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

[Pyxis]

Awesome!! He would choke if he knew...

Only that many roosters?? I refuse to count mine... or the hens... or pullets...
Although most of the cockerels are going this weekend...
Dang, we got a lot of chickens, lol...

I did not include the juveniles in that figure And I forgot about the white silkie cockerel from TSC that I'm trying to rehome and the blue partridge sizzle cockerel who really probably is breeding age at this point...I may have too many roosters

 

[Ravynscroft]

I did not include the juveniles in that figure And I forgot about the white silkie cockerel from TSC that I'm trying to rehome and the blue partridge sizzle cockerel who really probably is breeding age at this point...I may have too many roosters

At least you can't be accused of not having fertile eggs!!

 

[lazy gardener]

great job with the chick booty. It's so nerve wrecking with their little toes, I know!! I always have my son help me.
I would do both. Now that 2 hatched, I would without a doubt be candling that last egg!! Look for movement along where the air cell draws down around the chick. And if it's still alive give it another day.
Oh my! I had something very similar happen to me today. Let the chickens out to free range around 4:30. By 6:15 they were standing at my back door, which means they are ready to go back (but they are soooo slow, they can't figure out how to go back into the run). I gathered them all up and counted "beaks" as you said, and was one short. ??? I knew I didn't hear any commotion or see any signs of a predator. I walked the whole property line and then re-counted. Couldn't figure it out. Checked the coop, which they NEVER go in by themselves and one little pullet was snuggled up like a ball in the corner!! I was so relieved!
Thank god!! That great you were prepared!

When I said the temp was correct, I was thinking it was supposed to be at 100. Looking in the manual, it's supposed to be 101.3. Should I bother turning the control a teeny bit (since the eggs aren't due until Saturday, and I likely would be setting Sunday or Monday, depending on how things look, I'll have plenty of time to fiddle if needed) or is 1 degree worth worrying about with a Brinsea? When I calibrated with my fever thermometer, the Brinsea thermometer was about 3 tenths low, so getting it to display at 101 would be perfect.

I'd put some water bottles in that bator, and get it calibrated perfectly with the mass of the water bottles to simulate the mass of the eggs, before committing eggs to it.

I wonder if it would be easy to make something similar to this with a small water bladder heated with a small heating element of some sort, you know like a miniature waterbed, lol. That would be awesome. Or maybe sandwich the eggs between 2 thin water bladders heated to about 100°, that would be perfect. They'd have to be real thin bladders though, too much water would be too heavy.

BeeKissed used a Sunbeam Xpress heating pad with a box of soil, leaves, litter underneath to simulate a broody on a natural nest. I agree with other poster re: water bladder excluding too much oxygen.

 

[rossfam06]

No, I haven't seen 50 Shades yet but I soooo want to!! But Channing is my absolute favorite!! Omg, words don't even describe him. And the movie in itself was really good too, not just because of all the sexyness lol

He is really good. I like 50 but they left out alot of the fun stuff...like in the book. I can't wait to see the 2nd to compare it to the book again. Lol!!!!

Hi!

Hey!!!! Good morning to ya!

 

[WVduckchick]

Sure! I'd be happy to do that. And happy to get some more info on the breed out there - last week a bunch of people in the What Breed or Gender is This forum tried to call one of the birds from my flock (a cull that I gave to a woman who desperately needed a chick to keep her lone hatchling company) a cross breed

They didn't know enough about the breed to make that call, but it really sucked to see my purebred called a crossbreed. He didn't even have any feather color leakage or anything. Not something I would use in my breeding flock, but certainly not a cross.

My silkies aren't looking too rough yet, although my rooster Einstein got caught in the rain the other day and he certainly had feathers matching his namesake's hair after that

Don't show your OH this, but here's one of my little juvenile frizzles. Still in need of a name:

I believe I saw that post about your "cross breed"... if I'm thinking of the right one, you handled it very well.

And that little frizzle is adorable!

 

[kwhites634]

OK, at the risk of sounding ignorant (hey, I'm a styrofoam bator gal) I thought all the Brinseas were forced air?

Ignorance can be cured through education; it's STUPID that's forever.

 

[rossfam06]

Ignorance can be cured through education; it's STUPID that's forever.

Hahhahahahahahah!!!!! that's so true!!!!

 

[RubyNala97]

Got home from soccer practice, and the light on the incubator was blinking. Panic averted after Googling (which of course brought me to BYC). It's supposed  to do that Temp is dead-on and steady

I have a brinsea too and a couple times in my house someone must have glanced at it in between flashes and yelled out "mom, the incubator is off"....nearly gave me a heart attack every time!

OK, at the risk of sounding ignorant (hey, I'm a styrofoam bator gal) I thought all the Brinseas were forced air?

That was my exact thought!

Or else I was at the wrong angle in relation to the thermometer, and so read it wrong Realized that that was what happened when I went over to adjust it. Oh, well, better to do something like that now, when it's empty, than to mess things up while it's loaded! And yes, I do know not to worry about the temps for a few hows after I put the eggs in, since the eggs have to be warmed up Now to reinforce that no one touches the 'bator but me! If I turn at 8am, 4pm, and midnight, there's no problem--I'm up and home at all those times.

Just to make a recommendation that was made to me, if you can turn 5 x a day, it increased my hatch rate greatly.

Sweet!! Would love for you to allow us to follow your hatch, please? I know many here would be interested in your techniques/experiences and the breed itself...

My OH won't allow frizzles, he says they freak him out, lol... our Silkies look awful though... and they can see now!!

Question, the breeder contacted me on day 19 of my silkie hatch, and told me not to be surprised if I had any sizzles hatch. (I was pretty upset because I paid a good amount of money for quality silkie eggs, not planning on those genes) but they all look silkie to me. Can you tell right away? And what's the difference between sizzle and frizzle?

I like Jamie...Jamie it is!

Medley of fluffnuggets - I love that! My AC cock Raptor keeps jumping his pen and he's the dominant rooster on the property so I'm curious how many will be half AC. Other rooster options are Pretty Boy (the rooster in my avatar), Bowtie (my half AC NN rooster who is Pretty Boy's full brother), Tesoro (my barred half leghorn half buff orp rooster), and Einstein, my silkie rooster. I think that's all of them...lol.

That's my moms name! What was the breed that was referred to as a cross breed?

I'd put some water bottles in that bator, and get it calibrated perfectly with the mass of the water bottles to simulate the mass of the eggs, before committing eggs to it.

BeeKissed used a Sunbeam Xpress heating pad with a box of soil, leaves, litter underneath to simulate a broody on a natural nest.  I agree with other poster re: water bladder excluding too much oxygen.

Lazy, yes, the door is open and that's exactly what I am doing! I start shaking the scratch and they run towards the run but stop at the lip (2x4 that they have to jump over). Then when I reach down to help them, they start running in all different directions! But a few are making the leap by them selves. Also, the squirt gun is working wonders with my cockerel! He actually bit my son the other day and that equaled 3 good squirts, then he doesn't even look out way. But he forgets and starts again the next day, so I'm keeping on him!

 

[WVduckchick]

I have a brinsea too and a couple times in my house someone must have glanced at it in between flashes and yelled out "mom, the incubator is off"....nearly gave me a heart attack every time!
That was my exact thought!
Just to make a recommendation that was made to me, if you can turn 5 x a day, it increased my hatch rate greatly.
Question, the breeder contacted me on day 19 of my silkie hatch, and told me not to be surprised if I had any sizzles hatch. (I was pretty upset because I paid a good amount of money for quality silkie eggs, not planning on those genes) but they all look silkie to me. Can you tell right away? And what's the difference between sizzle and frizzle?
That's my moms name!

What was the breed that was referred to as a cross breed?
Lazy, yes, the door is open and that's exactly what I am doing! I start shaking the scratch and they run towards the run but stop at the lip (2x4 that they have to jump over). Then when I reach down to help them, they start running in all different directions! But a few are making the leap by them selves. Also, the squirt gun is working wonders with my cockerel! He actually bit my son the other day and that equaled 3 good squirts, then he doesn't even look out way. But he forgets and starts again the next day, so I'm keeping on him!

Ruby, with my frizzle cochin, I could tell within just a few days that his feathers were growing curly, once the "real" feathers started growing. I would expect a silkie to be the same?
Looking back through my pics, I remember sending one pic to my SIL and telling her I thought he was frizzle, and it was at 5 days!

 

[lazy gardener]

I have a brinsea too and a couple times in my house someone must have glanced at it in between flashes and yelled out "mom, the incubator is off"....nearly gave me a heart attack every time!
That was my exact thought!
Just to make a recommendation that was made to me, if you can turn 5 x a day, it increased my hatch rate greatly.
Question, the breeder contacted me on day 19 of my silkie hatch, and told me not to be surprised if I had any sizzles hatch. (I was pretty upset because I paid a good amount of money for quality silkie eggs, not planning on those genes) but they all look silkie to me. Can you tell right away? And what's the difference between sizzle and frizzle?
That's my moms name!

What was the breed that was referred to as a cross breed?
Lazy, yes, the door is open and that's exactly what I am doing! I start shaking the scratch and they run towards the run but stop at the lip (2x4 that they have to jump over). Then when I reach down to help them, they start running in all different directions! But a few are making the leap by them selves. Also, the squirt gun is working wonders with my cockerel! He actually bit my son the other day and that equaled 3 good squirts, then he doesn't even look out way. But he forgets and starts again the next day, so I'm keeping on him!

Are you throwing the scratch through the doorway into the pen? I can't imagine that that 2 x 4 would be high enough that they can't get over it! Just get them to the door and toss the scratch into the run. An other thing that will help immensely with chicken management, is to keep them just a little bit hungry. I do not keep feed down for my girls all the time. They get their FF in the morning, then they get some scratch in late afternoon, or if I need to get them back into the run, and they might get some more FF before dusk, depending on where and how they've been foraging. A chicken who thinks she's hungry will jump through hoops for a bit of scratch!!