Well, on the plus side, i had 4 more dorking babies hatch, but I think i've got more cockerels this time than pullets... we'll see once they finish fluffing.
so i've got my trio, an unrelated pair 5 weeks old from shipped eggs (well, as unrelated as you can get from birds from the same hatchery stock), 2 pullets a week old, and 4 more hatched today. 1 cockerel, and we'll see about the others once they finish fluffing up...
so looks like we're on the way.
oh and 1 more going in lockdown tomorrow, and 6 more by the 14th. if they don't quit on me that is... these last 4 were out of 11 eggs, so i guess my numbers are improving slightly.
this is my first hatch of marans. Looked at a couple and didn't see anything yesterday but today, I checked another one and there was a baby in there
OK so is 50 plus tomorrows eggs too much for 25 ordered chicks? I can sell the extras right? Even this time of year? I can keep them if I have to
My new pens are almost predator proof
I could toss some birds in if I had to. Tomorrow we will make the ladders and some roosts for the run area and some feeders to hang on the doors. Just locks left to put on the outside and roost poles in about 1/2 of the coops. Then we are done. New birds should be here Wed or Thurs depending on weather. Need to update my thread....
I made the mistake of counting chicken pens today! 10 pens. Need to consoladate the roosters into one. THen I'll feel better at 7 pens. DH finished coop today at about 9pm!! Too late to move a group in for the night. Will toss them in tomorrow monring with a heat lamp as they are used to the 70degrees in the house with a wood stove. You should see them when I push them out the door, they huddle together and try to run back in. So I let them back in--they need more time to adjust.
OOPS, I made another brooder as more chicks hatched to day. Though life might be easier if I separate chicks by blue eggs or brown eggs. More waterers and feeders to fill.
I moved my quail to the breeder pen today, I am so happy about that! Pretty soon the youngest ones will move out to my round brooder pen. I had one silkie egg hatch from shipped eggs today. It was marked lavender but hatched black so I guess it is split. The other chicks are doing well in the insulated room in the barn. Got to pack some eggs to ship tomorrow .
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Donna you are VERY busy--and as usual everything needs to be done at once. How do you see thru the dark shells? Eyes like the man of steeL? I tried candling about day 8 and gave up. THe OE where developing so I'm hoping the marans are thriving!
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Donna you are VERY busy--and as usual everything needs to be done at once. How do you see thru the dark shells? Eyes like the man of steeL? I tried candling about day 8 and gave up. THe OE where developing so I'm hoping the marans are thriving!
My son cut the top off a water bottle at about the size of the lens of the flashlight and then wrapped electrical tape around the clear bottle top and to the flashlight. I use the mouth part of the water bottle as a focus for the light and can sit it on the eggs. I will get a pic tomorrow to show you. I can see just light and dark, some eggs are just too dark but I can see shadows. I candled all the eggs I put in last week and about 95% look like they were growing. Next week will tell the tale. Hubby said I needed a stronger light so maybe for Christmas I will get a brighter light.
I set another 25 Marans eggs today. NO MORE... for a few weeks anyway. Can't wait to start hatching when everyone is in breeding pens. I will know more what I will be getting. I put some young roos on CL last night... hard to let them go... would like to know what kind of babies they will throw. But I need the room and they are fighting too much.
Rained BUCKETS all day, car trouble and had to dry the spent grains we feed the birds and then the day was shot! Nothing done on the pens... but there will be more rain tomorrow so maybe we will get more done. Lots we can do in the shop for the pens.
I just set a few chicken eggs this afternoon....this is my first chicken hatch!!! I will put more eggs in tomorrow. And they are due to hatch the 26th, and 27th. they are mutts. and i have a still air incubator.