The 5th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[Penny Hen]

Hi Penny Hen!

Huastecs? I had to look them up! and black boned! does that mean skinned as well like a silkie?

Yes. Mostly the roos are a black breasted red type of color with the combs and wattles being dark red to mulberry. The hens are either black or occasionally a dark partridge.
I also want to get another South American bird but I can't decide between Colloncas or Sweet Potato Quechua.

 

[roostereggs]

YAY! It's HERE!!!

This will be my first Easter hatch-a-long, but my first hatch was NYE and it was VERY fun and I love still talking to people there.

My Brinsea will be filled with Rhodebars for Easter. Dd13 is trying to talk me into a couple ducks, but I am not too keen on having them make a mess everywhere! Besides, we can't decide...she wants white calls and I prefer the tall bottle-shaped ones.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome everyone! Glad you are joining us!

 

[lvorganics]

Yay! I can't wait for this. My incubator is currently full of Muscovy eggs, but they should be hatching the 15th of March(god willing at this point, **** duck eggs

)

Now to decide what I want to hatch!

 

[ozexpat]

Unless we have some eastern Australians or Kiwis jumping in, the sun will rise first in CocoBeach come Easter Saturday

Count me and Bernie, the Filipino Poultry Phenom in with Quail, Chickens and hopefully Guineas and Scovies

 

[LTygress]

I prefer the tall bottle-shaped ones.

(Runners)

 

[LTygress]

60-90 ! wow thats alot of play! so do these box turtle eggs have the same sorta chalaza like a chicken egg? do you think that breaks and thats what kills the embryo? How interesting that all is! I still live in the blue mountains of PA and I havent seen a box turtle in years, but when we were kids we seen them all the time, heck we had made pets out of them, we had so many we couldnt keep them and marked them with nail polish and sent them away. Very cool, I would love to see your incubator set up for something like that, I will assume a humidifier or some other under layer water system? And pics of baby turtles!!!

I'm not completely sure how the inside of their egg is set up. I just know they can NOT be turned at all. But it makes sense, because reptiles normally bury their eggs "for good" and don't shuffle them around like a chicken does.

And I was using the LG at the lower temp with a couple of those short round containers you get at the grocery store filled with water for extra humidity. BUT the latest LG incubators have a new design with a HUGE surface area for water, and that might work for them now. As a matter of fact, I had the humidity up WAY too high these past few days for hatching chicken eggs, and had to get a dry washcloth to empty a few out! So I'm thinking it won't have too much trouble holding humidity for turtle eggs now. And the new LG incubator also holds temp very well, so I'm good with that too.

I also think the 60-90 days issue is more for "naturally laid" eggs, out in the wild. Temperatures and humidity can vary there, and that would make the hatch time vary. Many people who raise them ONLY as pets also still leave them in outside pens and let them lay naturally. And box turtles are so incredibly good at hiding their eggs, most people don't even realize a hole was ever dug!

And raising them for breeding can be a pain in the butt too. I have to adjust the lighting to go along with the seasons so the turtles still "experience" a winter. So every few weeks, I'm adding or taking away time on the light timer.

But don't worry - as soon as she actually starts to lay the eggs, I'll be posting pics in the incubating and hatching thread, and doing regular progress updates. I can't leave my fellow chicken people in the dark!

 

[HollyORiley]

Count me in!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Absolutely! We're happy to share!

On the prize, I can't remember if it was the Easter or NYD, but I contacted one of the mods a couple times...and Manna Pro. I gave up.

But I SO wanted that egg skelter above all other items!! *sigh*

It was fun just to have the close guess, though!

It was the Easter Hatch last year. I'm researching it. You'll get your egg skelter one way or another.

I'm in! Hoping to set one March 2 and then reload for Easter Don't know what yet. Maybe some Brabanters and BBS Orps if I can nail them down.

Ooooooh Brabanters.

I'm in! I have a new thermostat and a heating element for my Chestobator. I have time to do a test hatch from some local eggs to shake out the bugs. I have some Bantam Welsummer eggs coming, some polish already lined up. I am hoping to get either an order of Huastecs or an order of Breda.

More wellies! The world needs more wellies! I may be a little bias.

ChooksChick, I think you misunderstood about hugging the sheep! You have my permission to hug them if you can catch them! Grown sheep just aren't very cuddly. However, lambs are more huggable...as long as you have Mama's permission. BTW, we may be having lambs by Sheep Shearing Day (March 22)...Farrah is bagging up!

Sally Sunshine, we used to get my grandkids and friends' kids together in the barn the day before Easter to dye eggs. No worries about dye staining anyone's kitchen floor, and the kids had a blast! We did both regular "grocery store" and natural dyes with onion skins. But, grandkids turned into teens and everyone had other plans. Now, I have 7 year old and 2 year old grands...and a lot of neighbors with kids...and the farm is now registered as an Agritourism site (with Chicken World strictly off limits to visitors, for biosecurity reasons). So...why not invite everyone?

edited by staff

How cool to have a farm partnership going on! I bet Renee misses them though.

YAY! It's HERE!!!

This will be my first Easter hatch-a-long, but my first hatch was NYE and it was VERY fun and I love still talking to people there.

My Brinsea will be filled with Rhodebars for Easter. Dd13 is trying to talk me into a couple ducks, but I am not too keen on having them make a mess everywhere! Besides, we can't decide...she wants white calls and I prefer the tall bottle-shaped ones.

Welcome! I fell in love with the bantam calls at the show, but holy cow are they LOUD! Runners are neat also.

Quote: Hiya!

Yay! I can't wait for this. My incubator is currently full of Muscovy eggs, but they should be hatching the 15th of March(god willing at this point, **** duck eggs

)

Now to decide what I want to hatch!

Decisions, decisions.

Unless we have some eastern Australians or Kiwis jumping in, the sun will rise first in CocoBeach come Easter Saturday

Count me and Bernie, the Filipino Poultry Phenom in with Quail, Chickens and hopefully Guineas and Scovies

Welcome!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Count me in!

Welcome also!