The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[ColtHandorf]

Oh of course not! lol Duchess the broody Silver-laced Orp is due to hatch next week. The turkeys and guineas are in the Rcom. Seramas are in the Brinsea. Orpingtons are in the N360. Those were all set on Sunday. There were so many still saved up I hesitantly fired up the LG and put it in my bedroom to see if it would hold a more steady temperature. It's been holding for two days so I set the rest of the Guineas, Turkeys, Seramas, Orpingtons, and Whiting True Blues this evening. My hope is that as I candle the other eggs in the incubators, I can remove the clear ones and replace them with developing eggs from the LG. But I'll have babies hatching like every week for the next four weeks...lol

 

[Faraday40]

I'm in a similar situation. My coolerbator has a 4-5 doz egg capacity and a very steady temp. Because I started quail, chicken, & duck eggs at the same time, I must keep the NR360 empty to be used as a hatcher. I have a very old styrofoam Hovabator in storage. It can be pulled out if needed, but my dog wanted to eat it. Too risky and it's the least reliable incubator anyway. (I added a computer fan and replaced the wafer a few times over the decades.) Best to keep it around for emergencies only.

..... and what would an incubator emergency be???

 

[ColtHandorf]

..... and what would an incubator emergency be???

Well naturally eggs that are sitting on the counter needing to be set. lol The stupid LG was super cool last night before bed. I guess putting in all the eggs affected the ability for it to warm the incubator to the correct temperature. I turned the dial up and this morning it was just a titch high. I fiddled with it, so I hope when I get home it'll be the right temp.

I've got to work on some cages and get some birds moved around today. Thankfully the high is only like 85. It's been nice and cool this morning with a good wind. Hopefully it stays that way.

 

[Honora]

Hi all, got my eggs last Saturday but the PO messed up the air cells. The seller gave us a tracking number, which let me know that the eggs were mistakenly sent to the wrong county, then shipped back to Dublin & finally to me. The air cells were the worst I have ever seen, rolling & bubbly.
So I do not have high hopes for this hatch. I’ll give them a week & see if any develop.
My little buff pullet is doing well and is happy with her Swedish Flower Hen buddies. They are 5 weeks old now. They were living in the shed, but then 2 got bitten by rats in the night so now they are sleeping in the house. Just waiting for DH to put the coop back together and then they will be sleeping out there.
Bipley was hanging out on my daughter’s arm last night.

 

[Faraday40]

Hi all, got my eggs last Saturday but the PO messed up the air cells. The seller gave us a tracking number, which let me know that the eggs were mistakenly sent to the wrong county, then shipped back to Dublin & finally to me. The air cells were the worst I have ever seen, rolling & bubbly.
So I do not have high hopes for this hatch. I’ll give them a week & see if any develop.
My little buff pullet is doing well and is happy with her Swedish Flower Hen buddies. They are 5 weeks old now. They were living in the shed, but then 2 got bitten by rats in the night so now they are sleeping in the house. Just waiting for DH to put the coop back together and then they will be sleeping out there.
Bipley was hanging out on my daughter’s arm last night.
View attachment 2186872

Sorry about the rats, but I'm sure the chickens don't mind being house pets for a little while.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Totally not related to Orpingtons, but I ordered Call Duck eggs and those came in yesterday. I'm so excited to get them set and see if they hatch. I let them rest yesterday and I'll candle today to look at air cells. I'm hoping they didn't get jiggled to death.

 

[Faraday40]

Totally not related to Orpingtons, but I ordered Call Duck eggs and those came in yesterday. I'm so excited to get them set and see if they hatch. I let them rest yesterday and I'll candle today to look at air cells. I'm hoping they didn't get jiggled to death.

You certainly have a wide variety of poultry. If I only had more space......

 

[Faraday40]

I'm being overrun with broody hens!

A silkie, 2 seramas, and Jewel (my huge blue orp) are full broody. Another big black orp is also thinking about it.

The silkie will get the chicks due on the 16th. I decided to collect as many SLO eggs as possible and pass them out to see if these hens have any luck.

 

[ColtHandorf]

You certainly have a wide variety of poultry. If I only had more space......

I know! I'm done after the Calls hatch. lol I don't need anything else. I really don't need the Calls either, but I've always wanted some. I spent all weekend moving birds around and getting Amanda's bantams set up in breeding cages until their snake-proof fencing is done.

I'm being overrun with broody hens!

All mine are done! *knock on wood* They both have chicks. Duchess hatched five chicks and ended up with four. I pried her off the nest with them yesterday to take the remaining eggs away from her. She was very miffed. Hopefully she makes a good mother.

I decided to collect as many SLO eggs as possible and pass them out to see if these hens have any luck.

Sounds like a very good plan. I picked up all the chicks a friend set for me last week. They are adorable. And now I have entirely too many. One more big hatch to save pullets and then I'm going to stop hatching big batches and sell eggs and chicks. The "non-standard" colored Orps will be sold as layers to individuals that are wanting pullets.

 

[Faraday40]

I played musical broodies last night.

The silkie went broody first, so she'll get the hatch due this weekend. (1-2 dozen chicks) I moved her out of the bantam coop (and into a plastic storage tub) so the other broody banties do not get confused. She handled the move OK.

The other 2 broody serama hens stayed in the bantam coop. Each got 3 eggs. I put them in the same nest box last night, but somehow one moved and brought an egg with her???? Not sure how she managed that. Fine I will let them hog both nests. I did make a mini nest for the eggs - out of a graham cracker box - inside the larger box.

Lastly I tried to move Jewel. She's a big girl, so it was not easy to remove her from the far back corner nest. I put her in a nice empty rabbit cage with hutch. Many broody hens have hatched & raised their chicks in there, but Jewel was not pleased. She kept walking out. By morning, she was on the wire outside of the cozy hutch- nest. I put her outside & she quickly went right back to HER former nest box in the coop. Oh well. I'll let her stay there & gave her some orp eggs.