NY chicken lover!!!!

[LuvMyChicks1491]

So my ducks arrived this morning all dead. It says they were shipped out on the 10th. I was saposed to get them the 12. I'm so mad! I have to wate until 8:00 central time to get ahold of someone at the hatchery. This is the last time I use a hatchery ( or at least this one).... I'm so sad! On top of it I can't figure out how to work my incubator and nothing is hatching for me.

maybe I should just quit..,

I'm so sorry!

 

[kimmerjo]

I just had my first chicks hatch this morning!!! So far so. It the first for me and my Silkie mama named Luna

 

[rancher hicks]

Not sure I'm on this thread but Hello from near Jamestown Ny

Yes you are on this thread, but whether you want to be is up to you.

You dig ?

 

[Lynzi777]

I wonder if other True Values are doing that ..
Problem is you have to buy 6 ...in New York ...
Congrats ..
did the polish crossed out / silkie hatch ?

Sorry about all the ones that got dead babies ..I hope you were all compensated by the companies that sent them

But you have to buy 6 even at TSC and these people that were looking had tried TSC but they didn't have the breeds they wanted.

Yes they all hatched and are all silkies! (phew!)

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

Most of the Amish in my area have people to drive them and they pay weekly or by the trip for such problems as weather or too far of a distance for the buggy. I have several friends that drive them for a living. They stay quite busy!

We actually had problems with some young men racing the buggys on the road last year, They were whippin the horses and the buggys were shuddering. Scary to me I had no idea they could go that fast.. trotters are really something.

I'm sorry those folk had to go out in the buggy in the bad weather. And yes, I have seen too many crashes already.

Most Amish buy standardbred race horsed that have either retired from the track or that weren't good enough for the track. When I was in college they would come to the auction on the second day and buy a bunch of horses. Not all, but most are VERY hard on horses and don't always treat they very well. Most treat them like they are disposable. They run them into the ground then move on to the next. And DON'T EVER send them a horse to break. They do it in a way that isn't very nice. They will break the horses spirit and the horses that they turn out are like zombies. I had a lot of experience with them when I was working with the race horses. They may be nice people, but I get very upset when it comes to them and their horses! As for fast, Trotters can run a mile in just under 3 minutes during a race, and pacers can go about 1min 50sec or around there. That is about 32 mph. We used to do training races and tried to keep it at about 3 minute miles.

I cannot believe how fast these chicks hatch once they get zipping! Holy moly! My daughter and I were able to witness the last three hatch, well last two. The last one is at it now, taking forever. But the last two hatched in literally under 20 minutes. All different shades of blue, love it!!!! And the last one that just got done hatching is the lightest of all of them, so maybe a splash??? I know this guy I got them from had a white rooster over a white hen, a black hen and splash hen. I didn't think I would end up with many blues. Weird. But I'm happy with it because they are all that light blue I've been looking for.

Just tiny bit bummed because The first two that hatched over night, one only has 4 toes, the other has 5 but has pink tips on two of it's toes.

So those are out of my breeding program. I'll have to rehome them as pet quality, hope I don't have a hard time finding them new homes. The one that just hatched has 5 toes no pink and the third that hatched has 5 as well. So that's good at least. I can keep those two. I don't think these chicks are going to bearded. They don't seem to have any poof going on under their beaks. I'll have to see how the last 3 dry out.

All in all, I cannot believe that all 5 hatched successfully! I am soooooooo happy! Guess dry hatch is the way to go!

Soooo Happy for you!!

But you have to buy 6 even at TSC and these people that were looking had tried TSC but they didn't have the breeds they wanted.

Yes they all hatched and are all silkies! (phew!)

Glad that they turned out to be silkies. Thought about maybe one, but I'm going to hold out. If you hatch out any Cuckoo silkies, I'll be all over it!!

 

[Gramma Chick]

Not sure I'm on this thread but Hello from near Jamestown Ny:

Welcome Fellow New Yorker

Congrats on the New Momma & Babies

 

[Pyxis]

Well I went to the garage and just as I thought, nothing wrong with my car besides the minor cosmetic stuff. And I cheered myself up with chicks! Tractor Supply had a good variety and mixed bantams, which is what I was most after. So I bought five bantams - I was going to get four but they only have five left and one wasn't looking so good so I took them all. The one that wasn't looking so good has improved some but I'm not yet really optimistic about it. The other four are bounding around happy and fine. I believe two are OEGBs. Not sure of the other three.

I also snagged a tetra tint pullet since I'd like some cream eggs and I hear that's what they lay. And they had barred rocks, so I grabbed four to try to make sex links down the road. I picked the four with the neatest head spots so we'll see if that method of sexing them actually works. Two of them I had to unpaste, and one that was pasty had its vent all pecked at so I had to break out the blue kote and now my fingers are purple.

And, for Mocha, I bought a pekin. I wanted her to have a little waterfowl friend when she was introduced to Lacie and the ducks. I picked a pekin because the eggs should be big enough that I won't confuse them with welshie eggs. The guy was nice enough to let me sex them until I found a girl, even though that's technically against the rules.

Here's a picture. Can you spot the goose in a sea of chicks? They love to crowd around and on top of her and it makes her happy:

 

[Desiree Brown]

So sorry about your ducklings.   It had to be devastating to open that box.  Sounds like there's a real learning curve to running an incubator.  You will figure it out.  Hope you find some fuzzy little chicks begging you to take them home soon.

I have a LG incubator and I guess they are the worst. We only heat with wood so the house temp drops over night and so does the bator. And then during the day the house temps rise and so does the bator. Today it got up to 104 I quick tool the top off and lowered the gage. We are headed to a friends house tonight and I bet it will be low when we get back. I think that's our main prob. Also at first I think I was adding to much water.

 

[Lynzi777]

Glad that they turned out to be silkies. Thought about maybe one, but I'm going to hold out. If you hatch out any Cuckoo silkies, I'll be all over it!!

I don't even know how they get the Cuckoo color! LOL So you won't be seeing those from me for a while!

Here's a picture. Can you spot the goose in a sea of chicks? They love to crowd around and on top of her and it makes her happy:

Is it the golden brown head and eye in the back? I can't see a beak but looks like that might be it. LOL

 

[Sally8]

I have a LG incubator and I guess they are the worst. We only heat with wood so the house temp drops over night and so does the bator. And then during the day the house temps rise and so does the bator. Today it got up to 104 I quick tool the top off and lowered the gage. We are headed to a friends house tonight and I bet it will be low when we get back. I think that's our main prob. Also at first I think I was adding to much water.

We have the same problems when we hatch eggs early on in the year. We heat with wood, have 5 cats, so I have to set the incubator up in the bathroom with the door shut. Last year I went along with the New Years Day hatch and my temps were all over the place. I was so surprised when so many hatched. I found that by saving the box that the bator came in and setting the incubator in the bottom half of the box, helped a lot. Some also recommended to cover the top also but I never felt comfortable doing that. It's so crazy that I wonder why I find it so much fun. (I also wonder what just happened to my font? lol)