Utah!

[La Casa de Pollo]

My chicks hatched

So I dry hatched these, and lost most of the silkies, and got nearly all the marans to hatch, which are so hard to hatch....I had these in the forced air bator.
Air cells were way too big on the silkies, and the Marans were just right....

Last time, in the still air I lost most of the marans to gross wet goop and my silkies all hatched. So I guess I learned which bator to use for which chicks.

On a good note! Lots of the Marans were blue this time, so I can replace my blue hen that I sold and hopefully have another blue roo to replace mine he is getting older. Then I can get Splash Marans chicks again These eggs are so dark, I am LOVING the Marans stock I have right now. So happy night, but still kind of sad all those silkies did not make it. I set 13, and all made it to lockdown, and only 3 hatched. The other ten were all dead in the shell fully developed :/

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

So Iluv---if you are using a forced air bator with a turner, I would definitely keep the moisture up a little. last time I went with 35-38 and they hatched really good in my still air, this time in the forced air it stayed around 25 and No Bueno for the little eggs.. The air cells were half the egg, way too big.

 

[the-bird-man]

Hi everyone, i have been gone for a few days deer hunting and just got back this afternoon. Lots of post to read through but finally did it. Before i left i told my family i wanted to hatch some OE/Silkie mix and to start collecting the green eggs. After five days i only have three eggs and only one is dark green and it is smaller and skinnier then the others. I think it may be from my new OE but not what i wanted to hatch. I was hoping to hatch from my 1-1/2 yr olds because they are a nice blue color and have lots of people offer to buy them just for their color. Not sure why they have stopped laying. has anyone elses hens slowed down? I cant remember when to start adding extra light does anyone know if its time yet? Sorry about all the questions but i have 5 days in the mountains all by myself with lots of time to think, and of coarse it was about chickens. LOL...

Is anyone interested in some fertile Silkie eggs. Not SQ but really pretty PQ. I have a white hen that is full bearded with a big crest, a splash hen that is bearded and a small crest and a buff  hen that is non bearded. Unfortunately i cant tell the eggs apart. My sizzle hasn't started to lay again and my new splash hasn't started to lay, still to young i think. I hate to just eat them. You might get a B-EE because her eggs look so close to the Silkie eggs. 

Does anyone know or have a picture of a LF Cochin Hen crossed with a Silkie roo. And is it even possible due to all the feathers. My Cochins have so many feathers they still look huge and fluffy when soaking wet from the rain.

maybe all this rain has them slowed down? it can do that. my girls are laying slightly less on the days the storms hit hard. so how did the hunt go? get a deer? what area did you go too if i may ask?

 

[themadchicken]

Hey Brad. No deer. Only got one chance and my cap didn't fire (muzzle loader hunt). I guess that's the chance you take with one shot rifles.I hunted the north end of skyline drive above Scofield Reservoir. The area is called Bear Ridge, Pondtown, Fishcreek Ridge.

Went out to check eggs tonight and found the same 3 girls in the nesting boxes just like the last few nights. My son said they have been in there during the middle of the day so i guess i now have 3 broody hens. I knew my little B-EE was broody but had no idea the other 2 were. Its a little disappointing since one of them is A Wellsummer that has only been laying for about a month. The other is one of my last years OE's. I think i will watch the 2 LF until Saturday before moving them to a separate coop. I should have a dozen plus Silkie and Sizzle eggs the put under the OE by then. I all ready have a good idea what to give the Welly but not sure what to give my little Momo. So it looks like i will be hatching out 30 plus eggs in a couple weeks. Am i crazy? No just Mad!

Had to share a pict of my Welly's eggs and my new layer, A F2 OE i hatched in February from Sphinx. I hatched 10 eggs and only keep 2 chicks one was a roo and one was a pullet. Had to re home the roo because my Silkie rooster was pulling all of his feathers out of him, only a matter of time before i would find him dead.

 

[acemario]

My chicks hatched So I dry hatched these, and lost most of the silkies, and got nearly all the marans to hatch, which are so hard to hatch....I had these in the forced air bator. Air cells were way too big on the silkies, and the Marans were just right.... Last time, in the still air I lost most of the marans to gross wet goop and my silkies all hatched. So I guess I learned which bator to use for which chicks. On a good note! Lots of the Marans were blue this time, so I can replace my blue hen that I sold and hopefully have another blue roo to replace mine he is getting older. Then I can get Splash Marans chicks again These eggs are so dark, I am LOVING the Marans stock I have right now. So happy night, but still kind of sad all those silkies did not make it. I set 13, and all made it to lockdown, and only 3 hatched. The other ten were all dead in the shell fully developed :/

Pics? Great job on the marans hatch! From my experience, those can be a little tricky, like you mentioned.

Hey Brad. No deer. Only got one chance and my cap didn't fire (muzzle loader hunt). I guess that's the chance you take with one shot rifles.I hunted the north end of skyline drive above Scofield Reservoir. The area is called Bear Ridge, Pondtown, Fishcreek Ridge. Went out to check eggs tonight and found the same 3 girls in the nesting boxes just like the last few nights. My son said they have been in there during the middle of the day so i guess i now have 3 broody hens. I knew my little B-EE was broody but had no idea the other 2 were. Its a little disappointing since one of them is A Wellsummer that has only been laying for about a month. The other is one of my last years OE's. I think i will watch the 2 LF until Saturday before moving them to a separate coop. I should have a dozen plus Silkie and Sizzle eggs the put under the OE by then. I all ready have a good idea what to give the Welly but not sure what to give my little Momo. So it looks like i will be hatching out 30 plus eggs in a couple weeks. Am i crazy? No just Mad! Had to share a pict of my Welly's eggs and my new layer, A F2 OE i hatched in February from Sphinx. I hatched 10 eggs and only keep 2 chicks one was a roo and one was a pullet. Had to re home the roo because my Silkie rooster was pulling all of his feathers out of him, only a matter of time before i would find him dead.

great eggs!!! Too bad on the hunt... But, I bet it was nice to be out on the wild.

 

[themadchicken]

It was nice to be out and away from people Until it started to rain then it wasn't so fun but still really pretty and peaceful.

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

Proud momma Dixie on her eggs Still going strong on day 6 now of being broody for the first time. She's sitting on 3 eggs. Two of which are her own infertile eggs. I gave her just one fertile developing egg for now, but ill check my incubating eggs again tomorrow and if I see more developing, i'll give her more and replace the others. I dont want to chance her getting disturbed by taking her own eggs away. I was told it should be ok to leave her infertile eggs with her the whole time right, or will they possibly explode if I let her keep them?

Update: I went ahead and candled the eggs again today(day 6) instead of waiting till tomorrow and only 3 are developing :/ So including the one I gave dixie, there's only 4 eggs out of the 22 I set that are developing. Wow, I am shocked there isent more
What do you guys think, are the odds better for these 4 eggs if I give them to dixie (first time broody) who's only been sitting 6 days. Or should I leave them in the incubator where I could keep a close eye on them. Whats going to give them the best chance?

 

[sillycmoy]

My chicks hatched

So I dry hatched these, and lost most of the silkies, and got nearly all the marans to hatch, which are so hard to hatch....I had these in the forced air bator.
Air cells were way too big on the silkies, and the Marans were just right....

Last time, in the still air I lost most of the marans to gross wet goop and my silkies all hatched. So I guess I learned which bator to use for which chicks.

On a good note! Lots of the Marans were blue this time, so I can replace my blue hen that I sold and hopefully have another blue roo to replace mine he is getting older. Then I can get Splash Marans chicks again

These eggs are so dark, I am LOVING the Marans stock I have right now. So happy night, but still kind of sad all those silkies did not make it. I set 13, and all made it to lockdown, and only 3 hatched. The other ten were all dead in the shell fully developed

Yippee! On all the Maran's. I need a few more since I lost the one FBCM, and for some reason Penguin hasn't laid in about 2 weeks.

But she is my special needs girl, she has a really good limp to her walking, and she is 19 months old. But still. So sad, no chocolate eggs right now.

Gary I love your OE eggs. I'm praying the 2 I kept from Wendy are that Green, or just hoping they are green. Wish they would start laying. They are going on 6 months.

 

[sillycmoy]

I had those chicks come along..they are young though, I will be giving away what I don't want to keep..they sent sooo many extras! There are a couple of blacks in there .. sex links..I will keep one, and there are quite a few EE's, all looking like pullets! Puffy cheeks! Also, some reds, some white leghorns..I know, now whites.. A couple of chipmunk colors that are not EE's, do believe they are brown sex links. Anyway, not sure you are set up for babies or not..but putting this out there. I will keep them a while longer, they are going to go to the larger grow out pen in a while. Still pretty young and in the nursery out there with a heat lamp.

Hey if you are giving away and EE's let me know. I have a really good friend that just started with chicks out in Bluffdale, they have a full acre with a barn etc. And they want some colored eggs. They have chicks right now that are about 2-3 weeks old. So they would be close in age probably.

 

[themadchicken]

Proud momma Dixie on her eggs Still going strong on day 6 now of being broody for the first time. She's sitting on 3 eggs. Two of which are her own infertile eggs. I gave her just one fertile developing egg for now, but ill check my incubating eggs again tomorrow and if I see more developing, i'll give her more and replace the others. I dont want to chance her getting disturbed by taking her own eggs away. I was told it should be ok to leave her infertile eggs with her the whole time right, or will they possibly explode if I let her keep them?

Update: I went ahead and candled the eggs again today(day 6) instead of waiting till tomorrow and only 3 are developing :/ So including the one I gave dixie, there's only 4 eggs out of the 22 I set that are developing. Wow, I am shocked there isent more
What do you guys think, are the odds better for these 4 eggs if I give them to dixie (first time broody) who's only been sitting 6 days. Or should I leave them in the incubator where I could keep a close eye on them. Whats going to give them the best chance?

That's a hard choice. In my experience with my Silkies they usually only have a 50% or less hatch rate on their first clutch of 100 % fertile eggs. I would just keep doing what you are doing and don't change your plans due to the fertility of the eggs. You could always hive her the new chicks right as they hatch and start with a new bunch of eggs in your incubator.