Jenny is our bantam turken. She is the only hatchery chick I still have in my pen.
I sold my hatchery silkies at the recent IBBA auction because I needed to make room in my pen for the hatchling's I was expecting.
All are show quality lines- these should be really gorgeous birds. Like Marylin Monroe chickens.. if she were a chicken.
Jenny on the other hand is more of a Pippi Longstocking looking little thing. Bear in mind that for a turken, she is quite cute. She also has the softest demeanor and is so very docile and actually quite cuddly.
We took a turn in the yard yesterday together and smelled the flowers and watched the other chickens peck about the yard at fat bugs and juicy weeds.. and occasionally my plants..
I've decided that for the few readers out there-- all three of you right? I would offer a give away this month..
To sign up- simply become a friend of Boise Backyard Chickens on Facebook Or you can become a follower of this blog by clicking on the follow me box in the lower right hand corner.
If you do both- you'll be entered twice and double your chances to win!
I'm not Oprah- so no one will get a new dishwasher or tv, so calm down. Instead the winner will get...
A BRAND NEW CAR! Just kidding.. ahh.
I'll draw names out of a hat in two weeks so go click that link now.
The winner will get:
The Joy of Keeping Chickens: The ultimate guide to raising chickens for fun or for profit.
If anyone out there is actually reading this blog.. maybe someone may have been interested in what happened with my hatch.
It was a complete failure. 32 eggs- Not one chick. Not one hatch. In my hatching group everyone else got tiny bodies of lovey joy wrapped in fluff. I got a rock... then I got the rock taken away because I broke it.
Most likely my Franken-Bator was the final death blow.
I saw movement, but no pips, no little beaks breaking through the shell. On day 24 I candled them again-- no movement. I opened them up yesterday (ironically) on Mother's day to find that their umbilical cord had not closed and they were all covered in a gooey sticky membrane with un-absorbed yolk sacks.
Feeling like a gooey sticky membrane myself, I studied each little lifeless body to see that they also had malformed head and beaks. I referenced the "what went wrong" guide and figured it was the roller coaster ride of temps and humidity.
I learned quite a bit. Darling hubby and kids brought up my spirits with coffee, good chocolate and a new book about chickens.
Relief is a much deserved after thought. In the future to anyone who might actually read this blog-- if you want to start hatching your own chicks here are a few very important lessons I will heed in the future.
1. To save my sanity- get three thermometers. A digital thermometer/hygrometer, a mercury and a stem thermometer.
2. Only candle eggs at 10 and 18 days. I think I candled the eggs too much and all that handling and opening the incubator took it's toll.
3. Incubator location needs to be in a stable temperature area. I put my incubator in our mud room which fluctuates by 5-10 degrees... bad bad.
4. Don't use expensive eggs on your first hatch. In hindsight I should have offered to hatch some barnyard eggs for someone else before popping in my super nice and spendy silkie and cochin eggs.
5. Learn from mistakes. ie: Don't do anything I did in my last post. Bad Bad.
I have a new sets of eggs in the Hovabator which I have placed upstairs in my walk in closet of all places.
I get my chicken feed, scratch and my plants at Zamzows.
I found a coupon that will get you $5 off $25 it was a bit hard to find so I've linked it for you here.
Who wants to save some money!!!?!!! This is a limited time offer. This offer may not be combined with any other offer. Grooming is excluded. Vaccination Clinic is excluded. May not be used towards gift cards. One coupon per transaction. Coupon must be presented to redeem savings. To redeem online use promo code:fiveoff25 Expires Sunday, May 8, 2010.
It is officially 18 days from the first day I put my eggs in the incubator.
That means it's time for lock down.
Lock down happens 18 days after first day of incubation. On day 18 the incubator stays closed unconditionally for the next three days while the chicks hatch.
After fighting irregular temps and humidity in the Hovabator I am taking a risky and potentially dangerous course of action.. (cue movie trailer music and throaty guy voice over).."Lock down in a home made incubator".
So, okay, while obviously not the wisest course of action I was feeling entirely powerless with the fluctuating temps and humidity in the current incubator. I was also (probably irrationally) scared that there was no air flow in the incubator.
*warning: the following is going to make most of you seasoned fowl professionals cringe and or possibly induce eye rolling- please stop reading this woman's misguided actions now*
Faced with the idea that all my clutch (possibly five) that survived thus far are potentially a loss.. I made my own 'bator.
Ingredients for my idiocy.
1- 10 gallon fish tank (washed and dried)
1- Utensil tray (unused and waiting for a yard sale, to hold the eggs)
2- Kitchen sponges (brand new, to draw water up from the bottom of the fish tank)
2- Locker mates shelves (un-assembled and laid flat)
1- Toddler sock (soaked in water to aid in the humidity)
1- heat lamp 250 watt (make you crazy red bulb)
1- Fish tank air pump (gets sock wet with the bubbling action and also works as a fan.. sort of.)
1- Thermometer/Hygrometer (Timex: because if it fails me, it's going to take a licking)
1- Soft bath mat and or stroller snuggly (for insulation)
This is the result: (chicken experts after you've finished laughing at the above, please avert your eyes from the below)
The temps have been holding steady at 99-100 degrees and the humidity is steady at around 50%.
I've had my few schizophrenic moments of sitting next to the tank for what seems like hours, glaring red light burning my brain, staring at the eggs, swearing I just heard something or saw something move, I swear I heard something... I may have swatted at a few imaginary flies.
It was like living in the Kenny Roger's Roaster's Episode of Seinfeld.
My husbands laughter turned to a odd worried look when I told him I wanted to sleep in the mud room with the incubator, just in case I hear something again.
I'm waiting for that all glorious first pip.. that first sign of life.. and the relief and elation that I'm not a complete failure at hatching eggs.
Update in the morning-- I'm going to put another pot of coffee on.
It was late last night when I ran across the craiglist ad for the Idaho Bird Breeders Association (IBBA) Annual Fundraiser Auction in Caldwell Idaho.
A quick google search produced a nice surprise of their website IdahoBirdBreeders.com , there was more information on the site about the auction.
It was more of a fundraising event as thirty percent of the proceeds went to the benefit the Idaho Bird Breeders Association. They are a group that meets monthly to promote and educate all things avian. Memberships start out as little as $10 and it opens an opportunity to meet, learn and make new friends with other breeders and enthusiasts with hundreds of years of combined experience and knowledge.
I took a few of my own birds, mostly because I didn't want to seem like some green behind the ears newbie. (But really, shh.. I am).
Wow-- all the birds.. there were so many!
PLUS! I did get some weird rush of seeing my birds in a cage with a tag on it... breed listed.. I could almost picture a ribbon on it.... a girl can dream right?
Butter sans diaper
While this wasn't a show, it was a great opportunity for me to schmooze en bird lingo with others who loved chickens like I do. Well maybe not like I do-- I didn't readily volunteer that on a regular basis slap a diaper on my silkie Butter and watch documentaries while she coo's in my lap.
Nope, I was wearing my big girl pants today. I had a bid card- #27.
Although the auction action was pretty entertaining in itself .
I had a plan... I wanted to walk out of there with at least 1 chicken that was laying eggs.
My opportunity came alive when a mating pair of Rosecomb bantams came up on the block... I think the feller bidding against me saw that I had that crazy determined look in my eyes and he bowed out at $12.
JUST $12! That's about as much as a trip to Starbucks or a pair of socks from Victoria's Secret.
My son pulled me away to bid on a pair of Cockatiels complete en cage' and he won!
Everyone I met from the IBBA were helpful, affable and had a big smile on their faces for all the people who turned out. It was my first auction, my first sale, and ... my first egg from my new Rosecomb hen was laying in the hay by the time we arrived back home.
