I do my best to discourage any broody this time of year. It can be really hard on the little ones once they are too large to warm under their momma, and I end up having them in cages indoors in the barn with some warmth.....especially hard if power goes out often
I've asked about egg shipping. It's much easier and less expensive than live birds. It's just a next day box, make sure you use packing that will keep them snug, mark fragile viable eggs, and what end up.
you can use anything to soften the blows from the outer box to the inner...newspaper, saw dust (warn the person you are shipping to that it is messy !) or styrofoam peanuts...
the inner box II shop for my free boxes on USPS.com, make sure the inner is a beat smaller than your outter box, and try to keep shipping costs down by the smallest boxes you can use...
inside the inner box is lots of padding, and a 'nest' of soft quilt batting, again, about anything will suffice
One individual egg is set on the corner of this box (above) Each egg is wraped in bubble wrap, and secured so it can be easily opened. I use Priority sticks (free) on USPS .com (well, they were free) might be gone now
The nest, Now pay attention: Always set your eggs AIR CELL UP in the "nest", the ones shown above I had dug through.
An individual egg again
Individual egg again
Make sure you can ship in your area, some areas it is illegal unless you are NPIP certified and it may get more restricted thanks to last years Avian Influenza outbreak, where shipped eggs and birds DID contribute to the spread of the disease ! Some states are VERY picky about shipping eggs, or birds !
We have received laboratory confirmation of infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) in a small scale poultry flock in King County. Please ensure that you practice enhanced biosecurity. Infectious laryngotracheitis is a reportable disease in Washington State. It is important that birds with signs of respiratory disease or that have been vaccinated for ILT in the past 30 days are not permitted to enter poultry exhibitions, fairs or shows. Guidance documents on biosecurity, ILT recommendations to fairs and an ILT fact sheet will be published on our WSDA Avian Health web site within 24 hours as outlined below.
Lyndon Badcoe BVSc, MVS, DVSc
Avian Health Veterinarian and Epidemiologist
Washington State Department of Agriculture
1111 Washington St. SE
Olympia WA 98504
An EE is an Ameraucana bred to a light brown egg layer, like an Orpington or Bielefelder,
the Am makes an egg that is blue trhoughout the shell, not just "painted on" and the brown layer is basically a while egg, but coats its eggs with brown pigment on its way out the hen's vaginal canal...thus creats a light green egg. broken open, this egg will be solid blue inside....showing the egg was blue to start with.
The OE is an Ameraucana bred to a Dark Brown layer, Such as a Marans, or a Welsummer, so here the blue egg travels down the canal & gets spray painted dark brown on the outside, and comes out olive green...often with dark brown spots (I love that) and same as the EE, if the egg is broken open, you will see the egg inside is blue.
Ok ?
Anyone seriously into Ameraucanas can contact pips&peeps..she is the Queen of Ameraucanas...and is in eastern WA (Newman Lake, I think) Her birds are exquisite ! ! And she is (past)Queen of the Ameraucanas Breeder's Club.
SO..to edit your personal page, go to the upper right corner, way way up there, and click on "my profile" and then scroll down to 'account details" and you can go through it to set defaults on your personal page, like eliminating ads, and so on.
Wow, I am all tuckered out from paying catch up, you guys are really getting this thread going again !
