, and sometimes they just die for reasons we can't determine. I recently had the smallest Speckled Sussex in our laying flock die - just found her dead in the coop one day. We called her Runt, but honestly, by the time they were about 4 months old they were close enough in size that it was hard to tell which was which, except that she had a slightly wry tail. She foraged, dove into her food, competed for apple pieces every afternoon, but a day before I found her dead I picked her up and noticed she felt lighter than her sisters. I made a mental note to pay closer attention to how much she was eating when they all came down the ramp in the morning the next time I was here after sunup, and the next day she was dead. She had no other obvious sign of anything being wrong - I could not detect a stuck egg, no trauma, no parasites, she just died. The others seem fine. This happened before the new chicks arrived, so it wasn't a contamination issue.

I will note I have read elsewhere on this site and others, that there are keepers of many years who say they have never lost birds in this way. Whether this is unusually good fortune, a superior eye for sending less than perfect birds to freezer camp ahead of their natural demise, or the unrevealed exception to the statement, the common experience among poultry keepers is that occasionally we lose chicks and birds, and we don't like it, and sometimes it makes us wonder whether we really want to be poultry keepers after all, and there is no wrong answer to that question. The answer is very specific to the individual and those with whom one shares a home.

I say this now only because we are starting chick season, we have seen losses among those of us who have chicks already, and it's kind of a reality check for some. Whether raised by us or others, some chicks are not going to live to adulthood. It is rarely 100% the fault of the raiser. We do what we can to support healthy growth and hope for the best. New ideas come up here all the time that may make the difference for chicks that are teetering on the edge, but for the most part they are darned stout. Yesterday I picked up a white leghorn chick and the growth she shows in 6 days is phenomenal - and that is typical for most chicks.

So I would like to leave you with this: it is natural to regret losses, and it's fine to go over what you think you did right and wrong, but unless you intentionally failed to supply warmth, food, and water, don't spend time blaming yourself. Learn and move forward. If the losses are more than you can bear, maybe you aren't meant to be a chicken keeper after all, and that's fine too. You have learned something new about yourself.

All of life is learning.

Thank you for your kind and wise words. I'll be getting my first batch of chicks in a few weeks and I am super excited and super nervous. I would like to end up with 5 ladies, so I'm not sure if I should get 6 just to be safe... I think I'd be ok with 6 adults, but 5 would be better since it's just my husband and I we don't need that many eggs. We're pretty sure 4 would be too few.

Here's a question, are you more likely to lose a chick early or late? If it is more likely early, I would be able to run out and pick up another one to round things out. But if it's later than I think I'd rather take my chances and get 6 to start. GAH! So many ifs!

 

[jgurshtein]

I am the Great Hemmer and Hawer LOL

I decided I had better move chicks into the brooder in case we get snow tonight, so I bundled the four down there. Snapped a pic, then observed for a while, and decided the lavender was just not ready, and feared I would find a Silkie pancake in the morning, so brought him back up to the incubator. In the pic the two white are together, the blue/splash is behind them, and the lavender is to the left by itself, it is the darkest one. Have another lavender pip in the incubator. Hoping two more chicks hatch from the two pipped, and would be excessively happy if even more hatch or start.

Can I ask why you've got marbles in the dish? I'm assuming it's the water dish?

 

[Adam7]

I can see we may have to do an intervention with Adam soon!  Maybe we can get some hollywood producer to film it! 

I don't have a problem...I can stop any time.... I swear....nothing to see here.... Move along....

Or just be enablers...

Did I mention I am getting a shipment of chicks in this week?

I just want to pet them... Yes... Pet them...

 

[suncatcher]

Quote:

Yep, I am pretty good at enabling!!