Nankin Bantams

[MROO]

Dawn,

Took your OUTSTANDING advice and removed Ann’s two eggs while she was having lunch and gave her five recently laid eggs from her peers.

Appropriately marked the two eggs and placed them in the incubator, along with the nine. I will candle them tonight.

Also examined the three eggs I removed from the incubator and all three (no Yorkers) apparently just stopped developing for some reason. It was great to see all twelve eggs were fertile.

~BT

I'm jealous! I wish mine had that good a fertility rate! I'm hoping the last mess was simply because "The Girls" were so young. I have my fingers crossed that the current batch is better!

 

[cobra3073]

I'm jealous! I wish mine had that good a fertility rate!

Fertility is probably positively effected as a result of my having two cockerels for the six hens. I am very pleased as to how well they all get along.

We will see how that holds up if and when I add to the Flock.


~BT

 

[MROO]

I've got two over five, at the moment, but The Captain doesn't let poor Jackson anywhere near the ladies. I guess you could say that Jackson is "Stonewalled!"

(Sorry ... I couldn't resist!)

 

[cobra3073]

I've got two over five, at the moment, but The Captain doesn't let poor Jackson anywhere near the ladies. I guess you could say that Jackson is "Stonewalled!"

(Sorry ... I couldn't resist!)

REALLY good one, Dawn!LOL

 

[cobra3073]

Dawn,

Took your OUTSTANDING advice and removed Ann’s two eggs while she was having lunch and gave her five recently laid eggs from her peers.

Appropriately marked the two eggs and placed them in the incubator, along with the nine. I will candle them tonight.
BT[/QUOTE
That should have read “Helen” not “Ann.” Anyways, I candled the two eggs last night and both are very viable, so now I have eleven in the incubator. Those 11 are due to hatch around May 14.

As previously stated, I have five eggs under “Helen.” Those are due to hatch on the 24th of May.

Additionally, another young hen (Gemma) is apparently serious about setting, so I will probably give her a half dozen eggs in the next day or so.

~BT

 

[MROO]

Miss Piggy is sitting on seven eggs! I'm torn. She tried to kill the last batch of chicks, so I'm hesitant to let her hatch this one - but she's older now, and hopefully more settled. Any thoughts?

 

[cobra3073]

Since this is the “laying” season for our Nannies, I would give her another shot at it. At worst, you will only lose a few eggs.?I know we have eaten a LOT of eggs so far this season that I could have incubated.

With the reputation the Nankins have for being GREAT mothers, I would think it was probably immaturity on Ms Piggy’s part as I have heard that killing or attacking the newly hatched chicks is sometimes the case with young pullets.

Since she had not previously experienced the wetness and “edges” from the cracked shell, she may have thought it was something “alien.” I would give her another chance as I think she at least deserve the opportunity. The fact she is broody seems to indicate her basic “motherly” instinct is there.

Speaking of brooding, one of my hens who is currently setting is pretty meek with her sisters and has been the target of bullying. I noticed she is still in that hierarchical position when she comes off the nest to eat. I was wondering if I need to prepare to isolate her and any hatchlings from the rest of the Flock? I am hoping she will get more “aggressive” with her peers when the (if any) eggs hatch. What are y’all’s thoughts?

~BT

 

[cobra3073]

Possible CALAMITY!

I awaken this morning around 4:00AM to a power outage that apparently begin around 1:35AM.

Since I am on “Day 16” of my incubation of 12 Nankin eggs, I became really concerned. I rushed to the Brimsea Mini II Advance incubator and covered it with a blanket to try and preserve heat.

The power came back on at approximately 1:00 PM and I am now sweating whether or not the eggs remain viable. I have decided to wait until DAY 19 before I candle the eggs again to determine if there is movement.

Any thoughts?

~BT

 

[MROO]

Since this is the “laying” season for our Nannies, I would give her another shot at it. At worst, you will only lose a few eggs.?I know we have eaten a LOT of eggs so far this season that I could have incubated.

With the reputation the Nankins have for being GREAT mothers, I would think it was probably immaturity on Ms Piggy’s part as I have heard that killing or attacking the newly hatched chicks is sometimes the case with young pullets.

Since she had not previously experienced the wetness and “edges” from the cracked shell, she may have thought it was something “alien.” I would give her another chance as I think she at least deserve the opportunity. The fact she is broody seems to indicate her basic “motherly” instinct is there.

Speaking of brooding, one of my hens who is currently setting is pretty meek with her sisters and has been the target of bullying. I noticed she is still in that hierarchical position when she comes off the nest to eat. I was wondering if I need to prepare to isolate her and any hatchlings from the rest of the Flock? I am hoping she will get more “aggressive” with her peers when the (if any) eggs hatch. What are y’all’s thoughts?

~BT

I'd separate her ... sortof. Your coop looks big enough to put a dog kennel inside. I'd use it as a broody run, making sure to put hardware cloth around the outside to keep babies in and other birds out. Keeping them in the coop where they can be seen but not touched allows them to grow safely within sight of the rest of the flock. By the time they're ready to join up, they won't be a novelty anymore, so they should be safer from the bigger chickens.
As far as the power outage goes, leaving them alone for a few extra days is likely a good idea. They're far enough along in their development that the temp blip shouldn't phase them much. They may hatch a day later, but should be okay. Fingers crossed, but I think they'll be fine.

 

[cobra3073]

THANKS for the inputs, Dawn! As I am sure you can imagine, I am seriously “fretting” relative to the eggs in the incubator. Your thoughts on that matter are right inline with mine but it helps to get some corroboration from you!

I do have an extra large dog kennel that I could use. Since I have two hens setting (s couple of days separate them from the time they started), do you think they could share parenting responsibilities?

“Chicken Math” is hitting me pretty hard as it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to let the eggs go toward consumption.

How many days do Miss Piggy have into her current effort? By my reckoning, she should be right along with my two hams as to hatch day.

~BT