New Brahma Group: Blue Partridge x Partridge, Plus Dark

[speckledhen]

No fertility! That's awful!!!

It is. Such a bummer.

 

[speckledhen]

Okay, 'splain me this....I cracked open another egg from Bonnie. It looks very clearly fertilized. So, I think maybe I did not have any of hers in either batch I incubated, and come to think of it, I never saw her on the nest until after I collected both of those. So, either Bash is getting with the program or Bonnie is the only very possibly fertile hen at the moment. Maybe I should hold her eggs back and rotate them out, in case someone in there goes broody.

My chick plans may be ruined this year. Tom's knee went out in a bad way a couple of days ago and I'm completely on my own with the chores. Naturally, when that happened, it was pouring rain, power in and out, now two nights below freezing so I am having to be sure any herbs I planted in the big pots outside are covered. I don't want to add to my load, but it makes me sad not to be my little munchkins like I've been planning. He sees an orthopedic surgeon on April 14, has a massive leg brace on and is in a wheelchair most of the time. Guess we just have to roll with the punches.

 

[1muttsfan]

Oh I'm really sorry to hear about Tom's knee. maybe if they can get him fixed up you'll still have time later this year for chicks, got a lot of Summer left ahead.

 

[speckledhen]

By then, there will be no more chicks at feed stores, Mary. I didn't plan to continue with the Brahmas, just wanted them to be fertile in case someone went broody. I guess I'll have to play it by ear. This knee thing started a few years back when he was sweeping aside leaves with his foot, hit a hidden stump and torqued it somehow. Ever since, it's been a big issue, had cortisone shots, etc. But he said this is the worst pain he's felt other than his back. The knee popped, he yelled and then, he couldn't bear weight. I have a week to decide about the chicks.

 

[1muttsfan]

So sorry!

In the last few years the farm supply stores up here had a second round of chicks late in the summer/early fall.

 

[speckledhen]

I don't think this one does have another shipment later, probably wouldn't be what I want anyway, and I won't buy from Tractor Supply. This is the also the only one of three feed stores in my immediate area that doesn't vax for Marek's. I don't want Marek's vaxxed chicks, either. So, it's this store, shipped hatching eggs or nothing. The P.O. has been the most incompetent I've ever seen the past two years so I shudder to think about eggs being tossed around for 2-3 extra days. And UPS even lost a package that was coming to me. Took 10 days to investigate, still couldn't find it. I'm getting a replacement item from the seller, but the guy had scanned it out for delivery, got to my driveway and after searching the truck, couldn't find it. It disappeared off the face of the earth, first time that ever happened to me. And it was UPS, not USPS. That's awful considering how much folks depend on shipped items these days.
If it doesn't happen this year, we'll get 'em next year, I guess.

 

[1muttsfan]

I've sent 2 shipments of eggs and one was scrambled badly - they were shipped individually wrapped in bubble wrap and in a Styrofoam cooler, and still had broken eggs - the other had a lot of wonky air cells but they got 4 chicks. USPS Priority.

 

[speckledhen]

I've sent 2 shipments of eggs and one was scrambled badly - they were shipped individually wrapped in bubble wrap and in a Styrofoam cooler, and still had broken eggs - the other had a lot of wonky air cells but they got 4 chicks. USPS Priority.

Yes, it's a crapshoot, for sure. I've had many different experiences with shipped eggs, mostly pretty good, but you never know. Well, guess what? I am going to get chicks. I heard something from one of my favorite YouTube creators I follow, something he said this morning in a video completely unrelated to chicks, something that I've said in the past, but it just hit me at the right time. So, I will get chicks next weekend, probably at least a dozen so they can all be raised in one flock. My mood will change when spring has really sprung and I will enjoy those little munchkins. I was remembering Xander a lot today, such a grand little man and he made the ladies love him. I just hope I have enough females to males or I'll just have to give up the extras. Two bantam Cochin roosters is what I'm hoping to get in the straight run. , adding to that the little matching girls , plus some EEs and maybe something else if they have leftovers from a previous shipment.

 

[speckledhen]

I have a broody Brahma for the first time in well over a year. Bonnie, who used to be, along with Brandy, perpetually broody for her first three years but skipped last year, was on the nest this morning and stayed all day long. Coincidentally, my 10 year old Mille Fleur Belgian D'Anver hen, Aimee, who has been non-productive for over a year, gave me an egg today. So, Bonnie has 7 Brahma eggs plus Aimee's egg under her. Aimee's is not likely to be fertile since her rooster, Aubrey, is also 10 years old, but who knows? I had to try. If she sticks with it, May 30 is Day 1.

 

[1muttsfan]

That's great news!

I have a dozen Arkansas blue eggs in my incubator along with 10 under my broody Erminette hen who raised babies for me last year. In addition to 7 bantam speckled Sussex eggs also in the incubator, which came in the mail, a second shipment after the first shipment disappeared completely into the universe for 18 days.

And just after I got those set, my sweet, funny speckled Sussex hen Freckles finally succumbed to what I suspect was heart disease. She was out in the coop with her sisters, they kept an eye on her but nobody bothered her. So now I really hope I get a couple hens out of those Sussex eggs.