Excited about the baby 'Blues' project

[wegotchickens]

Quote:
Killer!

You'll love them all!
I have a millie egg I threw in the bator on Monday too.

 

[easttxchick]

They are a beautiful color! Congrats on your hatch!

 

[wegotchickens]

I need to post some updated pics. They are getting their hocks & foot feathers now. The 2 with curled toes are leaving for a new home soon, since I don't want to breed them. They can be spoiled pets LOL.

Of the 5 I set 10/14 I have 3 chicks. I think they must be the porcelain's chicks because the first to hatch has a more yellow underbelly than the first set. The other 2 are still drying off, so I don't know their colors yet. Will post some pics of those babes, too.

I set more eggs, due 11/15. They are the last of the blue eggs, as all the d'Uccles have quit laying for a while. These chicks will assuredly be the porcelain roos babes! Maybe by the end of this experiment I'll understand better how the lavender gene works.

 

[Happy Chooks]

They are beautiful. Can't wait to see updated pics.

 

[monita]

Lori..... first i want to say that i am sorry. i think i almost failed miserably on hatching your eggs. all of them were fine for lockdown but yesterday was day 21 and i had a feeling a few of them had died so i candled last night and 2 had really really large air sacs and were not moving at all so i kinda drilled a hole in the airsac ( i know i shouldnt' have ) and sure enough 2 were dead then this morning i figured none had progressed as far as pips or anything so i drilled holes in the rest and 2 more had died. i had 3 that were barely hanging on. i opened the eggs on the dead ones and they were fully developed but the yolk wasnt' absorbed at all. i think i figured out my problem..... my temp has been at 92 the entire incubation. i had 3 thermometers in the bator and 2 were reading 102 while the other read 92 so i was going with the 2 that had 102.....ugh i am so mad. i upped the temp so the 1 that was reading 92 is now reading 102 and the other 2 are reading 112. but the chicks are now moving more and seem to be doing better. out of the 7 eggs that were locked down i have 1 self blue and 2 mille fleur left. i am checking on them like every 10 minutes and they seem to be thriving. i am praying that these 3 chicks make it. the blue one is doing better than the 2 mille fleur. i figure he will probably be hatched by tonight.he is pushing alot where the other 2 are just squirming. keep your fingers crossed for me, and again i am so sorry. oh yeah congrats on your babies. how is your hatch doing today?

 

[wegotchickens]

Wow, I hate hearing about that Monita!
I've had my share of bad thermometers. Another problem is hot/ cold spots if there is no fan.
Keep the humidity up and keep your fingers crossed.

Also remember that if the temps were that low, they may take a couple of extra days before hatching. The ones that are squirming may still be absorbing the yolk sac and such.

Hard as it is, the best thing you can do right now is go clean out your closets. Or pantry. Anything that keeps you busy for about 4 hours. You'll drive yourself nuts if you keep checking on them! Just peek in every 4 hours and make sure the humidity is up and the temp stable. Otherwise, leave them be.
And if the blue hatches, leave her in there and leave the bator closed. She'll talk to her sisters and encourage them to get the show on the road. Plus, you don't want to screw up the temp & humidity by opening the bator.

Will keep my fingers crossed for these three!

My hatch is essentially done, since the 3 blue eggs I was waiting on this round have hatched out. 2 are drying in the bator, one is nestled with the sillkie chicks in the brooder. I'd have left her in there if I'd realized the other 2 were delayed not dead!

 

[PaintedGemsRanch]

Wow!!! They are stunning!

 

[wegotchickens]

The three new blue babies with a big sis.
See that yellow belly? All three of these new ones have it, and that means they are all sired by the porcelain roo. The first 6 had a pale gray belly, not yellow.

So now I get to see how the lavender gene is expressed through porcelain over self-blue. I find this really exciting. Hubby was like, "So?" <sigh>

That means the eggs currently incubating are also by the porcelain roo. I'd love to have 3 more so I can compare 6 to 6.

Any genetics experts out there? My first cross was self-blue to self-blue. Is that expressed as Ll/Ll?
And porcelain over self-blue would be written as Ml/Ll?

 

[mulia24]

i'm wondering how could i missed this thread ??

congrats

for the blue babies, they will have beard just like their parents? that's so funny, we have no chicken that have beard or feather on their feet.

em, honestly, why they look more like gray than blue? or perhaps i'm wrong?

 

[wegotchickens]

Yes, Mulia, they will grow up to heave beards, and they already have feathered feet

I just love feathered feet!

The color gray is referred to as blue when talking about some animals (dogs, cats, chickens). There are 2 colors of blue in chickens. The term 'Blue' refers to birds that are a darker gray and have darker blue mottling or bands on the feathers. Pale gray with no darker areas is called 'Lavender'.