She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[scflock]

They are beautiful!

They are also very dark, for the most part. Sidewing and I should have some good comparison pics for the next few months. He's starting with much better stock than me, so I'm looking forward to comparing notes as they grow

 

[chicapee]

Ordered it, it will be here sept 1st. Now for the eggs, I would do overnight shipping but does anyone know what BYC was talking about? He said to check the carrier or something? Overnight means they are flown in, right? Would Overnight would be the best choice?

Where are they coming from? I don't know if air cells get as messed up for air travel or if ground is worse. I think Ravyns came by ground and they came from an adjoining state. They were also packaged amazingly. We did the 2 day shipping. If they are far, I might do the overnight and ship on a Monday or Tuesday.

 

[WalnutHill]

That's insane.....goes to show you how much hormones they pump them with. So sad and scary.

It's actually not hormones...it's illegal to supplement with growth hormones. However, arsenic and antibiotics are still widely used. Most of it is careful selection of the parent strains so that the hybrid offspring are mutant monsters. It's a crime against nature and results in bland tasting and textureless chicken that we've all become accustomed to (unless we never eat chicken that we haven't raised). Same with turkey, people think that Butterball is the norm...turkey is actually a succulent and flavorful meat if raised from heritage stock.

 

[WalnutHill]

Does anyone know what that thing is called for the car to power up the incubator?

It's called a power inverter. It has a cigarette lighter plug on one end (check to be sure if the lighter/accessory port in your car works with the key off). Find the wattage of your incubator from the product label or literature, then buy an inverter that is only just a little higher wattage. A bigger inverter will drain your battery more quickly. Many inverters have a convertible cable that will allow you to unplug a section of the cable and replace it with a battery clip connector. I strongly suggest this kind, as you can then run it off a spare battery, your lawn tractor, RV etc so that you can sill use your car.

 

[RubyNala97]

Where are they coming from? I don't know if air cells get as messed up for air travel or if ground is worse. I think Ravyns came by ground and they came from an adjoining state. They were also packaged amazingly. We did the 2 day shipping. If they are far, I might do the overnight and ship on a Monday or Tuesday.

Florida to NY. She packs amazing. But this last batch had a 5 day trip and were not tracked properly, they may have gone back to FL, then back up to NY the post had said. The breeder recommends the overnight shipping, should I do that?

 

[WalnutHill]

Does anyone know if this would power 2 mini brinseas? If it will work should I buy one or two. (If I get more eggs, I'll be running the 2 bators)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004M...er+for+car&dpPl=1&dpID=51dKANeufrL&ref=plSrch
I just contacted her. Waiting to hear what she says. Thank you for thinking of me!

http://www.amazon.com/BESTEK®-Outle...ower+inverter+for+car+with+battery+clips+150w

or

http://www.amazon.com/ENERGIZER-Inv...pebp=1440772095071&perid=0XGQ6C0TBVZB8N6WK3D9

You only need 50 watts for a pair of Minis...don't go too far overboard. It just means draining your battery faster.

 

[rossfam06]

It's actually not hormones...it's illegal to supplement with growth hormones.  However, arsenic and antibiotics are still widely used.  Most of it is careful selection of the parent strains so that the hybrid offspring are mutant monsters.  It's a crime against nature and results in bland tasting and textureless chicken that we've all become accustomed to (unless we never eat chicken that we haven't raised).  Same with turkey, people think that Butterball is the norm...turkey is actually a succulent and flavorful meat if raised from heritage stock.

Good to know. I might have to do that next year, raise a turkey for thanksgiving. We did that when I was a kid. I miss that. Lol!

 

[rossfam06]

So I am watching my EE hen who is 2 years old get bossed around by the 8 week old EE silkie cross cockerel. Lol!!! I moved her with the little ones because my polish roo and the other hens were just chasing her around in the coop. I wonder if that's why she has stopped laying.

 

[lazy gardener]

I know who I'm going to bug for eggs in the future..............

Hoping we get the egg shipathon off the ground in the spring. It would be an awesome way to increase flock genetics, as well as for those of us without shipping/or hatching shipped egg experience to gain that experience.

I guess it shows my age that I remembered Jiffy Pop!

Jiffy pop was a rare treat when I was growing up. We were more apt to cook it on the stove top in a heavy pan with a bit of oil. Then, we got real fancy when I was a teen and bought one of those new fangled air poppers! Popcorn became an almost nightly occurance then.

I'm scared for the day of "Oven? What's an oven?"...

Sadly, Rayvn... that day is practically upon us, as far as the use of an oven for anything other than heating up or cooking pre-packaged foods. Many young men/women have no idea how to prepare a meal from fresh ingredients now.

lol... was planning for the ones in bator now to be my last batch... oops...
True rumpless, tufted Araucanas... I needed another line and hoping to improve my current stock...

Interesting. Can you repeat the info re: lethal gene with that breed, and where it's carried? Is it related to rumplessness, or tufting?

Dang! Sorry to hear it SC. I hope you get'em this weekend. He will be back.

SC: With that hay bale's MO, too bad you couldn't rig a trap on the roof of your coop for him. Perhaps put a cockrel in a pen adjacent to a live trap, so he'd have to enter the live trap to "get to" the cockrel. I do wish you the best of luck. Either way, hope you are able to eliminate that hay bale. I hear they make excellent fertilizer.

I am getting 12 Welsummer eggs in the mail, fingers crossed they all arrive safely, and hopefully they won't be left at the post office over the weekend (finally shipped out Thursday night, coming from NJ to mid east Va), not looking good so far. This is my first ever shot at incubating and it appears I already have my work cut out for me, lol. I'm also using an ancient LG styrobator, God help me!! I think I'll be happy if even 1 hatches. I'm soooo nervous. Does anyone know how long eggs can be in fluctuating temps without being negatively affected? In Va this time of year it's hot and humid during the day and cold and dewey at night. I'm worried none of them will survive the postal trip. Does anyone have any advice for me? Like I said, I'm using a LG Styrofoam bator, not sure of the model, I got it used. It has a turner, it's still air, with a good thermometer/hygrometer. I'm so worried this will be a BIG fail for me which will discourage me from trying again.

Welcome to BYC Megan. You've come to a good thread with lots of combined hatching experience. I have several suggestions for you. First, go to the learning center, and read everything listed in the Hatching 101 section. There may be several other articles pertaining to hatching as well. Then: no matter how good your thermometer/hygrometer are, calibrate them. Do the salt test with the hygrometer. Lots of folks recommend the ice water test with the thermometer. But, I recommend buying a good medical grade oral digital thermometer and using that to calibrate your incubator thermometer to 100 degrees in a cup of water. If you want to upgrade your bator with a fan, you can cheaply do so with a 12 volt converter, and a computer fan, plus a few bits and pieces of hardware to mount it. How many eggs will that bator hold? You might want to get a few local eggs to add to the shipped ones, so you'll have a comparison between the two groups for your first hatch. (and be more likely to have a successful hatch.) And finally, for brooding your many chicks, I recommend that you read the Mama Heating Pad Brooder thread started by Blooie. She has also written an article detailing the process and experience. Those of us who have brooded with a Sunbeam XPress heating pad swear that we'll never brood with a HEAT LAMP again.

Haven't caught up reading yet but I wanted to update. No pips. Out of the 2 that were alive, only one seems to be alive now. All the veins have receded. I think I'm going to open the one that was alive but is not moving now and see if I can see a beak, it looks dead now anyway. Worst hatch ever!!!!

So sorry Ruby. Gonna try again before cold weather? You still have time.

Hi everyone, thanks for the warm welcome

. Finally caught up, sorry about the hawk SC and your bad hatch Ruby, congrats to everyone's new fluffy butts.
I have 6 Warrens, 2 Light Sussex and 4 mixed breed hens, I sell their eggs at the door to pay for everyone's feed, I also have 1 blue splash orp. roo running with his 3 girls, 2 pairs of lavender Wyandottes, 4 Serama, 2 pairs of sizzle and smooth silkie bantams, 4 Polish Tolbunt, i suspect 3 are roos, 3 pairs of Onagadori, well that's what the breeder sold them as, 3 gold tops 2 pairs of Ayam Cermani and 2 Pea chicks, 1 spent 4 days down in the bra brooder while i waited for a friend for him to hatch

Phew did I really hatch that many, I use a R Com now, started in the red team with a cheap Chinese import and fiddled and had loads of loses, went then to a Brinsea, blue team, but suffered staggered hatches, with hindsight i had prob had been sold old eggs, now i use a broody when ever I can, green team ? Sorry don' t really do Monty Python. But I am trying to use FULL STOPS, because you are MERICANS

.

Welcome CG. Some of us MERICANS don't do Monty either. You have a varied flock! Green sounds like a good descriptor for broody hatch.

Mid to late afternoon. Just going to sip some lemonade under the pecan tree with a 12ga in my lap.
Good thing about working with rednecks is one of the boys brought me a pair of hawk boots. Don't judge me...
That's the chicks I want, the ones that kung fu their way out of the egg

What a great ending to this saga

Guess I'm not red neck enough to know what hawk boots are. Please enlighten????? Love it when they explode out of the eggs. Would have liked to see that one.
Elementary school pic!

That's me!

Florida to NY. She packs amazing. But this last batch had a 5 day trip and were not tracked properly, they may have gone back to FL, then back up to NY the post had said. The breeder recommends the overnight shipping, should I do that?

If she recommends that, it'd be worth a shot.

 

[WalnutHill]

Welcome to BYC Megan. You've come to a good thread with lots of combined hatching experience. I have several suggestions for you. First, go to the learning center, and read everything listed in the Hatching 101 section. There may be several other articles pertaining to hatching as well. Then: no matter how good your thermometer/hygrometer are, calibrate them. Do the salt test with the hygrometer. Lots of folks recommend the ice water test with the thermometer. But, I recommend buying a good medical grade oral digital thermometer and using that to calibrate your incubator thermometer to 100 degrees in a cup of water. If you want to upgrade your bator with a fan, you can cheaply do so with a 12 volt converter, and a computer fan, plus a few bits and pieces of hardware to mount it. How many eggs will that bator hold? You might want to get a few local eggs to add to the shipped ones, so you'll have a comparison between the two groups for your first hatch. (and be more likely to have a successful hatch.) And finally, for brooding your many chicks, I recommend that you read the Mama Heating Pad Brooder thread started by Blooie. She has also written an article detailing the process and experience. Those of us who have brooded with a Sunbeam XPress heating pad swear that we'll never brood with a heating pad again.

I know Lazy meant "will never brood with a heat lamp again".