Colorado

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

I will defiantly buy local if possible. I just don't remember anyone selling sex link hatching eggs last year. Guess the best I can do is try and order from someone who is already at a higher elevation. Maybe start with some mix breed hatching eggs, some of those 'farm fresh' eggs that get listed on Craigslist. Hard to go wrong at ~$3 a dozen.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Has anyone tried incubators by farm innovations? They have awesome reviews on amazon...

 

[kmatt87]

I will defiantly buy local if possible. I just don't remember anyone selling sex link hatching eggs last year. Guess the best I can do is try and order from someone who is already at a higher elevation. Maybe start with some mix breed hatching eggs, some of those 'farm fresh' eggs that get listed on Craigslist. Hard to go wrong at ~$3 a dozen.

i got my black sex link at jax's last yr, but i don't know if they were selling any other sex links

 

[dennarahl]

LOL. Where did you get Perry?

my daughter helped name him and the 5 others she gave me for my birthday. Perry is the platypus from Phineas and Ferb.

The two black naked necks are Phineas and Ferb, the doms are Candice and Perry, and the brown naked necks are Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer. If it were completely up to her she would have named half of them Rapunzel and the other half would be Pascal but we already had those names in the older girls.

 

[dennarahl]

I will defiantly buy local if possible. I just don't remember anyone selling sex link hatching eggs last year. Guess the best I can do is try and order from someone who is already at a higher elevation. Maybe start with some mix breed hatching eggs, some of those 'farm fresh' eggs that get listed on Craigslist. Hard to go wrong at ~$3 a dozen.

I don't know what breeds you have, or if you have a rooster at all, but you might be able to breed your own. My red boy with my SLWs creates a red sex link. I don't know what the girl looks like now, since she was sold at about 6 weeks, but the roo is pretty. Once i get breeding pens set up (which will be a couple months i think) I'd be happy to breed some for you if you're still wanting them.

 

[coloradogal]

I brought hatching eggs up from sea level (VA), and got about a 60% hatch, but I have heard from more than Mayah that big elevation changes for shipped fertile eggs create hatching issues. Apparently it has to do with air pressure changes. I already have an order from some folks in SW Washington, and will be sending extras to them because of the hatch rate issues. They live at 34 ft.

As Mayah said, buy local if you can, and either hatch them yourself or buy extra chicks from a local breeder.

I am now rethinking some of my breeder pullet options, now that it looks like Abraham (aka Mr, Pig) may end up being over SoP weight. Unless I can put hiom on a treadmill and a diet....... If he is overweight by March, I will go with a couple of smaller pullets so the offspring is smaller. Of course, those big meaty Dom roosters are SOOOOOO yummy......

They should have incredible hatch rates going from here to there. I'm attaching a link. http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1123/hatching-at-high-altitudes

I think Abraham is beautiful. Is it possible he's just eating too much and needs a diet? Or could you breed him just for your own meat stock?

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

I don't know what breeds you have, or if you have a rooster at all, but you might be able to breed your own. My red boy with my SLWs creates a red sex link. I don't know what the girl looks like now, since she was sold at about 6 weeks, but the roo is pretty. Once i get breeding pens set up (which will be a couple months i think) I'd be happy to breed some for you if you're still wanting them.

I will be trying to keep a Silkie boy under the radar but roosters are illegal in the springs. I can argue that he isn't legally defined as a rooster until a year of age but I still might get noise citations if he finds his voice and likes it. :/

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Wsmith & Coloradogal- thanks for the elevation tips and the other knowledge too. I am trying to do the math on this now... Just figuring out how many chicks it would take to pay for the incubator at the moment...

Kmatt- who is Jax? Is he in the Denver area?

 

[coloradogal]

I will be trying to keep a Silkie boy under the radar but roosters are illegal in the springs. I can argue that he isn't legally defined as a rooster until a year of age but I still might get noise citations if he finds his voice and likes it.

My silkie boys are quieter than the girls when they do their happy egg song. I don't understand the whole rooster ban thing due to noise. My girls are louder, on average, than the boys.

Still looking for takers on kefir grains or kombucha mamas. Mine grow like gangbusters and I do believe that once you the kefir, both milk or water, you'll love it. My water kefir grains make the best natural sodas with lots and lots of foam. I use my milk for bread but too long a rise seems to impact gluten structure so not a supplement for sour dough starter. I have never tried my kefir water or kombucha for bread. I will have to try that as I bet the kombucha would make a better bread, more like beer bread i would assume.

 

[wsmith]

They should have incredible hatch rates going from here to there. I'm attaching a link. http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1123/hatching-at-high-altitudes

I think Abraham is beautiful. Is it possible he's just eating too much and needs a diet? Or could you breed him just for your own meat stock?

Very good article. AFter you and I talked last summer, we had the discussion on one of the Dom threads somewhere... anyway, we came to the same conclusions based on observations.

BTW, Dominiques, though not red or black sex-links, are sex linked. You can tell the gender as soon as they are dry.