Uh oh... found an egg today! ... - A journal of sorts, from finding eggs to hatching them... Update

[PeepsCA]

LOL

I think I can deal... I have 2 new Horsies, plus 2 new Peafowl and their new coop/pen project to keep me distracted from hatching every Guinea egg I find this year... hopefully lol.

 

[perchie.girl]

Oooh what kind of horses... I love em all. My first horse was in 1967 so that makes it 45 years now that I have had horses.

 

[PeepsCA]

Quote:


I took on couple of unwanted, un-cared for Paint mares (one's a Solid Paint tho)... I'm assuming they are both Quarter Horses

, but all I really know so far is that they are both registered Paints, what their approx ages are and that they've been used as hunting horses. I didn't even know their names until after the first week... and I'm finding out that getting their papers is gonna be a chore and a 1/2

The owners are divorced, not on speaking terms and the one that has the papers moved out of state. I'm trying to get in contact with her, but it's not an easy task. The mares both needed homes really bad, and the Solid Paint is disgustingly thin... like bag of bones thin. It's sickening to me, and makes me wanna cry when I run my hands over her boney body

She would not have made it thru the winter, there wasn't much left of her. I wasn't going to take her, because I know what it takes to rehab a horse that far gone, (and I didn't even know if she'd even live thru the first does of wormer!), but my conscience wouldn't let me haul out of there without her, and plus the 2 mares are super bonded to each other. Been busting my butt (and my wallet) to put weight on her and thankfully she's gained about 50lbs back so far in the 2 1/2 weeks I've had her, but she still looks horrible. I won't post a pic of her until I'm happy with her weight cuz she's just yucky gross

to look at, but here's "Lacey'. She has 2 blue eyes. Cozy, the skinny mare is behind her, eating like she should be! They are both really nice mares. Lacey's a little high strung/anxious, but walks out nice with her head nice and low/level on a loose rein, and Cozy seems to be a total laid back Cadillac (have not ridden her yet tho and I won't til she has a decent layer of flesh over her poor bones). She looks nice and smooth at a trot in the roundpen tho

ETA: I'm quite a few yrs behind you, but I got my first horse when I was 7 (I've had horses all my life for the past 36 yrs tho)



Sorry for straying off topic to those that are following the egg thread

My posts are usually edited several times cuz I am typoin' a fool, and I ramble lol

 

[perchie.girl]

The one in the pix has good conformation nicely put together. Probably going to need a cut back pad under the saddle for a while but nothing some exercise wont help. If they were both under the same care and the other one is much more debilitated she needs her teeth looked at as well as the worming you have already done.... but you knew this. It may just be an age difference too. for what its worth stress of a divorce can also contribute to the failure of an equine to thrive. Exercise and some sort of job even though shes low on weight will be a very good thing towards bringing the other one along. Some light riding 5 mins at a time in the ring or round pen NOT bareback but with a saddle with pads. sometimes they give up, and it takes purpose to bring them out of it. Dont try to put weight on her too fast that can cause problems too.... but then you knew this too.

You have my email If you want to talk off line. I am not a horse trainer but each horse you have you train.... and i have had about eight since 1967 so you may be WAAY ahead of me LOL

deb

I took on couple of unwanted, un-cared for Paint mares (one's a Solid Paint tho)... I'm assuming they are both Quarter Horses

, but all I really know so far is that they are both registered Paints, what their approx ages are and that they've been used as hunting horses. I didn't even know their names until after the first week... and I'm finding out that getting their papers is gonna be a chore and a 1/2

The owners are divorced, not on speaking terms and the one that has the papers moved out of state. I'm trying to get in contact with her, but it's not an easy task. The mares both needed homes really bad, and the Solid Paint is disgustingly thin... like bag of bones thin. It's sickening to me, and makes me wanna cry when I run my hands over her boney body

She would not have made it thru the winter, there wasn't much left of her. I wasn't going to take her, because I know what it takes to rehab a horse that far gone, (and I didn't even know if she'd even live thru the first does of wormer!), but my conscience wouldn't let me haul out of there without her, and plus the 2 mares are super bonded to each other. Been busting my butt (and my wallet) to put weight on her and thankfully she's gained about 50lbs back so far in the 2 1/2 weeks I've had her, but she still looks horrible. I won't post a pic of her until I'm happy with her weight cuz she's just yucky gross

to look at, but here's "Lacey'. She has 2 blue eyes. Cozy, the skinny mare is behind her, eating like she should be! They are both really nice mares. Lacey's a little high strung/anxious, but walks out nice with her head nice and low/level on a loose rein, and Cozy seems to be a total laid back Cadillac (have not ridden her yet tho and I won't til she has a decent layer of flesh over her poor bones). She looks nice and smooth at a trot in the roundpen tho

ETA: I'm quite a few yrs behind you, but I got my first horse when I was 7 (I've had horses all my life for the past 36 yrs tho)



Sorry for straying off topic to those that are following the egg thread

My posts are usually edited several times cuz I am typoin' a fool, and I ramble lol

 

[PeepsCA]

Wow time is draggggging on. Today is only day 6 into incubator batch #1 of 2012 for me. Last night (day 5) I got impatient and held a flashlight up to each egg in the turner for a sec to see if I could see any change yet (I didn't take them out of the turner and officially candle them in the complete dark tho)... I saw some clears that were pretty obvious, and one that was cracked and seeping, (so it of course got tossed), BUT I also saw quite a few eggs that were darkening inside, which is usually indicative of fertile eggs developing. So it looks like I'll be getting some keets in about 3 weeks after all

I've still been collecting the rest of their eggs since I set this fist batch, but since the Spring-like weather has recently turned more towards actual winter weather they've stopped laying as much, I'm down from 10 a day to 4 a day as of yesterday. I will go ahead and set what I have collected when I officially candle the 1st batch at the 10 day mark, then I think I'll just collect their eggs for consumption for a while until all my flocks start laying regularly (yah sure, riiiight).

This pic below is a pic I took of a couple of eggs from the other dozen that I did not set (the very first dozen I collected after the wormer withdrawal period)... I cooked them for my dogs, cuz I am still sqeemish about the wormer withdrawal time, lol and checked fertility as I cracked each of them open. Out of that dozen there was less than a 50/50 fertility rate, which wasn't so great so I am glad I didn't set them. It appears that the fertility had improved with the eggs in the incubator tho.... appears that way anyway.

 

[Guinea and Chicken raiser]

I took on couple of unwanted, un-cared for Paint mares (one's a Solid Paint tho)... I'm assuming they are both Quarter Horses

, but all I really know so far is that they are both registered Paints, what their approx ages are and that they've been used as hunting horses. I didn't even know their names until after the first week... and I'm finding out that getting their papers is gonna be a chore and a 1/2

The owners are divorced, not on speaking terms and the one that has the papers moved out of state. I'm trying to get in contact with her, but it's not an easy task. The mares both needed homes really bad, and the Solid Paint is disgustingly thin... like bag of bones thin. It's sickening to me, and makes me wanna cry when I run my hands over her boney body

She would not have made it thru the winter, there wasn't much left of her. I wasn't going to take her, because I know what it takes to rehab a horse that far gone, (and I didn't even know if she'd even live thru the first does of wormer!), but my conscience wouldn't let me haul out of there without her, and plus the 2 mares are super bonded to each other. Been busting my butt (and my wallet) to put weight on her and thankfully she's gained about 50lbs back so far in the 2 1/2 weeks I've had her, but she still looks horrible. I won't post a pic of her until I'm happy with her weight cuz she's just yucky gross

to look at, but here's "Lacey'. She has 2 blue eyes. Cozy, the skinny mare is behind her, eating like she should be! They are both really nice mares. Lacey's a little high strung/anxious, but walks out nice with her head nice and low/level on a loose rein, and Cozy seems to be a total laid back Cadillac (have not ridden her yet tho and I won't til she has a decent layer of flesh over her poor bones). She looks nice and smooth at a trot in the roundpen tho

ETA: I'm quite a few yrs behind you, but I got my first horse when I was 7 (I've had horses all my life for the past 36 yrs tho)



Sorry for straying off topic to those that are following the egg thread

My posts are usually edited several times cuz I am typoin' a fool, and I ramble lol

no prob, ur horse is cute it's about the farm life, right? I may get a horse.

 

[Guinea and Chicken raiser]

Wow time is draggggging on. Today is only day 6 into incubator batch #1 of 2012 for me. Last night (day 5) I got impatient and held a flashlight up to each egg in the turner for a sec to see if I could see any change yet (I didn't take them out of the turner and officially candle them in the complete dark tho)... I saw some clears that were pretty obvious, and one that was cracked and seeping, (so it of course got tossed), BUT I also saw quite a few eggs that were darkening inside, which is usually indicative of fertile eggs developing. So it looks like I'll be getting some keets in about 3 weeks after all

I've still been collecting the rest of their eggs since I set this fist batch, but since the Spring-like weather has recently turned more towards actual winter weather they've stopped laying as much, I'm down from 10 a day to 4 a day as of yesterday. I will go ahead and set what I have collected when I officially candle the 1st batch at the 10 day mark, then I think I'll just collect their eggs for consumption for a while until all my flocks start laying regularly (yah sure, riiiight).

This pic below is a pic I took of a couple of eggs from the other dozen that I did not set (the very first dozen I collected after the wormer withdrawal period)... I cooked them for my dogs, cuz I am still sqeemish about the wormer withdrawal time, lol and checked fertility as I cracked each of them open. Out of that dozen there was less than a 50/50 fertility rate, which wasn't so great so I am glad I didn't set them. It appears that the fertility had improved with the eggs in the incubator tho.... appears that way anyway.

that seems hard... I think I personally want to stick with waiting till day 4 to see if it's fertilized, treat the eggs as if they are all fertile without checking, but like write on the egg, which shouldn't hurt it and put the date of each one if you can or the date you just found them. I never found guinea eggs.

 

[PeepsCA]

that seems hard... I think I personally want to stick with waiting till day 4 to see if it's fertilized, treat the eggs as if they are all fertile without checking, but like write on the egg, which shouldn't hurt it and put the date of each one if you can or the date you just found them. I never found guinea eggs.

I've hatched a lot of Guineas eggs (see the My Coop link under my avatar over on the left to get a general idea of how many, lol)... I'm pretty good at candling at 5-7 days along (lots of practice). I'll mark the ones in question that are possible clears or might have blood rings, but I don't usually remove the clears til sometime between day 7 and 10 when I know for sure they are not fertile.

Guinea Hens are seasonal layers, Spring thru Fall... I'm one of the lucky few that gets some fertile eggs in January tho

Your Guinea Hens may have laid eggs in the bushes in the past (If they are old enough and if they free ranged). Guinea Hens typically do not lay in the coop or nesting boxes if they are allowed to free range... they will usually choose a private well hidden spot in the bushes, tall grass or behind something. I have hunted down hundreds and hundreds of eggs over the years from my free rangers, but for my breeding flocks, I've found that keeping them penned until the Hens have all laid their eggs in the coop/pen for the day and then letting them out to free range works out really well.

 

[PeepsCA]

Just to show what I mean by being able to tell the difference between fertile and not fertile before 10-14 days into incubation... here's a couple of pics, day 6...

Clear, no development:


Fertile and developing:

See the difference? You can see the air cell in each egg, and there's definitely a shade difference in the egg content.

My camera is old, and it doesn't do candling pics the justice they deserve... but (with the naked eye) I was able to see blood vessels/veins starting to develop in the membrane in quite a few of the fertile eggs.

About half this batch of eggs looks like they are fertile/developing, another 6 or so are iffy, and there may be 3 with blood rings... so far. The rest look clear (and I tossed a cracked egg yesterday). We shall see tho. I refilled the water reservoir and will leave the 'bator alone 'til day 10... that's the plan anyway

I'll have enough eggs to justify firing up 'bator #2 tomorrow (full load of 42)... hmm, should I???

Keets keets keets, here comes the keets!!!!!

 

[perchie.girl]

So.... shooting for a thousand this time? hee hee um hee.