St. Pattie's Day (this year) is prime setting date for layers

[Nefertiti]

Please, nobody cry witch

but based on the Almanac, the lunar signs and such as that, anytime on St. Patrick's Day, or late in evening day before, is an excellent time to set eggs. Expect resultant chicks to be some of your best layers.
If wanting more pullets than roos, don't bother to set the pointy ended eggs..some you can't decide if the small end is pointed or rounded, but the more pointy it is the more likely it's to be a rooster.

 

[ebonykawai]

How cool, where did you get that? I usually buy the Witch's Almanac every year but missed it this year.

 

[rooster-red]

Funny thing, I sat down at luch today with the farmers almanac and came to the same conclusion.

I've got several people who want me to hatch them some chicks from my flock, been wondering if I can wait that long!

 

[keystonebantams]

WITCH, lol, I just had to do it.

there is no way to sex an egg.

mike

 

[ebonykawai]

Oh, ye unbelievers, LOL!

Oh, poo. Do I have to get another incubator now?? Hmmm...

 

[Nefertiti]

I didn't use a Witch's Almanac. Used a combination of a regular farmer's almanac, information from the Foxfire Book #1 (see chart in the By the Signs section), and the ancient Roman method of setting eggs 10-15 days after the new of the moon,
Eggs that were set the 16 or 17 of Feb will be the same as eggs set on St. Pattie's Day. 20 April will good too, just not quite as.
I know that you can really set eggs anytime you like, but chicks hatched at these times really do mature better and are excellent layers.
While it's true some eggs are hard to tell whether they're pointy or rounded, as I said before, the sharper the point the more likely it's to be a roo.
If you want to test this theory, set only the most pointy ended eggs you can find, and see how many pullets you end up with.

 

[Moodene]

My grandma swears by that!! She didn't let her hens sit on any pointy end looking eggs..mmm..she didn't have many roos either..

 

[NYREDS]

Wow, and all this time I thought laying ability was genetically determined.