LFG

Thanks. I read all that just to see "South Carolina: See North Carolina above". I don't know if they are referring me back to the NC description, or that's what South Carolina means in Cherokee. See North Carolina above

I moved mine from the tote to the big brooder last night. I converted one of those small pre-fab coops from TS, built a platform to bring the chicks up to eye level. There's a ramp that goes up to a second level that they start climbing and diving off of at about a week old. I'm so happy with these chicks, all are so vigorous and I love the colors. I have a pic, but I want Petee to post hers first

Add "the" before we all fall down the rabbit hole

I have another batch due to hatch Wednesday-Thursday. Almost always, there are a few fully formed chicks that never hatch. Early on it was because my incubation humidity was too high, and the chicks would drown after the internal pip. Like you, my formed chicks looked perfect, but never broke through. One of them had even pipped, but never progressed any further. It could be any number of things, including just not being strong enough to hatch, but I have always wondered if the soccer match that ensues after the first few dry off disrupts the actions of chicks that would have otherwise hatched healthy. I'm going to try something different this hatch that I have read about, but never tried. I'm going to put the eggs in Styrofoam cartons and hatch them upright. I know they will hatch upright, I've seen it happen when the incubator is packed, but after a few hatch the rest fall over, then can be rolled around. You cut the bottoms out of the cups to provide air flow, then leave the cartons in all through lockdown. This will be a good experience for me to know if it works, and may be interesting to you guys to see the results

Have you ever seen the movie "Kingpin"?

That's a good idea, but what Petee said is right. Odd colors like that encourage pecking. When I am hatching chicks from multiple pens of the same breeds, I toe punch. It's not as bad as it sounds, and the marks last forever. It's like a tiny hole punch that clips the webbing between their toes. You can mark birds from several pens and roosters using a combination of left foot/right foot and first or second web. I wouldn't recommend that for just identifying a small number of birds, but it's great for breeding. When the chicks are sold, the buyer and I can track the lineage and base future breeding matches on what has worked in the past

a lot of times just putting the camera right in front of them will make them pose. They will get curious and start checking it out, and you can get some good up-close shots

I use tiny little colored rubber bands, but I think I ordered them from Amazon. They might have them at Rural King, I don't know

I have been accused of far more insidious motives here

Petee, all of DooBwa and part of upstate SC are waiting to see your chicks. I'll give you until tomorrow to produce, or I'll start posting pics of their brothers and sisters

Gotta say, my personal favorite is DooBwa. Has a certain je ne c'est quois

The name will still work if it turns out to be a rooster, Petee will just have to introduce him to Johnny Cash

Well, if you're going the heritage route, then you gotta add Sue. Landy Sue, redneck hen of DooBwaAnd they will, quite literally, have red necks

I started to ask if you were going to do eggtopsies, but didn't want you to feel obliged. Of my 5 that didn't hatch, 2 were mottled, 3 smooth. 3 fully formed, 2 early quitters. Thats a tough thing to do, but it does help with future hatches, thanks for the info.Now for the good news. You can tell a lot about quality when they hatch, and this is my first batch off this rooster. These are the best looking chicks I've ever hatched. Plenty of white without being overly white. You don't want them too dark, either. You want the hens to have some copper, but not so much that it looks brassy, and usually chicks colored like this grow out just right. The roosters you have will make excellent breeders if you know anyone interested

I appreciate the vote, but these are DooBwa birds now

After 7 years I have decided to shut everything down after day 22. If anything were to hatch now, chances are much greater that it will hatch with issues. I'm so tickled you at least got 7. If you don't wind up with enough girls, let me know

Those Davis birds will keep those fluffy bottoms. They are pretty fluffy underneath even as adults. Are they not the sweetest, most docile chicks ever? By far the most calm of all my breeds

You still at 7? If I had known those young eggs were so good I would have sent more of those. I just put mine in the brooder. 18 hatched, 5 eggs left, 2 pipped. This is one of my best hatches this year

In my defense, that offer was made before I joined the debate forum

Another thing people should realize, and I'm not bragging about my equipment, but I have a $400 incubator. All the bells and whistles, digital temp and humidity control, automatic turning, insulated ABS plastic shell, highly advanced air distribution, etc... plug it in and walk away. Petee is using styrofoam with a simple element. She may not even have a fan to more evenly distribute the heat. She has to measure, set, and monitor her temperature. She has to measure her own humidity. She has to hand turn the eggs several times per day. When she lifts the lid then puts it back on, it takes a while to stabilize. Mine returns to temperature in 30 seconds. I do this every 10 days, she is using an incubator that her adult son tried to eat the last time she had it out. I'm very impressed

Much better You're a pretty good dude for a mod

Really? I haven't opened mine yet to see, and the incubator is just a pile of fluff. What that tells me is I have one or two girls laying mottled eggs that are playing hard to get

I'm surprised about the large eggs. The smaller eggs were a backup, I wasn't sure about fertility, but I'm seeing the same thing on my end. All two dozen were from the young girls, 23 were fertile, and they are hatching strongBTW, can you perform a 90 degree clockwise rotate on my pic?

Dang, don't know why it posted sideways.