First of all, sorry for the lack of updates! I've been über busy at work with an unscheduled report being assigned to me. That has really scuppered a lot of my free time, and I've been working long hours... anway enough of the grousing.
Last Sunday I had 10 CLB eggs due to hatch; however when I candled them again on day 18 with my home made candler, I thought that possibly 6 or 8 had quit, and only 2 were viable. However I was unsure, so I marked the "viable" eggs and put them all into the hatcher. I was most excited when I had a pip on Saturday, unfortunately the chick pipped through his yolk, and drowned in the shell :(
On Saturday I received my new "800 lumen" torch from ebay. I don't think it is really 800 lumens, but I can surely see into all of my eggs now! So on sunday I candled the remaining eggs in the hatcher, and as I had thought, only one was viable (the one I had marked), and the others were quitters :'(
By Sunday evening I couldn't stand it any longer and i cracked the shell of the remaining egg as it had been pipped internally for over 24 hours... in hindsight it was probably the worst thing I could have done, even though I meant well.
The chick needed a lot of assistance to hatch over 48 hours, and although he's had a warm bath and blowdry, he never really fluffed up, and I came home from wrok yesterday to find that he'd died :(
From now on I will never assist a chick to hatch.
Anyway, on to happier news, I've now ordered 10 araucana eggs from Germany. They appear to be a beautiful blue colour on the website, so I hope this is how they are in reality. The postage is waaaaay cheaper than the ebay postage, so that is a bonus. Pics to follow when they have arrived.
Further happier news: on Tuesday morning I candled the remaining 19 bantam dotte eggs, and found that 18 of them were viable, so they were moved to the hatcher, which had been partitioned off to keep the colours separate (well that was the idea!)
Imagine my surprise when I came home last night (day 19) to find 2 pips! Even more surprising, one of the chicks acutally hatched last night, and while it is not unheard of for bantams to hatch on day 19, I think they mostly go through to day 21.
So, I got up this morning to a fluffly little chick. I put a zip tie on him to colour mark him (I think he is one of the buff laced, but I won't be sure until he starts to get his feathers through - unfortunately the eggs were poorly marked, and although they are differentiated, I don't know which are which). There were also a further 3 pips, so I'm hoping that I will have at least some to watch hatch tonight.
I'll update this post with photos once I get the chance.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
I'm a mum!!!
Typically, as with all of these things, the little peep hatched overnight when there was no one watching.
It was a very clean hatch:
Once the peep was fluffed up I took him (or her) out of the hatcher and into the brooder:
Within minutes he was stumbling round, and once I showed him where the food and water were I felt much happier!
Of course this was just a "dry run" as I hopefully have 10 CLBs to hatch next weekend!
It was a very clean hatch:
Once the peep was fluffed up I took him (or her) out of the hatcher and into the brooder:
Within minutes he was stumbling round, and once I showed him where the food and water were I felt much happier!
Of course this was just a "dry run" as I hopefully have 10 CLBs to hatch next weekend!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Very quick update...
One of the eggs in the hatcher is cheeping!
This means that it has "pipped internally" i.e. it has broken the membrane of the air cell, and is gathering strength to break through the outer shell.
Unfortunately You can't see this, so no photos :(
Hopefully within 24 hours I'll have some exciting photos to share :D
This means that it has "pipped internally" i.e. it has broken the membrane of the air cell, and is gathering strength to break through the outer shell.
Unfortunately You can't see this, so no photos :(
Hopefully within 24 hours I'll have some exciting photos to share :D
Things are hotting up...
Let's see what's being going on since my last update...
Oh yes,
My bantam dotte eggs are now happily ensconced in thier RCOM King Suro incubator and are on day 8
I received a mix of blue birchen and birchen eggs from a Marans breeder here in France. Infortunately 3 of the 12 were smooshed
But the remainong ones were very, very nice
They are now on day 1 in the incubator along with my day 13 CLBs
More excitingly, I now have my two test eggs in the hatcher on day 20... which means, theoretically, they should be hatching tomrrow!!!
Of course, now that they are in the hatcher I'm full of doubts. The shells are too thick for my torch to penetrate, and although they both show good clear air cells, I can't actually tell if they are viable or not.
I am now going to be on tenterhooks until Monday at least!
Oh yes,
My bantam dotte eggs are now happily ensconced in thier RCOM King Suro incubator and are on day 8
I received a mix of blue birchen and birchen eggs from a Marans breeder here in France. Infortunately 3 of the 12 were smooshed
I am now going to be on tenterhooks until Monday at least!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
More eggs...
Today is day 10 for the test hatch of my "Marans" eggs, day 4 for the CLB, and day -1 for ny newly arrived bantam Wyandotte eggs... all 22 of them.
They arrived safe and sound, with not a crack between them, so they are currently equilibrating in the incubation room.
However... I'm a little disappointed in them :-( quite a lot of them have very porus shells, and at least three are dirty. I don't like washing eggs, so I think I might try the sandpaper route, and try to gently buff the dirt off. those eggs where they are "smeared" I'll just leave, but put them all together at one side of the inubator and try to separate them from the others.
I'm now anxiously awaiting the arrival of a hi lume torch, with the hope I will be able to see through the dark shells of the Marans, and the thick shells of the CLBs... Hopefully I will also be able to take some photos of the candled eggs for information and comparisons :-)
I also hope to receive another 22 eggs next week, 10 brahmas and 12 Marans, but that's for another time!
They arrived safe and sound, with not a crack between them, so they are currently equilibrating in the incubation room.
However... I'm a little disappointed in them :-( quite a lot of them have very porus shells, and at least three are dirty. I don't like washing eggs, so I think I might try the sandpaper route, and try to gently buff the dirt off. those eggs where they are "smeared" I'll just leave, but put them all together at one side of the inubator and try to separate them from the others.
I'm now anxiously awaiting the arrival of a hi lume torch, with the hope I will be able to see through the dark shells of the Marans, and the thick shells of the CLBs... Hopefully I will also be able to take some photos of the candled eggs for information and comparisons :-)
I also hope to receive another 22 eggs next week, 10 brahmas and 12 Marans, but that's for another time!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Getting started
Today I set my first "real" hatching eggs... very eggciting (if you pardon the pun... the only time it will appear here, honest!)
So I have two sets of six eggs from two different breeding pens of CLBs. They candled with no cracks yesterday, so new I'm eagerly awaiting next Sunday to candle again to check viability. I'm so hoping that they have survived the postage process OK.
The two brown eggs in the middle are a couple from my (supposed) Marans just to check fertility... they both seem to be viable at day 7, but it is difficult to see as the shells are soooo thick!
I have some eggs which should arrive next week, no doubt this blog will be pretty quiet until then.
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| My first set hatching eggs of the season |
The two brown eggs in the middle are a couple from my (supposed) Marans just to check fertility... they both seem to be viable at day 7, but it is difficult to see as the shells are soooo thick!
I have some eggs which should arrive next week, no doubt this blog will be pretty quiet until then.
Saturday 29th Jan: Setting up the "incubation room"
Once again it was cold and wet outside, so I didn't get much done in the garden/chicken pen. I did test out my new "girly" chainsaw though:
The Black and Decker GKC1817 is a cordless electric chainsaw. It weighs only 2.5kg with the battery attached, which makes it very handy and easy to use for a person, like me, who is not used to wielding heavy equipment. Obviously being electric it doesn't have the muscle to do any major work, but I think it will do to help me cut up the downed branches I need to tidy up quite nicely.
So, not being able to get out into the garden, I turned my attention to my "incubation room" which is actually me spare bedroom. I like it for incubation as it is an enclosed space (the rest of my house being open plan), and I can keep it at a steady temperature. It also has a lino floor for easy cleaning (not my choice! it came with the house.) Of course, as with all good incubations rooms it also has a comfy chair, books and a TV with blu-ray player for hatching times LOL. I spent yesterday afternoon putting up a shelf and organising my incubators:
So now I have room for my new hatcher which should arrive next week. I think I need more hygrometers though. My house is very dry, and the relative humidity in the room is only 20%, therefore, even with the fully auto incubators I like to have a seconday check... but getting accurate, and reasonably inexpensive hygrometers is pretty difficult.
Excitement at lunchtime
I received my first hatching eggs of the year from a member of The Poultry Garden which is one of the most friendly poultry fora I know of. They are Cream Legbar (CLB), and are from some show winning stock. I candled them all, and all 12 survived the postage system without cracks... nice one Em for careful packaging. I let them rest and come up to room temperature before I set them.
Another thing I spent time doing was putting together an Excel sheet to track incoming eggs, cost, source, breed, outcome etc.
It will also record any chicks which are leg rung, and their ring numbers... hopefully I will also be able to use it to track sales, and show points.
All in all quite a productive day
The Black and Decker GKC1817 is a cordless electric chainsaw. It weighs only 2.5kg with the battery attached, which makes it very handy and easy to use for a person, like me, who is not used to wielding heavy equipment. Obviously being electric it doesn't have the muscle to do any major work, but I think it will do to help me cut up the downed branches I need to tidy up quite nicely.
So, not being able to get out into the garden, I turned my attention to my "incubation room" which is actually me spare bedroom. I like it for incubation as it is an enclosed space (the rest of my house being open plan), and I can keep it at a steady temperature. It also has a lino floor for easy cleaning (not my choice! it came with the house.) Of course, as with all good incubations rooms it also has a comfy chair, books and a TV with blu-ray player for hatching times LOL. I spent yesterday afternoon putting up a shelf and organising my incubators:
 |
| Incubation and hatching set up |
So now I have room for my new hatcher which should arrive next week. I think I need more hygrometers though. My house is very dry, and the relative humidity in the room is only 20%, therefore, even with the fully auto incubators I like to have a seconday check... but getting accurate, and reasonably inexpensive hygrometers is pretty difficult.
Excitement at lunchtime
I received my first hatching eggs of the year from a member of The Poultry Garden which is one of the most friendly poultry fora I know of. They are Cream Legbar (CLB), and are from some show winning stock. I candled them all, and all 12 survived the postage system without cracks... nice one Em for careful packaging. I let them rest and come up to room temperature before I set them.
Another thing I spent time doing was putting together an Excel sheet to track incoming eggs, cost, source, breed, outcome etc.
 |
| Example of chook tracking sheet |
All in all quite a productive day
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