The BANTAM ORPINGTON Thread

[Lacy Blues]

If the eggs shown were laid the same day, then no, a and c are not fertile. See that ring around the germinal disc on egg B? I believe it signifies cell development. All eggs have a germinal disc but not all eggs have been fertilized.

After clicking on the pictures to enlarge, I was looking at egg c and trying to get different angles on it. It MIGHT be fertile. I think I can see the beginnings of a ring around the disc.

One way you can check and be sure is to start the incubation process. After 3 or 4 days, you can candle them and if they're fertile, you will see the spidery veins spreading out from the disc. That way, you don't risk killing it by cracking the egg, if you don't want to.

 

[Faraday40]

I'm doing a test hatch now. All 3 eggs from this hen are clear at day 12. All the other eggs (from diff hens) have 100% fertility with dancing embryos inside. She's a bantam & the roo is full sized. She was also broody & just started laying 4-5 days before I collected the test eggs. Can't do much about the 1st reason. (Our roo is a gentleman & does not force the hens.) But, I'll keep checking her future eggs.

Just wondering: If I crack open the egg on the same day it was laid, will the ring be smaller? The control egg was about 4 days old while the ???? eggs were still warm to about 30 hrs old. People keep eating my bantam eggs b/c they're "so cute."

 

[Lacy Blues]

The ring shows development of the embryo. Like I said, it takes a little time to develop. I don't know how well the development process will get along at room temperature. Your rooster may not be breeding Cookie because she is at the top of the pecking order... if I remember what you have said about her before.

I always thought that the rooster chooses his favorite hens despite her position in the flock but I read somewhere several years ago that he will choose the lowest member of the pecking order. Not sure how true that is... then again, if he is a very large rooster and she is very small, he just might not be able to get the job done if he cannot maintain his balance while standing on her back.

Do you not have a bantam rooster for Cookie?

 

[Faraday40]

The ring shows development of the embryo. Like I said, it takes a little time to develop. I don't know how well the development process will get along at room temperature. Your rooster may not be breeding Cookie because she is at the top of the pecking order... if I remember what you have said about her before.

I always thought that the rooster chooses his favorite hens despite her position in the flock but I read somewhere several years ago that he will choose the lowest member of the pecking order. Not sure how true that is... then again, if he is a very large rooster and she is very small, he just might not be able to get the job done if he cannot maintain his balance while standing on her back.

Do you not have a bantam rooster for Cookie?

Out of 3 shipped eggs, Cookie was the only bantam hatched last year. I thought we'd have to get rid of her (being the only bantam) but she holds her own & then some. Not the top of the pecking order, but they let her get away with a lot. I wasn't going to keep the roo either, but he's sweet, quiet, & doesn't hassle the hens. He's mainly around to protect the flock. However since he's here, I have 3 schools asking for fertile eggs.

 

[Peanutsmomma]

Faraday 40, maybe a little something is going on when Cookie sleeps under your rooster?

 

[Faraday40]

Did I mention that she also sleeps ABOVE the rooster?
She's the only one small enough to sleep in the window sill. It's the perfect spot to hog the cool summer night's breeze. Where else would the queen choose to sleep?

 

[Peanutsmomma]

Did I mention that she also sleeps ABOVE the rooster?
She's the only one small enough to sleep in the window sill. It's the perfect spot to hog the cool summer night's breeze. Where else would the queen choose to sleep?

I am sure if you can buy a chicken a sweater you can also buy a chicken a tiara. Lol!

I seriously wish you could bottle some of Cookie's attitude I would love to give it to my Snickers!

 

[Faraday40]

OK. Since spring has finally sprung, egg production is finally growing. I also have a funny story of the day that doesn't revolve around Cookie!

Funny story: On this beautiful sunny day, DD & her friend decided to open a cupcake & juice stand. The girls baked cupcakes & had the great idea of selling them on the corner to other kids after school. No lemonade at her friend’s house, so they made OJ instead. DD wanted to contribute, so she ran home & raided our fridge. She grabbed some eggs & sold them on the street – literally!!! In fact, our eggs were the 1st item to sell out. Everyone loved how we write the names of the hen & date on each egg. Now my daughter is a pusher & our neighbors are getting addicted to fresh eggs! What is the neighborhood coming to?

 

[Peanutsmomma]

How enterprising of your daughter! You have yourself a little entrepreneur.

It really warms my heart to see people waking up and being more selective in their food purchases. Yesterday afternoon, I was in the grocery store and I noticed this elderly gentleman standing in front of the egg section looking perplexed as he picked up carton after carton only to put them down one after another. So since I am a self-proclaimed egg expert now (lol! not really!!) I asked him if I could help him and he said that he was so confused about which eggs to buy because he wanted to make the healthiest choice. So I went through what the various labels mean (and how misleading they can be) on the cartons and he settled on pasture raised organic eggs. Then he asked me to help him with some milk. Lol! He was a button.

How big are Cookie's eggs? Maybe you could sell those in a cookie package?

Oh, and we love Cookie stories!!

 

[Faraday40]

Cookie's little eggs are BIG sellers with children. My students fight over them. When an adult is loading up a carton, she always picks my jumbo eggs- more egg for the $. I'm not really in the egg business, I just sell our extras on Fridays when my students come to the house for science club.

DD likes to bring a hard-boiled Cookie egg (or a blue egg) to school as a snack. I draw little cartoons or write messages on them so we know which are cooked.