Michigan

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: Opa could you please tell me how did you come up with that?

 

[Bianca67]

What the what???

Checked the tracking on my chicks and they are still in Ohio. Hatched in Ohio and shipped in the morning and still in the same state, ugh!!! I could have driven there and been home by dinner with them but did not do it because the cost of driving was twice as much as shipping them, now I wish I had picked them up.

 

[taprock]

Teeville - it is possible about the roo. I had a 'girl' until she was almost 6 months so a little younger but a Cornish that usually develops early. In a weeks time she got wattles, glossy colored tail and was mounting birds. I felt so bad sending her to be butchered, still a 'she' in my mind!

Good Morning everyone!

I have a pip in one of Theron's ostrich eggs!

I was excited until I read farther and discovered it was an ostrich egg like your dinosaur eggs!

What the what???

Checked the tracking on my chicks and they are still in Ohio. Hatched in Ohio and shipped in the morning and still in the same state, ugh!!! I could have driven there and been home by dinner with them but did not do it because the cost of driving was twice as much as shipping them, now I wish I had picked them up.

It is possible it hasn't been updated. Mine are never updated after they reach Grand Rapids which is the opposite end of the state.


I candled eggs and pulled 16 that weren't doing anything. Is that number high? I had 42 and they were all shipped.

Chick pictures, but not to great because it was getting dark. The last one, Ameraucana is adorable, she has a little blue bib.

 

[1muttsfan]

Hmmm...I guess I should just join in the fun too huh?

 

Yes absolutely!

Not enough meat on them!

Lots of meat on osriches - they have huge muscular thighs (the better to kick you with)

Yorkchick, hope things look up for you soon

Taprock, shipped eggs often have a high failure rate, depending on fertility, shipping issues, and handling. One person I ordered eggs from said her husband use to work at the post office, and some workers at transfer stations would deliberately mishandle boxes marked fragile or hatching eggs. My PO has great workers, but they are not the only ones to handle the boxes. I ask shippers not to write anything on the box regarding fragile or eggs.

Hi elliemae, welcome to BYC and the michigan thread

 

[Bianca67]

Taprock - I sure hope that is the case. I am sitting here on pins and needles waiting for them and hoping they don't get "lost".

 

[thewaggonerfami]

Thanks for the warm welcome! Still trying to figure things out for having chickens. I want to get our GAAMP approval asap.

 

[Opa]

Quote: Check to see what the wattage of the appliance is. Multiply by the number of hours used. Divide by 1000 and you will have the number of amp hours the incubator used. Check your electric bill to see how much you pay per amp hour. Multiply by your amp hour cost by the amp hours used. Equals cost to operate..

 

[Farmerboy16]

Thank-you to all who have welcomed me, hope I can keep up. Has anybody out there tried a three day staggered hatch? This is only my 2nd attempt at using an incubator, so I don't really know what to do. I fired up my bator and started my first batch of shipped hatching eggs on Saturday, but the folks that were suppose to send hatching eggs to me in April messed up and sent them to me on Friday. They arrived today. The farm they came from said that they would send a new batch on the correct date, but now I have 6 Barnevelder, and 6 blue ameraucana eggs sitting here. The farm said to either keep and try to hatch them or just throw them.out. So of course I'm gonna try to hatch them, but I'm a little unsure what to do when its time to put the first batch on lockdown. I only have 1LG incubator. Do I keep turning batch #2 while the others are on lockdown? And what about the humidity? Please help. ::/

Hmmm...I guess I should just join in the fun too huh?

 

Yes absolutely!

Not enough meat on them!

Lots of meat on osriches - they have huge muscular thighs (the better to kick you with)

Yorkchick, hope things look up for you soon

Taprock, shipped eggs often have a high failure rate, depending on fertility, shipping issues, and handling. One person I ordered eggs from said her husband use to work at the post office, and some workers at transfer stations would deliberately mishandle boxes marked fragile or hatching eggs. My PO has great workers, but they are not the only ones to handle the boxes. I ask shippers not to write anything on the box regarding fragile or eggs.

Hi elliemae, welcome to BYC and the michigan thread

I got this info on incubating shipped eggs from Mahonri's 3rd Hatch-a-long thread-

Enjoy

Hi All,

Aveca sent me her notes for hatching shipped eggs. If this works and a lot of us use it with our shipped eggs, the hatch ratio contest will be out of bounds this time

Here it is--Remember, these instructions are for shipped eggs:

it says allow eggs to sit 12 - 24 hrs in a place where if they are cool , they can warm up slowly. leave them after carefully unwrapped upright inside cartons and close lid so they will not warm up too quickly. eggs that warm too quickly , or cool too quickly are shocked . causes lower hatch rate.one of the reasons shipped eggs do not fare well..slow cooling and heateing give better success. cool eggs can remain in cool area, remember warm very slowly, do not ever shock shipped eggs or any egg by throwing it in the incubator , this causes condensation on the inside of the cool egg and bactieria begin to grow and kill the egg. always warm eggs slow;ly,.... try to keep already warm eggs stable, do not allow those to take sudden chill. never be inpatient to get eggs in incubator.warm eggs that take a sudden drop in temps will kill the developing germ. even in late development.

you should have your incubator up and running days befor they arrive and be stabalized.

place eggs upright carefully in turner trays or cartons if hand turning.

allow shipped hatching eggs to sit upright position in incubator with egg turner off for 7 - 10 days , this allows air cell to stabalize and give the germ time to organise and get a healthy start without constantly being moved disturbing delicate vessels and cell formation. shipped eggs most likley suffered some damage, constantly disturbing this formation will give lower hatchs.

depending on damage, turn your egg turner on day 7 and allow eggs to be turned for the last part of incubation. this excercises the embryo and prevents the embryo from laying in an area where waste product inside the eggs collects, helps circulation and proper development.

Run your humidity lower than recomended to help air cells to dry down and helps in healing.unless eggs are coming from very arid regions where the cells start out larger due to rapid evaporation.

do NOT lay shipped eggs down on thier sides in most cases during lockdown. it is best to sit these in slightly cut down paper cartons... do not use styro cartons as they heat and release chemicals that can be toxic. cutting the side of the carton down just a little ensures pipping can occur without running into carton wall.

sometimes befor or during shipment conditions are right for the germ to begin to develope, this is the most delicate time for a hatching egg. and the time when most are damaged ..tiny blood vessels are beginning to form, and cells are deviding and organizing , and being shocked with sudden temp changes and shaking .so dont beat yourself up if all of your shipped eggs do not hatch, more than air cell damage , the germ itself became disorganized and cannot re build itself. that is why the freshest shipped eggs are most desirable. you will get a larger percentage to hatch using this method and conditions in your incubator are correct. it is so worth it to buy from a good breeder. often it just isnt possible to drive across the country just to pick up some eggs or birds so try this method and happy hatching,

remember post office personel are not trained in handeling these products , thier job is just to move item place to place..hopefully there was not a drastic temp change or prolonged air flights in sub freezing cargo in low 02, 30 thousand ft plane ride

Thanks to aveca! Send her a pm

 

[RBahmer]

On Saturday, my neighbor game over to help my DH with something in the backyard and Big Boy did NOT approve. DH got so tired of him crowing that he stuffed him in the garage for the day.

DH

 

[swampducks]

Yes you can and it's very tasty. My FIL tried to raise ostriches for meat one year but his get rich semi-quick schemes never worked out.

you can't eat ostriches... What can you do with them? Lol.