Colorado

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Congrats! Are they from similar elevation? Saw this in the WalMart parking lot today, I'm sure it's old hat to some people but I thought it was awesome lol

She's at over 4k feet, I think 4,300. So about 2k below us but much better than sea level like all the rest I found.

 

[Chesterchook]

Yeah I've been looking around in the hopes of lining up something for when we get an incubator, don't know why there's so many people who insist on residing at lower elevations. Good luck with your hatch!

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Yeah I've been looking around in the hopes of lining up something for when we get an incubator, don't know why there's so many people who insist on residing at lower elevations.   Good luck with your hatch!

Thanks! I will keep you posted! The other person who bought her eggs just candled at day 11 and has 100% developing.

 

[chickenbirds]

Hello All-

Just thought I'd sign up to this forum since I've found it quite helpful. New nothing about raising chickens till this year when we got three hens in April. It's been great fun!

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Hello All-

Just thought I'd sign up to this forum since I've found it quite helpful.  New nothing about raising chickens till this year when we got three hens in April.  It's been great fun!

Welcome! Glad you have been enjoying the site! There is certainly a lot to look through.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Wendell, what kind of leg bands do you recommend? I will need some way to mark boys from girls with the Doms eventually and a way to differentiate breeds with this first batch.

 

[wsmith]

Wendell, what kind of leg bands do you recommend? I will need some way to mark boys from girls with the Doms eventually and a way to differentiate breeds with this first batch.

You will laugh........

We use a blue highlighter and mark the head spot of the boys until they feather out.

By then it is easy to tell the difference, even from a distance.

I like the plastic colored numbered bands personally. Last year was white, this year is blue I buy them from culter supply

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

You will laugh........

We use a blue highlighter and mark the head spot of the boys until they feather out.

By then it is easy to tell the difference, even from a distance.

I like the plastic colored numbered bands personally. Last year was white, this year is blue I buy them from culter supply

That's AWESOME! Betting that would work with a sharpie too. I have a blue sharpie around here somewhere...

 

[suncatcher]

I did a subscription to Hobby Farm this past year. Informative, but I don't think I will renew the subscription. I was thinking about Poultry Press...

Just looked at Poultry Press site, and ordered a sample issue for $3. I hope there is some info in Hobby Farm, we are hoping to put up a goat house and pen, and thought they might be a good mag to get some ideas from.

 

[suncatcher]

Pozees: When you come over we'll go through my digital poultry old-time library and you can have copies of whatever you want. I really enjoyed "the call of the hen"

I took some time over the weekend and set up a tentative breeding/setting/hatching schedule. Of course, it is all subject to change, but I needed to have something of a plan writen down. There will be specific periods that I will have fertile eggs available. After we do 4 hatches, if the hatch rates are good enough (i want about 100 chicks this year) I can keep the breeding pen running until people don't want any more fertile eggs, at ehich point the breeding pen will be shut down.
Here is the tentative schedule:

2013 Eggs collection and incubation/hatching schedule
Windy Ridge Dominiques

1 cockerel, 6 hens in breeding pen

Feb 23: Set up breeding pen
Feb 27: collect eggs 1 week
Mar 07: Set eggs
Mar 8-20: collect fertile hatching eggs (potentially about 70 eggs available)
Mar 20: collect eggs 1 week
Mar 28-ish: 1st Hatch
Mar 29: Set eggs
Mar 30-Apr 11: collect fertile hatching eggs (potentially about 70 eggs available)
Apr 12: collect eggs 1 week
Apr 19-ish: 2nd Hatch
Apr 20: Set eggs
Apr 20 – May 6: collect fertile hatching eggs (potentially about 70 eggs available)
May 07: Collect eggs 1 week
May 13-ish: 3rd Hatch
May 15-?: collect for selling fertile hatching eggs
May 15: Set eggs
Jun 05-ish: 4th hatch

If we get an 80% hatch rate, then we should have around 100 chicks. More could be set…..

Is there a way to "save" this post to a place on my profile? Just wondering........

Glad to see you will have a May fertile hatch eggs sell date, if you don't sell any chicks this year, that is the one I would be interested in. Just have to learn how to set eggs by then!