Color/paint can effect things also..my Maran eggs are easier to hatch right now..their paint is sothick many times they have trouble getting out ,but farther from molt they lighten up, so I actually have better hatch rate from them this time of yr..The heat probably effect fertility I know male rabbits become infertile when it is very hot.
Thanks!!!
Oh, good. The next thing I need is excuses to keep hatching even though I don't have anywhere to put the chicks. "Test hatch" is beginning to wear thin....
Guess you must decide which you would enjoy being with more. My guy is really pretty awesome. He tolerates my fluffy friends. Of course he doesn't know I have almost 100 eggs incubating this time. And that I am talking to a lady about 3 more Llamas..
He comes home Sunday so I will have candled by then so the numbers will certainly decrease, however, I am going to have to ask for his help with fencing for the llamas, plus they are much larger and harder to hide.
Sheep are smaller, easier to hide, right? Maybe I could just get one and then we'd have it and then he wouldn't make me get rid of my fluffy baby. Right???
I need some farmoholic support here.
That's like a zillion!!!
I'm down around 2 dozen chickens; only about half a dozen of those actually lay almost daily. I need at least 60 laying hens to have enough eggs through the winter....
I'm going to have to see if I can chat up DH and see if I can get him to let me acquire some hens...
I'm hoping some one out there had a similar problem & can let me know how this looks. We have 2 special needs chicks. (On a positive note, they have company in the ICU.)
CHICK #1
Last week only one Coronation Sussex egg hatched & the poor chick had some "guts" sticking out. (Herniated navel, I think)
I wanted to let it have a chance, so I kept things clean & applied triple antibiotic ointment 1-2xs per day.
Here's HOPE (I "hope" it lives) at 1 day old.
The pics below are HOPE at 9-10 days old. I thought it would have died or gotten better by now. It's eating, drinking, & pooping. The feather development looks slower, but it has energy to run away from my hand. Does HOPE have hope?
CHICK #2 We call this one MIRACLE, b/c it's a miracle it's alive. This one was trapped in a shell for 24 hours after it started to zip. It was fused to the shell & required assistance.
Here's MIRACLE at 1 day:
Miracle at 9-10 days:
Unlike the 1st chick, this one could probably be put with the others, but it must stay in the ICU to keep the first chick quiet.
Will the first chick ever heal? If so, any guesses as to how long? Will the lump shrink (get "absorbed"), does the large scab fall off, or will the chick always have a bump?
Thanks in advance for any help.
I am such an addict I set up a gofundme account so i could buy the land next to my house to start a small hatchery but I also said I would donate eggs in the off season to my local food bank and roo meat..there is a processing place in town that would do it as a write off..there is no grocery store within 20 miles of me and very small so no real help for the working poor in several small towns within 10 miles of me.
I had a wheaton Maran egg hatch last night from a Roo i lost 4 1/2 weeks ago..and 17 rabbit kits born
My daughter won a blue ribbon, Class Champion, & Best & Show for her 4H project comparing hate rates of shipped eggs to backyard eggs. She's 9 (listed as 8 b/c of when her Bday falls), so the state fair is not an option. As a teacher, I made her follow the usual sci fair format. I also made her type everything for a professional look. When the judge asked her about how she calculated the end results, she pulled out her binder showing her candling data tables and detailed hatch records. I'm so glad the judge asked because once this shy girl got talking, she was able to demonstrate her knowledge.
So now to think of a poultry project for next year..... My daughter's smart enough to know that she must do a poultry project in order to get Daddy to allow more baby chicks in the house. So far she's thinking of hatching at different times of the year. She pointed out that the April hatch rate was far greater than the June & July hatches. Even in the backyard eggs it was the highest, but I'm not sure it's significant. (She had some extra uncontrolled variables, but I allowed her to do her own work. After all, I'm used to teaching older kids.) For those big time hatch-a-holics: Have you noticed spring to have better hatches? Higher fertility?
I've only been hatching this year, but I had a 100% hatch rate (on 3 eggs) in April. My June hatch was 0% (on 12 eggs in the same 'bator; the a/c kept knocking the incubator off).
I'm doing another hatch right now; due Aug 9. I'll let you know; this hatch will be much more like my April hatch.
An idea for other projects could be crossing certain chickens and seeing what feather combinations and comb shapes/sizes she ends up with???
I am such an addict I set up a gofundme account so i could buy the land next to my house to start a small hatchery but I also said I would donate eggs in the off season to my local food bank and roo meat..there is a processing place in town that would do it as a write off..there is no grocery store within 20 miles of me and very small so no real help for the working poor in several small towns within 10 miles of me.
I had a wheaton Maran egg hatch last night from a Roo i lost 4 1/2 weeks ago..and 17 rabbit kits born