Update

On the 19th I put 15 Silkie eggs and 7 Faverolles eggs (from my pair) into my new incubator. I checked them at 7 days and, unfortunately, only 5 of the Silkie eggs were developing. I cracked open the clears and they looked like they were not fertile. I checked a couple days later and one of the 5 Silkie eggs had a blood ring so I had to throw it out. Right now I have only 4 Silkie eggs that are doing well. 1 Cuckoo, 1 Splash, and 2 White. I also threw in 7 Faverolles eggs from my pair and 6 of them are developing great. One of those also had a blood ring and I had to throw it out.. which I expected because all but  2 of the Faverolles eggs that I put into the incubator had been washed and in my fridge for eating! I didn't expect much out of them but I've been pleasantly surprised. I can't wait to get some babies from Derp and Penny!

Sorry, no pictures this time!  Lockdown is due on Sun. Jan 5th.

Update

It's been a while since I last posted. The first set of chicks that I hatched out (D'uccles and Silkie Crosses) were killed by a skunk that dug underneath the coop. I tried to keep the next batch of chicks safe (Ameraucanas) by releasing them in one of my barn stalls when they were old enough to go outside. I thought I had blocked up every hole into the stall but the same skunk that killed my first chicks ended up finding a way to get in and killed all of the second batch of chicks except for one hen who got up onto the roosting pole. Her name is now "Lucky". Lol. At first I was devastated that I had put so much time and effort into raising chicks that ended up being skunk food. After the initial shock, I realized that it was a learning experience. The chicks did not survive because I did not teach them to get up onto a roost before putting them outside and because I did not plug the holes into the stall well enough. The first batch of chicks died because I had the coop sitting on soft earth that was easy to dig through and I did not have a way to prevent whatever from digging up through the bottom of the coop.

I forgot to close the coop door one night and something came along and killed my silkies. I suspect it was a fox as all I found of one was its feet and the other was gone completely. Whatever it was, it was large enough that it attacked Derp, who is every bit of 8lbs. Derp was all right, but he was missing quite a few tailfeathers!

So now, going into 2014, I have three chickens total. Derp and Penny the Faverolles, and Lucky the Ameraucana. The skunk is gone and I have not had any trouble from predators since I dispatched it into skunk heaven. I will be adding a wire bottom to my coops and making a brooder with roosting poles inside of it.

I sold my Brinsea Mini Advance Incubator and purchased... a Hovabator Genesis 1588! Now I can hatch out up to 42 eggs at a time. I am going to pick up 12+ Silkie eggs tomorrow that I purchased from a local breeder through Ebay and add around 6 of Penny's Faverolles eggs as well. I'm curious to see how Penny's eggs will hatch out because I've had quite a few of them stored in the refrigerator.

My new Hovabator Genesis 1588

Hatched!

The chicks have hatched! Half of them decided to hatch on day 20 and half on day 21. All 6 of the eggs that were developing hatched. Though... I opened the incubator more than I should have.. like five or six times. I kept panicking thinking they were stuck or that I had to take the egg shells out that they were tripping over. I guess that's normal for a first time hatcher like myself, lol. Though NEXT TIME I will sit on my hands and not open the lid!!

Three had hatched at this point.

I'm waiting until tonight to put them in the brooder so they'll be nice and fluffed out since I don't have a lamp, just a Brinsea Ecoglow which they huddle under to stay warm.

Also, my Ameraucana eggs arrived today! Going to let them sit a day while I clean up the incubator and start all over again, lol!

Egg Update

The D'uccle eggs should hatch between Monday and Wednesday next week! I am excited. (: Hope I get at least one blue mottled bird!

I checked on the eggs my Silkies are sitting on yesterday and all five of their own eggs (Faverolles x Silkie) are developing. The leftover D'uccle egg, however, was not and I tossed it. Oh well, it was worth a try. Hopefully them hatching their own eggs will cement their broodiness so I can use them to hatch shipped eggs I purchase in the future.

Will update with pictures when the hatch begins!

Sooooooo I just bid on some Blue Wheaten Ameraucana eggs... if I win the auction, they'll be the last chicks I hatch this year. I am trying to get my stock established for next year so I can start selling hatching eggs. Im planning on having a Blue/Black Mottled D'uccle pen, Faverolles and Ameraucana pen (Faverolles x Ameraucana = Easter Egger), and a Mille Fleur bantam Cochin pen. I guess I'll have to hatch out the Faverolles and Cochins next year but that's all right. I'm getting there lol.

Also, I found this while looking up Silkie color genetics. Mottled Silkies! There are very, very few of these in development right now. They're made by crossing a mottled Cochin with a black Silkie for several generations. This would be a cool project but I would hate to end up with tons of culls from each generation and have to try to find homes for them all. Never the less, they still look cool!

Black Mottled Silkie

Update- 7 Days to Lockdown!

There are officially 7 more days until lockdown! I suspect some of the eggs might try to hatch a little early just because they were transported in the summer heat, but we'll see what happens.

Took this yesterday. Now it is on Day 9.

The two silkies, Brenda and Phyllis, are still brooding. I took some of the eggs that were underneath Brenda and put them in a separate nestbox and moved Phyllis over to it. (Phyllis has been nesting ON TOP of Brenda) The next morning I went out to the coop, Brenda and Phyllis had switched nestboxes..but at least they weren't on top of each other again. They are sitting on 4 of their own Faverolles/Silkie cross eggs and one D'uccle egg I snuck in. I haven't tried to candle these eggs yet even though they've been sitting on them for around 5 days now. I'll candle them tonight and see what is going on.

Brenda on the left, Phyllis on the right.

 

 

The eggs that Phyllis is sitting on. One of these is the spare D'uccle egg.

Egg Update

I candled the eggs on Wednesday, approximately six days since I put them in the incubator. Six out of seven of the eggs appear to be developing! One looks like it was never fertilized. Oh well. 6/7 is still a good rate for eggs that were shipped in the middle of summer from several states away.

In other news, both of my silkies have gone broody. In the same nestbox. Phyllis is literally sitting on top of Brenda, lol. I felt around and they had two eggs underneath them. I received an additional egg in my egg shipment that wouldn't fit into my incubator so it has been sitting on our kitchen table since last Wednesday. THIS Wednesday I put it underneath Brenda and Phyllis to see if they will hatch it. The egg would be at least 8 days old, so I doubt it will develop but it is worth a try. Will candle it here in a few days if I manage to push them out of the nestbox and update!

Sorry, no pictures this time. ): 13 Days left to hatch!

The Eggs have Arrived!

The eggs have arrived, all the way from Connecticut. I have no idea how this hatch is going to turn out, being that the eggs were shipped that far and that it is currently mid-summer. The eggs were packed well, but a couple of them had completely detached air sacs. I let them rest for about 19 hours and put them into the incubator before I left for work in the morning.

Seven eggs in the incubator!

21 Days until hatch

So what breed did I end up getting? D'uccles! The parent birds are black mottled, but carry the blue gene, so I could end up with some blue mottled chicks as well.

Random picture of a blue mottled D'uccle.

 I will post another update when I candle in 7 days from now.

Just Starting Out

Well, it's official. I am now a "chicken person". This past April I purchased five Faverolles chicks from a local breeder. After raising them from two to sixteen weeks old, I can say that I'm hooked and eager to start raising different breeds. As of now, my flock consists of 4 Salmon Faverolles cockerels (Anyone need a nice roo?) and 1 Salmon Faverolles pullet. I also have two Silkies, a non-bearded white that I'm suspecting is a pullet, and a black bearded Silkie hen. I've only given two of them names so far, the Silkie hen my mother insisted on naming "Bratty Brenda" and I've named my favorite Faverolles roo "Derp". The Faverolles pullet, I've just been calling her "Hen". I suspect that will end up being her name.

"Derp" the Faverolles Roo

This past weekend I purchased a Brinsea Mini Advance incubator. While I don't like that it holds only seven eggs, I'm impressed by the build quality of the machine. It is even made out of antimicrobial plastic to combat bacterial contamination of the incubated eggs. I can't wait to start hatching out breeding stock. Eventually I'd like to have a breeding pen for Faverolles, D'uccles, and Cochins.

I'm on ebay right now and am looking for hatching eggs. I'll post again when I receive the eggs and reveal what I ended up with!