Colorado

[Euarto Gullible]

So how does it work if you breed a austrolorp with an EE will you get a chicken that lays blue eggs and as frequently as the austrolorp? or is it just randomized

Most EE are mutts and carry both blue egg and brown egg genes, meaning that a pairing with a pure Australorp could produce everything from varying shades of light green to brown. Quantity of eggs would vary from bird to bird.

 

[trsturself]

well said Margie. Sorry for your loss Josh.

x3


I tossed the last 8 eggs. There were no internal pips or signs of life. They weren't shrink wrapped and the air cells were a good size. Since they all made it to the hatching stage the only reason I can find that isn't related to humidity is poor ventilation.

I made some modifications to the incubator. I drilled 2 more ventilation holes in the top, added a new fan that pulls air from the top and bottom, added a large piece of flagstone and more rocks to the bottom to act as heat sinks, disinfected the whole thing (including the rocks), and sealed up the edges of the hole in the top. The lid of the cooler is hollow inside so when I cut a hole for the window the inside of the lid was open, I think a lot of the humidity and heat got lost through this and that's why it was hard to get things to stabilize.
If I ever do eggs after this next batch, I'll add some heat reflectors to the lights to lessen any chances of hot/cold spots.

The 8 chicks that hatched are doing well. The splash silkie has the coolest pattern. We are keeping it if it's a girl. The BO or RIR looks neat too, a buff chipmunk. The BCM is blue, fluffy, and super soft. They are eating (I crushed the food to an almost powder) and I'm dipping their beaks to make them drink.

 

[suncatcher]

 
well said Margie. Sorry for your loss Josh.

x3


I tossed the last 8 eggs. There were no internal pips or signs of life. They weren't shrink wrapped and the air cells were a good size. Since they all made it to the hatching stage the only reason I can find that isn't related to humidity is poor ventilation. 

I made some modifications to the incubator. I drilled 2 more ventilation holes in the top, added a new fan that pulls air from the top and bottom, added a large piece of flagstone and more rocks to the bottom to act as heat sinks, disinfected the whole thing (including the rocks), and sealed up the edges of the hole in the top. The lid of the cooler is hollow inside so when I cut a hole for the window the inside of the lid was open, I think a lot of the humidity and heat got lost through this and that's why it was hard to get things to stabilize. 
If I ever do eggs after this next batch, I'll add some heat reflectors to the lights to lessen any chances of hot/cold spots. 

The 8 chicks that hatched are doing well. The splash silkie has the coolest pattern. We are keeping it if it's a girl. The BO or RIR looks neat too, a buff chipmunk. The BCM is blue, fluffy, and super soft. They are eating (I crushed the food to an almost powder) and I'm dipping their beaks to make them drink. 

Glad everyone that made it out is doing well. I was thinking about your humidity level, and since we are so dry here, you might try for some humidity, even if it is only very low, say around 30 percent. The hen would be giving off humidity through her skin is why I am thinking this may be needed. Not sure what you said you had it on for this last hatch.... It is a learning experience, just keep plugging along, and one day you will have a hatch of 90 percent! Here is hoping you have all hens, and no roosters! Not sure where the chipmunk is from, Rooster is laced, so maybe that is why??? Did the Java come out mottled, if not then my Iowa Blue may be laying eggs the same color as my Java's.

Also, sorry for you loss, these things happen, and sometimes we just don't know why. Doesn't make it any easier though........

 

[trsturself]

Glad everyone that made it out is doing well. I was thinking about your humidity level, and since we are so dry here, you might try for some humidity, even if it is only very low, say around 30 percent. The hen would be giving off humidity through her skin is why I am thinking this may be needed. Not sure what you said you had it on for this last hatch.... It is a learning experience, just keep plugging along, and one day you will have a hatch of 90 percent! Here is hoping you have all hens, and no roosters! Not sure where the chipmunk is from, Rooster is laced, so maybe that is why??? Did the Java come out mottled, if not then my Iowa Blue may be laying eggs the same color as my Java's.

Also, sorry for you loss, these things happen, and sometimes we just don't know why. Doesn't make it any easier though........

I assumed since the barnevelder chicks are chipmunked, that's where it came from. The other one doesn't look like either a java or iowa. It looks like a black chick like a BA does. I'll try to get some pics today and post them.

 

[suncatcher]

Glad everyone that made it out is doing well. I was thinking about your humidity level, and since we are so dry here, you might try for some humidity, even if it is only very low, say around 30 percent. The hen would be giving off humidity through her skin is why I am thinking this may be needed. Not sure what you said you had it on for this last hatch.... It is a learning experience, just keep plugging along, and one day you will have a hatch of 90 percent! Here is hoping you have all hens, and no roosters! Not sure where the chipmunk is from, Rooster is laced, so maybe that is why??? Did the Java come out mottled, if not then my Iowa Blue may be laying eggs the same color as my Java's.


Also, sorry for you loss, these things happen, and sometimes we just don't know why. Doesn't make it any easier though........

I assumed since the barnevelder chicks are chipmunked, that's where it came from. The other one doesn't look like either a java or iowa. It looks like a black chick like a BA does. I'll try to get some pics today and post them. 

Yep, you are right, they do have Chipmunked pattern, not sure how I could forget that! I do have a Barnevelder cross rooster in with them too, but he rarely gets to "meet" the girls, as my big boy runs him off. I will get some pictures of the boys. I have no Black Australorpe here, but my IB is mostly black, she does have some brown on her, but very little. Guess we will see, bet those spalsh Silkies are ADORABLE!

 

[trsturself]

Here's the chicks.
This is the darker of the 2 dark silkies

The lighter one

This is the last silkie to hatch

I love the color on this one!

This is the one that came out of the egg marked Java - after looking at more pics I think it might be the Iowa Blue

This is the BCM (should've turned the flash on but didn't realize it was this bad until I was posting)

This is the bantam cochin (MF?)

And our buff chipmunk

 

[suncatcher]

...

Here's the chicks.
This is the darker of the 2 dark silkies


They are all cute! Yep, the java will be mottled, that is what the yellow patchs are, they will turn white. The MF may be Mottled/split for MF, is hard to tell at this age, the MF project chicks change a lot!!

Here are some of my roosters.......


















hmmm, acting like the attached, but not sure.

 

[chlskt]

My eggs go on lock down on the 19th, I tried to candle them but it's all black inside. I'm hoping that's a good sign. I candled about day 10 and saw lots of veining on all of them so I'm hopeful we will have a good hatch. They are EE eggs, 17 of them.The air sacs look good too. I'll keep you all up date as it gets closer! So excited!!

 

[trsturself]

Quote: Looks like you tried to put the pics inside the quote tags.

Yes right now the cochin looks mottled. We'll see how it turns out.

 

[suncatcher]

My eggs go on lock down on the 19th, I tried to candle them but it's all black inside. I'm hoping that's a good sign. I candled about day 10 and saw lots of veining on all of them so I'm hopeful we will have a good hatch. They are EE eggs, 17 of them.The air sacs look good too. I'll keep you all up date as it gets closer! So excited!!

That is a great sign!!! Wow, was that on shipped eggs? If so, you did really, really well! Looking forward to your hatch news and pictures!