Nankin Bantams

[cobra3073]

Wow, Dawn!

I am so very sorry to learn you lost Pepper and that you have had issues with your hatches.

Yes, I too, have seen a number of posts that speak to Nankins allegedly being more difficult to hatch in an incubator than with a hen. That having been said, I have done a LOT of research on collecting, storing and hatching egge and on choosing the correct incubator for my needs, so we shall see.

It is odd that some of your Nankins have not apparently exhibited a huge propensity to become Moms as I understand that was one of (if not the main reason) they were kept on large estates...to brood and raise pheasants and other birds.

I STRONGLY agree with your statements in an earlier post above in that at least some of Ideal’s Nankins seem to show more than a passing resemblance to OEGB. I also agree this is not necessarily a “bad” approach, considering how most Nankins here in the States are so closely related...the gene pool is relatively small. Perhaps as you stated or inferred, we will be able to enhance that pool a bit and still bleed any undesirable traits that detract from what we want in our Nankins.

I was wondering if perhaps setting up a program of breeding the two different comb types with each other would increase the pool without causing too serious of an issue (as it relates to the Standard) with the resultant combs of the offspring. I was reading a treatise somewhere on how rosecombs to straight combs breeding work; will have to try and find that again

...the journey continues!

 

[MROO]

Wow, Dawn!

I am so very sorry to learn you lost Pepper and that you have had issues with your hatches.
...

It is odd that some of your Nankins have not apparently exhibited a huge propensity to become Moms as I understand that was one of (if not the main reason) they were kept on large estates...to brood and raise pheasants and other birds.

...

I was wondering if perhaps setting up a program of breeding the two different comb types with each other would increase the pool without causing too serious of an issue (as it relates to the Standard) with the resultant combs of the offspring. I was reading a treatise somewhere on how rosecombs to straight combs breeding work; will have to try and find that again

...the journey continues!

Losing Pepper was a huge hit, not just in the breeding program, but in the heart. She was more than a chicken, she was a true pet. As far as the others not being broody, three of my five remaining females are under a year old. Hope and Iris are still laying tiny pullet-sized eggs and are really too young to show any true broody behavior. Then there's Evie. She's always been more than a little independent (translated ... "sassy and hard-headed!) so when she decided that she was keeping her latest egg ... Period ... I wasn't going to argue too much with her. At least I managed to slip a couple more under her before she drew serious blood!

Miss Piggy, my problem child, will set, but I can't trust her with a hatch. The next time she goes broody, I'll pull her eggs after the halfway candling. She's a really good layer and has nice, robust chicks, so I'd rather keep her laying and let another Mama do the hatching for her.

Beauty is a decent layer, but she's so timid that she gets spooked off her nest really easily, so she hasn't gone truly broody on us, yet. She's almost two, so hopefully that will come, soon. Her coloring isn't the best - a bit too pale - but she's tiny and typey, so she'll stay as long as I can keep her paired up with the two darker roos.

DD and I will candle what's in the incubator this weekend, so hopefully we'll have a better idea of what to expect come Easter Saturday. Fingers crossed!

 

[cobra3073]

I don’t know about y’all but my Nankin hens are EXTREMELY vocal when they lay an egg. In fact, the cackling seems to start sometimes when they are just thinking of laying an egg!

 

[MROO]

I don’t know about y’all but my Nankin hens are EXTREMELY vocal when they lay an egg. In fact, the cackling seems to start sometimes when they are just thinking of laying an egg!

Mine are just plain talkative, eggs or not! Miss Piggy is an all-around fusser, so she starts the minute she has an audience.

 

[MROO]

DD and I will candle what's in the incubator this weekend, so hopefully we'll have a better idea of what to expect come Easter Saturday. Fingers crossed!

Three new babies! Ten left in the 'bator and a couple still under Evie ...

 

[cobra3073]

EXCELLENT!

You have a pretty good size Flock of Nankins, Dawn...you’ve gotten me (and the First Lady) motivated. Even though I shall be out of town during the last half of the coming week, we have decided to incubate a dozen eggs on Monday. The First Lady has stated she will watch things while I am gone.

I wanted to hold off for a while as my Nankins are just over a year of age but She (the First Lady) has spoken, so it is on!

~BT

 

[MROO]

EXCELLENT!

You have a pretty good size Flock of Nankins, Dawn...you’ve gotten me (and the First Lady) motivated. Even though I shall be out of town during the last half of the coming week, we have decided to incubate a dozen eggs on Monday. The First Lady has stated she will watch things while I am gone.

I wanted to hold off for a while as my Nankins are just over a year of age but She (the First Lady) has spoken, so it is on!

~BT

AWESOME! Since I last posted, we've had one more happy hatcher! I had to assist a bit, because the poor little thing zipped all the way around but couldn't get through the membrane with more than a little crack or two. I don't know if it was drying out from the long zip-time or if it was another issue, but it was like rubber!

We have one that pipped five hours ago, but only bumped a spider-web crack in the shell without piercing the membrane. has made no progress since. Candling showed the chick filling the entire shell, with no air cell, but it when I held it to my ear, it was totally silent. On a last-ditch hunch, I opened a tiny hole in the membrane, and lo and behold, the baby started peeping! It has now begun to zip.

I'm wondering if I haven't stumbled on to one of the reasons why Nankins don't do very well in an incubator. They might need a broody's help getting through that tough membrane. That's pure speculation on my part, but it would certainly explain why I've lost so many eggs in the last 24-48 hours of lockdown, and why several actually pipped before they died. Now that I know I have to keep a close eye on these babies and be ready to poke a hole in the membrane, guess who's not going to get much sleep, tonight - and it's not a baby chicken!

 

[cobra3073]

How are the ones doing under Evie? When are those due to hatch?

You bring up s good hypothesis as it relate to the toughness of the membrane and possibly the need for assistance from the Mom. I think when one of my hens go broody, I will place one of my remote Arlo cameras near the nest to try and observe the hen’s actions.

It would also probably help us if you can band or otherwise identify the chick you “helped” to see if there are any longtime “issues.” I know there are some who claim one should not assist (survivors of the fittest) but considering the rarity of good Nankins, I believe each potential hatchling should be given every opportunity for survival.

Congratulations on your apparent success with this hatch.

~BT

 

[MROO]

How are the ones doing under Evie? When are those due to hatch?

You bring up s good hypothesis as it relate to the toughness of the membrane and possibly the need for assistance from the Mom. I think when one of my hens go broody, I will place one of my remote Arlo cameras near the nest to try and observe the hen’s actions.

It would also probably help us if you can band or otherwise identify the chick you “helped” to see if there are any longtime “issues.” I know there are some who claim one should not assist (survivors of the fittest) but considering the rarity of good Nankins, I believe each potential hatchling should be given every opportunity for survival.

Congratulations on your apparent success with this hatch.

~BT

I've always been one of the "let it Be" crowd, at least until i started losing pipped "egglets" regularly. This time, there was absolutely no question of needing to help. The baby had zipped all the way around the shell, but pushing through that rubbery membrane was like fighting out from a balloon. Even when it pushed it's little legs, all that rubber did was stretch ... then go right back to its' original shape. All I really did was use a knife point to put a pair of tiny (1mm, maybe?) three-corner cuts in the membrane, right about where the baby was pushing hardest. Bingo! We had a chick within minutes!

The one in the incubator that pipped yesterday afternoon, but didn't get through the membrane, has only zipped about a quarter of the way around, this morning. It's actively (but sloooooowly!) zipping and the membrane is split, so I'll leave that one alone. The other nine in the "bator aren't showing any activity, but Day 22 doesn't start until noon, so I'm guardedly hopeful ...

I have no idea what's happening under Eves at the moment. She's taken the broody temperament to new highs. We can't get CLOSE to that nest without really upsetting her. the current plan is to sneak a (heavily gloved) hand under her tonight & swap a pair of eggs for two peeps. We'll see if we can manage that ...

 

[MROO]

How are the ones doing under Evie? When are those due to hatch?

You bring up s good hypothesis as it relate to the toughness of the membrane and possibly the need for assistance from the Mom. I think when one of my hens go broody, I will place one of my remote Arlo cameras near the nest to try and observe the hen’s actions.

It would also probably help us if you can band or otherwise identify the chick you “helped” to see if there are any longtime “issues.” I know there are some who claim one should not assist (survivors of the fittest) but considering the rarity of good Nankins, I believe each potential hatchling should be given every opportunity for survival.

Congratulations on your apparent success with this hatch.

~BT

So much for this hatch. I just lost all four in the brooder to a overheating. My brooder plate is waiting for a replacement cord, so I was stuck with a heat lamp. It shifted and baked my poor babies. All four of them. It was literally six minutes from when I last checked them - and they were fine. I want to scream and tear out my hair. Pardon my "French," but this SO sucks!