Esther and Winnie~ Emerald ~ Momma Time~ UH-OH Egg Overload P46

[barg]

Here they are! Thanks to Silkiechicken for the fertile eggs!! Woot!

It looks like we may have some chicks this christmas...
If I'm counting correctly, the eggs should hatch around the 12th, correct me if this is wrong.

I woke her up when I put the eggs in her box tonight.
The other girls have all switched their roost positions since Emerald started sitting; the older ones used to sit on the far side from the box, but you can see Mrs.Nezbits tail, and just a little of one of the Dominiques. Esther and Winnie have been forced from roosting near the box and now occupy the older girls spots on the far side.

Questions:
Emeralds comb has changed and gotten smaller, is this normal or a sign of a problem?

Special thanks again to silkiechicken, not only for the eggs but for putting up with my emails and telephone questions - you rock

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[silkiechicken]

No problem. The longer your hen sits, the more emaciated she will get and look. The comb shrinking is usually just part of what happens when their hormones aren't telling them to pump out eggs every day. Don't be too worried if she loses a pound or so during this time. Her metabolism has changed to egg mode. She'll gain her weight back within a week or two of hatching out the chicks, and should start laying about two months after it hatches.

I would expect chicks to start piping and to be out late on the 11th since you put them in tonight. Count tomorrow as day one.

When they hatch though, she will sit tight for about two days and come out on day three or so.

 

[barg]

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Thanks again Silkie.
I jus thought of a question:
Someone recenlty posted about chicken genetics, I subsequently got to thinking about it and, this may sound stupid but,
Does sperm fertalize the egg and then the egg is covered with the shell or Is the egg covered with the shell along with sperm and then laid.
I'm thinking that more likely it is the former, but it does make a difference.

Added: Btw she did accept the eggs and roll them under her. (for the record)
Added: thought about it somemore and it probably doesn't make a difference, at least not in the way that I was thinking it could, but I'm still interested to know the answer, just in case another thought comes to me. haha

 

[barg]

Never mind, I found the answer myself.
I was correct in my assumption that it is already fertile when the shell is created.

So why did I ask...

In humans, the sex of a child can be influenced by the timeing of the introduction of sperm. Closer to ovulation is more likely to produce a boy while sperm introduced a couple of days before ovulation is more likely to produce a girl.
This is due to the fact that male sperm swim fast and die fast, while sperm that carries the female chromasome moves slower and lives longer, the net result is obvious.

Since chickens have their sex determained by the Hen rather then the Rooster, it seems as though, whatever gene is in the initial egg determains the sex of the chick, and no other factors play a role.

I'll keep thinking about this, because thats what I do; in the mean time, if anyone else knows of any additional factors that determain the sex of chickens, I'm interested to know what they are, just for curiosity sake.

 

[rosyposyosy]

What kind of breeds are you getting?

 

[silkiechicken]

It is all 50/50 and fertilization occurs at the yolk even before it travels down the reproductive tract to get layers of albumin. And even if there was gender issues like humans, which there isn't, I'm sure her sperm pouch that all hens use to sore sperm, gets restored many times a day from the roo.

They are going to be RIR x (blue laced red wyandotte x blue cochin), with the possibility of either a single or rose comb. Roo's heterozygous for that trait.

 

[barg]

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I just got a call from Colleen...
At one point, since the broody thing started, I had been talking to silkiechicken about eggs, meanwhile, Colleen had made inquiries with a woman she worked with who keeps chickens; We really only wanted one or two eggs and last night I got two from silkie, but today Colleens co-worker showed up with 4 eggs.... omg now we have 6.

These four are Black Leghorns.
I'm not sure if I should put all four under her or not.
Although the idea of keeping the ones from Silkie is a possibility, depending on how things go, I don't think were going to want to keep leghorns, so if anyone in the area is looking for some good egg layers, I may have some for you pretty soon.... assuming they hatch and survive.

(To Anyone)What do you think is a reasonable number for her to handle, given the time of year, her inexperience and the small size of her nest box?

 

[silkiechicken]

At this time of year at her experience, I would be inclined to limit her to two chicks, as they will still huddle under her wings at 5-6 weeks old. (One on each side) I can take the leghorns off your hands though if they hatch or you don't want them. Might as well put them under her ASAP though so she doesn't leave the nest with the first two and let the last 4 go cold on the last day. One day different, max 2, is doable since she will get up and leave on day 3 or so.

I say give them to her, just to up your chances of chicks. If she loses a few after they hatch, she won't know the difference as long as she has one. Heck, she might even be able to raise 6. Just keep an eye on them as it will be harder for her to protect 6 running around her feet than it is one if someone decides to go a pecking on the little guys.

Oh yeah, don't forget to not count chicks before they hatch!

 

[barg]

Quote:

That runs through my head everytime I make a post about this, but considering that I don't want that many, chances are they Will All hatch... Don't forget Murphys Law

 

[barg]

There isn't much to report about Esther and Winnie, but for postarity, here are a couple pics (23 and 31 weeks old and not an egg from any of them at this point)

Getting along wonderfully... look closer, Hazel is just about to peck Winnie on the head.

Esther, Winnie, Mrs.Nezbit, Domineak, Hazel
For now this seems to be status quo, but at some point in the future I'll probably do something to disrupt the current pecking order.
As you can see, there isn't much difference in size anymore, although Esther is more slender then the others.