I have German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois mixes. The mom is 1/2 and 1/2 and the daughter is 3/4 Shepherd and 1/4 Malinois. They would likely have been fine if they had been raised with chicks from puppyhood since they are herding and working dog breeds. In my case the dogs came well before the chickens. I brought home the chickens recently and my girls have a high prey drive, everything thats small and runs is a chew toy and a fun game to them.
I hatched my last batch upright in a carton last time and had 7 out of 7 zip and hatch perfectly... Every egg looked exactly the same when they were done. It was pretty cool. I am a believer and will definitely use that method for my next hatch... Lockdown is tomorrow.Okay! I've candled and set. Only ONE cracked egg!! It really wasn't that horribly cracked- no leaking- BUT since I want to be as hands-off as possible this hatch, I decided to let that one go. Especially since it was only one.
There is a lot of air cell trouble throughout, but I totally expected that after the long trip. I was just hopeful I guess. I have however decided to go ahead with incubation (after the overnight rest) and see what's up later on.. Then stop turning early and hatch in cartons.
Just wanted to let you know that I got SFH from another breeder on BYC and the air cells had extremely bad saddles. But 11 out of 19 hatched anyway and I laid them on their side at day 18, just wanted to let you know not to be discouraged by bad air cells, they still do hatch!Okay! I've candled and set. Only ONE cracked egg!! It really wasn't that horribly cracked- no leaking- BUT since I want to be as hands-off as possible this hatch, I decided to let that one go. Especially since it was only one.
There is a lot of air cell trouble throughout, but I totally expected that after the long trip. I was just hopeful I guess. I have however decided to go ahead with incubation (after the overnight rest) and see what's up later on.. Then stop turning early and hatch in cartons.
eggs for the silkies are trickling in.. i have SOOO many broodies right now.
Plus I'm dying for CL here! I'm thinking those could maybe have used another couple days of rest? They sure had some veining at some point because there was a lot of blood dropped..
Sorry about the CL but yeah for Brahma, I got local Brahma and I only got 7 out of 14 to hatch so I don't think they are naturally hearty, you just got lucky!Well, day nine here and I couldn't WAIT another moment.
So here's my outcome:
CL eggs didn't fare well at all. I can certainly attest for fertility, as out of seven eggs only one was clear
However, those babies were apparently scrambled on the cross-country trip.Of seven set I removed the clear and five quitters. The air cells were just all over the place still. The one I DID leave in is purely on faith. Whatever IS trying to move inside it is drastically smaller than anything else in there but hey, if you're trying I'll incubate ya.Plus I'm dying for CL here! I'm thinking those could maybe have used another couple days of rest? They sure had some veining at some point because there was a lot of blood dropped..
Interesting aside, I also had bad luck with local CL eggs back last month.. All fertile but all quitters, every one if them. Is this common with the Legbars or is it just that I'm not meant to have them?
Now on to the great news.. The Brahmas!! It's hard to believe these eggs were shipped all together. Makes me wonder if maybe Brahma eggs are tougher? Either way, out of seven set, I had one clear, one quitter.. The rest all have BIG wigglers inside and the air cells seem quite stable now. Mostly saddles but no moving around!
As for my own Brahma eggs for comparison, of a dozen set I have one clear, one quitter and the rest are great. So really the rates are about the same for the shipped and the home-grown eggs in this case.
Anywho, this makes for 16 eggs in for the long haul. Here's to the remaining two weeks going as smooth as possible. In all I'm very pleased with Papa's eggs and I'm excited to see what I end up with.
