The Aloha Chicken Project

[notinoz2007]

we candled our eggs tonight. it was so awesome!!! i've never seen anything like that before. we saw lots of moving dots in lots of eggs!! we were really excited and going pretty fast so i'm not sure how accurate we were. we kept all but 3 which were definitely not fertilized. when i turned the light back on those 3 were all the same size and marked buff with different dates so i am assuming that they were all from the same hen who probably hadnt been tagged by a roo.
so, 39 eggs with 15 days to go. i'll probably candle again on sunday just to make double sure. plus now that i know i can open the bator i'm really struggling not to go candle them again right now!!

 

[alohachickens]

Christie - You guys must live over on the Kona side then! We'll be visiting that side of the island but I don't think right away . . . I'll PM you later this week and try to work something out. We'll be there mid-January. I'd have to check with the Ag department about eggs, too? Make sure I won't get hassled trying to carry them over. I know you can absolutely ship them to HI, but should ask about carrying them on. I get terrible hatch rates from shipped eggs but hand-carried should be fine as long as the Ag Inspectors are OK with it. Feel free to call the Honolulu Airport or the Ag Dept over there for me if you want!

 

[mrheinz77]

I saw on a thread that you needed to apply to import eggs to Hawaii. It is a free application. You need to be NPIP.

 

[alohachickens]

Quote:
Wow! That's a much better fertility rate than before! I have a TON of roosters in the main pen this year, and I have seen the little roosters "tag" some smaller hens when Cheeto isn't looking . . . so I guess having all those boys in there is helping, even if it's kind of chaotic right now?

I'm going to pen Cheeto in with a select group of four hens, and then it's really going to get nuts in the main pen, once I take the "big guy" out of the equation. Flame is second-in-command but the other three roosters are all about equal status. They don't fight, but they do chase each other a lot. They'll be thrilled with Cheeto trapped in the smaller pen next door, LOL!

I just want to do a more scientific test group, to see if Cheeto *really* is carrying the Mottling gene, and the only way to do that is to pen Cheeto with a few hens, and absolutely NO other roosters. I'm taking my absolute FAVORITE hens and penning them with him. That way, even if the babies turn out solid, I'll know they carry the genes for nice spotting.

Here's a new Blog post with photos of the hens I'll be penning with him - four of my finest lovely ladies! LOL!

http://alohachickens.blogspot.com/2011/12/cheetos-new-pen.html

 

[alohachickens]

Quote:
Hmm, I'd have to see what it involves to be NPIP . . . . . time to research . . .

 

[mrheinz77]

It is blood testing a certain percentage of your flock. In some states a grant covers the cost of the test, others it can be up to $1 a bird.

 

[Mahonri]

Pretty birds... grateful to know that one of my splash wheaten Ameraucanas and a Speckled Sussex I hatched out from Bargain's eggs were used in the development of some of these birds.

 

[alohachickens]

Quote:
Yes, the best hens that I got last year were from eggs laid by a Sussex/Aloha cross hen - which was a Sussex hen crossed with Laree's rooster - that must have been your Sussex hen she used! I lost my Sussex early on, so that was from Laree's stock, from you.

Most of the Ameraucana traits have been bred out at this point, used some of that early on, but the pea combs and gray legs and puffy cheeks were all complicating things a bit, so we've focused more on Buff Orp/Buff Rock/NHR/Sussex lines now for outcrossing . . .

Oh, the Thanksgiving chicks are starting to feather out now! Of 22 chicks, I now see visible white feathering on 15 of them. I keep thinking this *must* mean that Cheeto is a Mottled carrier, but I can't say for sure until I get him in a seperate breeding pen and test him with various hen groups.

Here are photos of a couple of the chicks, now about two weeks and beginning to feather. Some show no white yet, but those ones look a lot like Sussex, and Sussex don't color up for a few months anyway. So I haven't given up hope on those ones, either.

This one is feeling under the weather which is a bummer, he's one of my favorites. Definately mottled with vibrant red in the chest area. No sniffling, no raspiness, no pasty butt, but he's lethargic and kind of thin on the breastbone. Can't figure out why, and everyone else is very perky. Hope he will be OK:

Two have gold color and lots of white. Will probably be "Confetti" colored:

A group shot, as I was cleaning out their pen and had them trapped in this small bird cage. Most are brownish and look like Sussex chicks. Which makes sense because we had a Sussex roo in one pen, and Cheeto was in a pen with two full Sussex hens, so a lot of these will be half-Sussex. A few show more reddish tones and I'm especially excited about those!

 

[Christie Rhae]

The forms for bringing eggs into Hawaii are actually not too complicated. The ag department here is super friendly and helpful. I have the forms on my computer and can send them to you. But they do want to see NPIP cert and I am not sure how hard it is to get that. I googled it a little for AZ but couldn't really see where it said if it was expensive.

I am actually really in the country. Kona is still 1 hour from me. lol! Ever been to South Point? That is what I am close too. For such a small island it can feel pretty spread out.

Let me know if it seems like a possibility with the eggs.

 

[laughing man]

Do you sell them?