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333113
Guest
I was lucky to receive a young pair of Blue Crevecoeurs this summer. The pullet started laying in November and has missed only 11 days since, so I have high hopes that she will be a 200+ layer. I hope I see that In her offspring, too.
I started a rolling hatch, dating each egg in pencil as I added it to the incubator. The first 20-30 eggs didn't appear to be fertile, but then the cockerel apparently caught on to his role in life, and now almost every egg is fertile. Some eggs I didn't get to before they chilled too far to be viable. But now the chicks are starting to hatch.
My first was a blue, probably a hen because of the behavior. She will be going to my good friend's backyard along with two Rhode Island Red pullets, to enjoy a life of spoiling and treats in the Poulet Palais.
The next was a black, then another blue, and just today two splashes joined us.
The parents look to be good type, so far. I am going to hatch and grow out some more before I decide on a breeding direction. The parents are just at the bottom edge of the standard weight, but not a full year old yet, and I want to see them as adults. If they don't get much bigger, I will probably breed them with my French mix lines to bring the size of this line up. Otherwise I will probably go for more of the American look.
The blue cockerel (daddy) has a small rusty-brown spot on his shoulder. The black chick has a small brown spot on his crest.
I have read that this is extended-black leakage, and it's visible in the males, so I am expecting the black chick to be male. I have seen that rusty spot in some of the French Crevecoeurs, but have not experienced it in my American flock, which was selected out of Murray McMurray stock originally about 1997-1998.
I started a rolling hatch, dating each egg in pencil as I added it to the incubator. The first 20-30 eggs didn't appear to be fertile, but then the cockerel apparently caught on to his role in life, and now almost every egg is fertile. Some eggs I didn't get to before they chilled too far to be viable. But now the chicks are starting to hatch.
My first was a blue, probably a hen because of the behavior. She will be going to my good friend's backyard along with two Rhode Island Red pullets, to enjoy a life of spoiling and treats in the Poulet Palais.
The next was a black, then another blue, and just today two splashes joined us.
The parents look to be good type, so far. I am going to hatch and grow out some more before I decide on a breeding direction. The parents are just at the bottom edge of the standard weight, but not a full year old yet, and I want to see them as adults. If they don't get much bigger, I will probably breed them with my French mix lines to bring the size of this line up. Otherwise I will probably go for more of the American look.
The blue cockerel (daddy) has a small rusty-brown spot on his shoulder. The black chick has a small brown spot on his crest.
I have read that this is extended-black leakage, and it's visible in the males, so I am expecting the black chick to be male. I have seen that rusty spot in some of the French Crevecoeurs, but have not experienced it in my American flock, which was selected out of Murray McMurray stock originally about 1997-1998.
