Things I've learned on the incubating thread! A funny/personal observation.

[AmyLynn2374]

Araucanas lay the blue eggs, right?

The chicks at Murray Mcmurray "have some Araucana and some Ameraucana blood mixed" but are supposed to lay nicely colored eggs. Is this mix what you were referring to scflock? And should I avoid these chicks?

A true Araucana does, yes.

 

[scflock]

Araucanas lay the blue eggs, right?

The chicks at Murray Mcmurray "have some Araucana and some Ameraucana blood mixed" but are supposed to lay nicely colored eggs. Is this mix what you were referring to scflock? And should I avoid these chicks?

I absolutely love my EEs. They lay almost as well as my black sex links, and the eggs are enormous the second year. If I had known then what I know now, I would have gotten ameraucanas from a breeder, but I love my EEs. They can come from a number of different mixes, but all are based from an araucana or ameraucana. The biggest differences are the colors in plumage, and the green eggs. If you want to show chickens, go with the 'canas. If you just want a beautiful, diverse bird that adds color to your basket, then the EEs are great.

 

[scflock]

A true Araucana does, yes.

Araucana, ameraucana, and cream legbars will lay a more sky blue egg, and only blue. EEs will lay varying shades of blue and green, and depending on the mix can even lay pink. There is a lot of variety in these birds, and they come in a lot of different color patterns, but they are not recognized by the APA as a pure breed. I have no problem with Easter Eggers. I love mine. I called them Ameraucanas when I bought them. I learned that they were Easter Eggers on BYC. I call them Easter Eggers now, because I want to be honest with my customers when I sell chicks.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Araucana, ameraucana, and cream legbars will lay a more sky blue egg, and only blue. EEs will lay varying shades of blue and green, and depending on the mix can even lay pink. There is a lot of variety in these birds, and they come in a lot of different color patterns, but they are not recognized by the APA as a pure breed. I have no problem with Easter Eggers. I love mine. I called them Ameraucanas when I bought them. I learned that they were Easter Eggers on BYC. I call them Easter Eggers now, because I want to be honest with my customers when I sell chicks.

Personally I LOVE my mixes period. They are so fun to hatch. You never know what you are going to get. Especially when you get mixes from someone else and have no idea what breeds they could be...lol So far mine have excellent personalities too. My roos have their moments but that's a male for ya.

 

[dheltzel]

I haven't tried marans yet. I want to try them and seramas just because people say they are harder to incubate...lol Just sounds like a challenge to me....lol

I find BCM's (Black Copper Marans) among the easiest of the pure bred varieties to hatch. They seem to take a full day longer, but now I just stick them in a tray in the bottom of the incubator a day early to "prewarm" them. The group of 19 that just finished hatching came from setting 20 eggs.

I always "dry hatch" at about 20- 25% RH until lockdown. During the hatch I aim for 80+% and if it goes to 90, that's great. I still have to peel one out of the shell sometimes, but a lot fewer pip and die than when I was doing 50 - 60 % RH for hatching.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I find BCM's (Black Copper Marans) among the easiest of the pure bred varieties to hatch. They seem to take a full day longer, but now I just stick them in a tray in the bottom of the incubator a day early to "prewarm" them. The group of 19 that just finished hatching came from setting 20 eggs.

I always "dry hatch" at about 20- 25% RH until lockdown. During the hatch I aim for 80+% and if it goes to 90, that's great. I still have to peel one out of the shell sometimes, but a lot fewer pip and die than when I was doing 50 - 60 % RH for hatching.

I do dry at 30-35%. If my bator will stay above 25% I'll run completely dry, if not I'll throw in a sponge and aim for 30% I'm not comfortable with less than 25%. I also aim high at hatch. I strive for 75%. I can handle 70%, but I prefer higher.

 

[WVduckchick]

Aren't the BCM's the very dark shells and hard to candle? I would be lost through an incubation without being able to see anything!!! heehee

 

[scflock]

Aren't the BCM's the very dark shells and hard to candle? I would be lost through an incubation without being able to see anything!!! heehee

Ahhh, my perfect egg...

 

[dheltzel]

Aren't the BCM's the very dark shells and hard to candle? I would be lost through an incubation without being able to see anything!!! heehee

I toss out infertile eggs at 1 week for everyone but the BCM's and Welsummers, those must stay until week 2. After 2 weeks I can very accurately find the ones that are not developing by looking for the air cell. If the air cell is very sharply defined, that means the chicks body is blocking all the light and that one is good, if I can't clearly see the air cell, then the fluid below is not blocking enough light and that one get tossed.

I've never been able to see veining or movement in the dark eggs. I set a lot more Welsummers, but get a lot more infertile ones and late quitters for some reason, so I consider the BCM's "easier" to hatch. Maybe I'm just lucky.

 

[WVduckchick]

I toss out infertile eggs at 1 week for everyone but the BCM's and Welsummers, those must stay until week 2. After 2 weeks I can very accurately find the ones that are not developing by looking for the air cell. If the air cell is very sharply defined, that means the chicks body is blocking all the light and that one is good, if I can't clearly see the air cell, then the fluid below is not blocking enough light and that one get tossed.

I've never been able to see veining or movement in the dark eggs. I set a lot more Welsummers, but get a lot more infertile ones and late quitters for some reason, so I consider the BCM's "easier" to hatch. Maybe I'm just lucky.

Very interesting. Thanks for the info. My SIL is incubating some eggs for a neighbor of hers. He gave her about 10, I think, including one BCM, and I don't think she has ever hatched any of those before.