Delawares from kathyinmo

[finnfur]

You all know I had a failed clutch under a broody. It was due to hatch early last week ... I said I was going to clear it out of the nest today.

Long story short, when I was moving the disappointed broody's tray out of her broody cage I heard peeping! I took a quick look and she has one tiny chick. Tiny! It must have hatched today. I cannot believe one hatched after all that time. I have some theories about why ...

I set the tray down on the floor of the Delawares' cage with everything in place ... chick, broody and the other eggs. Now it is up to the broody to take care of the wee chick and figure out when she wants to move off the eggs. I won't leave the other eggs too long. I hope the Dels leave broody and chick alone. She is a sweet broody, so I don't know how fierce she will be. It is a very roomy coop for the 5 of them.

The chick seems to be all yellow. I just don't see well right now, and I didn't want to bother them too much, so that's all I know.

I think I would call that chick " Easter Surprise" LOL
I had one die Easter morning - no indication was sick ??

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I think I would call that chick " Easter Surprise" LOL
I had one die Easter morning - no indication was sick ??

Awwww. Bummer.

I'm really pleased this broody got one chick for all her hard work, but it messed up my plan! I need another broody ASAP.

 

[finnfur]

Bert looks good in that fresh Winter Wheat doesn't he ?

Second run of F5s six of 18 have hatched so far.

 

[Beekissed]

Bert looks good in that fresh Winter Wheat doesn't he ?

Second run of F5s six of 18 have hatched so far.

Sure does! So very vibrantly colored! Love his shape....

 

[Zanna]

I like bert! Update on your hatch?

Day 21 for me tonight, 6 of 13 out so far. Last hatch for a while. I have 3 more broodies just started (Leslie do you want one?) The Dels are all on free range with one Del Cock and an old leghorn who i dont' even think is fertile any more. May slide some of the del eggs under them and see what happens. A leghorn cross should speed up their development don't you think Can you say hatchery Delawares? I say dinner if it should happen!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I like bert!  Update on your hatch?

Day 21 for me tonight, 6 of 13 out so far.  Last hatch for a while.  I have 3 more broodies just started (Leslie do you want one?)   The Dels are all on free range with one Del Cock and an old leghorn who i dont' even think is fertile any more.  May slide some of the del eggs under them and see what happens.  A leghorn cross should speed up their development don't you think   Can you say hatchery Delawares?  I say dinner if it should happen!

Six chicks is nice! I hope more hatch for you.

And I think it is great to grow your own meat ... kinda half the point, practically speaking. That and eggs. You guys do have that plucker, you might as well put it to good use. We have a decent market up here for processed cockerels ...

As for me, at the moment I have exactly the numbers of broodies I need. Finally. And I think I'll be able to get more ...

It took a while to get everyone here understanding the concept of broody bait decoy eggs. Then it took a while to get everyone up to speed on identifying a broody. Also, it took a bit to get everyone understanding how many eggs can fit under one broody. But a bit of failure seems to have been instructive. And just today some things "fell" into place and I finally saw some genuine understanding from my partners. Le sigh.

Translation: "we" insisted on putting too many eggs under one broody, so she couldn't cover them well and they were slow to hatch, starting a week late and hatching over too many days, and the poor broody was distraught. The chicks didn't make it, and "we" had to deal with that, too, which made "us" very sad. Finally, "we" had the idea to make some important adjustments.

It's all been frustrating and upsetting to me. I went through the learning curve differently myself the past two years, and was ready for a serious breeding program this spring. But my partner didn't/wasn't and I was not successful influencing how we went about managing the first hatch. That's my failing and it makes me sick.

I am surprised anything at all hatched from the first clutch. There is so much flexibility in how eggs are incubated it is really amazing. I think possibly at least one chick might have made it if we had been set up a little differently, but the poor broody was torn between tending each new chick and continuing to incubate the eggs, and the chicks seemed more small and frail than "regular" hatches. Probably because of the wonky incubation. It was a depressing mess I feel like I let the project down.

I've got 4 clutches going right now and will probably continue to start clutches as I get broodies.

And I might hatch some "pretty" eggs over in the laying flock. That's always fun.

 

[finnfur]

I like bert! Update on your hatch?

Day 21 for me tonight, 6 of 13 out so far. Last hatch for a while. I have 3 more broodies just started (Leslie do you want one?) The Dels are all on free range with one Del Cock and an old leghorn who i dont' even think is fertile any more. May slide some of the del eggs under them and see what happens. A leghorn cross should speed up their development don't you think Can you say hatchery Delawares? I say dinner if it should happen!

Ok you are rolling along.

We now have 11 of the 18 set - I think thats it but waiting till morning to see.
This batch got a lot of movement from foam a bator to Kenmorbator then adjusting everything.
Had a harder time keeping humidity up in this hatch. Was easier in the Foamy.
But on a learning curve.
Its still better hatch than the broodys did LOL

Six chicks is nice! I hope more hatch for you.

And I think it is great to grow your own meat ... kinda half the point, practically speaking. That and eggs. You guys do have that plucker, you might as well put it to good use. We have a decent market up here for processed cockerels ...

Where you sell you processed cockerels ? A farm market .?


I've got 4 clutches going right now and will probably continue to start clutches as I get broodys
Wow - you keeping them girls working LOL

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

For selling cockerels, we have some egg customers that asked about "real" chicken meat. They were quite happy to buy all our cockerels we processed just before Christmas, and at a price I thought was crazy high considering. After we sold them all, we found out our crew here (we have a farm) wanted them and would have happily paid for them. Our crew had just been too shy to ask, but now we know. I suppose we could do farmers markets ... if they were processed properly for that. Sell cockerels for coq au vin ... premium pricing!

But a lot of local people want organic or GMO-free, and we are neither. At least not yet.

I only kept two cockerels for us to eat cuz I have two giant freezers full of giant turkeys I need to eat. :/

I think a good customer base for cockerels would be people who have eaten chicken outside of the USA, away from the generic factory farmed Cornish X ... We get a lot of interest in our chicken and duck eggs and turkey meat from international people.

About keeping the birds working ... the three Delawares I have live together in a big coop ... over 200 square feet, and have a large private run. I'm not going to remove the rooster. The hens are laying really well and the roo is still mating them, so I figure I might as well hatch the eggs as sell or eat them. As long as I have broodies ...

Broodies are never guaranteed ...

 

[finnfur]

For selling cockerels, we have some egg customers that asked about "real" chicken meat. They were quite happy to buy all our cockerels we processed just before Christmas, and at a price I thought was crazy high considering. After we sold them all, we found out our crew here (we have a farm) wanted them and would have happily paid for them. Our crew had just been too shy to ask, but now we know. I suppose we could do farmers markets ... if they were processed properly for that. Sell cockerels for coq au vin ... premium pricing!

Ok thanks

Broodies are never guaranteed ...

Dont I know it ! Lol

 

[crazyhen]

NOOOOOOOO not yet. I have a broody Dell! I wanted to wait until I went to the mtns to hatch any more. Although that might not happen. Its just acc. to how my Moms test turned out. The Dr. called wanting to have her in for a visit. That does not sound good. If they were neg. the Dr. office is usually only to glad to tell they are. We will try to set up one tomorrow.