July Hatch-a-Long (including 4th of July hatch-a-long)

[TheBajan]

I'm happy to see so many bielefelders out there! They really are a wonderful breed! My head roo is the coolest chillest chicken boy ever and still protects his ladies. I added from two other flocks this spring and am working on growing my biele population. Hope you all enjoy them as I have!

Bielefelders have been on my wish list from the time I got my first batch of chicks from TSC 2 years ago! I am so excited to finally get some of these babies! Hoping for a 100% hatch rate (of course) but I'm counting on 50%. I'm going to grow out everything and keep the very best of them...

 

[AgnesGray]

Bielefelders have been on my wish list from the time I got my first batch of chicks from TSC 2 years ago! I am so excited to finally get some of these babies! Hoping for a 100% hatch rate (of course) but I'm counting on 50%. I'm going to grow out everything and keep the very best of them...

Wishing you a great hatch with them!!

 

[SnapdragonQ]

We ate the first batch of boys. This guy is actually a cockerel hatched in October. He is so calm and steady. He had his moments at about the 4 month mark where he was harassing the girls a bit, but he's been a really calm presence in the flock for the most part once he got comfortable with his grown-up self. He will step between chicken arguments and just walk between until someone walks away. I've brooded 4 groups of chicks out in his coop this spring and he's never pecked any of the littles as they start venturing into the coop. He won't let me hold and snuggle on him like he used to, but he takes his job seriously and is becoming a great roo. My biele girls are also young and have yet to go broody. They do seem to all develop later than my other breeds and were laying a few months later than expected. Overall very happy with the breed.

What kind of ducks did you have?

I like the sound of a roo like him! What did you think of the ones you dressed out? How old were they? Yes, I ask a lot of questions . I plan for the extra cockerels to become table birds for us. And I'm hopefully going to be able to try crossing them with some Red Rangers too. Fingers crossed on that.

I had primarily Muscovy, which I loved. They were more like puppies and would eat from my hands. There were some Khakis for a while, but the young drakes drove me nuts so they moved on to a neighboring farm. Once my Muscovy drake matured he was awesome to have around except when he and the tom turkey would disagree on who the yard boss was. They'd squabble like children, especially in the spring. They were fairly evenly matched so there was never one clear boss, but the drake would clamp his bill on the tom's tail feathers, who would then run off trying to dislodge him. It was hilarious and no one was ever hurt, though some missing feathers did cause some embarrassment from time to time.

 

[AgnesGray]

I like the sound of a roo like him! What did you think of the ones you dressed out? How old were they? Yes, I ask a lot of questions . I plan for the extra cockerels to become table birds for us. And I'm hopefully going to be able to try crossing them with some Red Rangers too. Fingers crossed on that.

I had primarily Muscovy, which I loved. They were more like puppies and would eat from my hands. There were some Khakis for a while, but the young drakes drove me nuts so they moved on to a neighboring farm. Once my Muscovy drake matured he was awesome to have around except when he and the tom turkey would disagree on who the yard boss was. They'd squabble like children, especially in the spring. They were fairly evenly matched so there was never one clear boss, but the drake would clamp his bill on the tom's tail feathers, who would then run off trying to dislodge him. It was hilarious and no one was ever hurt, though some missing feathers did cause some embarrassment from time to time.

I can totally see that picture! Hilarious! And I've heard that about Muscovy ducks that they can be really sweet. Awww...

I regret not weighing any of them. I was very new to processing chicken when we did them. They were a fair size at 15/16 weeks... nothing like a meat bird, but crossing them with Red Rangers seems like a great project! The meat was very good meat. Better than some of the other dual purpose cockerels we've processed. I am looking forward to comparing them to the jersey giants and langshans.

 

[kelseyk]

Bresse eggs on the way now too. The Salmon faverolles eggs arrived today (that was quick shipping!). Wonderfully packaged, none broke, a total of 8. I unboxed them and sprayed them with hydrogen peroxide a while ago and just candled them. Air sacs are a little jiggly, but in good shape for shipped eggs! I will set them tomorrow.

I talked to the substitute mail carrier (a friend of ours) when she dropped the eggs off. She had told me that she wanted to get chickens, but they needed to build a coop first a while back. She said she had some chicks on order, but canceled the order ($90+) when the farm store chicks went on sale for $1.00 each. She said farm store chicks would do for now and then asked me what kinds of chickens I was hatching. When I told her what I have been ordering and my plan to sell baby chicks from these breeds, she got really excited and said she would be checking in with me next summer. At the same time, another friend (ag equipment dealer) had stopped by to see how my DH was doing with the piece of equipment he was doing a demo on, heard the conversation. His family just bought some chickens (plus a duck, a goose, a guinea, and a turkey) this spring. He mentioned he had an incubator and was interested in trading me hatching eggs. So I already have 2 people interested in hatching eggs/chicks for next spring! And the best part....DH is perfectly okay with my work from home side job plan!! (Hooray! More chickens for me!!! LOL!!)

 

[AgnesGray]

Bresse eggs on the way now too. The Salmon faverolles eggs arrived today (that was quick shipping!). Wonderfully packaged, none broke, a total of 8. I unboxed them and sprayed them with hydrogen peroxide a while ago and just candled them. Air sacs are a little jiggly, but in good shape for shipped eggs! I will set them tomorrow.

I talked to the substitute mail carrier (a friend of ours) when she dropped the eggs off. She had told me that she wanted to get chickens, but they needed to build a coop first a while back. She said she had some chicks on order, but canceled the order ($90+) when the farm store chicks went on sale for $1.00 each. She said farm store chicks would do for now and then asked me what kinds of chickens I was hatching. When I told her what I have been ordering and my plan to sell baby chicks from these breeds, she got really excited and said she would be checking in with me next summer. At the same time, another friend (ag equipment dealer) had stopped by to see how my DH was doing with the piece of equipment he was doing a demo on, heard the conversation. His family just bought some chickens (plus a duck, a goose, a guinea, and a turkey) this spring. He mentioned he had an incubator and was interested in trading me hatching eggs. So I already have 2 people interested in hatching eggs/chicks for next spring! And the best part....DH is perfectly okay with my work from home side job plan!! (Hooray! More chickens for me!!! LOL!!)

Woo hoo!! That's great! Love it when things work out like that!

 

[slbenter]

Well, I have set all the “colorful mix” eggs yesterday, and about half of the dozen BCM eggs that came today. The turner is off, temp is a very steady 100.6, and the humidity is set for 31%, but the ambient humidity in the house is 45%, that’s with our A/C set at 77*. I have the vent pretty much open, but the lowest it’s getting to today is 39%. I think it’s a bit high, but I’m gonna try to not let it worry me. The humidity outside is much higher, and my reasoning is that a broody could probably pull off a hatch, so I should be able to.
Tomorrow I should be receiving the Delaware eggs, and I have one more tray I can fill before I reach my limit of 28. I was hoping that they’d show up today but the 20th was the expected delivery....I hope I don’t have to wait until Monday, that will make the mix eggs unturned for too long.

 

[Vantic]

It does not. It's really pretty settled right where it's at. How should I position it? Sorry about the turkey eggs... I think ducks will be next year for me. We need a pond first but I'm already researching breeds and building a wish list.

I think there are ducks in my next year as well. I am going with Silver Appleyards, what are you looking at?

 

[TheBajan]

I think there are ducks in my next year as well. I am going with Silver Appleyards, what are you looking at?

@Vantic I am looking at Hook Bills if I can find some. Also some wood ducks and maybe some Cayuga... but to be honest, other than the Hook Bills, I'm still wide open. I know for sure that I want Hook Bills.

 

[LavinmyBasket]

Bielefelders have been on my wish list from the time I got my first batch of chicks from TSC 2 years ago! I am so excited to finally get some of these babies! Hoping for a 100% hatch rate (of course) but I'm counting on 50%. I'm going to grow out everything and keep the very best of them...

Exciting! I hope you get a great rate with them.