Yesssss! I come home for lunch and look in the hatcher and 2 of the 5 Nankins eggs are pipping. They aren't due to hatch until tomorrow. Now I am a little worried--these are very small critically endangered heritage bantams...and I know little about bantams. I have Riley, who is a Silkie and pretty robust at 4 weeks and another little basket with Silkie/Sebright crosses that are also due to hatch tomorrow--but they seem pretty large compared to Nankins. I think only Serama are smaller. What do I need to know to keep them safe--they will be mixed in with other standard chicks due to hatch tomorrow and Thursday. What should I watch for with a mixed group? Should I separate them? Can they use the little chick waterer if I keep it filled with marbles? I am so excited! These are my one sort of off-the-wall breed. The eggs are just a little larger than a robin's. Can't eat them--though they are known as excellent broodies for quail and other game birds. But they are critically endangered in both the US and Britain so I am doing a good thing--right? Justify me! Justify me!
Oh yes, I do have them in those little green baskets strawberries come in. They are great for keeping lines separate.
This message was edited May 27, 2008 4:52 PM
The Nankins are pipping! The Nankins are pipping!
OMG! so happy for you! sound like they will be safe in their baskets LOL.
you are so noble for hatching out these dear critters, i'll nominate you for an award, be sure to tell that to DH ^_^
i would answer yourquestions if i could. i've had poo rluck with my OEG eggs. i think check them frequently to make sure they don't get stuck in the shell or just tire and die.
tf
Don't worry as long as they are eating and drinking before you add them to the slightly older or bigger ones. I have found my sebrights try to hundle under larger chicks they they would do with a hen/mother for warmth and security. Of course this is my exp.
And I didn't know you were hatching them!!! They really remind of Sebrights or Sebrights of them! I have a guinea keet hatching as I type I am grabbing him tonight if he is out. I lost the last one to bulling/being thrown out by one of the big gals.
GOOD LUCK!! And don't forget to post baby pics when you can!
Hi Lora--Riley did the same thing when he was little! But he is a big boy now and acts very cocky. I am very excited about having other bantams soon to keep him company. I'll post pictures. Good luck with your keet!
Can't wait to see pictures.
Just got home from work and 4 are pipping--the 5th may be, but it is shrouded in cheesecloth.
Lora--Nankins were used in creating Sebrights--you have a very good eye!
and do you have a link so we can all learn about these oriental fowl?
Of course I have!
http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/nankin.html
AND I also have a Nankin--the first one hatched just a minute ago!:0)
you are NOT going ot bed anytime soon, you may as well just call in sick to swork...
I would never falsely call in sick! But I sicken easily:0).
Here is the crowded hatcher.
And here is my Nankin first born:
FINALLY!
absolutely adorable!
And the fifth one has pipped! I need a roo...never thought I would say that, but I really would like to breed these...they are very endangered. So one roo and four pullets. Is the Chicken Fairy listening?
yes, she is!
awe, it is so little, way to cute!! i've never seen a peep that breed, thanks so much for shareing!! can't wait to see more pics!
silkie
She is so dainty!
I think I am in love....
She is a real cutie! How are you feeling, poor thing! Are you sick, yet?
More blurry pictures! A Sebright or Sebright/Silkie cross hatched during the night. You can see the size difference--both are bantams.
The new chick does not look at all like Riley, my Silkie--this one has bare legs and four clean toes. What do you think Lora--Sebright or Silkie/Sebright?
I didn't get sick fast enough, melvatoo:0(. So I am at work--but I only live 10 min away--so I will check at lunch. None of the Standard breed eggs have pipped yet--but they looked good when I put them in Sunday. And the newest chick is definitely a rose-comb!
I really need to learn how to use the camera better......
Too bad..was hoping you could stay home with the chicklets...
Me too!
i put the flu virus under your pillow last night LOL
oh, i guess it was the bird flu, and you already have that!
lovely birds, and i will say number two is a pb golden seabright. i have four and love them!
tf
I panicked all the way home--convinced that the hatcher would have malfunctioned and cooked everyone! But when I got here this is what I found! And the other 3 Silkie/Sebright and two of the 5 Standard breeds due today have pipped!
Of course the hatcher was fine---how could a 25 watt bulb malfunction unless it burned out?
The second Nankin is bigger--I'm thinking roo!
This message was edited May 28, 2008 3:20 PM
yippee! me thinks your flock is GROW-ing!
Just heard that insistant peeping that means "I'm out!" and sure enough another Nankin has hatched! One other Nankin egg is on the fast track and one is making progress. They should all be out by the time I get home!
Its funny, because the second Nankin found its way into the berry box with the other chicks by itself. I had moved it into the egg carton so the hatched chicks wouldn't jossel it too much.
Okay the camera strap is in the way!
didn't you have them separate for a reaosn?
Its looks like a golden sebright to me. Congrats!!
Thank you, Lora! Thats what I thought...still don't know what a Silkie/Sebright cross will look like. Maybe the next one to hatch will show me?:0)
TF--well, no. Even I can't really mix these breeds up--just didn't have room in the hatcher to put them all in cartons and I thought I would experiment with the berry boxes for future hatches that involved distinct lines. They work very well, but only with small eggs--Do they make larger boxes? Because all you would have to do it make a little lid and you could keep everything separate. They are easy to clean too. And these were free to me because DH bought too many berries from an itinerant berry peddlar.
When I went into the feed store to buy another set of chick feeders and waterers, the staff said, "What have you done?!" I said "I hatched more chicks!". Then they said "We may have to start buying from you!" I though they were joking, but then they started cross examining on how many I had (not enough to sell--yet). So....someday, Maybe?
Its always good for them to know that you hatch. I sold 5 mixed bantams to a gentleman that got my number from my local feed store. He wanted bantams but no one else did so they did meet the min. for buying them. I made a quick $20 (was $17.50 he gave me a tip), thats almost two bags of feed. I have had a lot of calls for guineas but have none :( one hatched but didn't make it. I am hoping that Opal walks out of the woods with a bunch of keets behind her. Its a very very VERY long shoot! I should know in the next week or so...... I did find a fresh guinea egg in the house this am so maybe they are laying again too
I can sell all the mixed or pure bantams I can hatch. The ones under my chicks are the last for this year unless someone calls or emails for some. Plus I can hang up a for sale ad with my full size chicks now since they only order chicks once a year.
I am going to set up a whole thing in the basement for hatching and raising chicks next winter. I could have sold a ton of older chicks to people who didn't want to brood them. I can repurpose all the extra roosters as meat birds. So I am going to start earlier. Plus it will keep me more active next winter if we have another one of those winters
I'm seriously considering following your example, Lora.
Look what I came home to! How many chicks do you see?
I moved the first two (Nankin and Sebright) to the brooder after this, because I was afraid 7 chicks in a basket (which they insist on doing) might end with one of the tiny Nankins being smothered. There seems to be two different sizes with the Nankins--maybe cockerel and pullet?
One of the Barnevelders due tomorrow has pipped!
They are beyond, being cute!!
aawww how sweet. You have quite a bunch there. A basket full of babies.
wow, seven chicks in a berry basket!!! those Nankins are way too adorable!
so, what is your total outcome?
how are you rlittle rare chicks doing?
They are doing beautifully and I think I have 3 pullets and two roos. I'll take a picture to show how they have grown and how very small they are. The Sebright dwarfs them:0)