Hands on hatching and help

[slordaz]

we weren't sure when the barred rock actually started sitting was Later than what we though lol, she is down to about a 5 minute break when heats at it's highest for the day.she walks around the whole quick trip looking like a cross between a ****** off turkey and a raptor, and kicks the crap outta the roosters, she must be getting close. Got the insulated shed prepped to move her there once she finishes hatching out as she was sneaky bout sitting on eggs lol.

Have one last set in the incubator , but hoping this breaks the poor leghorn that isn't so good at brooding but want babies, hoping this fixes her attitude and restores peace to the coop. She's tried stealing other broodies eggs when she failed and now wants to steal the ducks month old ducklings. if that fails don't know what else to try, Set her in the broody breaker for 10 days when 3,5,7 days didn't work. she hasn't laid an egg in 4 months now and is only a year and a half old.

AmyLynn this attempt is looking good for first time since bought that LG incubator that has digital controls besides my issue of being at higher altitudes. went as close to dry incubation as I could but adding in a tsp of water with a dental hygiene syringe through the plug thats out anyway or when manually turning them,any time it gets to 23-24% has them right on timeline according to the picture I have without any of the huge temp spikes I saw on one and to much on dry incubation, we are heading into lock down this week and going to continue it as I have up to this point without increasing the humidity by more than 2% final 3 days, so far we only had 1 early quitter but still a stretch to go. crossing my fingers we will find out in about 5 days, not seeing any mal positioned this time around either.

Am getting a lot more confident on dealing with mal positioned though, we saved 1 we intervened with of the ducks a month ago and didn't even have to post when it had a slight naval bleed while dealing with friend that hadn't ever seen one helped. Outta be big help next year

 

[rossfam06]

I hate the post office. I'm really wondering why I keep paying for Priority mail. Seriously, it's not guaranteed and the post office won't give you your money back if the mail arrives late. They also won't let it be considered lost until after 15 days, even though you paid to have it delivered within three! I might just start having egg buyers pay for overnight or say that I won't guarantee that the eggs are going to arrive and I won't replace if the post office is late. The last two shipments I've sent have both been late, and one the post office waited to deliver until exactly day 15 - that way it couldn't be considered lost so they wouldn't have to pay out on a claim. I might be paranoid but I really think they did it on purpose.

Anyway I also sent some of my parrot's feathers off to be DNA tested so I can know his gender. Sent them priority mail last Friday. They still aren't delivered. I'm left wondering why I keep paying for this because I could have paid less for regular mail and they would have arrived at the same time, and I won't get my money back for priority because it's "not guaranteed". Seriously, this is three packages in a row that this has happened and it's not even a busy time of the year for the post office.

Seriously!!!??? Have you thought about trying a different post office? I sure hope when I start sending out eggs it's not like that at all. I mean my handlers are dung and don't know how to read but normally I get my mail a day before it's supposed to arrive. Lol.

@RubyNala97

So if my silkies are 16 weeks old and I only have 2 with streamers....is that safe to say I only have 2 boys!!?? Also what color would you call this (not the paint)? She has silver streaks on her neck feathers.

Here is a better picture of the silver.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

We watch so little tv I had to Google both names lol. I'm always like yeah the guy with the red ring or something like that to know who they are lol. We haven't seen it either. Maybe we will rent it too lol. I'm sure the kids would like it.

Wait.... Are you telling me you didn't know who Robert Downey Jr is? Girl!!!! I don't know what to say.

we weren't sure when the barred rock actually started sitting was Later than what we though lol, she is down to about a 5 minute break when heats at it's highest for the day.she walks around the whole quick trip looking like a cross between a ****** off turkey and a raptor, and kicks the crap outta the roosters, she must be getting close. Got the insulated shed prepped to move her there once she finishes hatching out as she was sneaky bout sitting on eggs lol.

Have one last set in the incubator , but hoping this breaks the poor leghorn that isn't so good at brooding but want babies, hoping this fixes her attitude and restores peace to the coop. She's tried stealing other broodies eggs when she failed and now wants to steal the ducks month old ducklings. if that fails don't know what else to try, Set her in the broody breaker for 10 days when 3,5,7 days didn't work. she hasn't laid an egg in 4 months now and is only a year and a half old.

AmyLynn this attempt is looking good for first time since bought that LG incubator that has digital controls besides my issue of being at higher altitudes. went as close to dry incubation as I could but adding in a tsp of water with a dental hygiene syringe through the plug thats out anyway or when manually turning them,any time it gets to 23-24% has them right on timeline according to the picture I have without any of the huge temp spikes I saw on one and to much on dry incubation, we are heading into lock down this week and going to continue it as I have up to this point without increasing the humidity by more than 2% final 3 days, so far we only had 1 early quitter but still a stretch to go. crossing my fingers we will find out in about 5 days, not seeing any mal positioned this time around either.

Am getting a lot more confident on dealing with mal positioned though, we saved 1 we intervened with of the ducks a month ago and didn't even have to post when it had a slight naval bleed while dealing with friend that hadn't ever seen one helped. Outta be big help next year

Great!! Good luck!!!

Seriously!!!??? Have you thought about trying a different post office? I sure hope when I start sending out eggs it's not like that at all. I mean my handlers are dung and don't know how to read but normally I get my mail a day before it's supposed to arrive. Lol.

@RubyNala97

So if my silkies are 16 weeks old and I only have 2 with streamers....is that safe to say I only have 2 boys!!?? Also what color would you call this (not the paint)? She has silver streaks on her neck feathers.




Here is a better picture of the silver.

That's like my Blooie!!!



I also have one that is the gray with brown instead of the silver/gray

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Wait.... Are you telling me you didn't know who Robert Downey Jr is? Girl!!!! I don't know what to say. Great!! Good luck!!! That's like my Blooie!!! I also have one that is the gray with brown instead of the silver/gray

Lol I knew who he was once I saw his picture lol I'm awful with names.

 

[laura29532]

I have always used a still air Little Giant 9200 to incubate my eggs. I have hatched dozens of Cockatiel eggs as well as my beautiful white Goffin cockatoo.(Elvis) I still have today ( 9 yrs later) and he had trouble cracking that shell..against all talk about not touching the eggs, Im sure he would never had survived if I hadn't helped..
I have moved on to hatching some bigger babies (incubating chicken and ducks). I have hatched several Americauna chicken eggs and a few Peking ducks with some hands on help. I was really new at hatching and hand feeding nine years ago, and am no expert today for sure,
with the smaller birds I listened to the chatter of, don't touch the eggs when hatching.! I quickly learned it did not make a difference, if I hadn't they
would have died any way. so my thing is, scrub up and help them all you can when they are in trouble...Its never done me wrong yet.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Aww I traded a bunch of jubilee orpingtons to this nice lady who said she knew chickens really well. We traded 12 and she took some roosters. Well I talked to her tonight and she tells me all but 4 died then asked if my chickens were sick... not one of mine are sick right now or then. All were healthy. I even have a few still who were sharing a brooder who are thriving! I'm so bummed she killed them all. I kind of suspected she may have been exaggerating her knowledge. I gave her some 6 week old cockerel cochins and she just threw them out in the yard with her grown roosters. I wanted to to take them back then but I'm to passive aggressive... now I feel horrible.

 

[rossfam06]

Aww I traded a bunch of jubilee orpingtons to this nice lady who said she knew chickens really well. We traded 12 and she took some roosters. Well I talked to her tonight and she tells me all but 4 died then asked if my chickens were sick... not one of mine are sick right now or then. All were healthy. I even have a few still who were sharing a brooder who are thriving! I'm so bummed she killed them all. I kind of suspected she may have been exaggerating her knowledge. I gave her some 6 week old cockerel cochins and she just threw them out in the yard with her grown roosters. I wanted to to take them back then but I'm to passive aggressive... now I feel horrible.

It sucks...im sorry. I always tell my customers that they need to quarantine my birds even though I have them tested because things can happen that have never been there before and I like to hope they listened to me....lol. so that help when I sell birds to customers. At least I told them and I can only hope they listen. But I never know.

 

[RubyNala97]

I need to give the 2 paint boys a bath and get them listed to sell. The one boy always looks filthy dirty. I don't know why, the others don't.  Mine have good personalities too. Shadow likes to go after feet, but it's his way of trying to protect his girls. When you sternly say no he'll back off-usually...lol  He doesn't attack- like flog like a couple of my other roos in the past tried. He just pecks aggressively at anything that moves in front of him, even your shadow. Sometimes it's fun to watch.  I think I heard one of the other boys trying to crow when I went out to open the coop this morning. Sounded more like high pitch singing...lol

Yes, mine are always so dirty...not just one but a lot of them. I have one girl that has/had a super big crest and she loves the fermented feed. But her crest was getting soooo dirty! It looked like dreadlocks all around her eyes and beak. It was actually so bad that she couldn't lift her head all the way up. It would take forever to wash it. I had to soak it in warm water and then pull clumps of feed/dirt out. And that's not easy when you're trying to avoid getting water in her nostrils/beak/eyes. I finally gave up and trimmed the whole crest off! All around her eyes, gone! I figured I'm not showing her and I know how big & beautiful it was but it became a health issue with her neck. I'm not exaggerating, it was bad. She is so happy now! She prances all over the place, it's so funny. What a difference in personality and she looks much cleaner now!

Aww I traded a bunch of jubilee orpingtons to this nice lady who said she knew chickens really well. We traded 12 and she took some roosters. Well I talked to her tonight and she tells me all but 4 died then asked if my chickens were sick... not one of mine are sick right now or then. All were healthy. I even have a few still who were sharing a brooder who are thriving! I'm so bummed she killed them all. I kind of suspected she may have been exaggerating her knowledge. I gave her some 6 week old cockerel cochins and she just threw them out in the yard with her grown roosters. I wanted to to take them back then but I'm to passive aggressive... now I feel horrible.

That's terrible. I screwed up once and sold chicks to a nice young woman. She begged to come get them a day early (she was traveling and her work schedule changed) and they had just hatched. She had a few chickens and I had hoped she knew what she was doing but she didn't. She had them outside and was playing in the yard with them and posting pics on FB. They were only like 10 hours old. The next morning she woke up and almost all of them were dead! I think it was to much stress right after hatch because the ones I kept from that batch are thriving and all grown up now. I will never make that mistake again. (Not saying you made a mistake, I did). I won't sell chicks until they are eating/drinking and a coupe days old, now. I know how you feel, selling them just to hear they didn't make it.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

It sucks...im sorry. I always tell my customers that they need to quarantine my birds even though I have them tested because things can happen that have never been there before and I like to hope they listened to me....lol. so that help when I sell birds to customers. At least I told them and I can only hope they listen. But I never know.

She was going on about her breeding program and all these other things. She even suggested they might be mixed. They are definitely not. Even though she said she was knowledgeable things she was saying and doing weren't adding up. She was and is still a very nice lady. I think she may just be the type of person to exaggerate or I'm just a sucker.

Yes, mine are always so dirty...not just one but a lot of them. I have one girl that has/had a super big crest and she loves the fermented feed. But her crest was getting soooo dirty! It looked like dreadlocks all around her eyes and beak. It was actually so bad that she couldn't lift her head all the way up. It would take forever to wash it. I had to soak it in warm water and then pull clumps of feed/dirt out. And that's not easy when you're trying to avoid getting water in her nostrils/beak/eyes. I finally gave up and trimmed the whole crest off! All around her eyes, gone! I figured I'm not showing her and I know how big & beautiful it was but it became a health issue with her neck. I'm not exaggerating, it was bad. She is so happy now! She prances all over the place, it's so funny. What a difference in personality and she looks much cleaner now!
That's terrible. I screwed up once and sold chicks to a nice young woman. She begged to come get them a day early (she was traveling and her work schedule changed) and they had just hatched. She had a few chickens and I had hoped she knew what she was doing but she didn't. She had them outside and was playing in the yard with them and posting pics on FB. They were only like 10 hours old. The next morning she woke up and almost all of them were dead! I think it was to much stress right after hatch because the ones I kept from that batch are thriving and all grown up now. I will never make that mistake again. (Not saying you made a mistake, I did). I won't sell chicks until they are eating/drinking and a coupe days old, now. I know how you feel, selling them just to hear they didn't make it.

These were a few weeks old already. They probably only needed the light for a few more weeks. I do feel like it's my fault though. I should have said something when I realized she was talking out her behind but I'm one of those people who hates confrontation. Lesson learned though. I just feel bad cause every chick I hatch feels like my baby. When I think about them dying that way my stomach turns...

 

[WVduckchick]

I need to sell some too before winter and to make room for the grow outs. I want to sell 2 trios but so many girls have gone broody, I don't want to sell the while they are brooding. I'd rather wait so they are eating, drinking good and will handle getting a bath better! They are super sweet birds. I've had only 2 that I can remember that were really nasty. The kids were scared to go outside when they were out. The funny thing is I sold them to people with no kids and they said they were never mean. Go figure. All of mine are very easy going and can be handled easily and accept the young ones I put out with them with no problems.
trust me, I feel your pain!
Same here! but I'm getting better. I finally started banding them...which I should have done about a year ago!

Ruby, the Orpingtons that I was given a while back, 2 were broody at the time. (that was the reason she didn't want them, they kept getting broody and she didn't have a rooster). We pulled 2 of the 4 out of the nest box that day. Once we moved them, they quit being broody. One did go broody again several months later, a chocolate, but the lavender one never did again.

So you could list them and stress that they are broody, maybe someone would want them for that reason, or maybe the move would break them. Just a thought.