So guess what hatching eggs I just bought now.

The auction just ended and I bought more hatching eggs. First time I am trying ebay. My first ebay auction. These will be coming from Florida and should be shipped on Monday. So I bet your wondering what I am getting :-)) Red Sex links. It was 10 Red Sex link eggs. Made by crossing a Rhode Island Red Rooster and a White Plymouth Rock Hen. I liked the fact that the seller told what the cross was to get these. And I loved the picture of the really pretty hen that is an example of what will be. Easy to sex at hatch. Females rusty red color. Males smokey grey.

I have had red star which are McMurray hatchery red sex links on top of my wish list so I was really pleased to see these eggs. These should be supper egg producers which is what I am wanting. Plus nice large brown eggs.

I had tried earlier to buy Easter Egger hatching eggs. In fact I actually did buy them. But the post office took more than a week to deliver them and when I unpacked them I don't know what they had done in transit but the eggs just stunk. I figgured if they stink they are bad and going to explode so I threw them all away. So no easter eggers for me and that is why the Genesis is empty. Should have had eggs but just didn't work out. I still want easter eggers so when I find what I want you know I will get it.

Meantime I should have my Red Sex links sometime mid week. Can't have that incubator empty for long LOL :-))

Why do you wnt EE`S might I ask?

Rita is a hatching machine.

I love the diversity of looks you get with the actuall easter egger hens. Pictures of easter eggers I see are much prettier looking than real Ameraucanas at least to me. I like the non standard colors and patterens.

Rita I got 5 different shipments of eggs over summer that took 8 to 10 days to get(none Hatched of course) and none of them stunk. If they stunk they were probably old to start with. You'll do much better trying for eggs closer to you. The P.O. is getting really bad. On those long shipments the tracking never worked. Everyone needs to complain. They keep going up on the rates and the service is getting worse. We are paying for a service we are not receiving. I consider that stealing

I didn't know what to make of those eggs stinking. I know if you get a stinking egg in the incubator to get it out of there right away. So since these already stunk I just was not willing to even try them. The entire thing shipping and all was really only afew bucks, really cheap and I figgured they were never going to hatch anyway. And doing the sniff test, if there were any that didn't sink, I couldn't tell so I chucked them all.

And I intend to just keep buying hatching eggs. I am not about to have one bad batch turn me off. After all here I am looking at my pretty little newly hatched chicks and those eggs came from OH. My first batch from Michigan. The stinky ones from GA. And they ones I just bought from FL. So we will see.

I really like hatching. I have no interest in buying chicks at all, just buying hatching eggs.

Annie, buy them from an auction on BYC. They will show the color of the eggs there and tell you the parents. Some people are calling olive a lighter color than others are. The real olive eggs are not lighter greenish, they are dark and to do that you need a really dark egg layer for the daddy like a Black Copper Marans or a dark laying Welsummer. Mom can be Easter Egger or Ameraucana but the bluer the eggs from mom the better. Also the F2 which means second generation olive egger is better as the eggs are darker. Then toughen up and get rid of all those extra roosters that always hatch.

You're beginning to sound like an old pro!

I read a lot LOL!

So I fired up the Genesis today, I had it off for afew days as I hadn't needed it. My Red Sex Link hatching eggs shipped yesterday so I am hoping I will get them Wednesday. I do always let them rest before setting.

They are here :-)) Really nicely packed as all my egg shipments have been. All intact so nothing broken. The auction was for ten eggs and thirteen were sent. So nice on the extras. I did take pictures but will not download until I have more in the camera. But some are rather normal store bought brown egg color and three are really tight buff color. The light ones are about the same color as the Lavender Orp egg were. I put them to rest so tomorrow I will put them in the incubator. I want to candel them later but need to wait for it to get dark before I do that.

I was a little leary of buying off Ebay but I am very impressed with this seller. Not only was the packing top notch, there was a nice letter in with the eggs saying they sent the three extras and if one had any questions at all to e-mail them. Very professional letter that left a good feeling about the transaction and quality of service.

In fact the reason I bought these is I really liked the actuall Ebay listing with all the information given. The seller is a hatchery but I am very impressed.

Besides the letter they also inculded a small printed color flyer that shows the breeds they sell (chicks and eggs) and tells some about each one. Then they also talk about the fact that it is standard in the poultry industry to overcrowd and feed antibotics just to keep the chickens healthy. They stress their antibotic free eggs and chicks that are in healthful non crowded conditions. Could all be a bunch of bunk for all I know but I believe them.

They sell White Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, White Leghorns and Red Sex Links. All are greared to egg production and they say how many average eggs laid a year. The Red Sex Links are top of the chart with 300 brown eggs.

Seller is targetrealtymls with a 100% Positive feedback in case anyone is interested. I see they have white leghorns on there now but no Red Sex Links.

Your flock is going to be soooo pretty to watch!

You Go Rita!!
About the Olive Eggers... Could a Penedesenca Roo work with an EE hen?? I have EE's in the incu and I am really thinking about finding a P. Roo. I really do not think I will ever ebay eggs again just find them local.

Ok, I only know about this olive egger business because I bought those olive eggs and then researched the subjext as best I could. Here how people seem to think on it (my own interpetation). Some people call any of the eggs olive even if they are light. But the people SERIOUSLY working on it don't call them olive unless they are dark. Think olives, they are not light green.

Most people are usuing a Black Copper Marans rooster over Ameraucana (real ones) or easter eggers with nice blue eggs. Some people are using Welsummer Rooster over the hens. The real dark eggs come second generation and thats what mine are.

I don't know how dark Penedesenca eggs are but I don't see why it wouldn't work. But you could save yourself lots of time and effort by buying the eggs. There is an auction on BYC right now for 18+ oliver eggers from a seller in NY state. She sold a batch the other week and now she has more. You might look there instead of ebay.

So my new eggs are set now. Lockdown with be the 15th. Hatch due on the 18th. The waiting begins.

Terri- I wanted a diverse flock. I could never stand a big batch of nothing but the same breed/color. But I still don't know if I am really on my way or I just have a bunch of roosters to get rid of. On the older ones if the blue olive egger and the BCM would be girls I would be really happy. The black olive egger must be a boy with the size of the comb that is growing already so young. Then I figgure out of four Lavender Orps I must have some girls. I really would like two of them. Now I was not thinking I would get black Orps at all from those eggs so I have no idea if I will keep the blacks or not even if they are girls. Then of course with my 13 red sex link eggs I hope to be able to add afew hens of those also. And then you all know I will get more hatching eggs eventually. Probably not that long from now either knowing myself :-))

Rita you will have more before you know. Hatching eggs is so addicting, then watching them grow up to see what they will look like

I had a hard time getting rid of my unwanted roosters. Then a friend or a friend happened to mention that she wanted some chickens (hens or roosters) as there is an organic farmer next door who was starting a custom finishing chicken business. You supply the chickens and he raises/finishes them to way you want. The end product is for your freezer, but they got a good life as the woman wanted free range, organic for here chickens. And I understand that by fee range this guy really does put them out into a pasture. So I guess my unwanted roosters got a pretty good place to be until....well....you know...

Not that I have a problem with eating meat. Not at all. I just can't kill and eat a chicken I once knew. I was talking to my neighbor, an old time farmer. He says he feels the same way and so does his wife! We were talking about an exchange program. He raises some chickens for meat and I do to and then when they are ready to go to the processor we just do an exchange. I think we are just at the talking stage right now, but it might work for me. We'll see....

Rita, I'm glad to see your ebay seller told you those eggs came from a Rock hen and RIR cause if the eggs came from a sex link hen, they will not come out sex link.. Another one of those "buyer beware" things!
There are so many expensive "learning curves" with chickens.. not to mention the heart breaking ones!
I'm glad to see there are honest sellers out there!

ZZ - Before I had decided on doing it by hatching eggs I was looking at chicks at the hatchery sites. One of the breeds I wanted at McMurrays was the RED STAR red sex links. I since learned that most of the hatcheries have thier own version that is slightly different (maybe) but red sex links after all. So after I decided I was going to do hatching eggs instead of buying chicks, I couldn't figgure out how I was going to get the Red Stars.

I did see plenty of other auctions on ebay for various supposed sex links. One is for black sex links, others for reds. I saw an auction for ISA Brown hatching eggs and I saw an auction for Red Star hatching eggs. But I read these auctions very carefully. It did not say one way or another if those were the Red Star or ISA Brown HENS being bred or the eggs themselves were from a cross to make the red star or ISA Browns. If it did not say, then I figgured they were NOT going to be sex link chicks. I already know you can not breed Sex links, either red nor black, to get more pure sex links. You have to go back to the cross to get sex links. So when I read the auction description on these, I figgured I had the real thing. On the others I figgure you get what you assume to be sex link chicks but they are not. Not sure that those are false advertising as if you breed a Red Star Hen to a Red Star Rooster you are after all not lying that they are Red Stars. The buyer just doesn't get Red Stars.

I don't know what you do get if you breed the Red Stars together. I think you get good layers but they can't be sexed at hatch.

Terri - That sounds like the perfect solution for your extra roosters. I personally have no problem with killing a chicken I once knew as you put it. Its just this city girl is not interested in processing chickens. I would rather just keep buying in the store as I have always done. Plus I have to get rid of roosters as soon as I can. I can't have crowing here, so I can't grow them out to eating size.

Silkies begin crowing at around 5 months.

This new silkie I have is 7 or 8 months old and still has not laid an egg. Should I be concerned?

That's what I mean! I'm so glad you found a seller that is honest about it.. See what I mean? You did your homework well. :) It is so easy for a seller to be crooked when selling hatching eggs.. the thing is.. it's such a pain to gather, pack and ship them, I can't see how it would be profitable for someone to NOT be honest.... but it's common.

I think Cindy has Red Stars and she swears by them.. Laying machines they are!

I love RIRs so a Red star hen would be way up there on my want list too. I have 1 RIR now and she lays an omlette sized egg every single day.. :) I wouldn't mind having 25 Red Stars next year. IF I get to stay here.. :)

As far as I can figgure out all the various red sex links are laying machines. Of course I can't wait for my red sex links to hatch but then I can't wait for anything I have when it comes time to hatch LOL!

I finially downloaded what was in the camera. These are the brown sex link eggs.

I was just looking at ebay again (I do look everyday) and the same seller has 10 sex links up at auction again. Just the same as mine. I am really looking forward to chicks that I can sex at hatch and KNOW I have a batch of girls. At least some girls LOL!

I did not know you could cross WPR and RIR to get RSL. I thought it was RIR and WL. I guess it is the white gene that is needed and you just get a heavier bird using the WPR? I have a Red Comet that has started laying and her is is very dark brown and HUGE! My RSLs are not old enough to lay yet. I got 8 RSLs and 2 BO and they all look just alike at this point.

You need a special white gene. Thats about all I know.

I copied this from Feathersite
Red Sex-Links are the result of various crosses. White Rocks with the silver factor (the dominant white gene would produce all white offspring) are crossed with a New Hampshire male to produce the Golden Comet. Silver Laced Wyandotte crossed with New Hampshire gives the Cinnamon Queen. Two other crosses are obtained with Rhode Island White x Rhode Island Red, and Delaware x Production Red. These two crosses are simply called Red Sex-Links. Males hatch out white and, depending on the cross, feather out to pure white or with some black feathering. Females hatch out buff or red also depending on cross, and they feather out in one of three ways.

Here is a http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Sex-links/BRKMaking.html

I bought 2 red comet chicks. I did not know at the time they were a sex link breed. I ended up with a pullet and a rooster. The pullet is red with a bit od white and the roo is a cream colored with a bit of darker coloring.

Here is the pullet. She is laying now and her eggs are very dark brown and very large.

From what I can tell that reddish buff color with some white is a very common color combination for sex link hens. I think the great part (besides all those frequent eggs) is the fact that they can be easily sexed at hatch so I will not have to keep those rooosters.

I love my BSLs too. Great layers.

Black sex links are very pretty.

I candeled the eggs as it is day nine. One definate clear and no development. I took that one out. Two others look very iffy to me. They started but might be quitters. I left them in and marked them. Will candel them again in afew days to see if there is any more development. The rest (ten) look like they are coming along nicely.

Pretty pullets Cajun!! come Spring you are going to have some great Eggs!
Rita hope all goes well on this hatch, my fingers are crossed!
My EE's are on the last week of incubation! I m looking forward to next weekend. I am planning on being HERE, I am not going anywhere... just parking my butt in front of the incu and watching!!! LOL!!! Now does that sound familiar?

I am usually here as I work at home. While I do go out, rarely would that be for a long period of time. So I am always here and peering in the incubator. I do so love watching them hatch. It always seems like a small miracle when the baby chicks appear :-))

I hope both our hatches turn out very well. I still want to get easter eggers myself and will when I find what I want. Its one of these I know it when I see it types of things :-))

Be sure and let us know how the hatch goes.

Will do! I hope to have a good hatch so I can next grow an Olive egger! ( Planning already for next year!!)

Those olive eggs are just awesome. The color is increadable and so hard to believe they really come out like that.

oops! EEeggs in incu...grow them up to mate with BCM Roo....wait to hatch to hatch those eggs .....grow those chicks up..... Hmmmm maybe the year after next is when I'll see olive eggs!!! UHGGGGG!!!

Your starting from stratch, it really will be awhile. The really olive eggs come from the F2 generation. That is from the pullets you will get from your yet unborn easter eggers when those are bred back to the BCM. That is what my olive eggs were that I hatched, F2. Awesome color in my opinion. Of course the lighter eggs are really pretty also, just different looking.

Rita, do you know what color egg your EE's came from? Does it make a difference ?
Here are mine, the photo of course doesnt show true but close. They are all exactly the same color and are a pale minty aqua color!