Illinois...

[itsmyguess]

Hi there! I'm in Elwood, just a smidge south! Literally 2 miles from the speedway. I raise orpingtons and spitzhauben. ( with one serama and silkie serama)

Hello, that area sure has grown use to be wide open country, I have 3 Orpingtons 1 Red sex link & 2 Barred Rocks that will be going out soon as we get decent weather, snowing like crazy this morning.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

I'm wide awake now (2am) b/c of a fox screaming

You know what kills me? You live in the city while I'm out in the country and you have more wildlife than I do.
I get the occasional coyote passing through, racoon and of course the weasel/mink that killed all those babies last year, but all in all, they aren't just sitting around. I literally dont have a hawk sitting on my house just waiting for the chickens to come out!

 

[BReeder!]

@Molpet I am on day 13 for the turkey eggs and day 6 for the chicken eggs. I finally called all of them. 1 turkey egg and 1 chicken egg were definitely duds. I even cracked them before throwing them in the trash to be sure. 1 more turkey egg is likely a dud but seems to have a dark spot in the center. I think it's just the shell casting a shadow, but am leaving it for a few more days to be sure. Overall not a bad fertility rate: 10/12 on the turkeys and 5/6 on the chickens.

 

[Molpet]

@Molpet I am on day 13 for the turkey eggs and day 6 for the chicken eggs. I finally called all of them. 1 turkey egg and 1 chicken egg were definitely duds. I even cracked them before throwing them in the trash to be sure. 1 more turkey egg is likely a dud but seems to have a dark spot in the center. I think it's just the shell casting a shadow, but am leaving it for a few more days to be sure. Overall not a bad fertility rate: 10/12 on the turkeys and 5/6 on the chickens.

 

[Molpet]

@Molpet I am on day 13 for the turkey eggs and day 6 for the chicken eggs. I finally called all of them. 1 turkey egg and 1 chicken egg were definitely duds. I even cracked them before throwing them in the trash to be sure. 1 more turkey egg is likely a dud but seems to have a dark spot in the center. I think it's just the shell casting a shadow, but am leaving it for a few more days to be sure. Overall not a bad fertility rate: 10/12 on the turkeys and 5/6 on the chickens.

Which chicken.. what letter... There was 3 of each

 

[Faraday40]

Speaking of eggs.....

I have 2 turkey eggs (Day 12) here in my good incubator & I think both are developing. The rest are in the school incubators throughout town.

The 3 Spitz eggs from @homeschoolin momma and the 2 serama eggs from Noodle are all developing. (Again, the rest are incubating elsewhere. They are all day 6 & 7.)

The 1/2 doz leghorn eggs from the farm bureau all have veins, but the development looks a few days behind the other white eggs. I hope they're just slow and not early quitters.

The orp eggs are hard to tell anything at this stage. I usually don't even think about tossing any until 2 weeks. By then it's easy to compare either a nice dark shadow or bright glowing ball.


Test hatch-
Tomorrow's hatch day, but we have 3 early chicks. 2 white seramas, 1 Spitz, and 2 more pipped spitz eggs. Orps are a larger breed, so I rarely have any hatch before day 21. These eggs are in my back up incubator. I'll post pics after they fluff up.

Chicks -
Yesterday, I put mama silkie & her 4 wk old littles back into the "Useless chicken" coop. What a horrible 1st night with a fox screaming just a few feet away from them! (One of the main reasons I turned on all the exterior lights.) Then this morning, they experience their 1st snow..... and what a snow!!!

Although the snow is melting into a dense, heavy, slushy substance, those big snow clusters just keep coming. The trees are full, so they're dropping huge snowballs that splat on the ground - or my head. UGH!

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Tomorrow's hatch day, but we have 3 early chicks. 2 white seramas, 1 Spitz, and 2 more pipped spitz eggs.

Ok, I'm dying over here....is that Spitz pure?!?

 

[Ms Clucky]

I'm in Salem, Illinois

 

[Faraday40]

Ok, I'm dying over here....is that Spitz pure?!?

I think so, but hard to say when wet. I went to the incubator to check & saw that another spitz was hatching.


Here's Spitz#2 climbing out of the egg. The 2 seramas are in the foreground.

Here's the 1st Spitz trying out its legs. Both have the typical Spitz flared nostrils. I can't really tell color yet, but so far they look like Silver Spangled Appenzeller Spitzhauben - and NOT "Sportzingtons."

 

[Faraday40]

I'm in Salem, Illinois

Welcome!