Mel, I just got to reading your post about store eggs. I am one of those who, like you, can't eat them. That is the reason I got into chickens. The people I was buying my farm fresh eggs from got a batch of store eggs and tried to tell me they were farm eggs. Like I told them, farm eggs aren't all the same size, color and besides, I get sick from store eggs. They didn't have anything else to say then. So, you are not alone there.
The Eggs are in The Bator!
Thanks for the congrats Tamara and Catscan. I am really
enjoying this adventure. Blanca's first to hatch is looking fine,
but funny. The end of the egg is kind of popped off, but the
inside lining of the egg is still wrapped around the chick. It's
like you can see the bottom(?) half of the chick through a
shower curtain. It's very busy working it's beak, and will
sometimes chirp. Also, another egg has a tiny hole chipped
in it. I don't expect one of the eggs to hatch until day after
tomorrow, as it went in 1 day later than the rest. But, with this
early start, maybe it will come tomorrow. :o)
The hatch rate on the quail is hoped to be about 30%-50%.
I was contacted by a mountain quail source, the most
knowledgeable and the widest spectrum of bloodlines,
and he is taking orders at this time. I spent a lot of time
reading up on different sites about who has had their quail
the longest, how they pack their eggs, what the pictures of the
birds and the conditions of their cages look like. I also
read a lot of feedback on sellers thru auctions, what kind of
comments and care topics they shared with other breeders.
This revealed a lot of info about the potential health of the
birds I want eggs from, and if I don't order them this
spring, as the mountain quail eggs are hard to come by, I
would have to wait til next year. Since I do have room in the quail
brooder for a few more (lots more) I'm going to go ahead
and bite the bullet and order 6 eggs for a try when they're
ready to ship them. It's kind of like pre-booking. :o)
So, here's to getting this bator really clean! Reeeeely clean!
may princess tammy have a cleaning lady.
Chickie number 1 finally hatched out last night around 9:30.
Whew, were we both tired! It seemed to take him forever.
'He's' so very precious, and I must say I am no closer to
identifying what papa roo is from his chick! He's all black,
except for a cream crescent on his throat, cream wing tips
and belly. And he's big! 4 of the other 6 eggs have cracks,
and they seem to have picked up the tempo since I checked
on them this morning. Oh, and this first chick is loud, too. :o)
may princess tammy know who the father is.
Congratulations!!! Here's hoping the rest of the hatch goes well and you will be able to tell who papa is with the others.
Good morning Granny. I've tried to ID papa roo from
looking at many pictures. It's just hard to classify him, and
it's probably 'cause he is a 'blend'. I hope all the new babies
are as sweet as he is, regardless.:o)
may princess tammy have many sweets.
Chick #2 is here! It's going to look like mama hen! And, this
one is big, too!:o)
Mel, now I understand how excited you were to see what
your crosses would be. This is fun!
may princess tammy get one of each color.
Woo Hoo!!!!Congrats Mom!!!
Does anyone think I should remove the egg shells, or
just leave them alone til they're all done?:o)
may princess tammy be patient.
I have no clue to that, truest, I have never incubated eggs before. But, I am sure you will get the answers in a short while. Best of luck with the others.
I have put my smallest polish chick in the brooder with
#1. He was getting trampled, and he is so small, I am
shocked that chicks #1 and 2 are even bigger than he is!
The polish and others are a week and a half old, now.
He was not doing well competing for food. As soon as I put
him in, they huddled together and seem right at home. Maybe
this will give him a better chance at making it.:o)
may princess tammy have vigorous chicks.
I have 4 chicks hatched out! WooHoo! They came as
black, yellow, black, yellow, and the next in line doing well
looks like a yellow, too. One shows no chip or crack, and
the last one is due tomorrow. 2 are now in the brooder,
and the other 2 hatched are drying. All is well. :o)
may princess tammy be blessed with springtime soon.
yippee! go truest!
Wow...I missed a lot! You dont need to worry about the small pieces of shell, but I woudl remove the two halves from each of the chicks. The small amount of liquid/sac in there could start to create bacteria with the high temp and high humidity of the bator. The small pieces wont hurt anything though, and I would leave those until everyone has hatched. Congratualtions! I want to see pictures of the new babies!
Me, too, Auntie Cookie wants pix!!
Congrats on the high hatch rate on these, Joni...Good job!
Congratulations truest!
We have 6 happy chicks. One that had pipped somehow
lost the battle before it hatched, it was a black. But, the last
one due today hatched last night, and is yellow with a black
spot on it's head. It has a kind of yucky belly button, but DH
brought home 'new skin', Mel! I left her in the incubator over
night, and she is integrating and doing well. I found 2 kinds of
chicks that they closely resemble at Feathersite, and the
yellow are definately leghorn type like Blanca, and the black
ones look a lot like Araucana or Australorp chicks.
The bacteria levels in the bator are high, with hatching out
the quail on Sunday and increased temps and RH. It is
definately time to clean it!!LOL So, out of a total of 8 eggs
to start, we have the 6 and that hatch rate makes me happy.
I purchased some Brinsea brand incubator disinfectant, which
is mixed at a ratio of 1:100 parts water (strong!) And plan a
good scrubbing and spray down. I hope this takes care of any
and all funkyness for the next hatch. Pictures of the newbies
to follow. Thank you everyone for going along for the ride. I
have learned a lot and appreciate all your encouragement!:o)
may princess tammy be successful!
Here they are, my pride and joy. You can see the spots on the
newset one far right, and also my little bitty 1 1/2 week old
polish who is eating, seems happy, but not growing or standing
properly. sigh. He is smaller than the day olds!
THANK god you checked their navels! I dont think mine would have stood a chance without that stuff, and if yours didnt look good I bet it was the same thing. This is weird though...because Gimpy was my last chick to hatch too! And he was the one with the herniated umbilical cord. Hmmm...could be chance? Congratulations on your great hatch! 6 of 8 is a great number! SO weird that I also had one that started to hatch, and then didnt make it too! We had nearly identical hatches for our first times! Make sure to post pics of Blanca's babies!
Those are Blanca's babies. Those are my day olds, and the one
just hatched last night lower right, with spots on her head,
with the polish on the middle right. :o)
OH! I saw that polish and thought those were the ones you ordered live! I see now. Those chicks definately look like they will have mom's colors!
Well, looks like Davey is part araucana or australorp, as
the black chicks have cream breast, bottom and wing tips with
a lot of black on the legs. Those 2 look closest to my chicks.
The polish is really tiny, and he does much better with Blanca's
newbies. I'm just not sure what to do with him. I thought with
better access to food and water he might stand back up, off
his hocks. We'll give him some time, and see. He's certainly
happier since the move, and he has buddies. :o)
So the polish was from the batch that your ordered...and the other 6 are all Blanca's? I think I get it now. I was wondering how that plolish came out of her! Ok...just ignore me, its been a LONG day!
Yes, it has been a long couple of weeks. I totally understand. :o)
bump!
Hi TF been a while- thanks for the bump- how has everyone been?
It has been many eggs hatched since I last checked in, busy with
the new quail, and just hatched 8 homegrown ameraucana and
amer cochin crosses. It is a near miracle that any hatched- my DGD
flipped the button on the surge protector to 'OFF' and almost 24 hours
went by before I saw the bator was ice cold- I thought I would give it a try
anyway, and wonder of wonders- half of them hatched! One amer has
curled toes on one foot, and one amer/cochin cross belly button was not
fully closed, but all made it. The little belly button issue chick almost
didn't make it, but she is here and fine, and we call her 'Dinky'.
good to hear tuest
Hi There! Good to 'see' you. How are thing down there?
typo twice LOL ment to say good to hear "from" you "truest" lol sorry