The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[ColtHandorf]

How's everyone doing? I sold a bunch of chicks over the weekend at a Poultry Trades Day event. So that was good.

 

[rayrose]

Too bad we don't live closer. I would have been your biggest
customer.

 

[Faraday40]

@ColtHandorf

Too bad we don't live closer. I would have been your biggest
customer.

x2 @homeschoolin momma has an extra blue SLO boy she needs to rehome

 

[homeschoolin momma]

How's everyone doing? I sold a bunch of chicks over the weekend at a Poultry Trades Day event. So that was good.

Busy as usual from me. Grass has started to grow, so im cutting a little bit each day.

My easter hatch went absolutely dreadful. I set 28 eggs total. 6 hatched. Well, almost 6. I still have 1 very lonely duck egg trying to hatch. Its 2 days past due and has been pipped over 24 hours. I've done a partial assist and letting it rest right now. I just finished eggtospying the other two eggs. One died on hatch day and the other about 3-4 days prior. Both girls. Figures.

I bought 6 spitzhauben and 3 welsh harlequins from farm and fleet. They gave me 7 and 4. The ducklings are doing well, making a mess every hour in the brooder box. Unfortunately 4 of my "spitzies" were not spitzies. They were "who knows what". I returned them and bought the one lone spitz they had left. Then one of the spitzies died. Pasty butt galore from the spitzies and seramas, swampsville from the ducklings. Sounds about right. My ccl went broody AGAIN. No pretty blue eggs for me. Hoping orps will be fertile soon!

 

[homeschoolin momma]

@ColtHandorf



x2 @homeschoolin momma has an extra blue SLO boy she needs to rehome

Yes, yes I do. Soon. Very soon.

 

[Faraday40]

How's everyone doing? I sold a bunch of chicks over the weekend at a Poultry Trades Day event. So that was good.

That's great!

Well, I started up a second incubator.....

My big cooler-bator (that my youngest made as a 4H project) holds 5 doz eggs and was at capacity. Yesterday, I received my 2 doz Leghorn eggs that I ordered back in Feb. Plus I had some misc. serama and orps eggs on the kitchen counter I wanted to incubate. Problem: My little NR360 only holds 22 eggs. Solution: Fill the little incubator, remove all the undeveloping eggs from the big incubator, put the new marked eggs in their place, slip a few under a broody serama, and then stack the last 4 eggs on top of the egg trays.

This will get me through until next week. That's when the cooler-bator should go into lockdown. Either I'll remove enough undeveloping eggs to get down to 22 - which will fit in the NR360 - OR I'll have to set up my big, old incubator.

Does anyone else play musical incubators?
I think I have a serious incubation addiction.
Thankfully most of the eggs hatching in 2 weeks are for other people. We get the excitement of hatching their eggs & they get the results.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Too bad we don't live closer. I would have been your biggest
customer.

x2

Well if you ever decide you want something shipped let me know. I have all the boxes and stuff now. lol

an extra blue SLO boy she needs to rehome

Yes, yes I do. Soon. Very soon.

Oh? do we have pictures of this handsome devil? I've been trying to talk Anita out of some BBS Silver-laced eggs, with no luck. lol

I am going to get some English Bantam Orpington eggs from her. White and BBS I think. @Faraday40 would you like me to get some contact information from her so you could reach out about getting some eggs? I know you've been on the lookout for some pretty ones. I can get you some pictures of her birds she posted on Facebook.

My easter hatch went absolutely dreadful. I set 28 eggs total. 6 hatched. Well, almost 6. I still have 1 very lonely duck egg trying to hatch. Its 2 days past due and has been pipped over 24 hours. I've done a partial assist and letting it rest right now. I just finished eggtospying the other two eggs. One died on hatch day and the other about 3-4 days prior. Both girls. Figures.

I've been having a terrible time with the ducks also. They are hatching just fine and then dying on me during the first few days. It's super annoying. All the Orpingtons are doing well though. I'm really hoping that the goose eggs hatch well for me. Turkeys have been easy.

I bought 6 spitzhauben and 3 welsh harlequins from farm and fleet. They gave me 7 and 4. The ducklings are doing well, making a mess every hour in the brooder box. Unfortunately 4 of my "spitzies" were not spitzies. They were "who knows what". I returned them and bought the one lone spitz they had left. Then one of the spitzies died. Pasty butt galore from the spitzies and seramas, swampsville from the ducklings. Sounds about right. My ccl went broody AGAIN. No pretty blue eggs for me. Hoping orps will be fertile soon!

That sounds like no fun at all. I gave away the ducklings Saturday just so I wouldn't have to bring them home. lol I'm brooding the goslings separate from the chicks and am debating slipping the artificially incubated goslings in with their naturally hatched siblings if I can.

Well, I started up a second incubator.....

I'm going to have to fire my tabletops back up. lol I can't keep up with just the one cabinet. I just ordered two dozen Lavender Silver-laced eggs from Leopold's breeder. I'm tired of waiting on him to hatch out some chicks. I'll be putting split eggs into the incubator this week so I'll have some new blood anyway.

Does anyone else play musical incubators?

Yes. Does anyone else lose track of egs in the incubator and find them hatching in there? That's happened the last two weeks. I'm writing dates and breed on the eggs now when I set so I know where stuff is. I should probably just get colored Sharpies and dot the tops of the eggs so I know when I should move them by looking at the dot.

 

[Faraday40]

Oh? do we have pictures of this handsome devil? I've been trying to talk Anita out of some BBS Silver-laced eggs, with no luck. lol

This is Remi (bigger/older but still lanky) Dark blue lacing. Thought he was a reg SLO, but the blue gets lighter with age. He was hatched mid to late summer 2020.

These 2 make a cute couple and are bonded. The boy is younger (hatched early Sept I think), but he has a nice rounded shape and better lacing. He's going to be the "keeper."

I am going to get some English Bantam Orpington eggs from her. White and BBS I think. @Faraday40 would you like me to get some contact information from her so you could reach out about getting some eggs? I know you've been on the lookout for some pretty ones. I can get you some pictures of her birds she posted on Facebook.

I'd love to see some pics!!!!!
I really miss my Cookie.

Yes. Does anyone else lose track of egs in the incubator and find them hatching in there? That's happened the last two weeks. I'm writing dates and breed on the eggs now when I set so I know where stuff is. I should probably just get colored Sharpies and dot the tops of the eggs so I know when I should move them by looking at the dot.

I had pipped eggs a couple times when transferring them. I do mark them in some way when I find myself with staggered hatch dates. It helps me know which ones need to be moved out for hatching. If in the incubator, colored pencil would work - won't rub off like when under a hen.

 

[ColtHandorf]

I'd love to see some pics!!!!!
I really miss my Cookie.

This is Remi (bigger/older but still lanky) Dark blue lacing. Thought he was a reg SLO, but the blue gets lighter with age. He was hatched mid to late summer 2020.

He's pretty. I'd have a hard time telling him apart from a Black Silver-laced in that photo.

These 2 make a cute couple and are bonded. The boy is younger (hatched early Sept I think), but he has a nice rounded shape and better lacing. He's going to be the "keeper."

They are cute. This is a Blue Silver-laced pair? Or he's replacing Awesome?

 

[rayrose]

Those are really gorgeous birds. What are the pair in the two pics
after the white ones? They are absolutely stunning.