June Hatch-A-Long

[SnapdragonQ]

They’ve been eating with the meat birds, but they don’t eat as much. I was thinking about putting them in the big run today with my layers. They’re 9ish weeks old and they have way less meat than the cockerels

No, they don't eat as much, but it's the higher protein diet and way of living. To get one to live longer you basically need to restrict their diet, use 18% feed, and make them exercise (work for their food)
They may do ok for a little while, but they have strong genetics working against this and could keel over any day. Try it if you are set on it, some people have done it and they lived long enough to lay, but very few.

My incoming meaties will be raised as layers from their first bite of food so they will hopefully make it into a breeding experiment.

 

[FortCluck]

No, they don't eat as much, but it's the higher protein diet and way of living. To get one to live longer you basically need to restrict their diet, use 18% feed, and make them exercise (work for their food)
They may do ok for a little while, but they have strong genetics working against this and could keel over any day. Try it if you are set on it, some people had done it and they lived long enough to lay, but very few.

My incoming meaties will be raised as layers from their first bite of food so they will hopefully make it into a breeding experiement.

I have only 1 turkey left. I’m not sure what happened to the others. Heat maybe got to them, I have no idea. The one we kept follows me around like a puppy dog. It isn’t growing insanely fast either so I feel it might be okay.

I’ll just butcher all the Cornish Rocks. I have so many chicks about to hatch that I’m sure I’ll want to keep a few of them.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Cluckndoodle, where did you get your Americauna? I got a black one from Meyer, (from the blue black slpash) and it also laid a brown egg.

I had given up a blue egglayer when trying to reduce my flock, thinking, I had her coming up. when she failed to lay a blue egg, I gave her a new home too.

She's actually a 1st generation Olive Egger, she came from a cross of Ameraucana hen under a Marans roo. That's why I jokingly call her my "Not-so-olive-egger" because she lays brown eggs, lol.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Just got a notification that the chicks I ordered went out of Iowa this afternoon. USPS is showing the shipment isn't expected until MONDAY!

However I've ordered from this hatchery before and it normally only takes 2 days, max.
Trying the breathe and relax here.....
Breathe and relax....

☮☀

Snap dragon- don't worry USPS always gives worse case delivery time, I am sure you will get them Fri. or Sat.

I agree with gimmie birdies! The last two packages I received were shipped Tuesday and had an estimated arrival or Saturday but they arrived overnight and I picked them up Wednesday afternoon!
The package right before these actually said it was delayed and wouldn't arrive until Sunday (which means I would have to pick it up Monday) but it arrived Friday. Lol, I'm not complaining.

 

[kelseyk]

Sent messages to all the ebay sellers who's eggs arrived all shook up or broke. All the eggs were packed well, so let them know it wasn't their fault and that I still plan on giving them positive reviews. The person I ordered the Welsummer eggs from said they would resend the eggs if I paid shipping! (I had candled the remaining 7 and found 1 definite blood ring and the others look pretty clear.) I am so excited! I really wanted some Welsummers! They said they would ship them Monday....now to cross my fingers extra hard that they make it here in good shape.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Sent messages to all the ebay sellers who's eggs arrived all shook up or broke. All the eggs were packed well, so let them know it wasn't their fault and that I still plan on giving them positive reviews. The person I ordered the Welsummer eggs from said they would resend the eggs if I paid shipping! (I had candled the remaining 7 and found 1 definite blood ring and the others look pretty clear.) I am so excited! I really wanted some Welsummers! They said they would ship them Monday....now to cross my fingers extra hard that they make it here in good shape.

Fingers crossed for your eggs! I don't expect it of the sellers but I definitely have a greater appreciation for the sellers that are kind enough to send more eggs and they're the ones I find myself recommending or buying from again. Most buyers go into a purchase for shipped hatching eggs knowing that it's a gamble but it's also EXTREMELY disappointing when you put that kind of money into buying eggs and have a deplorable hatch or no hatch at all. Even when it's no fault of the seller, it's not a fault of the buyer either. Most of the hatching eggs online are 2-3 times more expensive than what they're sold for locally, sometimes even from the same seller because of the headache involved for them and I feel like having a customer cover shipping, which is the primary expense, is the right thing to do. Anyway, that was my rambling opinion on the subject. LOL!

 

[jolenesdad]

Today’s my birthday, I vote for all chicks born today to be named Brett. If you wanted Pullets...... too bad?

On the egg color questions....

blue is actually dominant. So that’s where the unpredictability comes from. Many people breed a Purebred blue egg layer to a white egg layer because the white egg layer will increase production. The subsequent layer is guaranteed to lay blue. It has one blue gene and one white gene.

that’s where the charts get off. You have to know the chicken carries two blue genes to ensure blue or green offspring. Seeing a blue or green or olive egg only ensures You have at least one copy of the blue gene. @FortCluck your blue layer bred to the rock is an EE? If it has two copies of blue, it would be 100% green offspring. If it has one blue and one white, there’s a 50% of green and 50% light brown.

@SnapdragonQ yes there are 15 genes they think that control the amount and shade of brown pigment.

The whiting true blue breed was Ameraucana bred to leghorns and then subsequently test bred as a flock to isolate only breeders with two copies of the blue gene.

true green breeds or like the silverudds are blue layers crossed to brown layers to get the bloom
Coating and then treated the same way, bred back to each other and then isolated that they carry two copies of the blue gene while still carrying brown coating genes as well.

 

[jolenesdad]

Today’s my birthday, I vote for all chicks born today to be named Brett. If you wanted Pullets...... too bad?

On the egg color questions....

blue is actually dominant. So that’s where the unpredictability comes from. Many people breed a Purebred blue egg layer to a white egg layer because the white egg layer will increase production. The subsequent layer is guaranteed to lay blue. It has one blue gene and one white gene.

that’s where the charts get off. You have to know the chicken carries two blue genes to ensure blue or green offspring. Seeing a blue or green or olive egg only ensures You have at least one copy of the blue gene. @FortCluck your blue layer bred to the rock is an EE? If it has two copies of blue, it would be 100% green offspring. If it has one blue and one white, there’s a 50% of green and 50% light brown.

@SnapdragonQ yes there are 15 genes they think that control the amount and shade of brown pigment.

The whiting true blue breed was Ameraucana bred to leghorns and then subsequently test bred as a flock to isolate only breeders with two copies of the blue gene.

true green breeds or like the silverudds are blue layers crossed to brown layers to get the bloom
Coating and then treated the same way, bred back to each other and then isolated that they carry two copies of the blue gene while still carrying brown coating genes as well.

Also I’ve heard silverudds are a pretty weak breed because of this. The only way to isolate two blue genes is to test breed the bird to a white layer. I think to have a small breeding flock of 2 cockerels and 8 hens, you have to grow out 140 birds to point of lay to see if they have colored eggs and THEN relate that back to which parent it is.

therefore the originating genetics of test-bred birds is likely pretty small.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Today’s my birthday, I vote for all chicks born today to be named Brett. If you wanted Pullets...... too bad?

On the egg color questions....

blue is actually dominant. So that’s where the unpredictability comes from. Many people breed a Purebred blue egg layer to a white egg layer because the white egg layer will increase production. The subsequent layer is guaranteed to lay blue. It has one blue gene and one white gene.

that’s where the charts get off. You have to know the chicken carries two blue genes to ensure blue or green offspring. Seeing a blue or green or olive egg only ensures You have at least one copy of the blue gene. @FortCluck your blue layer bred to the rock is an EE? If it has two copies of blue, it would be 100% green offspring. If it has one blue and one white, there’s a 50% of green and 50% light brown.

@SnapdragonQ yes there are 15 genes they think that control the amount and shade of brown pigment.

The whiting true blue breed was Ameraucana bred to leghorns and then subsequently test bred as a flock to isolate only breeders with two copies of the blue gene.

true green breeds or like the silverudds are blue layers crossed to brown layers to get the bloom
Coating and then treated the same way, bred back to each other and then isolated that they carry two copies of the blue gene while still carrying brown coating genes as well.

OMG!!!! HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!! Little fuzzy butt Bretts everywhere!

 

[Vantic]

I have no idea when some of my eggs are due to hatch... I did it again

I am going to candle them all tonight, but I assume they are all due in about a week and some I know for sure are due this weekend (marans).

My Google calendar has all mine. I found a way to bulk add everything to the calendar after putting in the start date and the hatch name. I can share if it is interest