Utah!

[sillycmoy]

The Black NN is laying not the Red one with the bright Red neck. That is the reason for all the photos.

 

[sundancenbare]

FYI still in Utah. RV is suppose to get fixed tomorrow if the new satelight system gets here. so we'll see what happens next week, My brother in law is in the hospital so sick they called all his kids home, We may need to wait to see what happens with him

 

[sillycmoy]

The Japanese Bantam was hatched the first week of May sometime Cynthia would probably know for sure, I got her from Cynthia. I posted yesterday's eggs, and they look the same. Do you really think they are fertile?

The Red NN in question I got from Brian, I believe it was hatched the first of May.
The Bantam Cochin mix was a trash can rescue and I got her at about 2-3 weeks old in the middle of March, so I'm guessing hatched around the first week of March. No eggs from her yet.
Silkies both Hatched May 1. No eggs


I don't know. I've been watching them out the window all morning, trying to catch the little bugger in the action. And the Red NN and the Light Brahma have been fighting all day long. I can't believe how much they get in each others face all day long. And the Light Brahma is really bossing everyone around. I've never really noticed till I watched today. Usually they have the whole side yard and drive way so they really all stay in their little pairs. But since the snow, I've just been keeping them up in the back/side yard. They do have at least 50 feet by 20 feet run, so they are by all means not crowded in there, and the also have the crate built coop that I made for them, and their main 12 ft by 9 ft coop. So they are not crowded at all.

 

[RedIII]

Karen, your eggs from today all look fertile. I can see the disc on all of them. I wonder if your Brahma is a dominant bird, and that's why it's fighting with the NN. Or possibly........oh dread............they could both be boys? Where is Pancake? She keeps Brahmas and would probably know more about how to sex them. I still say it looks like a girl, though.

But, my guess is that you have very dominant hens/pullets out there, and that's probably why your mystery roo hasn't crowed. He's intimidated by the ladies. Some dominant hens will beat up the roo if he's lower in the pecking order.

If you'd like, I can lend you my cheapy still-air incubator, but it's not very reliable

You have to babysit it all day to keep the temps and humidity accurate. I hate that thing. I'm going to need to make a trip soon to see Gary anyway, so let me know.

 

[sillycmoy]

OMG, this is literally driving me nuts. I can't stand it. I wish I could just go out there and say crow already.. But then he will for sure have to go somewhere else. Maybe he will always be quiet and I can keep him. Its depressing knowing I for sure have to get rid of one of them. But which one.

How hard is it to incubate eggs. I work from home, and only really leave to run to Girl Scouts, take my daughter to and from school, and dance class. That is about it. So I could babysit an incubator.

I guess I could start keeping them out of the fridge. How do I store them if I wanted to try, and how long do I have before they need to be set. I guess if they hatch we would know maybe who the dad is right? I guess if is the Red NN, I would have pure NN's out of Ollie and the Red on, and Ollie is from Lisa and the Red one is from Brian. No relation at all.

Too bad the Silkies aren't broody, I could just bring it in the house with the eggs.

 

[RedIII]

When you collect eggs for incubating, store them bottom end UP, so that the air cell can attach to the wide end of the egg. usually they're best if incubated within 7-10 days of collecting. There are hatching gurus on here that can give you a lot more advice on how to hatch, though. I've never been terribly good at it.

 

[sillycmoy]

So like the pointy side down? and the flat side up. I don't even know anything about the air sack. Those chicks are going to be hopeless with me. Poor things. I think I might just order something off Amazon so its here in 2 days. Any thoughts. My husband is going to kill me, but I just feel like I have too.

 

[sillycmoy]

I just went out again to watch, and I have a new egg. I think its the BO, nice small/medium light tan egg. And its like frozen to the touch. The other 2 I got today was still warm. So I guess this one probably won't be good for hatching.

As I was outside I decided to pet them all on the back. Everyone single one lowered themselves to the ground, spread out their wings like in a squatting position, even the Red NN. The only ones that did not, and actually pecked me every time I tried this was the Light Brahma, she/he stood straight up, and and turn to peck at me. Now I can pick this bird up just fine. Never had issues with him/her. But every time I tried to pet the back, it would stand straight and tall, and turn the head and peck out me. Never got me, but threaten.

The Speckled Sussex didn't squat either, stood big and tall, and just looked at me, didn't peck like the Light Brahma. So maybe its the Brahma. And of course the Japanese bantam flew up into the pine tree when I tried with her.

 

[the-bird-man]

any chance of a side view picture of the brahma? i almost wonder if there is two roosters, the brahma and the nn. and the brahma is the head roo

 

[RedIII]

Hmm, interesting. If your mystery roo is the Brahma, and the orange NN is a girl, then that would mean they were duking it out because the NN figures she's boss. Well, there could be hope, yet - if you hatch out the eggs and some babies are NN, you'll know it was the NN. If some have feathered legs, it might be the Brahma

Speaking of such things............look what I found by our chimney today.



Yes, it seems that Nora has decided she needs to sit on eggs again. She was getting her shop all set up - plucking feathers, biting my hand, and she even had a fresh egg under her. I booted her off the nest and confiscated the egg, of course

I don't care if she is Chuck Norris - it's far too cold to set on a nest out there.

That being said........if she tries it again, Karen, I can stick some of your eggs under her, if you'd like. She's actually a pretty good momma. I would just need to keep her in the garage and you would get the chicks after she weans them off. You think you've got it bad with 18...............I stopped counting at twenty, haha. I have between 20 and 30 here, not counting the ones I'm babysitting. Thank you, tolerant neighbors!

And I can tell that having Nora around is going to be pretty fun in the coming years. Who needs a Silkie?