French frogs

[frmboyinthecity]

I took all my last hatch to the sale barn last weekend. sold them all averaged $1.75 and was happy with it .I don't know if I made any money but I think I did . shame you don't have a auction close to you . going to do the same thing next hatch and will get less I'm sure . My eggs aren't selling as good this year as they did last year. I have eggs every where . starting to feed them back to the chickens . 

Have you considered donating your extra eggs to a local food pantry? I just heard back from mine and I'll be taking some up to them

 

[FridayYet]

Can't wait to see pictures of those GS, I bet they are tiny.

I've cracked over a dozen Johnny eggs this week. He's dead on 50%, and any day I had 4 eggs, 2 of the 4 were fertile. So, I know he's not infertile, but he's definitely focused on 2 girls. With Susan's offer of the Redden black, I think I'm still going to sell him and put those girls in with the splash rooster. At least I can sell him as a breeding rooster with a clear conscience now.

I think I may possibly have a recessive white in this last batch, at least I hope so. All of my splash chicks have hatched yellow with just a hint of blue. I have one this time that is totally yellow, no tint at all, and her beak is completely pale. It will be interesting to watch this one grow out. I'll try and get some pictures this weekend

Have you hatched out any of Johnny's chicks at all? Might be nice to have a few growing out when you sell him.

 

[DnDFarm]

Have you hatched out any of Johnny's chicks at all?  Might be nice to have a few growing out when you sell him.

Oz has 2, I don't have any. I'm thinking of setting a few before I sell him, but that 50% costs me almost $100 every set

 

[FridayYet]

Just do a staggered hatch - pack the Brinsea with Johnny's eggs, and pull the clears on day 7. Then fill the bator with other eggs. That way you are only behind half a bator's worth for 1 week.

Might be worth a shot.

 

[WVduckchick]

Can't wait to see pictures of those GS, I bet they are tiny.

I've cracked over a dozen Johnny eggs this week. He's dead on 50%, and any day I had 4 eggs, 2 of the 4 were fertile. So, I know he's not infertile, but he's definitely focused on 2 girls. With Susan's offer of the Redden black, I think I'm still going to sell him and put those girls in with the splash rooster. At least I can sell him as a breeding rooster with a clear conscience now.

I think I may possibly have a recessive white in this last batch, at least I hope so. All of my splash chicks have hatched yellow with just a hint of blue. I have one this time that is totally yellow, no tint at all, and her beak is completely pale. It will be interesting to watch this one grow out. I'll try and get some pictures this weekend

Well at least he's not a total disaster. Interesting about the pale ones. Would the pale beak be bad?? Hope you can post some pics soon.

I have 2 GS out now and 1 SDW. A few more pips. Ended up taking off work today. I'm off next week, but trading Monday for today. Think we'll run to the flea market during the lull in bator action.

 

[WalnutHill]

Oz has 2, I don't have any. I'm thinking of setting a few before I sell him, but that 50% costs me almost $100 every set

That just goes to show that you don't have enough incubator capacity. If you had room in the incubator to hatch as many chicks as you can sell, and had extra room to put your own project eggs in, the cost per set goes way down.

True case: I have 2 roos over 120+ hens. Fertility as expected is pretty low in the Red Sex Link hens, there are a few that are submissive, others play hard to get, and the roos can't keep track of who's been caught. The Easter Egger hens, on the other hand, number under a dozen and the roos get them all. I set 96 eggs for my Easter hatch, two day's production of hatching quality eggs (no dirt, no irregular shells, no porosity, best color, best shape, etc) and only 19 were fertile, 4 of those brown, All the greens were fertile. Overall, that's only a 20% fertility rate. My cost to put these low hatch rate eggs in the incubator was the retail value of the eggs, $32. So each chick cost $1.68. Think how much better you'd do at 50% hatch if you were using surplus incubator space.

 

[abbevilleoz]

That's a start. I've actually never seen a possum in real life. Glad you were able to fork that one.

Well no fox, but I did get a possum. 

You gonna eat it?

 

[DnDFarm]

That just goes to show that you don't have enough incubator capacity.  If you had room in the incubator to hatch as many chicks as you can sell, and had extra room to put your own project eggs in, the cost per set goes way down.

True case:  I have 2 roos over 120+ hens.  Fertility as expected is pretty low in the Red Sex Link hens, there are a few that are submissive, others play hard to get, and the roos can't keep track of who's been caught.  The Easter Egger hens, on the other hand, number under a dozen and the roos get them all.  I set 96 eggs for my Easter hatch, two day's production of hatching quality eggs (no dirt, no irregular shells, no porosity, best color, best shape, etc) and only 19 were fertile, 4 of those brown,  All the greens were fertile.  Overall, that's only a 20% fertility rate.  My cost to put these low hatch rate eggs in the incubator was the retail value of the eggs, $32.  So each chick cost $1.68.  Think how much better you'd do at 50% hatch if you were using surplus incubator space.

Oh, there's no doubt that I'm at the point that I could use a larger incubator, but not this year. I need to get more numbers in my breeder flocks so I can get enough of the money eggs to justify setting 2-300 at a time. Right now, 2 twenty four egg sets every two weeks are perfect. If I can get 15-20 hens of the BCM and AMs by fall, then I may look at a cabinet for next year

 

[abbevilleoz]

That just goes to show that you don't have enough incubator capacity.  If you had room in the incubator to hatch as many chicks as you can sell, and had extra room to put your own project eggs in, the cost per set goes way down.

True case:  I have 2 roos over 120+ hens.  Fertility as expected is pretty low in the Red Sex Link hens, there are a few that are submissive, others play hard to get, and the roos can't keep track of who's been caught.  The Easter Egger hens, on the other hand, number under a dozen and the roos get them all.  I set 96 eggs for my Easter hatch, two day's production of hatching quality eggs (no dirt, no irregular shells, no porosity, best color, best shape, etc) and only 19 were fertile, 4 of those brown,  All the greens were fertile.  Overall, that's only a 20% fertility rate.  My cost to put these low hatch rate eggs in the incubator was the retail value of the eggs, $32.  So each chick cost $1.68.  Think how much better you'd do at 50% hatch if you were using surplus incubator space.

My friend still has the GQF cabinet he wants to get rid of .

 

[DnDFarm]

Well at least he's not a total disaster. Interesting about the pale ones. Would the pale beak be bad?? Hope you can post some pics soon.

The pale beak would be bad on a black or blue, but not on a white. That's just one of the things that makes me think it is white