The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[1muttsfan]

Wow 100 chickens! Makes my 15 seem like peanuts. I have four bantams, two of which are hens and two roosters. My best layers are my Arkansas blues, and three Easter eggers that I picked up last fall from someone who got more chicks than she had room for. I have a few Erminetts who are almost useless as layers (although they do eat a ton).

Sorry about your water problems Lisa, what a pain.

I agree that relatively clean unwashed eggs can sit out. I have left eggs out for up to 2 weeks in a basket on the counter, and never had a problem. I don't wash them unless they are dirty, but once they are washed they should be refrigerated and kept cold.

If you want to try something really interesting, put a clean, unwashed egg or two in a basket someplace out of direct sun with good air flow, the contents will dehydrate, and you will be left with an eggshell that's a little heavy on one side. Takes a long time, but it's a fun experiment.

 

[speckledhen]

If you want to try something really interesting, put a clean, unwashed egg or two in a basket someplace out of direct sun with good air flow, the contents will dehydrate, and you will be left with an eggshell that's a little heavy on one side. Takes a long time, but it's a fun experiment.

...or forget one in your coat pocket for a year and it becomes a mummy. Ask me how I know

 

[speckledhen]

My Jamie Duckworth eggs are shipping out tomorrow, at last! He's very good with communication, which I highly appreciate. I am still waiting for him to tell me how many he managed to collect, but in the meantime, here is his message. My question to you folks is do any of you do some sort of ID on the chicks that hatch since he has different breeding pens and is sending the eggs marked for those so I can "toe punch" mine. I know what it is and how it's done, know the tool (don't have one, have never done it), but how do you generally mark your chicks, if you do, other than toe punch? I would like to differentiate between the different breeding pens, as he mentions below:

His email:
I am shipping your eggs tomorrow. I have labeled the eggs with the pens they are from so you can toe pinch them. How is your incubator working?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have never marked any chicks but see people use bands on the legs.

 

[speckledhen]

I have never marked any chicks but see people use bands on the legs.

I have some bands that are just plastic rings, but I really don't want to use them because they're not flattish, just round rings that are hard to put on the legs.

 

[sourland]

I used to toe punch. Some folks use colored zip ties, but you have to monitor closely and replace as needed when the chicks grow.

 

[speckledhen]

@sourland thanks! Just regular small zip ties? I thought they might chafe the legs, but I could certainly find some of those in different colors. Like these?

 

[sourland]

I've never used them (or even seen them) but have seen pictures here on BYC.

 

[speckledhen]

Hmm, I'll have time to investigate it before I need them.

 

[sourland]

Did a Google search for 'colored zip ties', and Amazon has them in various sizes for moderate prices.