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Oh Yes, there are many different ways to determine hatch rate. When someone on Ebay says they have a 90% hatch rate, you really don't know how they are calculating the rate. I was trying to enable(encourage) a new hatching addict.
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Realistically, 60 to 80% hatching of those that develop is a good rate. TerriD may have had that kind of rate.

I hatched SG Dorkings from a Local Breeder and all of them that developed hatched. I have not heard of a Leathel Dorking Gene. The problems I have heard about are fertility, so they don't develop and are clear.

Do yours hatch on day 21?


Quote: see, i'm a bit different... IMO hatch rate is # of FERTILE eggs vs # that HATCH... if i just counted what made it to lockdown i'm about 100%. but not all eggs that are fertile will develop, IMO, especially if they're shipped eggs...

i had 10 shipped, 5 were fertile, but only 1 made it to lockdown. the rest quit somewhere along the way. now my dorking eggs, i've gotten 14/15 fertile in one group, and 20/20 fertile in the second...

what makes it to lockdown will be another story maybe. the dorkings have a habit of quitting between days 14 and 18. i think there's a lethal gene somewhere in the mix right now, kind of like with other stumpy legged varieties, like Japanese and Scots Dumpy but not as prevalent. then again past problems may be because i set a TON of pullet eggs laid from 6-9 months old... then they took a break so I did too.
and those babies that hatched out between thanksgiving and christmas are starting to lay.
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i'm resisting setting everything i can.
i'll at least wait until the eggs are closer to 'normal' sized. 8) some are smaller than my bantam cochin pullet eggs!
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OK so the Splash Rock is sticking tight to her nest, the Marans.... I catch her off the nest too much I think. Time will Tell.... Lockdown was today, but I didn't get to put the in. Tomorrow morning I will get them moved ASAP. I find they hatch better if I wait and they get another day of turning. So the Broodies should hatch at the same time.
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I managed to sell a few eggs so that is good. I still have 50+ blue and reg barred rocks.... I think I am going to set some Blue and Reg Cuckoo Marans, some Lavender Split Ameraucanas and some plain blue rocks ( I would so love a flock of Black Rocks) some NH and Easter Eggers..... Dang that is a lot still..... I need to whittle that down some more..... OK 90 that is all I am going to set.... unless I NEED to set more
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ronott1 said:
Oh Yes, there are many different ways to determine hatch rate. When someone on Ebay says they have a 90% hatch rate, you really don't know how they are calculating the rate. I was trying to enable(encourage) a new hatching addict.
lau.gif


Realistically, 60 to 80% hatching of those that develop is a good rate. TerriD may have had that kind of rate.

I hatched SG Dorkings from a Local Breeder and all of them that developed hatched. I have not heard of a Leathel Dorking Gene. The problems I have heard about are fertility, so they don't develop and are clear.

Do yours hatch on day 21?
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I posted about the problems i've had and some research i did over the winter, and back in the 50's there were hatchability issues, and necropsies of the unhatched eggs showed signs of shortened leg/neck/wing compared to normal chicks, leading the researcher to the conclusion that a dwarfism gene (similar to that in japanese) was the culprit. a double copy of the gene caused a lethal effect, single copy just gave slightly shorter legs than without the gene at all. supposedly they were able to breed it out, but like any recessive gene, eliminating it entirely is next to impossible without eliminating the entire gene pool.

i'm glad you had such a good hatch rate with kim's eggs. 8) she pm'd me when she gave them to you. like i said, at the time i thought something genetic, but it could have simply been pullet eggs too. i've learned a lot more since then, so we'll see how we do this time around. lockdown in 4 days for the first group, 5 days later for the second. both pure silver grey and cross-colored (sg roo and dark red or colored hens - they don't really fit either mold)

as for my cochin chicks, i had 2/10 and 1/5, so i'd say 20% isn't bad. 8) tho the latest doesn't look like the other mille fleurs i've seen, more like a buff so far. it's funny, 26 dorking chicks and 3 bantam cochins (mille, white and buff) in the brooder... other brooder is 15 dorking and a white silkie...

i really need to get the older tub outside ASAP... need to break up the big group, they're outgrowing the brooder already and only a week old!

oh and i can't say for sure, as i usually set pretty late at night, and count the next day as 1, even tho it's less than 24. so... usually 21-22 days for most things, i did have a couple hatch on day 24 which would be late no matter how you count it. but they had foot/leg issues. gave em to someone who was willing to deal with 'special needs' chicks. so the cochin that hatched out today, technically hatched on day 21, even tho the calendar says 22... got 1 more egg thinking about doing something but no pip yet. just minor rocking now and then.
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Thanks for looking into the lethal Dorking Gene. I hope it isn't coming back and you get more Dorkings to make it from hatch to lockdown. I did read that Pullet eggs were a problem With Dorkings. They are not the largest eggs any way. Kind of Medium to large. I hatched Cream Legbar eggs that looked like pullet eggs. They were shipped and four out of six developed. Two hatched from the four. I eggtopsied the two that did not hatch, and one looked like it did not make it to lockdown. The other looked like it had died just after lockdown. I probably would have had better results with bigger eggs. I have a batch of Cream Legbar eggs incubating now and these are larger eggs. All seven developed, but two look like they have blood rings. I hope I can get three of the five to hatch. So far no feet issues with my hatches. I do have my bandages and pipe cleaners ready though. Let me know how your next hatch with your Dorkings goes.

Oh, and I am getting a dozen SG Dorking eggs from Emma at Poultry Palace tomorrow. She is packing them with pipe insulating foam, like the packing method that won a prize on the Easter Hatch thread. I can't wait until they get here. Of course I will have to wait 22 days(they need to rest after shipping for a day) to see how they do. Emma has some of the best SG Dorkings I can get eggs from.

I was very happy that Kim's SG Dorking eggs hatched as well as they did. She has been having trouble getting them to hatch. I need to ask her if she is ready to try some from her Rooster Lucky. She may be waiting to see what she gets form the McMurray chicks and the 11 I hatched for her. She is getting over run with chicks now so she may need to wait until she can build more pens or move them into her huge tractor coop. She has a very nice place in the Capay Valley between Woodland and Clear Lake CA.

Bye,

Ron




ki4got said:
Quote:
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Quote:
ronott1 said:
Thanks for looking into the lethal Dorking Gene. I hope it isn't coming back and you get more Dorkings to make it from hatch to lockdown. I did read that Pullet eggs were a problem With Dorkings. They are not the largest eggs any way. Kind of Medium to large. I hatched Cream Legbar eggs that looked like pullet eggs. They were shipped and four out of six developed. Two hatched from the four. I eggtopsied the two that did not hatch, and one looked like it did not make it to lockdown. The other looked like it had died just after lockdown. I probably would have had better results with bigger eggs. I have a batch of Cream Legbar eggs incubating now and these are larger eggs. All seven developed, but two look like they have blood rings. I hope I can get three of the five to hatch. So far no feet issues with my hatches. I do have my bandages and pipe cleaners ready though. Let me know how your next hatch with your Dorkings goes.

Oh, and I am getting a dozen SG Dorking eggs from Emma at Poultry Palace tomorrow. She is packing them with pipe insulating foam, like the packing method that won a prize on the Easter Hatch thread. I can't wait until they get here. Of course I will have to wait 22 days(they need to rest after shipping for a day) to see how they do. Emma has some of the best SG Dorkings I can get eggs from.

I was very happy that Kim's SG Dorking eggs hatched as well as they did. She has been having trouble getting them to hatch. I need to ask her if she is ready to try some from her Rooster Lucky. She may be waiting to see what she gets form the McMurray chicks and the 11 I hatched for her. She is getting over run with chicks now so she may need to wait until she can build more pens or move them into her huge tractor coop. She has a very nice place in the Capay Valley between Woodland and Clear Lake CA.
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overrun with chicks... hm. i don't know ANYTHING about that.
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i actually do have a method to my madness, but it seems the madness is expanding.
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normally i would keep chicks in the brooders for 3-4 weeks, then relocate them to the 'baby pen', my smallest coop with 4x8 hoop pen attached. after a couple weeks out there they start getting to free range, and after a couple more weeks free ranging they go to the 'big girl' coop, my converted horse trailer to continue free ranging so someone else can move into the baby pen...

well, my current babies (all pullets - 4 EE, 3 cochin, 1 frizzle and 1 red dorking) were moved to the horse trailer last night and I had planned on moving the next babies (5 red, 10 colored dorkings and 1 white silkie) out today because they're outgrowing their brooder FAST but it's cold and raining currently... bleh.

then once they're outside i can break up the youngest bunch (13 red 10 colored 3 silver grey dorkings & 3 bantam cochins - white buff and mille fleur) into all 3 brooders (2x4 floorspace is just not enough for 29 week old chicks). the 3rd brooder up until yesterday had my 'rescue' white cochin/frizzle pair in quarantine, but i am NEARLY done with their new coop so they're in it anyways. (the roof isn't attached yet just sitting there.)

meanwhile i'll build another breeding pen to be used short term to get these babies outside sooner than later, so i'll have room for the next 2 sets of eggs due to hatch between the 24th and 29th...

then i need to build a bachelor pen for all those baby roos, so the girls can live in peace. LOL

oh and that's not including any eggs i haven't received yet...
 
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I have a plan like that too. My problem is I am working in the city and have 44 chickens now. Most of them are less then four weeks old. I am switching from Hatchery to Breeder stock. I will keep 15 for a layer flock and plan on having two breeding pens with 4 hens to a rooster. Those will be Cream Legbars and EO Marraduna Basque. I will have to hide roosters in the garage over night because we are not supposed to have them.

I will also help Kim with hatching her Dorkings because I think that is a very critical project--she is saving a very special and rare chicken breed.

Bye,

Ron

ki4got said:
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