Simulated Natural Nest Incubation~Experiment #1 So it begins....

[fisherlady]

I am inclined to agree with you, Bee, chicks that cannot hatch themselves tend not to be healthy enough. I have in the past helped two out of the shell, both of them died later.

I am very interested in following how your new dog project works out. I have plans for a large guard dog in my future. Are you planning on having him neutered?

OK... did I miss a post on a new dog? What breed? Pics??

 

[AmericanMom]

This is no longer relevant, but silkie meat is DELICIOUS in soup! Very expensive, and there's not much of it, but it's delicious.

Our rooster has a bit of silkie in him, 3 of his offspring that went to freezer camp carried that gene, and although the meat wasn't full on black it was a darker grey... I make chicken enchiladas with it.. Nice and covered in tons of red sauce... lol, I know, I am a weenie... It is good tho I must say

 

[Beekissed]

Welcome back!! Glad to hear the trip went well!! Wow on the power outage.. Kinda neat when that feeling comes over us and we just know it should be a certain way and then we find out later the reason...Very Cool!!!' Not to much happening in chickville..Momma still sitting, was able to candle while she took a break, one of the eggs has a nice dip in the air cell, If it hasn't hatched out by tomorrow I might get worried it may have died.. The late ones I sat look good, The shells are nice and dark, air cell hasn't dipped yet, thinking a day or so behnd...
Got 10 bunny rabbits born yesterday.... Hope they all survive!! Incubator is going strong...signs of life can be seen now so I'm happy
Got the oldest Grandson tonight for some Poppy and Nanny time... I so look forward to every second!!

You are busy!!! I bet the grandkids love coming to your place with all the bunnies and chicks popping out. I want my place to be like that too....a place of wonder and experiences they can't find anywhere else. That's the way my grandma's farm was...she always had new calves, piglets, chicks or barn kittens and fresh garden veggies, grapes on the harbor or something wonderfully preserved from her dark and scary cellar house. Always interesting, never dull and boring and she also would play board games with us. I hope I can be a grandma like that.

Bee ,i was pleased with the result ,considering time of yr ,5yr old roo,& new incubator i hadn't used before.


, my old incubator was having some problems & its performance was dropping with each hatch ( last hatch in it was 3 from 42).

I had lent some money to a single mum with 4 kids , to fix her car ,(about 5 yrs ago ),she sent me some money,(partial repayment) out of the blue ,so i invested in this new incubator.

when i was a young fellow , working on a sheep stud,i came across a orphan lamb, i picked it up & bought back to the boss.
I thought i was doing the rite thing ,as I'd had a aunty, who had poddy lambs, when i was a boy
the boss went rite off ,said i should have left it in paddock.
his reasoning was to have it as a poddy (hand fed) ,raise it , then u were diluting the flocks vigour,producing a higher percentage of inferior animals in the flock after each generation

that has stuck in my head ever since, so it depends on yr prospective . as my goal is to breed good birds & try to either maintain or improve my line i don't help.

I let nature take its course, but i know a lot of ppl do help .
19 is plenty to grow out over winter ,if i really was concerned with numbers, i would just start a new lot today& they would be out in 3 wks

cheers Pete

That's what I was thinking, Pete....I'm all for survival of the fittest. Even that one chick I hatched out, Hootie, didn't seem to have the necessary vigor and I believe he would have died anyway. He wasn't wanting to eat by the third day and was barely drinking, didn't have the natural curiosity of the meat chicks I put him in with that were even younger than him....I have a feeling he would have died if Mom hadn't killed him and so I wasn't too upset over it.

These things happen. I will resist the temptation of helping any out of the shell because I really have no time or room for quitters here...it's as rough as it comes here and that's on purpose. Now that I'm hatching I'll have to hold true to that.

I know a lot of people would think your farmer guy was cruel but there is an extreme necessity for people to get back to developing and only keeping the hardiest of livestock....if all we have left are animals that cannot live without help or medicine, we are in trouble.

OK... did I miss a post on a new dog? What breed? Pics??

I have an opportunity to get a 3 yr old GP dog, male and intact(not too happy about that part), to help old Jake here and to be a companion to him.....but I may or may not bring him home. He's free, so that's the kind of dog I like.

BUT....I won't bring home a fool. Jumping up, lunging on the tie, barking even while the master is present, unable to get his attention for corrections...all of these things will mean I probably won't bring him home. I have chickens and a 79 yr old Mom to consider when bringing home a dog, so he has to be training ready if he comes....not a huge project that will take months and months to tame down and correct for the job. I'll try a few corrections while I'm there if given the opportunity and see if he responds.

From the sounds of him, the guy hasn't worked with him at all and seems to not know what to do with the breed. I've gotten three great dogs for free from owners who weren't all there, so this could work out great and this guy just doesn't know,or can't figure out, how to unlock the potential of his dog. If so, I'll bring him on home.

If not, I'll pass. If we do we will probably be scheduling a neutering as soon as we can....no one needs a male dog around that's 85 lbs and rides everything in sight.

The guy says he's aggressive towards strays and I needed that here as Jake is far too friendly with any dog that comes around.

It's a hard thing to contemplate bringing in a new member to the family...we don't make changes that often and I'm not one to take on a dog very lightly. That's a big deal, though from reading on these forums and from meeting folks out in the world they don't see it as such and will take on a new dog like others change their socks. We just aren't those kind of people...this dog will have to be something kind of special before we bring him home, free or not.

 

[Tomtommom]

If not, I'll pass. If we do we will probably be scheduling a neutering as soon as we can....no one needs a male dog around that's 85 lbs and rides everything in sight.

The guy says he's aggressive towards strays and I needed that here as Jake is far too friendly with any dog that comes around.

Neutering may alter that aggression toward strays, keep that in mind.

My dominant, aggressive dog went full sissy after being neutered.

 

[TeaChick]

Removed the egg with the blood ring tonight. Noticed it had stopped developing, cracked it open and there was just a very early stages chick in there...no form or body just white gel with some blood. Down to 25 eggs now.

I hate to lose them!!!

final numbers on my hatch - 24 eggs set -
19 out -

2 clears removed day 14-

2 no internal pip -

1 external pip didn't hatch

79 % - ok for first try in this incubator & autumn here


glad to see yr globe traveling eggs r going ok Bee

cheers Pete

That sounds like a good rate for any hatch. =)
Sorry you lost those three!!!

Pete, is that an average percentage for your hatches? That's pretty good, isn't it? That external pip...were you tempted to help it out? Or do you let nature take its course on that? I'm inclined to let nature take its course...if they are too weak to get out, it could be they wouldn't thrive anyway....but it's still tempting to help, isn't it?

I'm over tempted to help; I might lean too far in the other direction (letting nature take its course/leaving it in God's Hands, not wanting to mess it up by getting my grubby little paws in there). I'm trying to find the balance of a few things with hatching. All I know is that I'm not experienced enough with just hatching to know when to and when not to help out.
(not to interrupt or get into someone else's conversation)

{note to self: pg 191}

 

[Beekissed]

Neutering may alter that aggression toward strays, keep that in mind.

My dominant, aggressive dog went full sissy after being neutered.

GPs are sissies anyhow, so I hope it doesn't take away all his tendencies. My GP mix, Lucy, was spayed and she still was aggressive towards strange dogs and I loved that about her. She even looked more like a male dog than a female, so she was a boss dog either way. She was lovely towards all humans, though, and that's the remarkable thing about this breed....very nice family dogs.

 

[Lacy Blues]

...If not, I'll pass. If we do we will probably be scheduling a neutering as soon as we can....no one needs a male dog around that's 85 lbs and rides everything in sight.

The guy says he's aggressive towards strays and I needed that here as Jake is far too friendly with any dog that comes around...

Not all male dogs are like that. I would think that if you can train a rooster (the epitome of testosterone) to behave, that you could handle a little ole dog.

 

[Beekissed]

Not all male dogs are like that. I would think that if you can train a rooster (the epitome of testosterone) to behave, that you could handle a little ole dog.

That's the problem.....this dog ain't little.

I'm having a flair up from herniated discs right now and I have a 5 ft nothing 79 yr old ma that can't afford to be knocked around by a big dog that has nothing in its head except his hormones. I'll see....some dogs can think past that problem and some cannot. My first dog was uncut when I got him and he was the best dog...but the first time I went to bath him and was on my knees running water in the bath tub while he was standing nearby, he saw the perfect opportunity to say "Howdy, I'm a guy!".

I was not amused.

Then later on the kids were wrestling in the yard and he was jumping in there trying to ride anybody he could. Those dew claws are no joke. Then he took off after the neighbor's 2 lb yip yip that was in heat and wouldn't respond to calling him back.

The next day he was at the vet's getting his mind cleared up and helping him to fit in better with the family. He was the best dog I ever had but I'm thinking it wouldn't have worked out that way if I hadn't had him neutered.

It will cost $70 at the local SPOT clinic to get him fixed, so we'll see if we can do it if we actually take this dog on.

 

[fisherlady]

Quote: Love this statement, if more folks followed this attitude there wouldn't be a need for over flowing animal rescues and humane societies. Animals are not disposable! Just wish more folks took it that seriously!

 

[AmericanMom]

You are busy!!! I bet the grandkids love coming to your place with all the bunnies and chicks popping out. I want my place to be like that too....a place of wonder and experiences they can't find anywhere else. That's the way my grandma's farm was...she always had new calves, piglets, chicks or barn kittens and fresh garden veggies, grapes on the harbor or something wonderfully preserved from her dark and scary cellar house. Always interesting, never dull and boring and she also would play board games with us. I hope I can be a grandma like that.

Yes they do, and the nieces and Nephews and the cousins and the friends kids...lol.. Since I had to let my business go and MIL went into an assisted living home I have found my life slow way down... I don't know about most of you, but in my faith we are raised to be mothers and wives, once the kids grew up and I didn't have them here anymore I took on a business, once that went away I took on my MIL, once she got where she needed to be I just felt lost, this takes up my time and I get to see something grow, I am in charge again of taking care of something... Its hard to explain but it takes that empty space and certainly fills it and I love sharing it with the little ones, to see the wonder on their face when we candle an egg and they can see the baby, to watch an egg hatch...its amazing..