Thanks Darina! The more I research, the more unsure I become! At first I was thinking Barred Rock and Buff Orpingtons because we were just going to dip our toes in with just eggs for a while. Then I started doing the math about raising some meat birds and how it can be cheaper than purchasing whole birds at the store, with more confidence about what goes in them. So at some point after getting the layers I want to do some meat birds. But then looking more at layer breeds and some good dual purpose birds, I'm fancying the Laced Wyandottes, Ameraucanas, Partridge Plymouth Rocks have super pretty feathers, Speckled Sussex. And for the pretty factors, even if totally not for our climate: Lakenvelders, Welsummer, Spangled Hamburg... man I could just go on and on
But in reality, I think we'll start with the Barred Rock, and maybe Silver Laced Wyandotte for the eggs starting with 6-10 chickens, then move on from there. Tried telling my husband we could just order about 40 straight run of a breed (or two straight runs of 20) and then just butcher the extras, but he just gave me one of "those" faces... you know, like I'm crazy. He might be right!
So sweetGonna show off some Serama baby love! I have 14 out of 18 strong babies. One more in the incubator was an assisted hatch and not walking around so good. Two never pipped, and one pipped but never made it out of the shell. They are so tiny and cute!!
That sucks about your hatch. I hope the next one goes better. I hope you like that little chickie! I love my half legbars. I have a pair, boy and girl. Though they will be sold later in the summer once my Bieles and SiAms mature.I wanted to update everyone...I am still around, just working a lot. I do check in everyday but often when I am at work so I don't usually have time to chat much. I lost my last hatch, racked my brain trying to figure out what went wrong (besides a temp spike of 106) and I finally figured out that it was completely my fault. I have another hatch in right now that is supposed to hatch a week from Saturday (Feb. 20th). I've made adjustments to that hatch so hopefully it's not too late. I am getting one of the cream legbar chicks from the craigslist link that Saris posted (thanks!). I am excited to add her to my flock, never had one before. Anyway, I will check in periodically today and I will see everyone on Saturday
I know, me too. I started my last hatch in my forced air incubator and that is the one that had a temp spike for no apparent reason. At that point I started up my still air incubator and set everything the same as the forced air, including the temp. In a forced air the temp should be 99.5 but in a still air it should be 102. So the babies never hatched but were all fully developed
I should have known something was amiss because each time I candled the air cells looked small. So crazy how everything needs to be just right (or as close to) for the babies. I feel really bad that they all died when I know it was something I did 
What kind of pen do you ladies use to mark your eggs with? I have been using a pencil, for lack of what to use. I thought a "sharpe" would be poisonous, because of the strong sent, etc???? is there a special egg pen, i can buy??? tee hee, special egg pen
Sharpie ink is sterile, you can even write on your own skin with it before surgery. I have used sharpie on all my eggs and they hatch fine unless I make an incubation error. You could use fine tipped sharpies if you're worried.
I use the Sharpe pens with the fine tips
