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

[Honora]

I'll take that coffee. What are the doughnuts? Looks tasty.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Awe!
Oooh! Free coffee/cappuccino for Christmas!!! Too bad I will be drinking at Starbucks ( )!

Eww, Starbucks, yuck lol

Don't forget, free coffee/cappuccino on New years too! Is it wrong that we tend to "Sheetz hop" on those days? Lol

 

[kwhites634]

Quote: Furthest west I've ever found Sheetz is @ Breezewood. I try to gas up there if I'm going that way.

 

[Phage]

 
...

I'm still doing individual weights, because of the experience of having significant variable weight loss (in the R-Com) between eggs of different shapes (all blue). I worry about differences between eggs. Once I do more hatching, I'll have a better sense of both my equipment and what different eggs need...

The circle on the egg is a crutch for me - I'm still new at this. 

...

- Ant Farm 

I get that. When I have a small setting I do individual weights. I have on occasion had a couple eggs that were losing weight way faster than others.

But the thing is - what do you do about it? If you have some losing weight correctly, some too light and some too heavy, which way are you going to go with humidity?
There's nothing you can do about it unless you have 3 incubators with high, low and moderate humidity.

I have to admit I now rarley look at air cells (I know this is sacrilege on this thread). Probably because I incubate several sets at the same time.
As CC said often even in the same batch some have large cells and other small but there is nothing you can do to fix all of them.
I tend to run the incubator a bit dry (40%) and up it when anything is hatching. Running it at 40% has totally abolished wet DIS chicks, and the size of the air-cell does not seem to affect hatch rate. Just as well as I don't have time to mark out air cells or try to fix any problematic ones. Just set the eggs and let the Bator do its job.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Hopefully the birds get the memo and start picking up production soon as well.

I got 3 eggs from 28 hens and pullets yesterday.

I hatched once or twice a month this summer beginning in April and into October. I lost all the youngest birds to an intruder mid summer that eliminated about 3 of my hatches.
But I've been getting anywhere from 2-5 eggs a day from about 30 hens and pullets that should be at POL. I have 9 more that are 2.5 to 3.5 months. I expect to be getting inundated with eggs in the next 2 months.

40* rain and snow upper regions for weekend.

Just learned I have relatives living in Placerville they have horses and do the Pony Express every year. I'm invited to see their place. They live walking distance from Jack Russel Brewery.

A member here, Hangtownfarms is in Placerville.

That's good.

I know how you feel, I had a fox get my favorite duck this spring

Only I never got the fox

I beleive the neighbor did though.

There we go again with that singular reference. THE fox.
Fox, like every other predator, raccoons, coyotes, weasels, mink, opossums, hawks, have brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, children, et. al..
Predators (plural) are virtually everywhere, seen or unseen, they are never in the singular, they are in the plural. And they're always waiting for an opportunity.

Ewwwwwww - gross.

Thanks, MC!

Yeah, there are SOOOOOO many brown egg color genes - crosses can be so unpredictable. Marans are hard for breeders because of the need to work toward SOP for the bird PLUS select for dark eggs (if you want to do it right). I just have mine as layers - no plans to breed them to any extent (except perhaps an offspring or two, including olive eggers).

- Ant Farm

Marans, Welsummers, Barnevelders, Penedesencas and Empordanesas all have that same conflict.
Most lines of Barnevelders in the effort to paint the bird and not the egg have completely lost the dark egg. There was a lady in SW MO that had a marvelous line who retired and sold them to a guy in OK. I believe he still has them but they had beautiful eggs.
I bought several varieties of Marans eggs from a farm in Ohio who supposedly had supposedly started with some great lines of Marans. However, she obviously didn't select for egg color because they were very disappointing.
In the case of the Penedesencas and Empordanesas, they aren't in the APA SOP. However, I've translated the standards from Europe and South America so I'm encouraging everyone to work toward those standards. IMHO, egg color is the easiest thing to lose so my main focus is there. I initially had a lot of feather and earlobe color issues. I've got the earlobes stabilized, had fixed the feather color problems but they're back. Carnation combs seem to be stable. I'm now focusing on bird shape/size and egg color, since for most people, they're probably just a very nice bird but not exceptional without the dark egg.

I traded someone some birds when he bragged about his birds' egg color. I was excited to get new blood. The birds were the right shape, size, color, good earlobes and combs nice large eggs but the color was a disappointment. Not a hint of darkness. I decided to use them for breeding because they were unrelated to mine but that turned out to be a mistake even after several generations of crossing with my lines.
Sometimes if you have something good, it's best to just work with that rather than bring something else in with flaws. It usually ends up being a waste of time and labor.

 

[Akrnaf2]

I'll take that coffee. What are the doughnuts? Looks tasty.

Next week we will celebrate Hanukkah for 8 days ( yes 8 days off! e) and there is a custom in this holiday to eat fried delicates So you have the usual donuts with hundreds of fillings And from North Africa we have the "Spinj" that what you are seeing And from east Europe you have the "latkes" made with potatoes and onion ect.

But as much as l love them, I can't let myself eat them! My dear mother is an EXPERT in making them!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Next week we will celebrate Hanukkah for 8 days ( yes 8 days off!

) and there is a custom in this holiday to eat fried delicates
So you have the usual donuts with hundreds of fillings
And from North Africa we have the "Spinj" that what you are seeing
And from east Europe you have the "latkes" made with potatoes and onion ect.


But as much as l love them, I can't let myself eat them!
My dear mother is an EXPERT in making them!

That is sad. Trying to stay away from the fried stuff?

I knew where all the best donut shops in town were. 2 near my house and 2 in the middle of the city. So much better than the chain donut shops.
However I haven't been to one in years. I don't even miss them - much.

And Happy Hanukkah! Enjoy the vacation.

 

[dan26552]

I hatched once or twice a month this summer beginning in April and into October. I lost all the youngest birds to an intruder mid summer that eliminated about 3 of my hatches.
But I've been getting anywhere from 2-5 eggs a day from about 30 hens and pullets that should be at POL. I have 9 more that are 2.5 to 3.5 months. I expect to be getting inundated with eggs in the next 2 months.

A member here, Hangtownfarms is in Placerville.

There we go again with that singular reference.   THE fox.
Fox, like every other predator, raccoons, coyotes, weasels, mink, opossums, hawks, have brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, children, et. al..
Predators (plural) are virtually everywhere, seen or unseen, they are never in the singular, they are in the plural. And they're always waiting for an opportunity.

Marans, Welsummers, Barnevelders, Penedesencas and Empordanesas all have that same conflict.
Most lines of Barnevelders in the effort to paint the bird and not the egg have completely lost the dark egg. There was a lady in SW MO that had a marvelous line who retired and sold them to a guy in OK. I believe he still has them but they had beautiful eggs.
I bought several varieties of Marans eggs from a farm in Ohio who supposedly had supposedly started with some great lines of Marans. However, she obviously didn't select for egg color because they were very disappointing.
In the case of the Penedesencas and Empordanesas, they aren't in the APA SOP. However, I've translated the standards from Europe and South America so I'm encouraging everyone to work toward those standards. IMHO, egg color is the easiest thing to lose so my main focus is there. I initially had a lot of feather and earlobe color issues. I've got the earlobes stabilized, had fixed the feather color problems but they're back. Carnation combs seem to be stable. I'm now focusing on bird shape/size and egg color, since for most people, they're probably just a very nice bird but not exceptional without the dark egg.

I traded someone some birds when he bragged about his birds' egg color. I was excited to get new blood. The birds were the right shape, size, color, good earlobes and combs nice large eggs but the color was a disappointment. Not a hint of darkness. I decided to use them for breeding because they were unrelated to mine but that turned out to be a mistake even after several generations of crossing with my lines.
Sometimes if you have something good, it's best to just work with that rather than bring something else in with flaws. It usually ends up being a waste of time and labor.

It was definiatly just one fox that got my chickens and duck, she was MUCH bigger than most foxes. She did however have a litter but they didn't last long, after they moved out you'd see a died fox kit on the side of the road, dumb bunch those were, must have been about four died foxes in the same area over the period of about 2 months.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The father is still around. And in-laws.

It's usually just one, each time but not always. I see a pair of coyotes cross the property all times of day and night.
When I put out game cams, there is a parade of raccoons moving through the yard.

I just want people to keep in mind that if they get A perpetrator, not to believe problems are over.

 

[dan26552]

The father is still around. And in-laws.

It's usually just one, each time but not always. I see a pair of coyotes cross the property all times of day and night.
When I put out game cams, there is a parade of raccoons moving through the yard.

I just want people to keep in mind that if they get [COLOR=FF0000]A[/COLOR] perpetrator, not to believe problems are over.

I know. And I understand, we've still got traps out.