Thank goodness for friends that like chickens too!
19 days for hatching Seramas?
i agree, some of my bestfriends i met from meeting them to buy peeps or chickens from. isn't that really a fun way to meet friends!!
Is it true that Silkies are very broody?
i hear that Silkies make the best adopted Moms...
i gave up today and ordered a new cable for my camera, so next week i can start posting pictures!
thank you both so much for sharing your photos. i can't wait to hear what color Fleck is, and that beautiful Sable colored one!
NOW, A QUESTION: should i incubate my bantam eggs in a separate incubator from my large ones. i will have three going, 42 eggs each, so it is doable. my bantam eggs are OEG and Rosecomb. Oh, and D'Uccles. Very Small. Smaller than silkies, larger than seramas. It sound as if the temps and humidity are different....??? I need to get going on this tomorrow after a trip to pick up eggs from the PO...
TF
I wouldn't have a clue, but I would like to know also. I have both going in the same incubator now - running the same temp and humidity (duh). I somehow wonder if anyone really need be so particular when incubating that a degree one way or the other, or a difference in humidity 20% one way or another, really matters much at all? I mean, there is probably a perfect scenario for every individual species of poultry, but maybe close enough is okay too? Sorry just rambling aloud again...Scott
20 Rh should matter a lot i would think...
ramble on, we're listening LOL
i bet silkie chick can tell us, or i can think of five others that would know or have the book LOL
hello?...............................
sorry i went to sleep early last night,lol. yes humidity makes a big difference if they drowned or get stuck in the eggs. temp matters cause it can fry them, cause to hatch to early or hatch to late. i have hatched so many breeds of chicken i honestly can't remember them all. seramas are the only ones i know of different cause they are very touchy and i have no clue why other than mabe cause they are so small. auraconas(sp?)are the next touchiest but i think they are same settings as all other breeds. i've not hatched those yet but i know true auroconas(sp?) something with the genes gives them like 25% hatch rate usually. mabe it's a gene thing with serama also cause i know alot die right before hatch for no reason. well i heard that and i'm like yeah ok well my hatch 4 died that way right before pip for no reason and only 1 made it so yep they are way more touchy than i thought.
yes, silkies are the bombs of mothers!! they will hatch anything from quail size eggs to a few duck eggs. i've heard of people doing a turkey or 2 under them at one time but dang i don't know how it would sit on them since they are so big, rotfl. bantams and standards can be hatched together no probs everything is the same and i do all mine together. only ones i do different are the seramas for chickens other species like turkey and duck are different to a point.
I hear you on the Seramas, it was unbelievable how many of them made it to full-term and just never pipped. There were a startling number that made it within maybe two days of full term, hadn't drawn in the egg yolk, but were almost completely developed. I am just thrilled that I have any that made it. There is also rumor of the recessive "lethal gene" in Serama, that was bred in from black Japanese or something, that kills about 1% within 24 hours of hatch.
I will watch my humidity closer in the future - sounds like it is critical. Ran these Seramas at 40-50% and elevated it slightly on hatch day to about 55%. Maybe if it was higher, more would have hatched?
Must have Silkies. Must have Silkies. Must have Silkies...Do you like my new Mantra, Silkie?...Scott
oh, my DH is gettin gexcited now, he's building the little penthouses and thinking we need some crested polish LOL
so, for OEG and Rosecombs, you think same as other chickens. man, those eggs are SO tiny. i have almost one incubator full, so i will do them separate just in case...
Does anyone have experience using a broody to hatch Serama? They sound so sensitive, yet I am intrigued. I wonder if it would be easier to use a Silkie or some sweet natured broody bantam to hatch them? Or is there a problem with the hatch even with natural incubation?
Certainly piqued my interest with that question...
i am sure SOMEBODY will come answer it... mmmmm. [clears throat]
not me yet. i was gonna try with some of my silkie and showgirl girls but i only have 1 broody now and a snowstorm is hitting through now. thankfully i stuck them all in the sportsman to incubate. i must say though i think mother nature would be best for any hatching they just know how to do it and i've always had better hatch rates with broodies.
most people hatch them under serama hens they are excellent broodies also but for us that don't have adults yet we just can't do that it needs a substatute somehow,
thx, SC!
I'm sure you are right, silkiechick, about natural incubation being as good as it gets. I'm thinking I should have a Silkie just for that purpose (riiight....that's the ticket). People also say cochins are excellent broodies. What to do? What to do? I started out by convincing DH I just wanted 3 chickens for eggs--now I'm thinking underground bunkers and hidden rooms in the attic:-)
yep cochins are good broodies also. see i say broodies are best cause with bators there is always a possibility with human error and for things to go wrong with parts of the bator or thermom or hygroms. where as with a broody it's naturally done they jusy do it is 2nd nature to them.
when they go broody their body temp rises and they sweat more to keep up the humidity and the temp on the nest. i like also the fact that they kick the bad eggs out, it's so funny how they somehow know which is not good.
yep my addiction started with 6 production peeps from a feed store,rotfl.
I didn't know about the increased sweating, silkiechick. I will look at any broody with more respect. Kicking out the bad eggs is a great feature, and so much less upsetting than when a cat or dog refuses to care for a baby they know is "wrong." I've heard that they now have evidence that the hen and chicks are "talking" to each other long before the chicks are ready to hatch, so she probably knows a lot about how things are going long before we do. Maybe early on the bad eggs smell different? Not that I know how well chickens smell.....
Might that explain why I break into a sweat when I know an order of eggs is supposed to be here and don't show up? Or is that anger towards the USPS...Hmm, maybe it's just Paternal instinct
Wicked snowstorm here right now - how about you Silkie? Did you get it too?
Cat - where is LODI?
rotfl, yep i got it too about 6 inches mabe more about 8. i just duffed it comeing back from my neighbers at the end of my driveway. bare with my typeing i hurt my wrist and thigh. fell on my bum but dang i knocked my back out and got a migraine now. can i say it... i HATE snow!!!! where is spring????
Lodi is many places, maineiac.... like "Springfield" there is one in almost every state and several foreign countries. The one I live in currently is in the Central Valley of Northern California. It is infamous, because in 1969 Creedance Clearwater Revival had a big hit about it called "Oh Lord, Stuck in Lodi Again." And that about explains it.
To be honest, people from here love it; most of the wine grapes used in the Napa Valley and Sonoma wineries are grown locally. But the land is flat and un-scenic--so we don't get the tourists the other places do. I am not from here, so haven't quite grasped its magical charm--but there are good points. Very quaint and well maintained downtown. Farmers markets and a fair number of dog parks that my dogs are too naughty to go to:-).
OOOOh, after reading poor silkiechicks' entry, I feel like a whiner. We are currently in the high 60's with partial sun. I miss the snow, but it must make chicken rearing a challenge.
Hope you feel better silkiechick!
This message was edited Mar 1, 2008 1:16 PM
"Paternal instinct"
are you going broody, Scott???
the eggs i got toady were cold, even with all the bubble wrap and insulation in the box. so i am lettin gget to room temp before putting them in the bator, i don't want them to affect the other eggs temps..
too bad, they were the BLRs and the MF D'Uccles...
tf
thanks cat! well my leg is fine just a small bruse where i hit the ice. my wrist on the other hand i think is sprained and part of my hand also. it hurts but not to bad but is numb and weird feeling specially in my pinky finger and part of my ring finger. i have to use my left hand for typeing now. my neighber came up with the snow blower to clear the drive for us which was sweet of him. still got a migraine too but the worst is my wrist so i got ice on it for now.
eggs only have to sit for 6-8 hours then u can incubate them and yes everyday after 7 days fertility drops lower everyday.
scott, love ur new motto, rotfl. mine is must have seramas... must have seramas...lol. how r ur babies doing??
You guys have drafted me... hook, lines and sinkers all the way..
Someday when my chicks come in....
I plan on training to be the best chick mommy, producer, processor in the world..
and meanwhile..
I will invest in an incubator and learn all about the color wheel.. and the seramas will be my obsession!!
How many serama eggs for a fuul size man for breakfast? I have to be able to tell DH something?
did u all know that seramas have no standard for colors there is i think 255+ colors i saw written some where. they are only judged on their height and weights.
i so cannot wait to see what these 59 eggs hatch out. only about 20 had colors of parents marked not the rest. i'm really excited!!! with my luck i mabe will hatch 12 babies, rotfl but hey i got way more better odds this round than last. i'll keep ya posted on how they candle and are comeing along.
i'd say 3 serama eggs =1 reg size egg.
Just tell him he's on a diet and you can feed him two or three and he will be happy.
Silkie, so sorry about your fall. You hurry and get better and watch that migraine.
Scott, paternal instinct is okay. Just so you don't get Maternal instinct. LOL
First up - Silkie, I hope you are feeling better, migraines SUCK, and falling on the ice SUCKS X 2. Ditto on the snowfall here in the frozen North. Chix are very happy and healthy, thanx. You WILL get more than 12 from Davids eggs, they are very fertile.
TF - I have gone broody - don't worry about the eggs being cold. Frozen - different story. All the eggs are close to freezing when they get here.
Cat - I always loved that CCR song but never could figure out what they were saying. Now I can brag to everyone that I have a friend there.
Frans530 - I hope you are serious about the Seramas. They are so friendly and smart. I've heard you can teach them tricks, and to come to their name when called.
Here's the kids - all growing up so fast. Little wing feathers and some small tail feathers starting to grow.
Yes Silkie.. Heres hoping you rested this afternoon and things are not quite as painful as this morning..
It was a melty day here, just worried that makes for one heck of a foggy night. But suppose to be close to 50s all week! (a little sunshine would be nice)
Yes, I am VERY serious about the Seramas.. I will get going on the egg layers.. and the silkies... learn then relearn... and you guys can teach me.. one of you could throw a spare egg my way so I can practice.. lol, you see I WILL NOT be receiving any roos... lol
And I think the funniest thing I have seen so far.. are those little, dinky tail feathers... what a hoot!!!
awe thanks, i did sleep but hurt worse,lol. still sore, definately sprained mywrist and pinky. pulled some muscle in a few places and then some. i'll be fine in a few days i hope, this does stink can't do much and i got 5 kid's to chase,lol.
that is awesome u are serious u will love them and silkies. if i can ever get these little buggers to hatch we plan to show ours this year with our others. we have shown for a few years now. so far one down,lol. i'll have to get dh to take a new pic since i can't use my hand for much.
so sorry your hand is still bothering you. try some arnica montana, works wonders. i even use it on my chickens!
eggs came to room temp now, but i candled and found some TACs. and some have these spots on the inside, is that indication they were too cold?
she shipped them the 28th, yet some are date 22 and 23. so this is really pushing it. i will wait till i get my new candler in the mail monday, most of even the Duccles eggs have speckles in the shells, and pretty think [they free range]. so i want to be sur ebefore i bother with them. this really throws off our plans...
i am not EVEN going ot consider seramas, they sound too addicting LOL
thanks, i don't know what that is nevr heard of it. today i feel some better the meds are helping now. still got a headache but the migraine is gone.
i don't candle mine for tac's when i first get them. alot of times tacs are fertile and grow. sometimes they hatch no prob, sometimes they hatch with probs and sometimes they just don't hatch. i've had all 3 happen. i put all eggs in except cracked ones but if not to bad we repair cracked sometimes it works but the membrain can't be broke for it to work. don't wait till mon put them all in now u can candle later u need to keep the fertility up to better ur hatch the longer u wait th less they will be fertile.
8 hours is plenty to allow them to sit before setting in the bator. i put them all in now and only candle day 7 or day 10 and take out any clears, blood rings and candle again on day 18 and any clears, blood rings or stop early developement, or bad cracks i remove again before going in the hatcher.if ur worried about tacs set them anyways just write tac on the egg with pencil or pen so u know cause that way later u know which they are to keep an eye on. some of those are 9 days old all ready and fertility will drop fast everyday, they need set now or u risk no hatch at all.
the only ones i've really evere not had hatch are the splotchy ones that when u candle they look like they have grease spots on them. not one of those has ever hatched for me but if it is calcium spots they are fine and hatch no prob. i'd rather set now and throw later than risk the entire batch just to find out if there was a few detached air cells which i would set anyways cause they can still hatch if you know how to do it.
for the person above who said none hatched my guess is they were not fertile or if shipped where x-rayed by the po.
silkie
thank you so much SC!
you are typing pretty well for that wrist! arnica montana is homeopathic, you can pick up a cream at the health food store. it really helps with the pain and healing.
the Duccle eggs she sent have spots inside, like you said, like greawse spots. i will label them all and get them in. i just can't imagine what she was thinking shipping old eggs, she must have been busy and not checked the dates.
if they don't work out i will try agian in May...
hey, can you hang your head over the edge of the bed, in case you need to re-align your neck?...
ur most welcome. yeah i took of the bandage for awhile since i have been takeing aleve the swelling has gone down and don't hurt like it did less i move it wrong. it is a light sprain not a real bad like some i did with my foot before so it should be good in a few days as long as i'm carefull with it. hmm... not heard of it before but we have a gnc so they may have it there not sure.
my rule of thumb is eggs go out shipped in 3 days or less to keep fresh depending on how they lay. if i have only a few laying or less breeders 5 days at most but very rarely and i limit # of eggs sent. usually if i can't ship in 3 days i keep them and we eat them or i set them in my sportsman for test hatches to check quality and fertility. eggs with spots or odd shaped actually should not be sent but i always send extras just incase the odd shaped don't hatch or some get broke and i try not to send spotted if i catch them and see it. so far the most i've sent is 52 at one time none broke and the lowest 6 with none broke. i've never knock on wood had any break in ship.
it is possible the detached air cells are from being older eggs also. actually she should have known these things as a breeder but not everyone knows that especially if they are new or don't check those things.
my neck is fine today just a spot between my shoulders that hurts a little now. yesterday felt like i had whiplash,lol.
you porbably did have whiplash!
on the other thread, catscan posted a link to a book excerpt, real good info. mentioned that some eggs are laid with TACs. has a lot to do with the health, age, and weight of the hen...