Maine

[kinsey228]

3 chicks due to hatch 13 Jan, and 6 due to hatch on the 20th of Jan ! So excited ! These are my 1st and 2nd hatches. I wonder what breeds they are going to be....

 

[superchemicalgirl]

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Everything is x black EE roo so they will all be mixes. But should be interesting mixes, nonetheless.

White egg: white leghorn, should give a pale blue or green egg layer, whatever daddy passes on
Dark browns: marans, may give olivey or dark colored eggs
Blues: EE mixes, should continue to give you blues and greens. Some of these could be turken.
Olive egg: olive egger, should give green/blue egg layer. Might be turken.
No idea who laid the lighter brown ones. My brown egg layer turkens are mostly molting, so these will probably be fully feathered chicks. You'll probably get a darker green egg from this mix.

 

[buckabucka]

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Very exciting! I can't wait to hatch again (maybe for Easter?), even though I don't know how I'll fit more chickens.

Have fun!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

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Very exciting! I can't wait to hatch again (maybe for Easter?), even though I don't know how I'll fit more chickens.

Have fun!

Oh yes! You should join us for Easter!

 

[buckabucka]

Oh yes! You should join us for Easter!

Ha! I think I will. I filled out our new 2012 calendar today, writing in birthdays, etc., and I just happened to count back from Easter and write "set eggs?" on March 19!

I just mentioned to DH that I would love to try crossing our rooster with the light Brahma, and he pointed out that "she doesn't lay eggs". Good point.

. I guess I'll have to work on that.​

 

[Coldweatherbirds]

Set eggs on the 19th huh? Sounds good to me! We pagans here will celebrate Easter with a hatching of new life too!!! Anyone out there with a couple white or brown eggs that they would donate/trade for my hatching at the time? My layers do everything but white right now and my browns are getting older.

 

[buckabucka]

I've got white eggs, -from a leghorn, and soon from an Ancona, but my only rooster is an olive-egger, so offspring would not lay white, would they? I'm not actually sure what you would get. And who knows what genes my rooster carries. I hope to do some experiments!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Can I pick your collective brains for a few minutes? Do you think that there's any demand for broody boxes or brooders that are wooden and durable? My boyfriend has built me quite a few of these and we were toying with the idea of making a few more to try to sell at the spring swaps. I used to brood/quarantine in cardboard boxes but the birds learn quickly to fly out of them and perch on the top, pooping on the floor. Then he started building these. These wooden brooders are heavy duty and have tops so the birds are contained. They're kind of heavy, and need 2 people to move but we could also attach wheels for the single poultry lover to move the box on their own.

We don't know if there would be demand for something like this or even if it would be worth our time. Your thoughts are appreciated.

 

[buckabucka]

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Those look great! I especially like the hardware cloth on the side, for easy viewing. The question is, how long does it take to make one, and will people pay you enough for your labor? If BF enjoys making these, it might be worth making a couple for the next swap, just to see if there is interest.

If Jack was not a carpenter, I know I would want one. I tired of the flimsy cardboard boxes and pooping escape artists. One thing you may want to consider, - is there an easy way to break it down (for storage purposes)?

Mine is somewhat like a coffin, 6 feet by 2 feet, with the screening on top in 2 sections, so I was able to jam some hardware cloth in the center for 2 batches of different age chicks. It looks like some of yours might be divide-able also, which is a nice feature. I have not witnessed how many screws DH had to remove to break ours down, as it got whisked away while I was working, but it nice to be able to store it flat somewhere.

Some people may come to the swap and decide to get chicks without having thought through the brooder options, and there yours will be. I say go ahead and test the waters, but maybe start small (because you know you will feel the need to fill any that don't get sold

)

 

[hoppy]

I like the idea, but as buck says cost, and what are people willing to pay. you may also find certain swaps are better sell then others but spring is chick time!!