DELAWARES, Barred Rock *** PIPS AND ZIPS ***

[tnchickenut]

Yellow, everyone.

Just starting a thread to let anyone and everyone who is interested keep up with this hatch. I got these eggs from speckledhen and got them in the 'bator. I went down to her place in search of Dels, but ended up with two new breeds! I'll probrably keep the hens I want and sell or trade the others. (and hopefully there will be plenty to choose from) Some of you may know I don't eat eggs. (yes, yes, I know... chicken lover don't like eggs!?! Say whaaa!?!) Anyways, I don't like eggs, which is what led me to breeding... see I always liked chickens. BUT my mother and her friends always want eatting eggs from me... and you don't say no to your mother. So, I need some utility birds. I will have a laying flock of Dels, Barred Rocks, and Orpingtons if this all goes as planned. Fingers crossed!

BTW, my MO is to candle on day 7, 10,14, and 18 (when I add water and go into lockdown).... I will keep all posted on temps, candling results, and any other stories to tell. Hopefully it won't be like my hatch before last. The utility board decided to turn the power off my part of town for repairs or something (thanks for the warning!) and when I called and politely explained I needed to know how long it would last because I had eggs in the incubator, she got smart with me and told me it would come one when they were done. DUH!

Sigh.

Wish me luck!

 

[mulia24]

You are lucky to not live in country of power outage like me.

and in my country, power company won't give any warning before turning off the whole region power.

how about using kerosene lamp as temporary heat source?

or you can use tail lamp usually used in motor cycle or car.

good luck with you

 

[tnchickenut]

Quote:
America will be there with you sooner or later. They don't keep anything up or update fast enough. Sooner we all get with solar or wind power the better off we all will be.

 

[kathyinmo]

Hi Stacy!
This will be tons of fun! You will have to post lots of pictures, ya know! Welcome to the Delaware obsession!

Hope you won't get tired of Delaware talk. SOME people are just crazy about those little creatures!

Oh ... it is soooo exciting! Gonna be fun!

 

[speckledhen]

Stacy is already obsessed, I think.

Stacy, I'm sorry you had to see poor scabby Ike yesterday. He is such a handsome dude, but those evil women of his, sheesh! Your Del eggs are from my three best hens, so hopefully, you'll get some great birds out of those. Even then, I feel that my rooster is a better breed example, overall, than my girls, but Gracie, Ike's daughter, is pretty darn good, so they are producing nice Delawares, even Kira's comb hasn't been passed on thanks to Ike's influence. If I'd had more girls, I'd probably have let Maxie and Phoebe go, so it's just as well they weren't laying when I collected these. Cetawin, isn't your Cannonball Phoebe's daughter? I know that Fattie belongs to Kira.

 

[tnchickenut]

lol. yeah, I was already obsessed... just not online.

It's ok. Elvis isn't in his best form right now either. He is all muddy where he got wet last week, then muddy... now he looks like he is sickly. He isn't. He just looks like it.

The temperture on the eggs is right where it needs to be for now. I will post as many pictures as possible.

Thanks again!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

I'm excited for you!!! Hope they all hatch!

 

[tnchickenut]

I meant to tell you all...

I put them in the incubator by which hen laid them... speckledhen writes the girl's names on them, so I took it as a opertunity to organize them in the incubator, and then I will put chick bands on them according to who's momma is who. I just have to be quick about it before they start popping out of the shells like popcorn. Ever notice that? one hatches, then another, then BAM! ... 5 at once! then it slows down, and you will almost always have that one that is trying but seems to not be in a hurry at all. Just like popcorn.

 

[speckledhen]

I didn't put names on every Del egg, but you can almost guess whose is whose since Georgie lays the dark ones and Ellie's are medium toned, sometimes with speckles. And, of course, Gracies' are still smaller and with a more pointy end than the others. All the Orps belong to Dusty since when I collected them, Smoky wasn't laying post-molt. She is now, though. The first one I cracked for fertility and it was. Trimmed Suede's spurs this morning since the girls can't seem to keep saddles on very well lately.

I think you may have one of Kira's in there, though. There was a very llarge, round, very light colored egg, which is her trademark. She may be starting back up after her hard molt. Gracie is her daughter and had mostly barred tail feathers which molted out and by 18 weeks, she was getting nice tail black.

 

[tnchickenut]

Today is day 6... I'm trying my best to stay calm and not try to candle too early. This is the hardest part for me. Some people have trouble with "lock down"... I have a problem with the first candling. I want to know!!! I get so excited to see those blood vessels and that little black dot swaying from side to side! I'll be candling tomarrow night, though. I will post what I find. So far there hasn't been any trouble with the incubator or anything, so I excpect it to go well.

Side note: I'm trying to purchase three or more large buildings to make into coops. I was originally going to go with wooden buildings, but I'm thinking that I can go with metal carports and build the wooden coops into them... dividing them up in to multiple coops. Anyone have any experience with either and give me the pros and cons....?