The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Bulldogma]

Delisha - sorry you seem to have so many clear eggs! Of the dozen Silkie eggs my friend sent me, none developed - 4 were broken on arrival and I think all the rest were too badly scrambled. They went in at the same time as the dozen RIR and barnyard mix I got locally (my $2 dozen). I knew 3 were doing well and had left 3 others in because while I thought they had quit, I just couldn't tell... well - candled the other day and saw movement in 4 eggs, one I couldn't tell and one had quit for sure.

Lockdown starts tomorrow! I'm pretty excited - - it's my first ever hatch and what I called my "trial run." Perhaps if I successfully hatch some of these babies out, I'll start hatching my own eggs really soon!

 

[delisha]

Ok I took a note book down and checked them. I have wierd looking eggs to be sure. I see veining in 15 eggs, howevver, I also see a large amount of dark pooling on the bottom of the egg. Very liquid and sloshy still in most of the eggs. I feel if the veins are growing they still have to be viable.

I have

Por (2) 3 with veining 2 without
L (2) 2 with
L 3 with out
B/S (2) 3 with 1 without
W 1 with
W (2) 2 with
Por 1 with
PW 2 with
P 1 without

So I have more than half with veining I can see today.

 

[atmaclean]

Did you get him as a pup?

No, we found him at an animal shelter in NC and he was 10 months old and immediately adopted him (over the phone!). However, he acted like a gigantic puppy! No manners whatsoever - which we assume was why he ended up at the shelter. I had a nice woman up in NY help me work through his behavior and it worked. They are such smart dogs. Most of them settle down by 12 months old and then really settle in to work by 2yrs. We are actually contemplating adding another maremma this summer. Banjo covers about 50 acres and he really shouldn't do more than 40 on his own. Our aussie is some help for him as she stays close to the house so he feels he can stay up in the hay field on a knoll so he can survey everything.
Angela

 

[aoxa]

Ok I took a note book down and checked them. I have wierd looking eggs to be sure. I see veining in 15 eggs, howevver, I also see a large amount of dark pooling on the bottom of the egg. Very liquid and sloshy still in most of the eggs. I feel if the veins are growing they still have to be viable.

I have

Por (2) 3 with veining 2 without
L (2) 2 with
L 3 with out
B/S (2) 3 with 1 without
W 1 with
W (2) 2 with
Por 1 with
PW 2 with
P 1 without

So I have more than half with veining I can see today.

That's not bad for shipped!

I'm holding out hope that the withouts will kick in soon..

 

[delisha]

Delisha - sorry you seem to have so many clear eggs! Of the dozen Silkie eggs my friend sent me, none developed - 4 were broken on arrival and I think all the rest were too badly scrambled. They went in at the same time as the dozen RIR and barnyard mix I got locally (my $2 dozen). I knew 3 were doing well and had left 3 others in because while I thought they had quit, I just couldn't tell... well - candled the other day and saw movement in 4 eggs, one I couldn't tell and one had quit for sure.

Lockdown starts tomorrow! I'm pretty excited - - it's my first ever hatch and what I called my "trial run." Perhaps if I successfully hatch some of these babies out, I'll start hatching my own eggs really soon!

awww sorry about your silkies..
I am really nervvous about these eggs too. They seem so scrambled, yet they are growing. I am not tossing anything till i know for sure. Probably day 10.

 

[delisha]

Quote: x2!!

 

[aoxa]

No, we found him at an animal shelter in NC and he was 10 months old and immediately adopted him (over the phone!). However, he acted like a gigantic puppy! No manners whatsoever - which we assume was why he ended up at the shelter. I had a nice woman up in NY help me work through his behavior and it worked. They are such smart dogs. Most of them settle down by 12 months old and then really settle in to work by 2yrs. We are actually contemplating adding another maremma this summer. Banjo covers about 50 acres and he really shouldn't do more than 40 on his own. Our aussie is some help for him as she stays close to the house so he feels he can stay up in the hay field on a knoll so he can survey everything.
Angela

my Maremma x Great Pyr is almost 12 months old. She is doing SO well right now. Coming when we call, sticking around, being around the birds without touching a feather on their bottom. She has one polish sleeping with her at night (he was being picked on whereever I put him - so he's going to be a dog chicken until breeding pens are worked out).

She is amazing. I see more Maremma in her than Pyr. She's a doll.. She was terrible until we had help from a trainer. There is just some behaviour I am not equipped to handle!

 

[Melabella]

Hey guys....

Can you have two roosters get along with 15-20 hens...could they all coexist while free ranging, but going into different coops at night?

 

[Ashdoes]

Thanks. So, I should research the two and figure out which works best for me.

You know there are some things I can just spend money on without even thinking....shoes...but something like this could take me months to decide. Dang.

I've been told that the Octagon leaves little room for movement when they hatch. I like all the room the Genesis provides during lockdown. I feel comfortable leaving them in there for 24-48 hours after hatch if need be. I don't see a lot of head space in the Octagon. 

Both run around the same price. My turner + incubator came to $230 shipping and duties included. It would be less for you as you live in the US, and customs ran me $30 more. 

I love my Genesis.

Thanks guys! After your suggestions, and reading quite a bit yesterday I decided I like the genesis as well. Seems like it would be the easiest to use, and I like the window too.

 

[Toast n Jelly]

<<aoxa wrote:
Are you in Ontario?
Supposed to get better by Sunday.

>>

I'm in Quebec..close to St. Hyacinthe.

for easier weather.