The 4th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long

[Sally Sunshine]

Took my girls on a picnic lunch and hike up the North Shore today (Lake Superior). Cold and windy but beautiful! Ate our sandwiches in the old CCC stone shelter with our mittens on. If it is going to STILL be winter and Spring doesn't look likely anytime soon, I figured we might as well get out and enjoy a little of the winter beauty that we live in. Something to do while waiting for eggs to incubate.

That is gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am trying to get a feel of the size of this! must be amazing to be there!

 

[debs_flock]

OMG, that is amazing and I would die from the cold. I can certainly see where your name is fitting!

 

[chickenpooplady]

Took my girls on a picnic lunch and hike up the North Shore today (Lake Superior). Cold and windy but beautiful! Ate our sandwiches in the old CCC stone shelter with our mittens on. If it is going to STILL be winter and Spring doesn't look likely anytime soon, I figured we might as well get out and enjoy a little of the winter beauty that we live in. Something to do while waiting for eggs to incubate.

Beautiful!!!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Took my girls on a picnic lunch and hike up the North Shore today (Lake Superior). Cold and windy but beautiful! Ate our sandwiches in the old CCC stone shelter with our mittens on. If it is going to STILL be winter and Spring doesn't look likely anytime soon, I figured we might as well get out and enjoy a little of the winter beauty that we live in. Something to do while waiting for eggs to incubate.

Absolutely gorgeous, but BRRRRRRR. It's been in the mid 70's here in CA.

Oh my goodness, no fair is right! What are you going to do with all those little cockerels? Wish I could take one. I do have Welsummers in my hatch a long here, I wonder if I will get what I want...more girls don't ya know.

I've never hatched this many cockerels. Dang it, just when I need pullets!

I'll grow them out to keep a son from my rooster, but most will be sold or consumed.

When you incubate Eggs is it true if you keep it a little on the 98.5 temp you will have more pullets? And the above 99.5 you will get more roos?

If only it was that easy. Nope, afraid not.

I CAN tell you that with 3 major power outages during a hatch, you will end up with mostly cockerels. That was 2 years ago, and I hatched something like 4 pullets and 15 cockerels.

 

[Razadia]

Monday someone is coming out to test my birds for NPIP! I'm so excited! I meant to post this earlier, but I had a lot of things to do.

 

[DURR]

Monday someone is coming out to test my birds for NPIP! I'm so excited! I meant to post this earlier, but I had a lot of things to do.

When they come to do NPIP do they look at what you have your birds in ect? I've been thinking about it but I'm afraid they'd say something about how my birds are housed. I have the majority of my birds in Round or dome shaped pens made out of hog panaling. And my larger flock of EE's is in a chain link dog pen about 10'x10'x6'.

 

[CayuseRanch]

I have been meaning to post about humidity because its something everyone has struggled with one time or another. I thought when I bought my brinsea this year my problems would go away. But my last hatch at lockdown, I could only get it above 45 for 20 minutes then it would go back down. Then hubby mentioned bringing in my sons humidifier (he has bad nose bleeds and that helps) so we did. Lo and behold after that stayed 60-75 depending on if they were hatching without adding any water for 4 days. Just a suggestion you may want to try.

On a different note a big breeder here in Oklahoma told me this weekend that an older roo over younger hens breeds more pullets, where a younger roo bred over older hens results in more cockerals. I have 6 of his chicks from a young roo now and 12 eggs from an older roo. Going to see if that pans out. Anyone ever hear that before?

 

[debs_flock]

On a different note a big breeder here in Oklahoma told me this weekend that an older roo over younger hens breeds more pullets, where a younger roo bred over older hens results in more cockerals. I have 6 of his chicks from a young roo now and 12 eggs from an older roo. Going to see if that pans out. Anyone ever hear that before?

I'm not sure how that would make a difference. In chickens, it's the hen that determines the sex of the chick.

 

[Gardeningmama]

DH is building me a cabinet incubator!! Not a monster, but it will hold 2 turners on one shelf, so that's like 80ish eggs!! There's a top shelf too, if I wanted to go crazy and put double the eggs in. I'm not going to though, that's my hatcher shelf. I must admit that I was leery at first, but now that I see it holding temp. and that beautiful light bulb going on and off, I'm getting excited! I plan on running it for a week or so, to be sure it's working well, after that do you think it would hurt to quickly pull my turner out of the LG and pop it in the new one?

 

[LFchixranch]

Woo hoo!! Got to play dress up with my chickens! I did a crown for our princess hen, and for our rooster. My kids came home and pretty much rolled their eyes at me and said "mom's turning the chickens into live barbies". He He He... Yup!

I stared both crowns with a pile of what I call "toybox trash"... anything that settles at the bottom of the toybox & is pretty much junk. I used scissors & hot glue for everything.


For the Hen:

From the pile I used a milk cap ring, some junk thin clear plastic (what my computer mouse came in), and an old barbie dress.

I used the milk ring as the base, wrapped & trimmed the plastic around it to form a "princess cone"... hot glued into place:



I cut up the barbie dress (which had a print satin, a netting, and a ribbon... perfect!), and covered the cone with the satin. Added the veiling on the top, and lined it with the ribbon along the bottom. More hot glue...

Finished product:



And now being modeled by our Barred Rock hen "Omelet" (& my daughter). She's actually the hen that donated the eggs for our hatch-a-long!... so we'll be seeing her babies later.

I belive she is saying