What's in your flock?

[Ridgerunner]

Cat, I knew photos would be required when I first mentioned them. I'm interested in what happens too. The rooster is fairly young and it was COLD when I collected those eggs. I was down there every couple of hours to try to keep them from getting too cold. I have no idea what kind of hatch I'll get.

 

[buckabucka]

Let me know how your hatch comes out. I got a new incubator for Christmas after many bad hatches from my Hovabator. I am beginning to collect eggs for my first try with the new one.

What kind of incubator did you get? I'm excited to hatch some eggs, but it will be at least mid-March before I get anything going.

 

[canesisters]

Cane, do you mean me? I want to wait because I am getting eggs right now from my hens. Since they stop laying in the fall, I might as well get chicks then. This way they will be ready to lay once springs arrives.

Mary

Well that is a good idea! Why did that never occur to me???

Just always went along with everyone elses' flow of "Spring chicks"...

 

[ninnymary]

Cane, it is sooooo hard to wait though. Especially when I go to the feed store and tell my husband I just HAVE to look at the chicks. Unfortunately, we are limited to 6 in Alameda. Otherwise, I would definitely get them in the spring and have my layers also.

Mary

 

[catjac1975]

I had a Hovabator for 25-30 years. I put eggs in and got chicks out. When it finally gave out I bought a new one and it is terrible. for 2 or more years I got nothing but terrible hatches. I was disappointed in Jeffers from whom I bought, and hovabator for not honoring their warrantee. Now their warrantee is 30 days. No faith in their product I would say. I bought a digital thermometer and found the temp fluctuated 5 degrees.

I got a Kinsuro Max 20 for Christmas. It was a little more money than the Hovabator. It is made in South Korea which made me uneasy, not knowing what quality of products they produce. Backyard Chicken Magazine rated it highly, said about it, "You put eggs in, and get chicks out." So I decided that was the one for me. It has a 2 year warrantee if you buy form the companies web site.

I too have been saving eggs. I am going to hatch Lavender Cochins which seem to be difficult to hatch. They sometimes lay a slightly smaller egg which is bad for hatching. The last hatch I tried, (poor outcome) had a lot of blanks, which of course means the roosters are not doing their job. I do have concerns about how cold it has been, and am also going out to the coup several times a day.I will give up on the lavenders if I continue to have bad hatches. One thing that happened this winter is one of the young lavenders had it feet damaged by the cold and eventually died. I have never had that happen to any bird. I have another whose feet don't look so good-hope it is alright. They were not all that young when it happened. The full grown birds are fine.

My new interest is blue laced and silver laced wyandottes. They seem very hardy and are very beautiful. I will try that if the Lavenders don't hatch better with my new incubator.

 

[catjac1975]

Cane, do you mean me? I want to wait because I am getting eggs right now from my hens. Since they stop laying in the fall, I might as well get chicks then. This way they will be ready to lay once springs arrives.

Mary

If you give them some night time light they will lay all winter.

 

[thistlebloom]

Cat, I'm very happy with my Wyandotte girls.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Cat, it’s not always the rooster’s fault when they are blank. Some are more fertile than others and some get less “active” as they get older. A rooster may be injured or sick somehow, so he is not very fertile. Frostbite to the comb and wattles might cause a drop in fertility. If the rooster is molting he may not be very fertile. An immature rooster may not have earned the respect of older hens so they don’t allow him privileges. So yes it is certainly possible it could be his fault.


It could have to do with collecting and storing the eggs. If they get too cold or too hot it’s not good. Them cycling between cool and warm a few times is not good even if it doesn’t get that extreme. I had a lousy hatch one time, 10 out of 30, because I shook them up when I was bringing them home on a bumpy country road. I did not cushion them enough. Boy was I mad at myself! Health, nutrition, and age of the flock can make a difference. Hens tend to lose fertility when they get old, even if they still lay eggs.


Now I’m ready to throw you a curve ball since you mentioned cochin. Some thick feathered chickens, like orpington or cochin, may have feathers so thick the rooster can’t hit the target. This is normally not hatchery quality birds but rather the birds bred for show since they are specially bred and fed to have thick pretty fluffy feathers. It’s not unusual for breeders of show birds to trim the feathers around the vents of the roosters and hens to make that target more available. Most just take scissors and trim the fluff away. One lady said she plucked them so they will grow back before the molt.


I don’t know what is going on with yours. Good luck on that hatch.

 

[catjac1975]

Most roosters I have had in the past are constantly doing their job.Though I do remember a long time ago having a very large rooster that seemed too slow to catch the hens, resulting in many blanks. The last hatch was late last summer. Most of the problem has been the incubator, with various levels of chick death. But the last hatch had many blanks-I had never even seen that many before. It was a very hot summer and I was saving the eggs on the kitchen counter. But I usually see a bit of fertility in nearly each egg. That is why I blamed the roosters. The birds are all pretty young. The chicks are very expensive to buy so I rather think they may be a more difficult chick to hatch anyway. And with this cold weather I have not actually witnessed much rooster action. They have spent a lot of time in the house with all the snow so maybe I am just not observing the mating. I am still going to give it a try. I am anxious to use my new incubator and what have I got to lose other than a couple dozen eggs? Though it is always disappointing to have a poor hatch. These lavenders do not seem to have quite as heavy a feather as our blue cochins. We often had chick death in the shells with the blue cochins. It always seems like it was too big a chick in the egg. They too are a little more expensive a chick to purchase. I am really leaning towards the Wyandottes, but my husband loves the lavenders. I love the looks and the temperament of the wyandottes. The 2 I have give me an egg a day.

 

[catjac1975]

Cane, it is sooooo hard to wait though. Especially when I go to the feed store and tell my husband I just HAVE to look at the chicks. Unfortunately, we are limited to 6 in Alameda. Otherwise, I would definitely get them in the spring and have my layers also.

Mary

So do they have Chicken police in your town? Hahahahaha