EDUCATIONAL INCUBATION & HATCHING CHAT THREAD, w/ Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs

[BantyChooks]

Guess what's here!! e

 

[BantyChooks]

The kids get home early on Wednesday. My nap window has expired.

I'll take one for ya though!

 

[campingshaws]

The kids get home early on Wednesday. My nap window has expired.

I'll take one for ya though!

Thanks bestie.

 

[BantyChooks]

Thanks bestie.

Anytime!

 

[chicken hawk 33]

Perfectly normal. It is a common complaint among first time chicken keepers when their flock reaches its second autumn. Most breeds will lay like gangbusters for a year to 18 months when they are young. Then in their second autumn they'll molt and quit laying till they grow a new winter coat. They may resume after recovering or they may wait till after the winter solstice when days begin to lengthen. All other things being normal, they will always start up by spring and reward you with their hen fruit till the next autumn and this cycle will continue annually. Each year, the winter break will be longer and longer, summer laying will be shorter and shorter (although larger eggs). Some breeds hatched very early in the year will molt their first autumn. Aside from the molting thing, shorter days is a signal to stop producing, longer days is the signal to reproduce. Since this is the educational thread and to take the mystery out of it[COLOR=333333], here's a brief rundown of the science.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Light exposure to the retina is first relayed to the nucleus of the hypothalamus, an area of the brain that coordinates biological clock signals. Fibers from there descend to the spinal cord and then project to the superior cervical ganglia, from which neurons ascend back to the pineal gland. The pineal gland translates signals from the nervous system into a hormonal signal.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]When light periods are shorter, the gland produces serotonin and subsequently, melatonin. That's the hormone that affects the gonads for sperm production in males and ovulation in females. An increase in melatonin causes the gonads to become inactive.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Photoperiod, in relation to day vs. night, is the most important clue for animals to determine season. Cold really has very little to do with egg production.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]As light lengthens, the gonads are rejuvenated. The duration of melatonin secretion each day is directly proportional to the length of the night because of the pineal gland's ability to measure daylength. Besides reproduction, it also affects sleep timing and blood pressure regulation.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]So as the light period increases, in relation to the dark period, it stimulates reproduction and - voila - EGGS.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]In addition to the day vs. night thing stimulation production, I wanted to add a few thing relating to light.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Chickens don't have to see the light. Blind chickens can also detect a change in day length. Light penetrates the skull and thereby is still detected by the pineal gland.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Chickens detect light in a broader wavelength than humans.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Humans detect light in a range of about 400-660 nm.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Chickens detect light from about 300-750 nm.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Human's peak response to light sensitivity is from 550-560 nm.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Chickens have 3 peaks of light perception at 440, 550 and 610 nm.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Spectrum wavelength determines the color of the light.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Humans have retinal cones that detect red, yellow and green.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Chickens have an additional double cone that is thought to allow tracking of movement.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]This may be the reason chickens can see the slightest movement of prey (bugs) or predators from afar that we may miss.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Red light at about 650 nm penetrates the skull and eventually the hypothalamus at somewhere between 5 and 50 times more efficiently than blue, green or yellow/orange.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]This makes red light vital for stimulation sexual maturity and egg production.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]You've seen the sky at the horizon at dawn and dusk and have no doubt noticed it appears red because red penetrates the atmosphere greater than other colors of the spectrum.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]So birds outside at dawn and dusk are stimulated more than those locked in the coop at those times without exposure to big openings to the east and west.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Incandescent light is good at producing light in the red spectrum.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]CFLs, while efficient, produce little red light.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]LEDs produce the most efficient light per watt used and, depending on phosphors used, can be designed to output in virtually any spectrum desired.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]You can look for LEDs in the 650 nm range.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Citation:
Prescott, N. B., and C. M. Wathes. “Spectral sensitivity of the domestic fowl (Gallus g. domesticus).” British poultry Science 40.3 (1999): 332–339.[/COLOR]
I watched a replay of Stephen Colbert's election coverage on Showtime. He said it looked like we were voting on the apocalypse and people were picking the asteroid. Finally is. Did you see that Cheryl Crow started a petition to dramatically shorten the campaign season? Most countries campaign seasons are under a month long. I got down to 10 layers and 1 egg a day. The one that was still laying had molted early in the summer so she eventually restarted. I now have 3 of them laying and a new pullet as well. And? What are you doing about it? Rough I was paid my hourly wage to go to school for 4 years. It was 2 semesters a year and usually about 8 hours a week. I sure missed when those checks quit coming. My first class was basically rudimentary math (shop math and blueprint reading). The first night I sat there about 10 minutes and started to get up to walk out thinking "I'm wasting my time here". As I was about to reach the standing position, I thought, "I'm getting paid to be here" and sat my butt right back down. That was in addition to my 40 - 48 hour job and going to college at the same time.

taking a razor blade and scraping the old seal and putting new silicone and then letting it set about a week

 

[kwhites634]

Quote: I worked for IBM when we bought this house, our 2nd. I'd always worked as much overtime as they'd let me. Every time mgmt. said they were going to cut back on OT, we wound up working as much or more OT than we had before. Our division (Federal Systems Division) had a boatload of federal gov't contracts. This was in the heyday of 'Big Blue', & System 360 was the benchmark for the industry.

Because of the constant OT availabiliy, I was able to buy the maximum allowable IBM common stock @ employee discount prices. My accumulated stock certificates allowed us to make the down payment on this place.

 

[DwayneNLiz]

Guess what's here!!

Congratulations Jace!!!

 

[BantyChooks]

Congratulations Jace!!!

When I told her she got in the calendar, all she gave me was a stink eye

 

[dan26552]

i would love to! if they are donkeys? 



You are so awesome Mel!!!!!

ROFL!!! most definitely 

silkies come in many colors and are a bantam (a true bantam with no LF counterpart), partridge is a color

Awesome!!! 

just like you 

I want one!!

do you eat these things??

question- do you live anywhere near Friendship?

aww you made me a cake!

seabrights are very pretty 

  

there are 2 types of DE, should only ever use the food grade DE

 so sorry 

i think i need one of these roos
think it can take on a full grown GSD? my D'anver roo did 

You can, I don't because when I tried it was really really bitter and left the taste in my mouth for nearly 30 minutes

Lol

 

[kwhites634]

Quote: Clinton, as I understand it (I fell asleep for a while, before PA put Trump over the top), called Trump & conceded, but never made a concession speech or even put in a post-concession appearance to talk to her supporters. A real class act, that one.