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

[NTBugtraq]

There is, but I'm betting the white came from the red sex-links... red sex-links are commonly made from a red rooster and a silver based hen (lots of times white) and the pullets come out red and cockerels come out white... so the pullets would be carrying white in their genes... just a guess, but sounds like what's going on...

Not doubting at all, but these are the first with feathered legs, and none of the males from the hatchery that came with the red pullets had feathered legs.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Not doubting at all, but these are the first with feathered legs, and none of the males from the hatchery that came with the red pullets had feathered legs.

Ok, I'm confused... I thought you said BCM crossed with sex-links?

 

[lazy gardener]

Hey, have to ask here as I know one of you knows. I have these crosses I'm breeding from a BCM rooster and dual-purpose red-sexlings. Anyway, I just noticed I have more than a few all white, or white with a few black spot, 10 week olds that have white feathers on the outside of their legs and their outside toe (they way I know it is on BCMs). Can anyone suggest breeds that have that? Is there a white Maran?

In the 70s I used to just put eggs in my Styrofoam bator with the water channels filled to where they said. I just turned by hand and waited and chicks appeared. I was happy because the vast majority of them hatched. I only had one that had to be put down. I hatched quail, chickens and turkeys.

Until I found this thread I didn't know I had so much to worry about. You all are making me nervous just thinking about turning the thing on. Lol

I live in the same house with the same bator (and two more). Hope I can still do it. DD candles and floats and fiddles.

If you had good results in the 70's with your bator, you should have = results now. But, of course your bator is a bit older now! I'd suggest, if you haven't already done so, that you read the excellent articles in the Learning center on incubation. People are having much better hatches by limiting the humidity during the first 18 days. What was your hatching percentage in the 70's?

There is, but I'm betting the white came from the red sex-links... red sex-links are commonly made from a red rooster and a silver based hen (lots of times white) and the pullets come out red and cockerels come out white... so the pullets would be carrying white in their genes... just a guess, but sounds like what's going on...

NTBugtrag: What she said!!! And, as you know, the feathered legs is a dominant feature.

 

[WVduckchick]

I'm on day 14 with my eggs. I had bought 12, 3 never developed and the other 9 are all still alive and looking good. I've been keeping my humidity a bit higher then normal (45%) and I've tried some new theories out with these shipped eggs. Im happy with the development so far
but the real test will come next weekend during hatch time! for a good hatch!

I have 3 new chicks. Interesting tidbit...out of 18 eggs that I weighed, the largest and the smallest eggs hatched and then 1 in the middle. The chick that hatched out of the smallest egg, seems to be quite weak. I'm giving it electrolytes and hoping for the best but it just sleeps ALL the time. The other two are super healthy. Here's some pics of the two active ones...

They are soooo cute!! I just wanna cuddle them! Fingers crossed for next weekends hatch!

Yeah, it's not by any windows, it's actually parked in one of the few draft free areas in the house. Right beside my computer desk! It could be that the water dried up. I checked it before I left, and when i got back it was that low. I did pop the top open to put water in some of the other channels since getting it back up using just the hose to one channel was tricky. It's back to 33-34%. Our house is consistently 68, so no radical swings. I don't know, it was just so random since I had been running it for a week prior to getting the eggs and didn't see that much of a humidity shift before. It will save us money now since I'm convinced it was because we went out for dinner LOL

If water is in a channel, it can cause a quick drop when it completely dries out, because it stays so spread out, up until those last few minutes, then will almost dry all at once.
But I think dinner is a good theory too lol!

Well, I recently found out that it only works with eggs from your back yard, but basically you weigh them when they are laid and then weigh on days 7,14,18. The eggs should loose exactly 13% by hatch. So if you monitor weight you can adjust your humidity to match proper weight loss. It's the most accurate method for humidity.
I love that one too!! It's so stinking cute and has a personality to match!!
Yes, this is exactly what I think happened.
Thanks! I forgot you said they were sizzled, duh! But really nice to hear positive feedback on eBay. I hope to sell on eBay in the spring myself, so I've been doing my homework. (And shopping)!!

Fresh (or your own) eggs are the best to use with weights, but you can kinda adjust, if you know how old the eggs are. Although they will lose a little weight in storage, its not as much as once you start incubating.
Actually, that might be a good project, to take an egg the day laid, and weigh it each day for a week or so... I'll do that with tomorrow's eggs. (ones I collected today are from today and yesterday, as I was gone for the weekend - and they will be silkie eggs!)

Also, my last hatch, the ones that hatched ranged from 12-18% weight loss, and those little Japanese lost between 17-21%!! And they hatched first!
But I did not adjust for waiting days. I know they were all less than 7 days old.

 

[FridayYet]

Ok, I'm confused... I thought you said BCM crossed with sex-links?

X 2 = The feathered legs would come from the BCM side, the white and white leakage from the sexlink side. Sexlinks are just a certain kind of mutt, so you can get all sorts of genes hidden in there.

 

[georgiayankee]

Well, I recently found out that it only works with eggs from your back yard, but basically you weigh them when they are laid and then weigh on days 7,14,18. The eggs should loose exactly 13% by hatch. So if you monitor weight you can adjust your humidity to match proper weight loss. It's the most accurate method for humidity.
I love that one too!! It's so stinking cute and has a personality to match!!
Yes, this is exactly what I think happened.
Thanks! I forgot you said they were sizzled, duh! But really nice to hear positive feedback on eBay. I hope to sell on eBay in the spring myself, so I've been doing my homework. (And shopping)!!

I've had some luck with EBay...I found the closer you buy to you the better the hatch rate. I got 50% out of my last hatch of Speckled Sussex. They came from AL. I would have had more but my incubator shrink wrapped 4. So during hatch I loose sleep. Most are honest on eBay, but I have had 3 sets of eggs that I bought that had 0 develop. Always try to buy the largest quantity you can get, for the lowest price.

 

[Cockatrice6420]

My bator actually seems stable,? We were able to get rid of ten boys yesterday! Woohoo! We also did some coop renovation. I need to do some catching up here. Looks like y'all ' ve been busy

 

[sideWing]

Hey, have to ask here as I know one of you knows. I have these crosses I'm breeding from a BCM rooster and dual-purpose red-sexlings. Anyway, I just noticed I have more than a few all white, or white with a few black spot, 10 week olds that have white feathers on the outside of their legs and their outside toe (they way I know it is on BCMs). Can anyone suggest breeds that have that? Is there a white Maran?

I just hatched a group of BCM over Leghorn/EE and I have a similar thing NT. The white/yellow would come from one of the sexlink parents. I have about 20% with feathered shanks from the BCM.

There is, but I'm betting the white came from the red sex-links... red sex-links are commonly made from a red rooster and a silver based hen (lots of times white) and the pullets come out red and cockerels come out white... so the pullets would be carrying white in their genes... just a guess, but sounds like what's going on...

+1

Not doubting at all, but these are the first with feathered legs, and none of the males from the hatchery that came with the red pullets had feathered legs.

I guess the feathered legs on a BCM are incomplete dominant or something like that.

 

[frmboyinthecity]

SideWing, did I miss your final stats? It sounded like things were going fairly well, despite your big temperature fluctuations early on.

 

[meganhundley]

Hey yall, sorry I was MIA for the last few days, had a busy weekend. Had to go get Nankin hens and.... MY ICELANDIC EGGS!!!! I set 29 of them!! Can't wait to candle on day 7!!