Hatching AGAIN for breeding!

We're off again! The incubator is running and the first 6 eggs were set on Thursday 4th April. Lavender Araucana eggs in great condition and of great shape kindly provided by Mark at Norfolk Bantams.  I love the look of these birds and they lay blue eggs so I'm excited at hatching and hopefully keeping some hens and maybe cockerels.


On Friday 6 more eggs were added (allowing for a 24 hours settling period after being tossed thought he post by royal mail) this time it was the turn of the silver lace Wyandottes. I am not holding out much hope for these as the eggs that have been sold to me are not of regular shape. 4 out of 6 appear to be elongated. This to me suggests there is limited chance of hatching.

My Wyandotte Silver Lace Bantam 5 weeks old

I'm very disappointed with them and will certainly not be using this supplier again.

Saturday at 11 am 6 further eggs were added, this time goldlace wyandottes. Very good size and condition, so fingers crossed these will hatch a good cockerel to go with the two hens that I hatched under my broody last year.


Ideally I wanted to set all the eggs at the same time but the postal system prevented this and I thought it best to get them in the incubator after 24 hours rest.  The longer I left them, the closer they got to 7 days old, and it is suggested the hatch rate reduces after this period.

So the main hurdle to overcome with this hatch is stopping the auto turning on the incubator.  This should generally be stopped at day 18 for chicken eggs.  As I set my eggs in three batches with around 24 hours between each batch, I'm faced with day 18 being spread over three days.  Not ideal really but the plan is to stop the auto turning on day 18 for the first batch of Araucana's, then manually turn the silver lace and gold lace Wyandotte eggs for the remaining day to two days.  With that sorted I also have to turn attention to the hatching dates, again spread over three days.  I don't have a spare incubator so I will be allowing the chicks to hatch and moving them out the incubator to the brooder as soon as possible (recommended minimum period is 24 hours) to try and prevent any damage or contamination to unhatched eggs.  All fingers and toes are crossed for a good hatch rate so that I can start breeding! 

I will of course let you know how it works out and I'm sure there will be some hens and cockerels available in 10 weeks time if anyone is interested.

Thanks for reading, more updates to follow.

Chicks Chicks and More Chicks

Sadly the Vorwerk chick did not make it.  He was still struggling to stand even with legs taped together to stop them spreading apart and my efforts to try and hand feed were causing him some distress.
After several hours and a deterioration in his condition I decided it was best to do the right thing.  It's not easy and the second time in as may hatches that I have had to do it.  That's part and parcel of hatching and raising chickens I guess.

On a brighter note, I have just returned form a local poultry breeder who had a few day old's he was selling.  I bought 3 to keep Nugget as I have decided to call her, company.  

One Cream Legbar (female), one Orpington and one French Wheaton Maran.  

Nugget

The Silver lace Wyandottes are doing very well outside, even in this chilly spell of weather.  They are 5 weeks old and whilst it is difficult to tell at this stage, I'm really hoping for one or two good examples for breeding.

The master plan in all of this is to create at least 2 breeding pairs of Wyandottes.  
I have more hatching eggs arriving in the next few days, 6 gold lace and 6 silver lace Wyandotte hatching eggs.

So I will mixing from the different hatched to hopefully create a couple of good breeding trios.  Lots of  fingers crossed and plenty of things that could and no doubt will go wrong, but it is an adventure.

What then? Well, the pan is to work on improving the breeding pen so I have some good quality Wyandottes.  Along the way I have no doubt there will be a few hens and cockerels sold and hopefully hatching eggs.

Photo from www.araucana.org.uk

I'm trying to concentrate on Wyandottes as I find they are a lovely docile breed and they enjoy being picked up (once you have managed to catch them that is) but I can't help but be drawn to trying new breeds.  This time I have gone for some lavender Araucana.  Blue egg layers and an interesting bird originating from Chile. 

Check out the breeding club website at www.araucana.org.uk

After this? Well ducks are on the agenda, in particular Welsh Harlequin and if possible some buff Orpington or silver appleyard.  That may however be some way down the line!

Thanks for reading.

New chicks update 2 weeks on

One of my little friends from the farm

Well, I have been busy over the last few weeks, sowing broad beans and leek seeds, looking after newly hatched chicks, lambing..................yes Lambing.  At Humble by Nature as it happens in the Monmouthshire area.  A lovely farm owned by Kate Humble and her husband Ludo Graham.  Their tenant farmers are Tim and Sarah Stephens and they are all brilliant, lovely people.
If you get opportunity to visit on a course you will not be disappointed.  I will be posting a short review of my experience soon.  In the mean time click on the link about to see what the farm is all about.

With all this going on I feel that I may have neglected the blog and my poultry posts recently, although some of you may be thinking thank goodness for that, he has stopped talking!

7 of my 11 eggs hatched, unfortunately the Salmon Faverolle was not a healthy chick and was suffering so I had to deal with him as humanely as possible.  That's where Andy @chickenstreet and his great blog came in very useful.  Gave me that confidence that I was doing everything right.  Have a read if you get chance.   Chicken Street Blog

Silver Lace Wyandotte Bantam Chick

Croad Lanshan chick

So I have 6 chicks left, all looking healthy, 2 of them being Croad Langshan on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust watch list.  The other 4 are Silver Lace Wyandottes.

I have 4 more eggs in the incubator.  It was a little unexpected and un-planned but I was offered them recently and I could not refuse.
The question is, what next?
I could keep hatching, but it will take a long time before I will be hatching my own eggs, so I am considering buying a trio or two of birds.  But what breed?  So much choice and not enough space.  One that needs careful consideration.  Any ideas would be welcome.
In the mean time I'm going to plough on with my Wyandottes and experiment with colours. 

I am also starting to considering getting some turkeys to rear for Christmas time.  But that's for another entry so come back soon and find out how I will be preparing! :-)

Thanks for reading

More hatching eggs!!!

Croad Langsham chick

As if I would be able to put the incubator away for any length of time.  As it happens it was only 5 days or so and yes I have more hatching eggs.  This time the eggs were kindly donated by Hillside Pigs in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.  Most unexpected but when I knew they were Vorwerk and Crested Legbars I could not really say no!


I tried to hatch a Legbar recently but the egg was not fertile, so this is a great chance to try again and the Vorwerk's are, I think, stunning looking birds and they lay light cream colored eggs.  Contrast with the blue of the Legbar and the dark eggs from my speckeldy it will make a lovely box of 6 eggs.

Candling egg

This is something I am actually keen on trying to grow and develop.  I know the free range home reared eggs taste much the same whatever the colour, but to be able to offer free range local multi coloured eggs would be a little different and a little unique.  Add to that the offer of quail eggs and duck eggs, I'm starting to build a picture in my head of something I would like to get involved with!

Enough day dreaming, this hatch will only be 4 eggs, 2 Vorwerk and 2 Crested Legbars.  

I have decided not to add to the 4 at the moment as I am still in the process of building my run enclosure down the allotment, plus I think my wife may just kick me out!
When I returned with the eggs I was met with a "I though we were getting rid of the incubator for a while"!
Ooooops!  Could be worse I suppose especially if I have turned up with a baby Lamb or something similar! :-)
The allotment is key really, whilst I made great progress a few weeks ago, other commitments have stopped me from getting down there to finish the job however I still think I will be ok to complete by end of March!

Vorwork - Photo from www.brbpoultry.co.uk

I have fancied Vorwerks for a while, they are lovely looking birds.  There were suposedly developed in 1900 by a German poultry breeder Oskar Vowerk and was standardised in 1913.  There is a bantam version which was developed later in America in 1966.
They seem a little scarce to me, which is a shame as they are lovely looking birds.
Hers hoping I am successful with my hatch.

Thanks for reading.

Let Hatching commence - Croad Langsham and Wyandotte

4 Silver Lace Wyandottes and 2 Croad Langsham

I have been a little quite on the hatching front recently. Probably because the little darlings have caught me off guard. The eggs started hatching 26th Feb, two days before I was expecting any action.
The first egg to hatch was a Wyandotte Silver Lace.
On the 27th Feb, we had three more hatches with another Wyandotte and two Croad Langsham chicks.

As at 28th Feb at 8am the tally was seven. One Faverolle hatched over night and is still in the incubator drying out. The other 6 chicks are now under my brinsea brooder that has capacity for 20.

Wyandotte Silver Lace

I am now waiting on the two Wyandotte eggs that when I candled at day seven I though were not perfect, one owl beard and one salmon faverolle.

Fingers are still crossed especially for the faverolle and the owl beard!

I will be updating the blog with more photos of the chicks soon and some information on integrating new hens with your existing flock.  Watch this space!

Croad Langsham chick

Thanks for reading

Chickens on the allotment - Work begins!

My plot - the good half approx 2 summers ago

Where are all the chickens going when they have hatched and grown?
I don't have a back garden big enough to house all 12 chickens once grown (assuming all of them hatch), but I do have my allotment and I have spent an hour or so the last two days, clearing the over grown land and starting to build an enclosure.

One sheet of glass

It was hard work, with brambles at least 7 foot high, and enough rotten wood to fuel two large bonfires.  I have emerged relatively unscathed which is quite impressive as I was also moving two sheets of glass (6x6 foot) that the previous tenant decided to use as shelter for his chickens on top of his run.

What I had to work with!

The good thing is that I have a plan and the area is clear, but it will take some managing through the year.  I have Japanese knotweed in this corner of the plot.  A very difficult plant to kill.
I have encountered it several times, most of the time as a surveyor managing commercial property.

Japanese Knotweed - from Wiki

One thing is clear, it is very costly to remove, and from a development site point of view quite often the only sure way of removing it from site is to dig it out dispose of all soil and refill.  Very expensive but a lot quicker than injecting it for 3-5 years to kill it off.

Now I am not in the position on my plot to dig out or inject the plant.  But I have discovered a week killer by roundup, called tree stump killer.  It does in fact work on Japanese knotweed and brambles.  I will need to be very careful spraying close to the chickens.

My chicken enclosure - wont win any style awards

I have taken some photos of the enclosure to date.  There is a long way to go and plenty of fox proofing to be done, but I'm hoping to have it finished by end of March latest.

The pen is currently 12 x 12 foot.  I will be covering the top with a heavy duty plastic mesh.  It has big holes and again was left behind by the former tenant of the plot.
I have a hen house and run (cheap version) in my garage at he moment, so will be moving his down to the plot, but will also be splitting the area in to two breeding pens eventually.

Having such a variety in the incubator at the moment means the chickens may have to live together for a while until I establish if they are good enough breeding stock and find cockerels or hens to go with what I have hatched.  I'm starting to think it would have been easier to have bought 2 trios, but hey, where is the fun in that! :-)

To protect against Mr Fox around the perimeter I am digging the fencing into the ground by about 6 inches and then using chicken wire to create a further barrier underground. On top of the chicken wire will go the soil and then some slabs I have that will hopefully prevent any digging.

You can just see the wood in the right of the photo!

I mentioned earlier the top of the enclosure will be covered with some heavy duty plastic mesh, secured with heavy duty cable ties.  You can see it in the photo on the left.  It had to be cut out of the brambles.


I am still working on the door into the pen.  I'm considering using some old pallets I have on the site or an old wooden front door that, yes you guessed it, the previous tenant was trying to use as a door to his shed. (the shed did not have a roof, but he had a lovely solid house door for it!)

In fact that is a very good point, I do need a dry secure place for the feed and bedding.  As the roof on my shed has blown off twice in the last month, I can not rely on it, so will need a solution, perhaps a plastic container in the pen!

It's difficult  planning these things, hard work implementing them, but ultimately the end product, being able to keep pure breed rare poultry will make it worth while!

Thanks for reading.

Incubating Eggs day 7 again!

Pair of Wyandottes creating a heart shape!

Well I have been away for a few days in London and that meant leaving the incubator running without any monitoring for 3 days.  I did realise this would happen when I set the eggs back on 7th February, I knew it was a bit of a risk, but I was impatient probably due to the failure of the last batch.





Today, Valentines day, is the 7th day so I have been candling the eggs to check for development.  The great news is that at present 11 out of the 12 eggs I set appear to be fertile.  The one egg that appears not to be developing is unfortunately the Cream Legbar which is a shame however it does mean that there is potential for Croad Langsham, Owl Beard, Salmon Faverolle and Silver Lace Wyandottes hatching out in around 14 days.

What did I do differently to my first batch?
Well I'm not going to take all the blame or credit here as I have had loads of useful advice from Andrew from Slate House Farm and from Norfolk Bantams on Twitter, in fact, without their help I may have delayed my next hatch for some time.  There is also the consideration that maybe the eggs were not quite ready as it was so early in the year.

I think I took the instructions with the incubator quite literally with regards humidity.  It stated that one water trough should be filled and two should be filled at day 18. The instructions did not mention anything about ventilation either and I don't recall reading about this, but it is crucial when controlling the the humidity. Ultimately I think I drowned the chicks or prevented them from developing properly which is very sad and a mistake I will never make again.

Secondly, I did not monitor humidity, I had no way of knowing what the relative humidity percentage was at any time.  But again looking back I think levels were far too high.  The condensation on the roof of the incubator was a big sign that I totally missed.

To correct both of these major mistakes I have bought myself a reptile humidity gauge for £5.99.  Why these are not fitted or provided when you buy a Corti incubator I have no idea, but it is an essential piece of kit in my opinion.  I have also worked out how to open the vent holes in my incubator.

You do learn by your mistakes, and it has been a big mistake and quite a large learning curve.  It is almost addictive, learning and putting into practice what you have learnt.

Before setting my current batch of eggs, I ran the incubator for 2 days monitoring humidity.  I ran it initially with no water.  Humidity was as low as 10%, so there was no chance of adding the eggs without water.

Once one water trough was filled the humidity increased, first to 30%, then a few hours later 40% and the next morning it was stable at 50%.

The incubator has continued to remain at 50% with a full water trough and vents fully open.  11 of the 12 eggs are developing so its good news for now.


I will be monitoring carefully and will post more updated soon.


Thanks for reading.

Day 24 of hatching and a review of incubating

It's day 24 of the silver Wyandotte incubation period.  Despite checking three or four times a day, there is no change.  Not that it will make any difference how often I check.

I am starting to think that the remaining two eggs are not going to hatch. It could be a variety of reasons, so i thought it may be useful to write about some of the factors that can affect a hatch in an incubator.

• Time of year - hens will not naturally sit or go broody at the moment, spring is on its way, so hopefully a later attempt in middle of February will be more successful.  There is of course the possibility that the cockerel is not quite firing on all four cylinders, he may of course still be in hibernation mode.
• Quality of eggs - there is no doubt in my mind that quality at this time of year will not be as good.  The shells can be quite porous due to the feed being eaten being used by the hens for heat and new feather growth rather than producing eggs.
• Temperature of incubator and position - I have been told and read that even half a degree can result in late hatching and it could even result in a failed hatching.  It is also important to consider the location of the incubator.  If kept in a drafty position or somewhere that temperatures and humidity can fluctuate it can put strain on the incubator and even though they are designed to keep a constant temperature, it could result in subtle drops in temperate for short periods inside.
• Calibration of the thermometer - this is something I have not checked.  One way of checking you thermometer is working is removing from the incubator, and putting it in a bucket of ice.  This way you can check if it is reading 0 degrees.  If not, you can adjust your setting to reflect this.  The only problem with this method is that my incubator does not have a full thermometer in it so it would not work in my case.  I will just work on the basis it is set correctly.
• Humidity - in the UK it is certainty more critical in the last 3-4 days to get this correct.  I have recently heard of dry incubating, where the eggs are set without the use of water as we have high humidity in the UK.  Water is only used in the last 3-4 days when he increase in humidity is required.  I used water all the way through my incubation.
• Frequency of turning - I have an auto turning incubator, but if you don't and need to manually turn the eggs, its critical to turn at least 3 times a day, most suggest turning 5 times a day.  If you turn manually you need to ensure you mark the eggs so you know they have been turned.

Of course you can avoid all of this by using a broody hen, but who knows when a hen will go broody, and you are limited to 6-8 eggs depending on breed type.
Plus where is the fun and learning experience!

Thanks for reading

Naughty naughty

So, I have done something I shouldn't.  

I candled the remaining 2 eggs last night.  Most suggest this is a bad idea.  I have never candled so late before so why now?

Well I have had concerns for a while that the 2 eggs are not progressing well.  The air sacks seem too big for my liking.  However I will let them continue until at least 23 days just to make sure.
I guess I just could not resist checking.  This is my first time using an incubator, all previous hatches have been under a broody hen, and no sane person is going to try and remove a broody from their nest in the last 2-3 days.  

They sit tight and defend their nest with that prehistoric beak!  Its a little like the final scene in Zulu!  
Plus it hurts and I have been given enough wounds in the past so would do everything to avoid this.
However in the incubator there is not a crazy hen trying to peck your finger off your hand, you can just lift and check.  Naughty naughty.

I will have to sit tight now and wait.  Its day 20 out of 21, so not long.

More updates to follow tomorrow - official hatching day! :-)

Wyandotte hatching update day 18

Day 18 of the hatching of Silver Lace Wyandotte Bantams in the new incubator is proving to be exciting, for me anyway!

Hatching egg, candled at 18 days

I candled the eggs again last night and saw what I am hoping is a chick, moving around in the egg.  The photo is to the left and you can quite clearly see the blood vessels.
There are some quite strange air sack shapes going on in both of the remaining eggs.  I hope this is not a bad sign.

As it is 3 days before hatch, I have removed the 4 non-fertile eggs and the dividers separating the eggs and the auto turning mechanism has been turned off.
It is recommended to increase the humidity for the hatching period.  I had no idea how to do this until I read Katie Thears Incubation, A guide to Hatching and Rearing book and the instructions that came with my incubator.

Apparently you may not necessarily need to add more water but just reduce the temperature by half a degree to 37 degrees c and this increases humidity.

My Incubator manual also helped my understand things a little clearer.  Its not the level of water in the incubator dish, but the surface area of water.  So if you fill two dishes with water a quarter full each, it will produce higher humidity than if you fill one dish to the full capacity!

So, I am still clinging onto a little hope that the two remaining eggs will hatch.  If they do, it will go a little way in helping me set up my little project of breeding pure breed poultry, 1) to ensure their survival, 2) for fun and 3) to encourage other chicken keepers or want to be keepers, that pure breed is an option over hybrid birds.

Wyandotte Goldlace bantams at 14 weeks

Here are a few photos of the Gold Lace Wyandottes, taken more recently in the snow!

Not happy hens on the snow

I seem to be getting as addicted to taking photos as I am keeping hens and hatching chicks!  Nevermind!  Could be worse!

Wyandotte Chick with mum

I resisted the urge to drone on about it.  The hens did not like it at all but I quite enjoyed our little wintry spell.  Certainly made a change to all the mud!

Hens and chicks, sheltering from a hail shower

In the last half hour we had a heavy hail storm.  I had let the Chickens our earlier in the day.  Seems the boys climbing frame has another use in the winter!





Thanks for reading.

Candling Eggs on day 11

Excitement, enthusiasm, anticipation!  Words that I would used to define how I felt when I received my hatching eggs through the post back on the 10th January.

There is something special and addictive about hatching chicks.  Sadly my hatch rates have never really been high.  My first attempt under Treacle my Speckledy hen resulted in just one chick hatching out of 3 eggs.

The second attempt in October 2012 resulted in two chicks hatching out of 6 eggs, again under Treacle!

My third hatch is in my new incubator. A Corti AF25 - the automatic turning model.
I set the eggs back on 9th January and candled as recommended on the 7th day.  Being relatively inexperienced at candling, I was happy to leave the eggs for a further few days before discarding any that are unlikely to hatch.

I candled the eggs again tonight the 20th January at 11 days and took photographs of each egg.  I think this may be a useful guide for anyone candling their own eggs.  Apparently you should not candle to often and for too long! So here goes with the photos!

One of my own chickens eggs - Not Fertile

First incubator egg - not looking too promising - I would say this is NOT fertile.

Second Egg - something defiantly going on in this one - good to leave   in the incubator.

Third egg - Not Fertile! :-(







I cant go on really, sad that only one other egg below seems to have something going on. 
2 out of 6 again!!

Hopefully the other fertile egg!








Lets hope the two do hatch and there are no complications.

Thanks for reading! 

Gold Lace Wyandotte Photos 12 Weeks

They are hardly chicks any more.  12 weeks old and they look like mini versions of the real thing.  Gold Lace Wyandotte Bantam chickens.

I'm hoping that in 4-5 weeks I will find out if they are hens or cockerels.



At the moment one of each would fall nicely into my plans going forwards.








I have 6 Silver lace Wyandotte eggs in my incubator, due to hatch on the 30th January, the day Rhys turns 4!  Could be a nice birthday surprise.....well for me anyway.  He gets a little stressed about animals.

The plan going forward is to breed Wyandottes and I will be selling hatching eggs.

A local school has asked if I will help set them up with a hen house and chickens so that the children can look after them during term time.  They could be the first recipients of the offspring. :-)

I know a lot of schools have been taking on hens, but there is always the little problem of holiday's to sort out.  I guess that's where I would come in and happily take them in for 6 weeks during the summer holidays.  Free eggs - can't complain at that!

Anyway, next on the list after that will be chocolate Wyandottes.
I am very tempted by the Frizzle Pekins, but more recently have been investigating the Silver Appleyard ducks and Buff Orpington Ducks.  They would definitely be an allotment project so lots of work to do before then!

 

I best get my feet under the table with the Wyandottes first of all and the quail that are arriving via the West Midlands on 19th Jan!!  Still work to do on the coop as you can see.  The top level is way to dark.  I have all the materials, just need an hour to knock it together!
I have taken the hardwood panel from the back of the run on the bottom level and replaced with a frame and mesh.
Fingers crossed they will like their new homes.
Next stage is to do the same with the panel at the top level and install mesh on the solid door!  

Hope you enjoyed the photos. Thanks for reading!