Eastern Tennessee Thread

[Lunar]

I went out to my coop this morning to let everyone out and feed/water.....

I got my first egg!!!! From the size of it...the D'uccle laid it. She is Mille Fleur and in with my Serama Trio. I am soooo tempted to see what I get, since they are mille's as well. She is very pretty and I love my little Sarge. I saw him "try" to breed her last week, but then she shrugged him off. So it may just be a hen thing, roo or not, but I am tempted.

 

[Goose and Fig]

Hi all!
I posted on the Mid TN thread as well, just in case. I am near Dunlap, and have an extra splash/dilute grey Sebastopol looking for a new flock. If anybody can use him, PM or email me. My subscriptions don't work for some reason, so I can't keep up with the threads.

Maybe Genelda is still looking???? Here he is:

 

[stanglover2001]

Eggs are on day 17, go into lock down tomorrow! No classes til next Tuesday! Oh, and one of my does is pulling fur!

 

[itsthelaw37801]

Tommy and I started building our small coop/run today for the Brahmas. We have the frame done. Whoo-hoo! So far, it hasn't cost us a dime. We went to the lumber scraps behind the house. I have the bantams in the rabbit run tonight. The wil inherit the chicken tractor. All we do is move 'em around, move 'em around and then move 'em around. Hopefully, this will give Tommy the incentive to build the coop of my dreams. We have a hill. Saw a coop with a run down a hill on this site. It was perfect. They had even dug out a ditch all the way around it and buried the chicken wire.

I'll take some photos.

 

[bairo]

Count the next day as day 1. I have incubated at 99 this time so I am curious to see if the temp affects the hen to roo ration. I have 2 eggs internally pipped. I have worried and worried over my columbian sillkie eggs. The air sacs are running down the side of the egg. It looks like the chicks are still moving but I know I will have to take them out because there is no way they can rotate to zip. I think I am going to start letting my eggs sit 18 -24 hrs. from now on. If you have detached air sacs they can sometimes correct themselves by doing that and when put in incubator need to be sit straight up because when it reattaches it is very fragile. Also you don't candle until at least day 10 and then at LD if you feel you need to. The article I read on this was very interesting.

Me too. Start at day zero and count 21 days minus 12 hours. I.E. set on Saturday evening at 6pm and I usually see pipps the third Saturday at 6am.
Terry...i'm trying the same thing too. I usually am 99.5-100.5 and this time I am 98.9-99.9 So we shall see if that 6/10ths lower on the average makes a diff. or not.

 

[bairo]

Here is a pic of Satan (he seems to hate women!) But at least he is letting go when he bites me now.

....the blue wheaten from Rod/Daphne. He is so beautiful. Daphne...I am going to check but I am pretty sure your ameracuanas are dbl tufted. I am going to send some pics to Harry Shaffer and see what he thinks. Here is also a lav that come from him who is....his looks so much like hers it makes me think he is too ...which is a great thing!!
The little polish in the previous post is only 2 mo. old. She is going to have a beautiful crest like her sisters in the last pic.





Lavender




These are a new crele project I am working on.

Satan is looking good!! You know he really got attached to me, lol. He always just "cooed" and would just rub his beak back and forth on me. I'm sorry he hates woman...but it is pretty funny

 

[bairo]

I went out to my coop this morning to let everyone out and feed/water.....

I got my first egg!!!! From the size of it...the D'uccle laid it. She is Mille Fleur and in with my Serama Trio. I am soooo tempted to see what I get, since they are mille's as well. She is very pretty and I love my little Sarge. I saw him "try" to breed her last week, but then she shrugged him off. So it may just be a hen thing, roo or not, but I am tempted.

Congrats on the egg and the hatching!!! Boy, you are hooked now, LOL

 

[bairo]

thanks folks...I am thrilled. Now I have to wonder...what will I do if this is the only one that hatches? These guys are sooooo tiny. He will get totally lost in a brooder alone. I suppose I could section it off. I know I saw movement in them all last night when I added water to the incubator. But so far...they are all still intact. I cannot wait to see what color this one is. There was a mille fleur hen in the pen these eggs came from. The roo was a black or a black mottled one, she told me.

This one keeps calling...so maybe he will coax another out of the shell.

TNBarnQueen those polish are awesome. And you little blue/splash? chick is pretty. Can't wait to see if that darkens down or lightens up

Shame....... I know it's hard, but they call it lock down for a reason

Stop giving in to temptation and finding reasons to open the bator, LOL The new one will be fine in there for a good 24 hours. Helps them get a good start and keeps them good and warm while they dry and fluff out. By then you will have some more coming out.

 

[Lunar]

YES, I am hooked. Thank you Bairo.

My little Serama is doing good. He is up and interacting with me thru the window. He comes and stands right under it when I go look in. Now the question is....do I try to hatch my D'uccle/Serama cross egg? Terry, was she in with a roo before I got her? Which one? I know they can hold "stuff" for a while, so this could be pure, I suppose. It will be 2 weeks Saturday that I got her. Decisions, decisions

thanks again!

OH, and AJ.....my little rooster Serama is the coooooooolest little guy. He is such a sweety. Thank you for my little gang.

 

[TNBarnQueen]

@AJ...I have gotten so use to doing staggered hatches I don't know if I could do a regular one.

Yes..they say do not touch while in lockdown, give them 2-3 extra days...sit on your hands and let natural selection do it's thing. OK...now I want everyone to remember this is what I do in a situation where an egg has been pipped for over 8-10 hours with no progress...has shown no sign of pipping several hours after the first one hatches. I am NOT saying that others of you should do what I do. We all have our procedures and way of doing things. I really don't think there is a wrong way or a right way to incubate and hatch eggs. Every ones conditions are different so it makes it individualized.

If hatching has stopped several hours after the first ones....I take the plug out..so that if one is pipped it prevents suction causing shrink wrap. I check the eggs that have shown NO progress. I take a warm wet cloth to put the egg in.. put to my ear to listen first for pecking or peeps....then I check for movement. If they seem to be OK...I put back in. Now...if they have been pipped over 10 hours with no progress I take it out...check for life then I take a portion of the top shell off and pull the think membrane back. If I see blood I put a very wet warm cloth over it to let it progress. They absorb the yolk by the time they have zipped. The reason they peep so much after hatching is to pull it on up and to make sure their lungs are getting enough oxygen...same as the principal of what babies do when they are born. Usually after a couple hours the chick hatches..it just did not have to zip out. The way I look at it...if I feel it has been too long I am running the chance on them dying anyway...so that for me I take the chance.

Remember I am not recommending everyone do that. You have to go by your gut and do accordingly. It has worked for me and I cannot tell you how many I have done this to but after you get more experience you will understand more about this and notice the signs. If I have given over $20 for a dozen eggs..I will do what I have to in making sure as many as possible hatch.

Shrink wrap is many times due to low humidity during LD...and if an egg is pipped for a very long time air entering the hole dries out the thick membrane making it hard for the chick to advance so it dies.
I have hatched at the H being 35 which would be considered a dry hatch and they did as fine as the other way. There are just sooo many variables. Right now I have eggs that have air sacs running down the side of the egg....and I know I will have to assist them in hatching because there is NO way they are going to be able zip because of the air sac down the side.
I don't know how it has worked for me AJ...maybe because I have always been an animal science geek most of my life. I have a strong background in working with things like this so maybe that is my strong point....or the chicken Gods feel sorry for me and let it work.

I have lost a few hatches when I first started incubating...after losing around 75% of them to DIS I decided to do what common sense told me to do.

Remember...just because it has worked for me does not mean it will work for others.