South Dakota here

[chickenranchwife]

Welcome Country Rooster, don't be afraid to ask questions on here. The people are friendly. Just so you know because you are also a new member, people can send you private messages. Good luck and have fun.

 

[zchickens]

One question. I ordered some wheaten marans eggs, but do to the cold weather around should I wait to have the eggs shipped when it is a bit warmer (say April 1st) or take them when they will be first available to me (around Februay 21st). Not sure how likely it is that the eggs would freeze, as I have seen posts here that have mentioned receiving eggs when it was in the teens and twenties, and still managing 50% hatch rates. Your thoughts or experiences with this??? I am anxious to have eggs for my new bator, but I don't want to have eggsicles either.... Thanks!

Z

 

[chickenranchwife]

zchickens,
I have received eggs in the cold weather, and haven't had one hatch; but believe it was my fault. Either the bator got too hot or the humidity was up to high. The best bunch I had develop I had her put on the box Do not x-ray. I think I may have opened up the bator too many times also. I know they have packed them well, so you should be ok. Try it! Good luck.

 

[BrahmaMama]

Quote:
Welcome to the board Michael! I'm just north of Canton, and there is also another gal on here that lives in the area. I'm the same way with mixtures; I have Buff and Dark Brahmas, Blue and Buff Cochins, Blue Wyandottes, a Sumatra, and Salmon Favorelles coming from Welp's Hatchery at the end of the month. I also have 6 D'uccle's, Buff Laced Polish, White Crested Blue Polish, and some ducklings coming from Ideal-also the end of the month. Good luck with the hatching, I'm on my very first hatch after borrowing a Brower bator from a friend...candled again tonight, and my one white egg, I could see a little dark spot moving around

 

[chickenranchwife]

Brahma,
Where's Welp's hatchery located? Is it in South Dakota or Iowa? What day are you on for your test run in the bator? I am on day 4 here. I have 3 Aracauna's and the rest are going to be mutt's but what the heck.

 

[BrahmaMama]

Welp's is in Bancroft, Iowa. From the map I was looking at, it's in north central Iowa, but my last chicks I ordered showed shipping from New Mexico...

They were healthy though, so that's what matters I guess. Though I would prefer they come from closer. I put my eggs in on Saturday, the 2nd. It was morning though, so I *think* I'm on day 6 going on 7....?

Let's see, out in my coop I have buff and light Brahmas, white Rocks, one Speckled Sussex, one little buff hen, one EE that's laying, and some golden spangled Hamburgs-that's what my one white egg is from. I do have a ligher colored green EE egg in there too. The rest are brown eggs. My main roo is a buff Brahma, and there's also a GS Hamburg and an EE roo. I don't know if they are "enjoying" roohood though, lol! So I have a bunch of mutts too, but I'm sure they will be beautiful no matter what

 

[chickenranchwife]

Out in my coop I have SLW, BR, BO, BSL, PR, RIR, WR, LH, Ar, BAstro, and just one EE roo. Will see how well he's doing! I have three blue/green eggs in the bator with the rest being brown. I am getting a black cochin from James.

I set my eggs Sunday night that is why I am behind you. Just gonna leave them alone until Sunday night or Monday morning. Good luck with your eggs. Let's keep in contact.

 

[zchickens]

Thanks for the warm welcome

:yiipchick . Also have three kids that keep me busy (two boys ages 8 & 7) and one daughter (turns 3 next month). I wanted to get some Buff Brahmas with my shipment from McMuarry's, but sadly they were not available until late March

(and I wanted to get my chickens started earlier, in hopes of geeting a least a few eggs before it turns cold around here again for next fall/winter). Good luck to the both of you on your hatches. The only difficulty I am having at this point is finding a hydrometer for a reasonable cost (found one at Menards I might buy, although it is a bit big for the incubator, but I don't know if it is worth speniding $40 - $50 to get one from McMurrays or another polutry supplier). Do either of you have problems with predators? I have seen coyotes, raccons, skunks, and possums around my acreage more than once (and since we do not own a dog), I am a bit concerned that I may not be able to consistenly keep them out of my barn. I will get pymgy goats again this spring, which will be somewhat of a deterent, but I do not know to what degree. What measures do you use for predators? Thanks again for your advice.

Z

 

[chickenranchwife]

z, yes we have preditors here. Mostly coons and skunks. I try to trap them. Coons are sneaky though. Don't deal much with them this time of year. I just make sure the girls are locked up tight at night, even during the summer. We also have coyotes, but haven't had to deal with them coming close to the house but once. The girls were locked up. We have two dogs so they do kind of keep track of critters coming in. Maybe put some chicken wire or screen around your area in the barn to ensure preditor proofing. Good luck. I just found a message on my answering machine that my chicks should be here on Monday! I am so excited!

 

[BrahmaMama]

Chickenranchwife, we are close in timing aren't we

Yes, definitely keep in contact, this is fun

Zchickens, yep, we have coyotes, skunks and coons. I thought we had trapped most of the coons in our barn, but my husband said there was some fresh poo up in the hay loft the other day. I totally agree with the locking up...my chickens all go inside the coop in the evening, and after they've all roosted, I just go out and shut and lock the door up. I also shut the gate to the run, and latch that...though it might not deter much I guess. Knock on wood though, I haven't had anything break into my coops since last summer, when we had windows taken out (very hot, humid summer) and had chicken wire nailed across the opening. We believe it was a coyote that tore through it....now I have heavy gauge wire across the windows, for next summer.

My two Buff Brahma girls are lovely...they were in the batch of my very first chicks, and were handled quite a bit; though I have found my light Brahmas to be even more friendlier-odd because I had more chicks with that order, so they probably didn't get quite the one on one, though they were handled. They are certainly one of my favorite breeds, though I have standard Cochins, and Salmon Favorelles on my next order. I just love big fat, fluffy chickens. The more feathers and fluff, the better

Good luck, everyone with hatches!