Colorado

[suncatcher]

Most common form is dry ice. Some grocery stores carry it. I can't remember where my Mom got the CO2 tank then we made a bucket with hose going to it. That was many years ago.

Did a Yahoo search, and you can "make" it by mixing vinegar and Baking soda. Will check out the dry ice method too!

 

[AlivianAcres]

OK...so I'm kinda addicted to hatching now hehe.

And all of my friends are asking when I'm gonna sell eggs so I guess I should increase my flock size even more (rofl...chicken math!!!)

If anyone has fertile eggs near me that would b interested in selling me some I'd be super happy!!! Mixed breeds are totally OK! We love guessing what they will look like! I have some beautiful babies hatched from Dennarahl's eggs!!! (I would love more the next time your over this way please!!!!). Any takers? Lol

 

[suncatcher]

So for the majority of my life I've had chickens since I was 10 years old. This year I barely found BYC. Since then my thoughts have been back and forth on how I want to continue. I know I need good egg layers because I sell a lot of eggs (color doesn't matter). I no longer want to purchase chicks but hatch my own to replace & also sell started pullets. The majority of my flock is landrace a lot like Coloradogal. However, I do feel I want to focus on one breed specifically and SOP. I'm really drawn to Delaware. Anyone here have any experience with them? It seems they may be a difficult breed to locate "non-hatchery".

I don't have any experience with them, but they sure are a beautiful chicken!!!! There is some info on this site, as I have seen some really nice pictures of flocks here on BYC.

 

[Pozees]

Mark Fields, who wrote (literally) the book on American Dominique's, says there may have been red doms, which was states on the HLF thread, but they also left out his statements which said in a nutshell, that many people confuse the American Dominique breed with the coloring and cuckoo pattern. The red dom that was shown looks to me like a cross of some sort, which may breed true and subsequently could possibly be considered its own breed, but it lacks the body shape (type) of an American Dominique. It would also appear that this type is VERY rare, and possibly only kept by this one older gentleman. It also had some coloring that wasn't consistent with American Dominiques. If I were to picture a red dom in my mind, it would be all red and white/grey, not the multi-colored bird that was shown. That being said, it was an interesting bird.

I just downloaded the Fields book for Kindle the other day - I don't have a Kindle, but I downloaded the Kindle for PC software, it makes it easy to read, although so far I haven't figured out how to see what page I'm on. I haven't gotten to the part about the Red Doms yet. I thought the same thing about the coloring, but I don't know enough yet about how color and patterns work together to know if there is the possibility of an all red and white/grey bird. If there is it could be an interesting project for down the road - presumably it would take Doms with strong type that breeds true and a red bird (maybe RIR as mentioned on HLF) with a strong pedigree for color but type that is more like a Dom than a RIR, which I guess would amount to a cull for a RIR breeder. I was reading another book that states color is from the male and that chicks will most resemble their paternal grandfather, and that was the first time I had seen that, it was from the Felch book written in 1877, and I'm not sure if there is a line between fact and opinion there.

There is no end to reading, and it makes me wish I had weeks to just read and absorb LOL. No such luck.

 

[Pozees]

So for the majority of my life I've had chickens since I was 10 years old. This year I barely found BYC. Since then my thoughts have been back and forth on how I want to continue. I know I need good egg layers because I sell a lot of eggs (color doesn't matter). I no longer want to purchase chicks but hatch my own to replace & also sell started pullets. The majority of my flock is landrace a lot like Coloradogal. However, I do feel I want to focus on one breed specifically and SOP. I'm really drawn to Delaware. Anyone here have any experience with them? It seems they may be a difficult breed to locate "non-hatchery".

No personal experience, but Kathyinmo has posted some pictures of hers on the Heritage Large Fowl thread, and they are beautiful. I don't know whether she sells chicks, this has been a recreation project for her, taking the breeds that were the foundation of the Delaware and making Delawares. Looks to me like she's done a great job.

 

[coloradogal]

Most common form is dry ice. Some grocery stores carry it. I can't remember where my Mom got the CO2 tank then we made a bucket with hose going to it. That was many years ago.

But just go slow enough so that they fall asleep first. I use my soda stream.

 

[Chesterchook]

OK...so I'm kinda addicted to hatching now hehe.
And all of my friends are asking when I'm gonna sell eggs so I guess I should increase my flock size even more (rofl...chicken math!!!)
If anyone has fertile eggs near me that would b interested in selling me some I'd be super happy!!! Mixed breeds are totally OK! We love guessing what they will look like! I have some beautiful babies hatched from Dennarahl's eggs!!! (I would love more the next time your over this way please!!!!). Any takers? Lol

We're getting fertile eggs now, pretty sure Marans roo is doing all the work. Most of the eggs are from our Hamburg and dark Brahma, though our welsummer just plopped one out in front of us earlier today.
Anyone know how quickly the eggs become unviable when it's this cold?

 

[wsmith]

I just downloaded the Fields book for Kindle the other day - I don't have a Kindle, but I downloaded the Kindle for PC software, it makes it easy to read, although so far I haven't figured out how to see what page I'm on. I haven't gotten to the part about the Red Doms yet. I thought the same thing about the coloring, but I don't know enough yet about how color and patterns work together to know if there is the possibility of an all red and white/grey bird. If there is it could be an interesting project for down the road - presumably it would take Doms with strong type that breeds true and a red bird (maybe RIR as mentioned on HLF) with a strong pedigree for color but type that is more like a Dom than a RIR, which I guess would amount to a cull for a RIR breeder. I was reading another book that states color is from the male and that chicks will most resemble their paternal grandfather, and that was the first time I had seen that, it was from the Felch book written in 1877, and I'm not sure if there is a line between fact and opinion there.

There is no end to reading, and it makes me wish I had weeks to just read and absorb LOL. No such luck.

Mark is now a freind of mine, and I am honored to have him as my main Dominique mentor. He is a vast resource of info and anything Dominique. I have read his book three times now, and continue to find new tidbits. Of course, being able to email him whenever I have a question doesn't hurt either....

 

[Pozees]

Mark is now a freind of mine, and I am honored to have him as my main Dominique mentor. He is a vast resource of info and anything Dominique. I have read his book three times now, and continue to find new tidbits. Of course, being able to email him whenever I have a question doesn't hurt either....

How cool is that?! I read in the preface about how the project came to him, and admire the work he did to assemble all that information.

 

[Pozees]

We're getting fertile eggs now, pretty sure Marans roo is doing all the work. Most of the eggs are from our Hamburg and dark Brahma, though our welsummer just plopped one out in front of us earlier today.
Anyone know how quickly the eggs become unviable when it's this cold?

There has just been a discussion about this very topic on HLF, and one of the folks who has been breeding for some time says if the egg isn't cracked, it goes in the incubator. If you have room, I don't see how it could hurt to try. Many say they let the egg come to room temp first.