Yes, I had 11 to start, directly from Jubaby, and they fell away, one-by-one...it was very sad. I still have a split hen and a fluffy roo from her, and have hatched many from many lines of Ameraucanas, and forward generational improvement. I also have some of AliceFellDown's stock and that makes a VERY diluted gene pool. No more difficult hatches. I've got several Wheaten-looking babies growing out now, and will be working toward that coloration. I also have some Blue Birchen and Red Pyle coloration working. I hatch a couple every couple of weeks now, and have been scattering their eggs about here and there to folks to try to get the diversification that we truly need.
My main fluffy roo is still quite robust in his shy, quiet way, and I am happy he has continued to thrive. He will be 2 soon, and that is glorious.
I'm hoping for a black fluffy soon as well as a CHOCOLATE split or two. They will have the wrong shape, and a green egg, but still...it will be worth working for- a chocolate fluffball!!
I have eggs going out right away for Catkai this week, and will have a few more shipments to share due to incubation overflow.
I'd share pics, but my memory card died on my phone and I have to get another. There are many shots in my profile if you look through my photos.
to you!!! We only had one line A egg make it to lockdown, one other was a late quitter, all the rest were clear....I'm sorry you had a disappointing hatch!! I have had so many shipped eggs pip internally and not hatch that I am obsessed about it!! I now have a sportsman bator and it seems that it has helped. I suspected my poor hatches were due to temp inconsistancies in my LG. I'm glad you have found some more eggs!! I think that in about 6 months we'll all be switching and swapping and hopefully we'll all have much better hatches!! Good luck with your next hatch and keep us updated on whether that chick is silkied or not!!!!
I have definitely found that hatching is easier when using the method in my cheat sheet (in my signature) and wonder if somehow they haven't a less permeable eggshell?? If so, the scanty evaporation would lead to a chick too large to maneuver properly to pip/zip, and thus explain the deaths. I see this in Marans.
Ok done! Now these were not shipped eggs... I collected these over the 1st week after my birds were shipped. As of 8am, 6/6 have hatched with no help! I had humidity issues almost daily before lock down with it getting into the teens. Otherwise kept it at 30-35% and went to 65-70% at lock down. My bator runs a bit warmer than it should so early hatch but it was earlier than I normally see. They were only in lock down for 1 1/2 days before they started to hatch. So I expected a bad hatch...
So 1 splash and 5 blues. Some have light colored fronts and cheeks while others are silver all over. Not stressing over silkied or not yet, they all look the same and I know they can't all be silkied.
Lovely! Because shipped eggs have more issues, I wonder if supplementation wouldn't help a lot? I mean, if we give high protein and vitamin & electrolytes in their water, the eggs should be more robust and better able to handle shipping...right? That's the philosophy I use in my eggs, anyway.
Shipping round end up, packed tightly for no shifting, then double-boxed helps DRAMATICALLY!! Furthermore, you can address them to the recipient's POST OFFICE's address, and then they are forced to hold them. I love this move.
I am so glad that the population of these is beginning to increase. These are going to be *super* popular. Kudos and Congrats to everyone who has worked so hard on these beauties!!
I'm working on colored-egg-laying Silkies (affectionately known to me as Silkie X... but maybe I should call them Silkie O, since the symbol for the blue-egg gene is O...) and folks are already wanting them. Hopefully by fall I can have enough base stock to send out some project eggs.
Awesome project!
Yes, they are most definitely worth hatching. We need every bit of diversity we can, and if you want to give them tuna and vitamins and sell their eggs instead of chicks, many would love to have them. Spread the love and joy! Hope things are settling down after the move, and prayers for peace and coop building!
