Utah!

[Cynthia12]

I love the Red Bud tree..have one out front. Had at least 4 people as me last year what kind of tree it was! One lives a few homes behind us, and plans on planting one like it. They are pretty.
I'll have to get a photo of it this spring..full of blossoms,(the purple flower, not pink) then in the spring, with the purple leaves, then in the summer when they are green, but still have a hint of purple in them.

 

[sillycmoy]

Just got on, and everyone is talking about tree's. I can't wait till spring.

Tell love the hair, its awesome!

Wendy I can't believe your neighbors kid, that is so horrible, and very sad. Our neighbor a few doors up was having the kids that live behind them that was shooting their cat or their 2 dogs every time they were in the yard with a pellet gun. It was horrible, and they ended up having to go to court over the vet bills. So hopefully they take care of any damage. What a nightmare.

So I candled my 4 eggs today. They are 14 days today. So I figured why not, not sure what I'm looking for, but I do think I have 2 quitters

I really don't know, but my daughter will be so sad, because she named them. And she literally goes over and talks to them every day. You know a 5 year old. So I think Sophie and Zoey have quit. This are the regular eggs. They are only developed on one side of the egg, the rest is clear, and they don't look like they have grown. But now they both look the same, so maybe I'm just guessing off what the Bantam eggs look like. The 2 Bantie eggs are pretty much dark with just the air at the top that you can see, so I'm guessing that its a good developing chick since its mostly full with the chick, so that is why I think the 2 larger ones quit. I hope if they quit it wasn't me. I feel so bad that if they really did quit. So now hopefully I have at least the 2 Bantam hatch or I'm going to be having a lonely chick.

I guess if they all end up not hatching I'm going to have to start all over, the 5 year old is so excited about watching the hatch. So if anyone knows of anyone that has Blue Egg Layers that are selling eggs etc. Let me know. I don't have a blue layer, and I want at least one blue egg. Then I will have a pretty good rainbow color going on. Don't really care if its a bantam blue egg or a regular, I just want a pretty blue egg in my carton.

I guess we will just have to wait and see. I guess I can try to get photo's if anyone wants to tell me for sure. But I figured I will just leave them be.

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Silly--banty eggs can hatch early, I have had them hatch on day 19, so if they look that full, be ready!

Can you guys believe the forecast? I am thinking back to last January, there were so many cold fronts, we were at a high of 0 several days, this January so far we have spent afternoons in the thirties, no ultra-cold lows at all....the extended looks the same all the way out! If we can get to Feb, is it possible we won't have to deal with that brutal cold until next year? I sure hope so! So I am counting the days, the longer it stays nice, the better our chances are of skipping that right? I hate losing animals to the bitter cold. There is some optimism for ya

 

[sillycmoy]

So if the Bantams hatch early how does that effect lock down, I'm locking down on day 19 like I read, is this wrong? I have lock down for next tuesday. And lock down really its just make the humidity up in the 60s and no more turning right?

Thanks everyone. I think I'm going to have to do this again for fun, and hopefully get a better hatch rate. I can't keep the all the chicks, but its just fun. But I do want a pretty blue egg layer, so I might have to just for that reason alone.

Thanks everyone for all the help!

 

[RedIII]

Silly, losing eggs does happen, sadly, and it's not necessarily something you did. That being said - Not Zoey! I love that name.

Cynthia, I think I know what bush you are talking about. It is very pretty. It's the one with the fuschia blossoms, right?

One of my cockerels can't stand up this morning. Doing some research to see what could be going on.

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Silly---not sure what to do if they are combined egg sizes---when I hatch my showgirl eggs, I always start lockdown early, but this is definitely something I would ask Cynthia, ask what she would do...I do not want to mess up your eggs. You have only banty sized eggs left right? See what she says for sure.

 

[sillycmoy]

Well I think that the 2 bantam eggs are for sure a go, they are totally dark except for the air on the top of the eggs, I think I might have one regular egg that maybe might be okay, I was looking at photos, I'm pretty sure the other one quit, I went back down and re-candled the regular ones again after looking at photos online. The one has dark blood around the whole developing area, and is much smaller then the other one.

The other one I took into a bathroom with no window, and I could see in it much better with a different flashlight and there is way more growth then the other one, but its not full like the tiny bantam eggs, but there is way more growth then the one with the blood ring, so maybe this one is okay. So when would I do lock down? On day 17 then for the bantam eggs? Will just bringing up the humidity a day or 2 earlier really mess with the other egg? Now I feel bad, I didn't know there was a difference with the egg sizes. But that is 4 days out I could maybe have tiny bantams. I hope they hatch, I want to see how little they are, I've only gotten bantams when they are a little older, and these eggs are so, so very tiny. I can't wait. I hope at least one is a girl. Because its staying here. I don't count the tiny's, they aren't really chickens…right….. hahahaha..

I guess I better go get some shavings, and chick starter this weekend. I was thinking I had till at least next wed/thursday, not thinking Monday/Tuesday. Now I'm excited. Fingers crossed they hatch.

 

[Sphinx]

Silly, my basic rule of thumb is that if the egg looks full, or I see veins, I leave it be. How many of the developing eggs came from your yard, and how many from elsewhere? I'd probably bump the humidity up a little early because you have bantams.

Red, I'm so sorry about your cockerel. I wonder what's going on. Do you think he's injured or sick? Which rooster is he?

Nothing new on my front lately, except that I say naughty words when I go out to take care of the chickens because I have to unlock locks to get to them. I don't see that a camera would really do anything- the boys have been caught a couple times, and openly admit they're back there. Plus, if I'm at work, there's only so much I can do.

 

[sillycmoy]

None are my eggs. Even though my eggs look fertile, even todays egg had a huge bulls eye, both Gary and I can't find a rooster outside, so maybe my girls are little stinks. I don't know. I did put 6 of my eggs in there, none developed. But I wasn't expecting them too after Gary visited.

So I have 2 from his RIR Bantam, and then 2 light tan medium size eggs, not sure what they are out of, he might know. That is the only ones out of the 9 he gave me that developed. I left them all in until day 10, and then with no growth, I took them out. So that left the 4 in there.

Now the Bantams are definitely full. You can't see anything in there other then a big huge black spot and the air on the top, and you can see the red veins if you turn it slowly, but for the most part its like a full egg. The other 2, one is much more developed then the other one. One has more spaced filled in, and more veins, the other one only has develop which looks like 1/2 the egg, and has a lot of blood in like a ring pattern, but there are veins, but looks a little bit farther along then it did at day 7, so I don't know. I'm guessing that one is a quitter.

So we are day 14 today, I put more sponges in there the other day to keep it above 33%, it likes to dip and I have to put more water in the tubes at every turn. So when should I raise the humidity, and how high does it need to go? And I just leave the temp, right?

Thanks everyone. Maybe the next time around I won't have so many questions, I'm just glad that I haven't had to adjust the temp at all the entire hatch, its stayed right at 99 on the floor and 101.2 at the top of the eggs. So heres hoping that at least 2 hatch, because I don't think they are selling chicks at the store yet to get a friend.

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Here you go Red:
http://www.redbookmag.com/recipes-home/tips-advice/plant-vegetable-garden#slide-2