***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Kassaundra]

Kass: Click on the photo and tell me what you think. The pullet has a smooth stripe along the outside length of both legs. Hercule's legs have more of a "blank" area.

I believe she is a carrier. A guy I shared eggs w/ last year and I have been comparing notes and believe there are obvious carriers like Hercule, and more subtle, I believe she has the more subtle signs, but so did Rudy's mom.

 

[Kassaundra]

My first hour class set 24 eggs last Wednesday. We're expecting to see chicks on September 11th. Our first candling was yesterday, and I removed almost all the silkie eggs I got at an auction. Five of the silkie eggs never made it into the incubator, as they stank and had a filmy appearance. I wish people would observe proper egg-handling practices. Eggs older than three days shouldn't be in a carton for sale. The stinkers must have been over a month old

.

We used a reptile egg candling light. In a room without total darkness (window can't be covered completely), we were able to see growth and movement in all but the darkest eggs (Marans). One of the chocolate silkie eggs has a hyperactive chick growing in it. The little tyke repeatedly banged his head against the side of the egg as if he wanted out. My students were thrilled to see evidence of growth in the eggs. We'll draw cubes (and things made up of cubes, like buildings) when I set up the brooder. I'm planning to put a couple of chicks in a shallow box on my desk and use my document camera to project the image to the screen so students can make gesture drawings. There's a watercolor assignment that I'd love to do featuring baby chicks. We may have time to make a Sculpy sculpture of a chick as well.

If you want to show underlying structure as it relates to the drawing / painting you can use images of Rudy that I have uploaded if you would like.

 

[ashtree]

@bardies Im so sorry about the skunk. That sounds awful. I hope that smell clears fast.

Woke up to 2 more babies

Soooo happy for little cuties. All 3 are in the brooder. Humidity has only gone up when I grab them and throw in a wet paper towel. But, I maybe have a problem with 1 egg. It was the one that was zipping last night and I was sure would be out "within the hour". Well no progress has been made, its about 3/4 of the way zipped around the shell, is that normal? Just taking a break or might need assistance? It hasn't been 24 hours from pipping yet.

@Poco Pollo Those are awesome art chick ideas. What grade do you teach? I sure hope the eggs do well, I would be pretty upset to buy stinky eggs. And what are you guys talking about carriers and the NN? Just curious. I love your goose any idea on gender? Ill be in touch in a few weeks if the goose is still looking for a home.

 

[Kassaundra]

@bardies Im so sorry about the skunk. That sounds awful. I hope that smell clears fast.

Woke up to 2 more babies

Soooo happy for little cuties. All 3 are in the brooder. Humidity has only gone up when I grab them and throw in a wet paper towel. But, I maybe have a problem with 1 egg. It was the one that was zipping last night and I was sure would be out "within the hour". Well no progress has been made, its about 3/4 of the way zipped around the shell, is that normal? Just taking a break or might need assistance? It hasn't been 24 hours from pipping yet.

@Poco Pollo Those are awesome art chick ideas. What grade do you teach? I sure hope the eggs do well, I would be pretty upset to buy stinky eggs. And what are you guys talking about carriers and the NN? Just curious. I love your goose any idea on gender? Ill be in touch in a few weeks if the goose is still looking for a home.

No not NN, scaleless carriers, ones that could make another Rudy.

 

[ashtree]

No not NN, scaleless carriers, ones that could make another Rudy.

Ok. I can't remember if I asked this before, is it a combination of things that produce scaleless or 1 gene? Who or what kind of chicken would you breed Rudy to to get more Rudys?

 

[Ksane]

@bardies
 Im so sorry about the skunk. That sounds awful. I hope that smell clears fast. 

Woke up to 2 more babies e Soooo happy for little cuties. All 3 are in the brooder. Humidity has only gone up when I grab them and throw in a wet paper towel. But, I maybe have a problem with 1 egg. It was the one that was zipping last night and I was sure would be out "within the hour". Well no progress has been made, its about 3/4 of the way zipped around the shell, is that normal? Just taking a break or might need assistance? It hasn't been 24 hours from pipping yet.

@Poco Pollo
 Those are awesome art chick ideas. What grade do you teach? I sure hope the eggs do well, I would be pretty upset to buy stinky eggs. And what are you guys talking about carriers and the NN? Just curious. I love your goose any idea on gender? Ill be in touch in a few weeks if the goose is still looking for a home.

If the one is zipped that far around and he's been pipped 24 hrs I'd get him out of there, he's obviously ready. I heat up some wet paper towels in the microwave (or under running water) and get the egg out and wrap it in the warm paper towels. Then just pull 1/2 of the shell off where his head is and put him back with his paper towel. That way he's out and he can breathe normal. If there happens to be more yolk to absorb he can do that with the bottom 1/2 of the egg still on him. I bet he's more than ready to come out but needs help. Gosh, i hope he didn't die. Shipped Silkie eggs are notoriously difficult to hatch, especially for the 1st time. So you've really done good.
The humidty can go up as high as possible at this point. If it's way high it'll just take them longer to dry but it won't hurt the hatching this late in the game. Just keep it in the high 70's at least.

 

[Kassaundra]

Ok. I can't remember if I asked this before, is it a combination of things that produce scaleless or 1 gene? Who or what kind of chicken would you breed Rudy to to get more Rudys?

One gene is responsible for scaleless the Sc gene. Any chicken breed can carry or express Sc, and any chicken that expressed Sc, even the most feathered you can think of will be naked. (or have a couple of feathers)

For a chicken to carry they need one copy, for them to express they need 2. Rudy has 2 ScSc genes, non carriers are scsc, and carriers are Scsc. Carriers do not have any lessening of feather follicles, but do have a lessening of leg scales. This can present as large patches or wide vertical rows of missing scales on the legs, or more subtle increased space between scales and small patch at, around or near the joint where the feathered part of the legs start.

Rudy is ScSc, but can only pass one gene, so to make more Rudy's he would need to be mated w/ at least a carrier. All his offspring would be carriers though.

 

[Ksane]

@Poco Pollo How did I miss your pics??? So you didn't get invited to the Meeting of the Water Fowl? They're up to something, you better watch your back. Birds are sneaky little things And Leon looks like such a stud! I'm so happy for him and can't ever thank you enough for giving him such a wonderful home. He was just being wasted here living with 11 of his brothers. And 1/2 his babies will be frizzles, that'd be so cool to have a chocolate frizzle with some of his wild colors thrown in! I'm so glad you have him )))

 

[Kyzmette]

@ashtree You can stimulate chicks to hatch more quickly by tapping on the incubator. The tapping sound of chicks hatching stimulates other chicks to hatch so they all hatch at the same time in a natural setting. One of the problems I noticed in high humidity hatches, however, is that if chicks don't hatch quickly, and it's natural for some chicks to need more resting time during hatch, the veining doesn't dry out like it should, the membrane doesn't take on the papery texture it should, and the chicks wear themselves out. In a dry hatch the membrane can dry out before it wraps the chick, but in a wet hatch the membrane stays damp and sticks to the chick, so if they take longer to hatch, the more chance they'll need help. If you decide to help, you can peel a little shell and membrane away, but watch for active veins. Make sure you peel membrane away from the face, because once it dries it's like cement, and trying to get it off a chick's face is is awful.

 

[ashtree]

If the one is zipped that far around and he's been pipped 24 hrs I'd get him out of there, he's obviously ready. I heat up some wet paper towels in the microwave (or under running water) and get the egg out and wrap it in the warm paper towels. Then just pull 1/2 of the shell off where his head is and put him back with his paper towel. That way he's out and he can breathe normal. If there happens to be more yolk to absorb he can do that with the bottom 1/2 of the egg still on him. I bet he's more than ready to come out but needs help. Gosh, i hope he didn't die. Shipped Silkie eggs are notoriously difficult to hatch, especially for the 1st time. So you've really done good.
The humidty can go up as high as possible at this point. If it's way high it'll just take them longer to dry but it won't hurt the hatching this late in the game. Just keep it in the high 70's at least.

Little chick was dead in the shell I'm not exactly sure what happened but he had completely absorbed the yolk and was very much ready. I should have asked last night but I didn't think it was abnormal. Arlo went outside and dug a hole and said his goodbyes.

Oh and these eggs are local, not shipped. I'm gonna start saving my pennies for catdance eggs soonish tho.

One gene is responsible for scaleless the Sc gene.  Any chicken breed can carry or express Sc, and any chicken that expressed Sc, even the most feathered you can think of will be naked. (or have a couple of feathers)

For a chicken to carry they need one copy, for them to express they need 2.  Rudy has 2 ScSc genes, non carriers are scsc, and carriers are Scsc.   Carriers do not have any lessening of feather follicles, but do have a lessening of leg scales.  This can present as large patches or wide vertical rows of missing scales on the legs, or more subtle increased space between scales and small patch at, around or near the joint where the feathered part of the legs start.

Rudy is ScSc, but can only pass one gene, so to make more Rudy's he would need to be mated w/ at least a carrier.  All his offspring would be carriers though.

So if you breed Rudy with a carrier you would get 50% (not a perfect science I know) scaleless but all are carriers? Can you breed two scaleless together?