Straub’s search for colored eggs

[Mwhit]

Awesome thread, I’ve just read through the past 10 pages or so. Really interested in your bresse and your plans for dual purpose birds.

I used to have a small flock of bresse but ended up selling/eating them due to aggressive behavior and going broody constantly. They were decent layers when they weren’t trying to hatch chicks though.

 

[WingItRanch]

Awesome thread, I’ve just read through the past 10 pages or so. Really interested in your bresse and your plans for dual purpose birds.

I used to have a small flock of bresse but ended up selling/eating them due to aggressive behavior and going broody constantly. They were decent layers when they weren’t trying to hatch chicks though.

American Bresse or did you go the traditional French route? How was the taste of them compared to other dual purpose breeds?

 

[Mwhit]

American Bresse or did you go the traditional French route? How was the taste of them compared to other dual purpose breeds?

They were American Bresse I bought off Craigslist. From Greenfire Farms stock. I didn’t finish them the French way, just with meatbird feed.

The meat was pretty comparable to other DP breeds. My favorite so far has been New Hampshire’s.

 

[Tstraub]

It was 60 degrees F yesterday and everything was a muddy mess. Today it’s 20F feels like -10F winds at 30 mph gusts over 40 mph. The trash bins blew into my wife’s car, flower pots blew across the road and both automatic chicken doors were frozen shut. At least it’s not muddy anymore I guess.

 

[Tstraub]

I got 2 eggs from the Bresse coop today. That’s the first time I have collected more than one and the same day. I know the one with the blue band is laying I’m not sure who else is laying. They both had to come today because it’s cold enough outside that if I missed one yesterday it surely would have froze and busted.

 

[Tstraub]

The Bresse are 23 weeks old. The blue and green banded pullets are both confirmed laying. I haven’t seen the black banded one in the box yet but her pin bones feel separated and she is squatting for the cockerels so I expect eggs from her soon.

The curly toed cockerel still seems to be getting around without any issues. He’s not any easier to catch than any of my other chickens so I guess he gets around OK. The boys are definitely breeding the girls but so far no signs of stress or overbreeding. It’s been wet and muddy around her so their white feathers are not exactly camera ready but I took some pictures anyway.


In other news my physical therapist says my knee is back to 100% flexibility but still needs some work with strength and endurance. I will likely be able to return to work next weekend.

 

[Tstraub]

I acquired a new to me incubator. It was free to me from my brother in law who buys pallets of store returns for resale. So someone wasn’t happy with it and returned it. It looks to hold about 10 eggs and requires hand turning. I’ve had it plugged in for 30 minutes or so and the fan is running and seems to be warming up as expected.

It looks like chewy gets about $150 for it. My first impression is that for the price It’s underwhelming but for free I’m happy to give it a chance I have plenty of eggs so no real risk in trying it out.

 

[Fallenone05]

I acquired a new to me incubator. It was free to me from my brother in law who buys pallets of store returns for resale. So someone wasn’t happy with it and returned it. It looks to hold about 10 eggs and requires hand turning. I’ve had it plugged in for 30 minutes or so and the fan is running and seems to be warming up as expected.

It looks like chewy gets about $150 for it. My first impression is that for the price It’s underwhelming but for free I’m happy to give it a chance I have plenty of eggs so no real risk in trying it out. View attachment 4280903

I love my Brinsea Incubators. I have two - the Mini and Maxi with autoturning. I get good hatches with them!

 

[Tstraub]

I love my Brinsea Incubators. I have two - the Mini and Maxi with autoturning. I get good hatches with them!

It’s been up to temperature for about 5 hours now and it’s extremely stable. The included alcohol thermometer mounted near the top of the unit reads right on 100f and my Govee says it’s been 99.0F-99.1F near the bottom.

I didn’t make any adjustments to the thermostat. The only issue I had was the liquid in the thermometer had an air bubble so I had to heat it in a pot of hot water to get the alcohol to come back together.

 

[wrathsfarm]

It’s been up to temperature for about 5 hours now and it’s extremely stable. The included alcohol thermometer mounted near the top of the unit reads right on 100f and my Govee says it’s been 99.0F-99.1F near the bottom.

I didn’t make any adjustments to the thermostat. The only issue I had was the liquid in the thermometer had an air bubble so I had to heat it in a pot of hot water to get the alcohol to come back together.
View attachment 4281343

Congrats on the new toy. Free is always a nice price range.