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

Friends and I have been enjoying the Chickolympics.  They suddenly run full speed across the tote and almost crash into the other side.  Then everyone follows.

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

And a steer too.  I wasn't completely oblivious.  Although I was in heat a lot back then.

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

  Some died early in the shell and some died fully formed and apparently perfect.

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

I hope you knew the difference between a cow & a bull in your younger years!!!

Have you ever seen the movie "Kingpin"?

How about a stripe of your granddaughter's nail polish on a toenail? A friend of mine did that with her twins when they were infants until they could tell them apart!

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

I tried the ankle bracelets but even the small ones are too big. Then I tried a little magic marker on the surface of the down on their bellies. I'll see if it lasts long enough to be worthwhile.

 

If my opinion the flight feathers is accurate then I have 4 pullets (females) and 3 cockerels (males)

 

Yellow, orange and black are cockerels

Blue, green, pink and no color are pullets.

 

We did take pictures but it was very hard. Any secrets to getting them to pose?

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

It was suggested not to do that since the chicks might try to peck it off and either ingest the polish or peck each other. First I tried spiraled plastic twist ties but they immediately started messing with them and I was afraid they would swallow one.

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

So it all comes down to this...it seems all you're after are "chick pics". BWAHAHAHAHAHA

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

OK, I'm making a list:

 

DooBwa

Landy Sue

Fluffy Butt

Ky-Lee

 

I like them all!

 

Last year my grandkids named them and obviously they were hungry.

 

Oreo

Peaches

Buttercup

I can't remember the rooster's name? He was replaced by Penny. I was obviously thinking of money!

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

Sounds like Petee already has some banding to do.

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

Sorry my man, I'm voting with Bon.

Let's face it - you gotta remember where you've been before you can figure out where you're going.

Well, if you're going the heritage route, then you gotta add Sue. Landy Sue, redneck hen of DooBwa

And they will, quite literally, have red necks

There will be no more chicks hatching. My granddaughter and her friend helped me do "eggtopsies" today. The results were surprising and may help you in your incubation efforts. None of the eggs that I marked as mottled survived. It could be a connection. Some died early in the shell and some died fully formed and apparently perfect. It was stressful to do (a few tears were shed) but I thought it might help you to know when and why they died. The girls are outside playing, all smiles and excitement to tell everyone about their adventure today.

 

I've forwarded Steve the results so everyone can see them.

 

So let's line up names for the seven little beauties. Then I can leg band them.

 

DooBwa

Fluffy Butt

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

Landy - Landfillguy

I appreciate the vote, but these are DooBwa birds now

They also need to shave their legs!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marans

 

I got out my stethescope this morning to see if I could hear any activity in the remaining eggs. Nothing. I also candled one and it still looks good (60% dark and 40% air properly slanted).

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

Yes, it's looks like there may be no one action on the horizon. I see no more active pips but it's hard to tell without removing them from the incubator. Tomorrow I'll candle them again and dispose of anything that isn't dark.

 

These chicks are the cutest things. Black top and white puffy bottoms. It looks like they have a fuzzy pom pom under their butts.

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

I don't go there! Too many crabby opinionated people. I'd rather stay here and be the crabby opinionated old lady!

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

Well, in his defense, he was a kid at the time. You're right, no fan.

 

I'm impressed that you sent the eggs! Thank you.

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

no problem.. fixed on above post^^^^^^

Much better

You're a pretty good dude for a mod

I also noticed that only the smooth colored eggs are hatching. Those with mottled spots and colors aren't.

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

here yo go Petee

 

 

Egg sizes.pdf

 

 

egg1.jpg

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 strong

BTW, can you perform a 90 degree clockwise rotate on my pic?

Dang, don't know why it posted sideways.