[harefarm]

After a vicious introduction to farm life and a real struggle trying to get things sorted we are finally collecting our hens on the 12th April to get things up and running.

Also I have 2 Polyhatch incubators with 59 out of 68 fertile chicken eggs and 1 polystyrene incubator with 47 out of 59 (1 got broken in the post (came from Ebay)) fertile quail eggs hatch dates between 6th and 9th April although some are bantams so could be earlier.

I am really please - my first significant hatch. Last time I failed miserably with hens eggs.

[Mammyshaz]

They are big hatches. I'm waiting for a mere 12 

It'll be fun catching all those quail  what breed of hens are to hatch?

[MAK]

Don't talk to me about eggs! We should be at the Fete of the Egg today after making numerous egg cup holders and wrapping them up with chocolate eggs etc etc . CANCELLED ! Rain stopped play.

[harefarm]

I have a real mixture of eggs - RIR, Buff Sussex, Light Sussex, French Black Marans, Millefleur Pekin Bantams and a Blue Laced Wyandotte.

I was only planning on 3 1/2 dozen but we won a second Polyhatch incubator at an auction and so with a little persuasion from my OH ended up filling both!

After a rough winter we just want to get things going. Now to start getting a momentum going to get our own birds from hatch.

Hoping to only buy in the first lot of layers and then do our own.

[Daisys Mum]

 
If you are buying in vaccinated birds keep them seperate from your own hatchings unless you are planning on vaccinating them too as I have found to my cost vaccinated birds are carriers of  whatever they are vaccinated for, a friend looked in to vaccinating hers but had to buy huge quantities.

[harefarm]

Thank you Anne for the advice. I had read on the internet that it could be a problem which you have just confirmed. It is my intention to keep them separate. Hopefully within the year it will just be my own birds.

Thanks again.

Ruth

[Clarebelle]

I'm also waiting for my first ever chicks to hatch, I have 20 quail eggs in the inncy, 7 are definately fertile, and some i'm not too sure about. Fingers crossed, they are due on saturday, so eggcited!   

[harefarm]

I find quail very difficult to candle because of the dark patches.

Fingers crossed you will have a nice surprise and have more hatch. My first hatch was 7 out of 24.

Let us know how you get on.

[Clarebelle]

Yes, they are hard arnt they! I have a brinsea candler but its not strong enough so had to use a torch. I am hoping that some of the ones im not sure about are actually doing ok, just have to wait and see! I'll let you know how we get on! 

[harefarm]

Sorry for the delay in letting you know how everything has gone over the last couple of weeks.

My hatch went really well - 38 chicken chicks now 12 days old and growing fast and 33 quail chicks now 8 days. I am sure these ones are smaller than the ones I hatched before, but then after handling chicken chicks they may not be.

How did your hatch go Clarebelle?

I collected my 150 chickens on Friday and they are doing well, I wasn't expecting them to lay yet but get about a dozen eggs a day which I am not really happy enough with the quality to sell yet - the yolks were almost white (age or food probably) but they are getting there.

I have 2 hens and a cockerel in the garden and they hang around a corner near the layers most of the time. If it wasn't for the cockerel I have considered putting the hens with the others but they are only bantams and I don't really want squashed bantam. I put them in a hutch and run for 2 days when I first let the new hens out where they could see them and they have been fine since - no aggression whatsoever. I am considering parting with the cockerel as he will not leave one of the banties alone, they are about 8 months now and still no eggs. The younger pair are Pekin, I think they are both partridge (she is deffinitely). The other one will be 3 in the summer.

[Clarebelle]

Glad to here your hatch went well and that the chicks are doing fine! 

We had 6 of the 7 quail eggs hatch but we lost one of the chicks after a couple of days. The other 5 are doing really well, we have one whos foot was curled up when he hatched, we tried splinting but it didnt work so we left him to it and he is actually doing great.

I have another lot of eggs arriving next week as I won't have enough birds from this hatch to establish a breeding flock so fingers crossed for the next hatch.

I learnt loads this first time round. I can't believe how fast the chicks grow too! Their feather formation is amazing, my eldest daughter just loves sitting and watching them jumping round! 

[harefarm]

That is great.

I have one with a funny foot. I had a hatch about 18 months ago - 2 hatched out of 24. One of those had a badly deformed foot but with lots of strapping she pulled through, although her foot was never right. She was a good little layer and loved me picking her up.

They are suicidal as chicks. They tend to jump and break their necks. This time they are in an IBC with the top cut off - it is about 3 feet tall with a gym mat over most of it and a towel over the last bit. I have only lost one this time to a broken neck so far.

[Clarebelle]

Aghh, i thought it was only sheep who had deathwishes, lol! Now I'll have to keep an eye out for them breaking their necks as well as drowning, choking on shavings, getting poo stuck to them and hitting their heads on the top of the hamster cage they are in. Phew...its a good job i don't work! 

[harefarm]

LOL. I wouldn't say they are that bad. I have only had 1 drown and I think that is because when my last lot were a few days old I took the stones out of the water. Did the same at the same time for this lot and lost 1. So I have just taken the stones out today 5 days later than normal! I think the ones I have had in the past were not far off jumbos - heading for the 300g mark. These ones are about the same size or smaller than the others were at a couple of days. Much more like little bumble bees.

[Clarebelle]

Its jumbos that I have now, although we did have a Texas mixed in with them, he was the one we lost after a couple of days and the size difference between them was so obvious. The little Texas was like you say, like a little bumblebee (but without the stripes!) the rest of them are loads bigger.

I started with a jam jar lid with stones for their water but moved them on to a hamster drinking bottle which they took to with no problems so I've now got rid of the lid and stones and dont have to keep cleaning poo out of the water! The only problem I can see is if we get a significantly larger hatch next time I think there might be a few fights over the water bottle! I guess we will see!