Illinois...

[Junibutt]

Also @Junibutt is there anyway that any of the girls I've got from you are also split to mottled? I could almost swear that two of the chicks from the kindergarten class are black mottled Orps. They're stunning and so sweet. Still they're only two weeks so we won't know for a while. But the down looks correct from pics I've seen.

Nervous but curious to see everyone's responses.

More later guys. Following are pics of the kindergarten chicks that confound me with their colors.

I believe only the black boys were split to mottled but its possible that one of the choc girls from the 2nd batch might be. The chicks that are looking like mottled may only be split to mottled, they look kind of similar. Mottled chicks have more yellow/white than the chick in the pic. Only time will tell.

 

[Faraday40]

Lots going on here.
Family -
- My Dad has bronchitis. (He's 90 but usually acts like he's about 60. Hard for me to see him slowing down, but I'm grateful he's not trying to work in the garden in this heat.)
- DD has laryngitis. Not severe, but it's very hard to keep a middle school girl quiet. LOL
- My sister in law had emergency surgery & an ICU stay. She was severely dizzy & crawling on the floor. It turns out she had a hole in her stomach lining & it ate away at a blood vessel - lost about 4 pts of blood & needed 2 transfusions. We're all very thankful to have her back home. (Weak & walking very slowly, but able to be home with her family.)

Chickens-
- NOT enjoying the heat, but all are well & staying in shade. I worry about my Biele the most. She's just not made for heat. Neither are all my orps.
- 2 broody hens (Cookie & Trouble) each have 1 egg to hatch. The rest of the incubator eggs will be split between them after they hatch.
- Had someone buy a few female chicks & happily took all of my sex-linked males (future dinners) A big relief for me to rehome them so quickly. There are still several orps left. Thanks to Brick, we have many choc cuckoos. LOL
- I managed to attach some chicken wire around my garden fence & so far my broccoli has not been violated by the flock.
- I got to visit Godiva, Mabel, & two of my pullets yesterday. They are living the life of luxury now. Their new owner gives them frozen watermelon daily.

Incubator-
Tossed 4 confirmed clear eggs last night. (Although it's always sad to see clears, 76% of the shipped eggs are still growing.) @Junibutt I think your creative idea of using the live bird box really helped. I never would have thought any eggs shipped from CA would hatch. Hopefully some great orps are on the way. Thank you. (2 blue silver laced, 2 buff blue Columbian, 4 silver laced, 2 gold laced, 2 blk/lav splits, & 1 lav) How are your eggs doing? When is your hatch date?

 

[Junibutt]

Lots going on here.
Family -
- My Dad has bronchitis. (He's 90 but usually acts like he's about 60. Hard for me to see him slowing down, but I'm grateful he's not trying to work in the garden in this heat.)
- DD has laryngitis. Not severe, but it's very hard to keep a middle school girl quiet. LOL
- My sister in law had emergency surgery & an ICU stay. She was severely dizzy & crawling on the floor. It turns out she had a hole in her stomach lining & it ate away at a blood vessel - lost about 4 pts of blood & needed 2 transfusions. We're all very thankful to have her back home. (Weak & walking very slowly, but able to be home with her family.)

Chickens-
- NOT enjoying the heat, but all are well & staying in shade. I worry about my Biele the most. She's just not made for heat. Neither are all my orps.
- 2 broody hens (Cookie & Trouble) each have 1 egg to hatch. The rest of the incubator eggs will be split between them after they hatch.
- Had someone buy a few female chicks & happily took all of my sex-linked males (future dinners) A big relief for me to rehome them so quickly. There are still several orps left. Thanks to Brick, we have many choc cuckoos. LOL
- I managed to attach some chicken wire around my garden fence & so far my broccoli has not been violated by the flock.
- I got to visit Godiva, Mabel, & two of my pullets yesterday. They are living the life of luxury now. Their new owner gives them frozen watermelon daily.

Incubator-
Tossed 4 confirmed clear eggs last night. (Although it's always sad to see clears, 76% of the shipped eggs are still growing.) @Junibutt I think your creative idea of using the live bird box really helped. I never would have thought any eggs shipped from CA would hatch. Hopefully some great orps are on the way. Thank you. (2 blue silver laced, 2 buff blue Columbian, 4 silver laced, 2 gold laced, 2 blk/lav splits, & 1 lav) How are your eggs doing? When is your hatch date?

Sorry to hear about the health situation with your family. Your sister is very lucky that she got to the hospital in time.

Also good to know your hatch is doing great. I had set a total of 53 eggs between my broodies and the incubator but then took away the eggs from broodies because they were moving them between nest boxes. 36 out of 53 are still good. Hatch Day is 16th for some and 17th for others(just in time for Father's Day). That is 68% but I would say most of them were clears and from certain pens so its more like a fertility issue than the post office. If I order eggs again (not this year), I will certainly use the same method. The problem is that not every breeder carries Horizon boxes.

Please post pics of your hatch. Very curious about all these special chicks.

 

[Junibutt]

Does anyone here have experience with Brinsea Ovation incubators? I had an Octagon before with autohumidity control and that worked perfect but with the Ovation humidity is not going below 40% when I have it set at 33%. Room humidity is 22% so that is not causing it. Vent is open all the way.

 

[Faraday40]

Does anyone here have experience with Brinsea Ovation incubators? I had an Octagon before with autohumidity control and that worked perfect but with the Ovation humidity is not going below 40% when I have it set at 33%. Room humidity is 22% so that is not causing it. Vent is open all the way.

We don't have a Brinsea, but can you measure the humidity using a different thermometer/ hygrometer? In some of those all-in-one incubators, the calibration can be off.

 

[Justso]

Ah that neighbor Teri. She is a hatcher Supreme! Which is why she ended up with a full clutch of turkey chicks. I just listed on the sale forum, there are bronze, boubon red and royal palms. She had an "eatin" turkey last year, it was hilarious and a great flock protector. Anyone who's interested let me know. they're free!

 

[ChicagoClucker]

OK, maybe I need to change something on my end, but I am not getting notifications of activity on our thread. The last notification I have was from NotAFarm, 4 pages ago, which was last Wed. I checked my settings and everything is checked. Is it just me? Do I need to change something?

@Justso wish I had room for a Turkey! Hope the bantam hatch goes as well as the Turkey.

@Faraday40 hope everyone in the family is doing better. Also good luck to you and @Junibutt on the upcoming hatch.

It has been quiet over here besides me having a cracked tooth over the weekend. I lived on Vicodin and Orajel since Saturday. Was able to have he tooth taken care of today. I also did some reconfiguring on my coops and run. I think I love the new set up the best and will post pics after I get some pots planted. I also kept a couple of bantam cochin hens at the last minute, so I could make life easier on myself when it comes to hatching chicks. Glad I did, my bantam has perfect timing! I was thinking, it would be nice to set some SL eggs! Slipped 6 eggs under her and hopefully will get at least 2-3 more tomorrow.

 

[daffy4ducks]

Have any of my fellow Illini crossed over?
I am here in east central Illinois.
Christie

Central Illinois as well

 

[cavemanrich]

OK, maybe I need to change something on my end, but I am not getting notifications of activity on our thread. The last notification I have was from NotAFarm, 4 pages ago, which was last Wed. I checked my settings and everything is checked. Is it just me? Do I need to change something?

I am learning to navigate the new site as well. Check for new updates when you see the ALERTS tab having some numbers with it. I just run my mouse over it and the notifications show up. Not sure how it works with a SMART PHONE..

 

[cavemanrich]

something is not working all correctly with my posting so I will try a different route.
I am learning to navigate the new site as well. Check for new updates when you see the ALERTS tab having some numbers with it. I just run my mouse over it and the notifications show up. Not sure how it works with a SMART PHONE..