hatch day :)) 10/30/2012

[CReagan]

the part in the video is at aprox: 6:40 if you want to just skip ahead

 

[ccmarie]

It sure sounds to me like the wing-feather thing has to be bred specifically, using sex-linked genes--so just like my sexlink hybrids, except with feather growth instead of color. I don't think it would hold true for eggs from a backyard flock. The hatchery might have done it for my chicks, I'll go check in a minute, but probably not yours. So you may still have a roo.

 

[ccmarie]

I was thinking, for my parents, I could get a baby or egg now so I could raise it with mine, and then it could join their flock right away, and they'd know gender when they got it. We're actually going there after Christmas, so we can hand it to her instead of have it wait under the tree.

 

[CReagan]

Yeah that would be a good idea to raise it and pre socialize it with your chickens first! I'm just about to start building my coop! ) very excited! i'm probably gunna build an arear under the nesting boxes to put my smaller chicks when there ready to go outside so I can slowly introduce them to my bigger ones (when the time comes) I read somewhere that said it's best to introduce at night because the grown chickens are calmer. Do you know this to be true?

 

[ccmarie]

It makes sense to me. I know they are a lot calmer at night.
I just found out that our coop plans, which we designed in Utah, will not work in Arizona. This means, of course, I have an opportunity to make it bigger

. A friend of a friend is going to come help us build ours, since I've got no energy right now and hubby has no time. Apparently he's very set in his ways, so we'll probably have to use his design if we want him to build it.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

I have been starting to collect eggs for my first ever hatch - I started Nov. 2nd. Since it takes 28 days to hatch - does day 1 start on the day the egg is laid by the hen (Nov. 2nd in my case) or the day they go into the incubator?

 

[CReagan]

i had miscalculated my due date! The correct way to calculate is Say you put them in the incubator 11/5 at 10am then 1 day would be 11/6 at 10am....i had counted the day i put them in as day 1 and that is incorrect!

 

[CReagan]

It makes sense to me. I know they are a lot calmer at night.
I just found out that our coop plans, which we designed in Utah, will not work in Arizona. This means, of course, I have an opportunity to make it bigger

. A friend of a friend is going to come help us build ours, since I've got no energy right now and hubby has no time. Apparently he's very set in his ways, so we'll probably have to use his design if we want him to build it.

Ok, that's how I plan to do it! My coop is going to be 4x8..nothing too big.

 

[ccmarie]

I just re-did our plans, and I'm working on ours a little bit at a time. It's 4x8 too (actually 4'4" by 8'8", because that's the size of wood a neighbor gave us). Not winning any prizes, but it should work (unless they give prizes for built by pregnant women or cheapest cost).

I didn't know that about the due date either. I guess I had one chick hatch early, six on time and three late instead of one on time and nine late. I guess that makes sense.

Just ordered some Delaware eggs, so I'm getting back into the hatching game! The silkies didn't work out. Delawares are the breed I've always wanted, and I finally found a breeder that I like (ie not a hatchery) and isn't too expensive. Then I'll have to figure out how to fit my nine chicks and twelve-ish new ones into one small coop...