North Dakota

[Tuhmu]

I have around 60 in various stages, a broody hen is due on Thursday for her batch of 5 and then some black copper marans next week Thursday. I thought waiting for eggs to hatch was bad enough the way it is but with those black coppers....there's no way you are seeing anything in them. I was able to sort out 4 clears based on the whole egg glowing but the others are just completely black, hopefully that's a good thing!!!

 

[Loghousemom]

Jealous! I had a bunch of BCM too. My husband had an accident with the incubator though, and from 45 eggs I am down to just a handful of guineas. I have 2 BCM left in there, but I am quite certain they are dead. i might plan one more attempt at them right when I leave for my trip this summer. I have to decide how I feel about raising up one more batch of chicks though after I get back. I usually try not to raise chicks during harvest time. It just is way to busy.

 

[Tuhmu]

My hatch didn't go the greatest, my fan had stopped working in my incubator for at least the majority of the day during the day 16 range. So far I've ended up with three BCM, day 23 is tomorrow so not expecting much more.

 

[Loghousemom]

That is too bad! It just must be a bad time to hatch BCMS around here. I want to try again, just not sure when I can fit it into the calendar from the rest of our travels this summer.

 

[kodster]

I have thought about it, but I don't have any kids showing birds yet, nor do I sell too many.

Anybody else currently hatching? I have about 50 or so eggs to hatch in June.

I've been hatching since mid-January... and have hatched probably close to 70 chickens. I've sold ALL of them, except for two that I wanted to keep for myself (purebred White Jersey Giant pullet to replace the one I culled last fall due to pecking, and an Ameraucana pullet, to add to my numbers in that breed). I have people that are in line for the next two hatches (first one is due this coming week... staggered for a week, with close to a 100 eggs in the incubator, including 6 Bourbon Red turkey eggs). Folks want mostly pullets... this hatch, 2 people want 20 pullets each, and 1 person wants 9 Ameraucana pullets and an Ameraucana cockerel... so to make sure that I get enough of a percentage of pullets, I had to put that many eggs in. I figured I'd caponize the extra cockerels, for meat birds, and lo and behold, the guy that was my first sale, contacted me last week... he'd bought 5 day-old pullets... he'd lost all his meat birds due to a predator that got into their pen... wanted to know if I had any for sale. Told him my plans for the capons, and he said put him down for a dozen! Then folks have been hitting me up for MORE birds! So, I'm getting my hatching addiction satisfied, and making some petty cash while I'm at it... $3/chick, $4/caponized cockerel. Have made a couple hundred dollars already, and more on the way!

 

[Tuhmu]

I've been hatching since mid-January... and have hatched probably close to 70 chickens. I've sold ALL of them, except for two that I wanted to keep for myself (purebred White Jersey Giant pullet to replace the one I culled last fall due to pecking, and an Ameraucana pullet, to add to my numbers in that breed). I have people that are in line for the next two hatches (first one is due this coming week... staggered for a week, with close to a 100 eggs in the incubator, including 6 Bourbon Red turkey eggs). Folks want mostly pullets... this hatch, 2 people want 20 pullets each, and 1 person wants 9 Ameraucana pullets and an Ameraucana cockerel... so to make sure that I get enough of a percentage of pullets, I had to put that many eggs in. I figured I'd caponize the extra cockerels, for meat birds, and lo and behold, the guy that was my first sale, contacted me last week... he'd bought 5 day-old pullets... he'd lost all his meat birds due to a predator that got into their pen... wanted to know if I had any for sale. Told him my plans for the capons, and he said put him down for a dozen! Then folks have been hitting me up for MORE birds! So, I'm getting my hatching addiction satisfied, and making some petty cash while I'm at it... $3/chick, $4/caponized cockerel. Have made a couple hundred dollars already, and more on the way!

You're so lucky lol, I don't know if I would get that kind of luck if I tried selling chicks around here. Most of the people that have shown interest in the past live in Bismarck and that's quite the drive for either me or them to deliver/pickup.

 

[kodster]

You're so lucky lol, I don't know if I would get that kind of luck if I tried selling chicks around here. Most of the people that have shown interest in the past live in Bismarck and that's quite the drive for either me or them to deliver/pickup.

I've only delivered to one customer... she lives in Braddock, south of Steele. I happened to be in the area, due to my contractor status, and having an assignment near her, so I arranged to meet her in Steele to deliver. The other two that bought the rest (one bought 31 of my birds) either lived within 20 miles (Tioga) or drove all the way here to pick them up (the one that bought 31 lived in Rolla, ND, almost 200 miles). The ones that are waiting on their hatches? They will either meet me in Minot, or they're on the way to Minot (one is in Hannover, and we'll figure something out to make it mutual for both of us), so since I travel to Minot, often enough, due to it being biggest city to me that offers the amenities I need (just got a new Tractor Supply and a Cash-Wise in Stanley, which is only 8 miles from me, now)... such as Home Depot, JoAnn's, shopping mall, friends, etc., we'll just make arrangements to meet there and deliver the birds then. If they want them, which they appear to be, they're making the effort to meet me to get them. So, I'm happy.

 

[Loghousemom]

I would sell chicks in the Bismarck area. You can along my info! I can always only find people looking for pullets or hens and I do not trust my sexing just yet.

My hatch is pretty much over. I've got 4 eggs left in the incubator, one is a possible hatch. The other 3 I am pretty certain are gone. These are all from my guinea hatch that had the incubator dump upside down. I have 4 keets. None of the chickens made it.

 

[Tuhmu]

I don't know who I want to sell just yet, they are all pretty little but I will have to reduce the flock eventually.

 

[Loghousemom]

Levi, how many Pekin ducks do you have? I took in a couple ducks that someone dumped outside a school a couple years ago. One was a Pekin. My kids convinced me to get a couple more the other day from runnings. These two really look like runners to me, but I am not a duck expert at all.