JUNE - JULY HATCH-ALONG!!!!!!!

[two j farm]

Will your incubator run off of a backup battery? If not I've heard of filling the base with stones because they will radiate heat for a while even if the power goes out. I hope it's not bad!

My eggs are under a broody hen, so I'm OK.

 

[Cerise1924]

I love that idea!! It's funny because I actually keep a smaller flock here but I feel like I run out of names because even if a chick doesn't stay it's like I can never use that name again, lol! Most of my Marans have been named after chocolate or something related to chocolate but the only 2 that are still here are Kit Kat and Veruca Salt. Many of our original chicks were named after Harry Potter characters by my daughter and at this point, we have the most bizarre assortment of names! But we love them having names so if they stay, they do eventually get names.

I love Kit Kat and Veruca Salt! That's brilliant to use chocolaty names. What are your Harry Potter names? That's one beloved resource we haven't tapped into, yet.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Yes! I'm super pleased with the hatch rate and the health of these poults! I needed a positive hatch after the last one! It was pouring for days before I got these eggs and they actually had some wet sand on them from dirt splashing into their nest boxes so I was really prepared for a rough hatch and decided to not even try wiping the dirt off. I guess crazy stormy weather still provides a better hatch rate than blazing heat! So far my chicken eggs have had plenty of early quitters and it was in the mid to high 90s before I picked them up, which explains my early Olive Egger as well, but I started with 28 chicken eggs, 1 infertile, 9 quitters, so I'm putting 18 on lockdown tomorrow...well 17 now because little one hatched yesterday on day 16! lol! I'm most bummed that both of the Rumpless Tufted Araucana eggs were quitters. She mentioned that her hen wasn't doing well but I thought she just meant she wasn't laying much, now I'm not so sure she didn't mean something else? I'll have to ask her. I really wanted one of those silly looking chickens, lol.

The Olive Egger was a 2nd or 3rd generation Olive Egger so I'm not positive what is mixed in there but I'm fairly confident one of her first pens was Easter Egger hens under a Black Copper Marans rooster. Now she has a GORGEOUS Olive Egger rooster over Olive Egger hens and a new pen with Marans rooster over True Blues but it didn't occur to me until I set the eggs that I didn't get any from her new pen. She was probably trying to be nice by giving me eggs that would be similar to what is actually laid by the pullets but I would have loved one from her experimental pen. Maybe NEXT TIME!

Sounds like a neat experiment, with the BCM over True Blues! Does she have OEs that breed true? That’s my DD goal for our breeding project, which was set back by having so few of our OE and BCM hatch in June!

Sorry to hear about the araucana quitters!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Also scary that the snake just moseyed on into your coop!! We have rattler snakes here in texas, so I got the birds out of the coop and didn't do anything until I knew what it was.

I feel your pain...Georgia is home to over 40 species of snakes, 6 being venomous.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Another Marans hatched this morning! This one has normal toes, unlike the sibling with the short outer toe. That makes it easy to tell them apart. I scooped it out and put it in the brooder, and it hurried straight to its sibling for a cuddle. Do you think they recognize each other, somehow?

The Crested Cream Legbar, first to hatch, is keeping watch over them. As frustrated as I was that the broody wasn't going to raise them, I am remembering how pleasant it is to hand raise chicks in the house, despite all the trouble. It really is a nice way to bond and get to know their personalities.

Awww, what a sweet little trio that you have there - Congratulations!!!Do you have more hatching?

 

[Cerise1924]

Y'all say a pray for us in Louisiana. Hurricane Barry will make landfall tomorrow. My chicks should be hatching this weekend too.

I hope and pray all will be well for you. Hope it changes course and stays at sea! What do you do in a hurricane? I grew up used to earthquakes, but not hurricanes.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Yeah, that is how he got in. I'm in the process of brainstorming, to fix that problem. I had no idea snakes could scale a vertical wall that high from the ground. Its amazing really! And scary.

I was on another thread on BYC where the poster had pics of another snake shimmying right up an interior wall. They are amazing climbers and can fit through surprisingly tiny holes!

 

[Cerise1924]

Awww, what a sweet little trio that you have there - Congratulations!!!Do you have more hatching?

Not a pip from the other six eggs! I'm hopeful, though. Today is only Day 21, so they may still have a chance, right?

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Also scary that the snake just moseyed on into your coop!! We have rattler snakes here in texas, so I got the birds out of the coop and didn't do anything until I knew what it was.

We have those too, and they are far worse than copperhead, but my particular little neighborhood around Stillwater OK seems to be copperhead king! I’ll take them over rattlesnakes as they are less likely to kill a person or dog, but they still aren’t fun! I’ve seen photos of black rat snakes eating copperheads.... did a quick google search and found these fun pics of one eating a rattlesnake!
https://therebelchick.com/this-is-why-you-dont-kill-black-snakes/

 

[CluckNDoodle]

My eggs are under a broody hen, so I'm OK.

Whew, that's good at least. A huge benefit to broodies is that they don't lose power. lol

I love Kit Kat and Veruca Salt! That's brilliant to use chocolaty names. What are your Harry Potter names? That's one beloved resource we haven't tapped into, yet.

Hedwig, Hermione, and Buckbeak so far! There will eventually be a Dobby, Luna, and Myrtle but those names are specially reserved for my daughter's specially selected chickens, not "mine". lol!

Sounds like a neat experiment, with the BCM over True Blues! Does she have OEs that breed true? That’s my DD goal for our breeding project, which was set back by having so few of our OE and BCM hatch in June!

Sorry to hear about the araucana quitters!

Yes, her Olive Eggers lay a multitude of shades of green, some prettier than others but she seems to consistently get shades of green.