Minnesota!

[Bogtown Chick]

Why does spring always show up right when I'm finally starting to acclimate to the cold

I know what you mean. I'm sweating bricks outside and it's only in the 60's. Can barely stand it. Lol. I told DH that I'm a cold weather person last winter. I yip about it but I have to say I don't think I could live in the south.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

so I recently bought some chicks from a breeder that said they were 98 percent female or something like that.  What do you supposed she did with the males?  Also, I've noticed some people on craigslist are looking for roosters only, is that just because they want to breed?

You probably don't want to know what she did with the males. but hopefully she found a source who'll raise em up for meat at least.

 

[Drea07]

Thanks Bogtown

Yes, eggs can be held up to 10 days before they lose their fertility. Actually, at day 10 it begins to drop significantly, but some will still develop and hatch though not worth the trouble in my opinion. They can be placed at room temp and do just fine. I never actually refrigerate my eggs, but a cool spot, not in the sunlight, and with a good relative humidity will be fine. I hold eggs for a week, or should I say, I collect them for a week and set every Monday or Tuesday from December to June. Some eggs that get frozen slightly will even hatch, but again, not worth the trouble for the percentage that make it. Rocking or turning eggs is so that the embryo doesn't get attached to the side of the egg from sitting and drying out. Again, I don't always turn mine and still have the same outcomes as I do when I do turn them but some of them have stopped development after about a week and they embryo seems to be stuck, but not enough to make me turn them daily. I do wash my eggs just before they go into the incubator, usually. Some of my stupid hens will lay their eggs under the roost, in the poop, even though they have a nice double nest box in each pen. Sometimes they scratch around and break an egg trying to fluff up the nest, and it gets on the other eggs. I know all about the bloom on the egg, and I agree to an extent with leaving them, but since I am certified by the state to be a hatchery, I am following instructions for that. I normally only use warm water and rub whatever is sticking on them with my finger, but sometimes I do use a scrubby to get the really bad stuff off. I also incubate in 300-600 egg units inside my house and if I didn't clean the eggs first, it would smell pretty awful in my home (which it does bad enough from the 3 dogs

). One reason for setting once a week is so that I can ship out chicks in a batch when i have orders and they have to be no more than 24-hours old to do so. The other reason is that I have time to clean the hatcher in between, which is really important to the success of the successive hatches. Besides, if you just keep tossing more eggs and have them hatching all the time, that thing STINKS!

I have one warning though before you start hatching anything...
IT IS ADDICTIVE AND YOU WILL NEED TO JOIN A GROUP FOR THERAPY!!! Not this group because we are all pretty much nuts, and enablers. I am at least, and I am pretty sure Ralphie is.

Thank you so much for the information! I want to learn as much as I can and this helps a lot. I did pick up the book Storey's(?) Guide, since it seems to be getting some very good reviews on BYC as a very good reference for people like me.

I can see already how having chickens and ducks is addictive....think I may already be addicted. Just got the rest of my duckies in the mail this morning!! I'll fit right in...my family thinks I have gone a bit nuts.

 

[duluthralphie]

Quick Question:

Why would my diamond encrusted eggs have air sacs that migrated from the top to the side?

 

[holm25]

I'm so proud of my broody Cochin bantam!! She is almost done with this batch 1 week till hatch day!! I know lots can happen in th e last week but I am hoping for the best!!

Also I might have some hatching eggs for sale. They r super pretty eggs and out of super pretty hens and roo. They r barnyard mix out of EES, BR, BA, BO and NHRs and the roo is a Welsummer I might just hatch them and sell chicks but I am running out of room!!

My broody!!

 

[bantiesrule]

Hey Ralphie, it's tomorrow so now you can learn what we learned yesterday. Of course, you'll have to go back and find it because I forgot what it was.

 

[duluthralphie]

I learned yesterday, starters for john Deere 445's should not be purchased from a John Deere dealer....$301!! versus 150 or so online.

 

[bantiesrule]

Quick Question:

Why would my diamond encrusted eggs have air sacs that migrated from the top to the side?

Oh oh, you might want to learn this instead. Alot of eggs will do this, I think it is caused by the chick moving into the right position to get his egg tooth were it needs to be to start pipping out. Don't worry, it's natural.

 

[nordicacres]

Ugh, these chicks need out of my house! We have them in our attached greenhouse and they are STINKY despite constantly cleaning up after them. Worst part is that I cannot get an electrician out here to run power to our coop. We've called two different local guys who say they will show up and then never do! We have terrible luck with tradesmen. Last Fall I called THREE different plumbers and not a single one ever showed. Four weeks old Friday! At this rate they will be fully feathered before we get anyone out here, haha!

 

[duluthralphie]

Oh oh, you might want to learn this instead. Alot of eggs will do this, I think it is caused by the chick moving into the right position to get his egg tooth were it needs to be to start pipping out. Don't worry, it's natural.

Oh great! Now that I have learned this, I am done for today.

I was hoping to learn how to get my tractor running, I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow now....