***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[artsyrobin]

That is interesting, I use the method to prolong viability. When hatching low numbers solely for males or females I only set every-other sunday so I keep the eggs cool. when running for both I set weekly so its not a real problem.

So Carl, do you find you hatch more girls if you keep them cool? or does that have anything to do with it?

 

[artsyrobin]

Thanks everyone, tough to have them go so soon- but i don't regret nursing her...

.kass, love those photos!! they seem oblivious to the cold

 

[Kassaundra]

Thanks everyone, tough to have them go so soon- but i don't regret nursing her...

.kass, love those photos!! they seem oblivious to the cold

Don't let the slackers fool you, this was their first day out of the coop in 2 days, they didn't come out until the sun came out!

 

[sadieh]

That is interesting, I use the method to prolong viability. When hatching low numbers solely for males or females I only set every-other sunday so I keep the eggs cool. when running for both I set weekly so its not a real problem.

What do you mean by solely for male or female?

 

[Ksane]

Love the pictures, Kass. I'm anxious for this horrible cold weather to let up. I'm a tropical person :-/ The birds won't even come out! There's about 15 girls with a rooster in one of the bigger yards and the girls have been all humped up in the coop and the boy walks back and forth across the snow in front of the coop. He's the one you all said looks like Mr T. He's such an awesome rooster. His feet must be frozen they're so red looking. But he won't go in with them, he just wants to guard them I guess.
Robin, I'm sorry about Cressy :-( She wouldn't have made it as long as she did if not for your care.

 

[Cjarvis]

So Carl, do you find you hatch more girls if you keep them cool? or does that have anything to do with it?

I seem to hatch more males with that practice, I was told by a few old cockers that this worked for males especially and it seems to work. As of this winter I have hatched nearly 100 with only 8 pullets in the mix. I like that though as I only want males till January.

 

[Cjarvis]

What do you mean by solely for male or female?

I time my hatches for the shows I attend, I need the males to be at certain ages for the show. I like the males to be 10-11 months for cockerels and 13-14 months old for cocks, I like the females at 7 months for pullets and 10-12 months for hens. So I hatch males early from certain matings and females later also from specific matings. That gives me more of what I need for each show at the right age. The problem is figuring out what shows I want to hit a year in advance to plan it all out. The extra males and females from matings that were designed for them as well as the ones that are just not timed right end up with different roles to play in life.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

@artsyrobin from my research female embryos are more fragile than male embryos. So anything that causes stress on the eggs can swing your male ratio higher than the female's, like cooling the eggs in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. One study looked at exposing several hundred batches of eggs to different ultrasound wavelengths including a "control" group. It was very obvious that the stress of constant exposure increased the survival of males versus females.

 

[Cjarvis]

Nanakat,
Give me a call when you arrive, and if all else fails I will take you to lunch. I look forward to catching up.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

I braved the cold and my death bed (okay maybe being a little mellow dramatic) and got a couple of pics today.

Beautiful birds! I would just want to knit the NN's a sweater!!!