Nankin Bantams

[MROO]

Good to hear! wonder if the little ones feathers will grow back?

Mine are 2 weeks now, mama discussing issues with little no-tail - View attachment 1458306

Update ... "Blue," now "Iris," is all grown up. She is easily identifiable (and subsequently renamed) due to the Iris-on-a-stem shaped scar on the back of her head and neck. I'm pretty certain she'll never have feathers there, but I'm hoping that she may get a few more after her first hard molt, next year. Fingers crossed. She's very friendly, and the most adventurous of the flock. She's a serious escape artist ... and an extremely adept flier. Since she can't be shown, she'll probably end up getting some wing feathers clipped. It's the only thing I can think of to keep the little stinker out of the trees!

 

[Bluegenes]

Does anyone have Nankin Hatching eggs that are good quality (better than Ideal's)? I have a rose comb Nankin from Ideal I really like and I'd like the get some more that are better quality. Thanks!

 

[MROO]

Does anyone have Nankin Hatching eggs that are good quality (better than Ideal's)? I have a rose comb Nankin from Ideal I really like and I'd like the get some more that are better quality. Thanks!

Where are you located? I'm in Maryland. Is your RC male or female? If it's a lady-Nanny, I have two nice 2017 roosters and a 2018 cockerel who are looking for life-mates. Any one of them would love to meet up with an eligible lady-friend! - And they're all related to our Cecil County Fair Best-in-Show Nankin roo. The two older boys are full brothers. The youngster is either a son or a nephew ... you know how those close-knit chicken families can be ...

 

[Bluegenes]

Mine is a hen. I don't know if I plan to breed her specifically, I'm just interested in the breed because of her. I am in WI, so I don't think I could get adult birds. Do you have pictures of your birds? and do you ship hatching eggs?

 

[MROO]

Mine is a hen. I don't know if I plan to breed her specifically, I'm just interested in the breed because of her. I am in WI, so I don't think I could get adult birds. Do you have pictures of your birds? and do you ship hatching eggs?

I only have five hens, at the moment, so I don't really have enough eggs to ship, especially right now, with snow on the ground and all of my girls in "winter recovery" mode. Something to think about for the future, though, is that Nankin eggs don't generally ship well. They tend to be rounder than a regular egg, so the air sac is not very stable. As a result, the fragile veining that supports the embryo is much more easily damaged in shipping, which kills the developing chick. You're definitely better off with live birds or young chicks.

Here's a pic of one of my eligible bachelors - both hatched Spring 2017. That's Simpleton on the left - standing at alert to see what I'm up to (as in, "What is that clicky thing and does Mom have treats?) Butterball, the SC on the right (same hatch, different line,) is also available, but I don't recommend him as a Nankin breeding bird. His coloring is "correct" but way too pale. He would make a good roo for a mixed bantam flock, though, because he's not only very people-friendly, but he takes very good care of his ladies. I also have FlutterBug, another 2018 roo who is a full brother to Simpleton and Jackson, a 2018 cockerel who is coloring up rather nicely. I don't have current pictures of either, but they're both nice young fellows.

On a side note - I have relatives near Flint, MI, who are visiting Maryland this summer ... just in case you're still looking, then!

Regardless, please consider breeding your little hen "specifically." The Nankin is critically endangered, so we need to get more people interested it raising them. Once they get back into the mainstream, it'll be easier. They're such pleasant, personable little birds that they're hard not to love!

 

[gootziecat]

Following

 

[cobra3073]

First of all, my SINCERE apologies for not keeping y’all up-to-date on my “journey” with Nankins. My ONLY excuse is “life happens.”

Now to the update:

My flock (6 pullets and 2 cockerels) are doing very well, in my estimation. I am now averaging 3-5 eggs just about every day. I have actually started giving eggs to some of my neighbors.

After a LOT of research, I purchased a Brimsea Mini II Advance incubator that I intend to use in my breeding and hatching efforts. I have an annual trip scheduled from 25-29 April with some fellow retired military members, so I don’t plan on starting my first hatch until after I return. I have been running the Brimsea for 6 days now, without a glitch, so I think I made the right choice.

My plan is to do a first hatch to determine exactly what I am producing before reaching out to other Nankin breeders for collaboration and possible exchange of eggs, chicks and/or mature birds.

Anyway, at the top of this post are a couple current “shots” of the flock and a picture of some eggs.

I promise to try and do much better (Dawn) on posting and keeping y’all up-to-date on my efforts.

~BT

 

[MROO]

I promise to try and do much better (Dawn) on posting and keeping y’all up-to-date on my efforts.

~BT

I am AWFULLY glad to hear from you! I was getting worried!
Your birds are beautiful, BTW. They've grown out very nicely!

 

[cobra3073]

Thanks Dawn!

Yes, I am happy with how they have matured. I am REALLY pleased with how the two brothers get along. They are a true “tag team” but don’t appear to be too rough on the hens.

Question for you and other Nankin breeders...how many days have you gone with your Nankin incubation efforts before going to “lockdown” on your incubator? I have read that some Bantams hatch on the 18th or 19th day which would put lockdown at day 16. I would appreciate y’all inputs and/or thoughts on this. My breeder has said her hatches have all been on the 20th or 21st day for Nankins.

~BT

 

[MROO]

Thanks Dawn!

Yes, I am happy with how they have matured. I am REALLY pleased with how the two brothers get along. They are a true “tag team” but don’t appear to be too rough on the hens.

Question for you and other Nankin breeders...how many days have you gone with your Nankin incubation efforts before going to “lockdown” on your incubator? I have read that some Bantams hatch on the 18th or 19th day which would put lockdown at day 16. I would appreciate y’all inputs and/or thoughts on this. My breeder has said her hatches have all been on the 20th or 21st day for Nankins.

~BT

Mine go the full 21 days, but I've lost a few to shrink-wrapping, so I'm guessing that they could probably have gone on the 20th. I've not had very much success with an incubator, which goes along with what I've been told about Nannies doing better with a broody. Out of my original three hens, only Pepper was a good broody, and we lost her last fall. No apparent illness, just dead one morning. Piggy lays well and will set for a week or so, but then gets tired or bored and abandons her nest. The one time she went the distance, she lost it when the fuzzy babies broke her eggs ... and killed them as they zipped. That was a real heartbreaker. She is no longer allowed to hatch, or even to be in the same coop with peeps. Beauty has never shown an interest in setting, but she continues to help fill anyone else's nest. Works for me!

Our new broody is, surprisingly enough - Evie! As young as she is, she went broody on one lone egg. I added two more (one Nankin, one D'uccles) a few days later, and despite getting really nasty about it, she took them on. I have 22 eggs in the incubator at the moment, but haven't candled yet, so I don't know how many are viable or not. With only two actual hens laying (the rest are all new pullets, still laying tiny eggs,) I'm not overly optimistic about results ... but I AM hopeful!

My Nurture Right 360's auto-turner went south on me but the company replaced it for free, so I went ahead and got another. I wanted to do the Easter Hatch-along, so I had a very narrow window for testing - 24 days - so I had to work quickly. Because of the tight time-frame, I had to use eggs collected during a really brutal cold spell. I figured that most of them would have gotten too cold to survive and unfortunately, I was right. At ten days, six were clear duds. One was viable and one was "iffy," so I left in in. I'm glad I did, because that's the only one that hatched!

So - I currently have one Nanny baby in the brooder at the moment. S/he is two weeks old and starting to feather out on the wings. I have a sinking feeling that "Pippi" is a "Pippin," but again, I'm hopeful. Pip is pretty lonely, right now, being the only hatchling, but no one I know has bantam babies and TSC hasn't had anything small or irresistible enough to make me actually buy more. Aren't you proud of my self-restraint? My kids are! One of my kindergarten teacher friends asked me today if I would be interested in adopting her two classroom chicks. I really don't want standard sized chickens, but she was desperate - and when I looked at them, I think one is an EE. The other is either a barred rock or another EE. My sister can take the BR, even if it's a cockerel. If the EE is a pullet, I'll probably keep her. If not, guess what my sister's getting for her birthday!

Okay - enough rambling for now. Keep in touch, stranger!