Fluffy Butt is a Daddy!

[Deleted]

Feb 10, 2015 17:18:04 GMT -5 Icelandic Woman said:

Feb 10, 2015 14:06:41 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Yep.  They won't start to develop unless they're kept really warm (like 95-100 degrees).  Gather them the day they're laid and put them in the fridge and no danger of seeing beaks and feathers when you crack them open.

The ones I hatched last summer were in the fridge for a week and a half before we had accumulated enough to incubate.  They all hatched within 24 hours of each other after being put in the incubator. 

OMG those chickies are soo cute!

So I profess to know absolutely nothing about chicken reproduction so I have to ask this. You can keep eggs in the fridge for a week and a half and still have them hatch into chicks?

You can maybe fridge them even longer, I don't know.  Some people say it lowers the hatch rate if you cool them much lower than 45 degrees waiting to incubate, but I had 80% hatch from my 31 eggs.  There's a guy I know that keeps quail eggs in the fridge more than a month.  I suppose it really isn't much different than freezing embryos.  It's just halting development and heat starts it up again. 

[CarolinaKat]

Feb 10, 2015 17:01:55 GMT -5 @patstab said:

I had hens that wanted to set too, the would get kind of mean sometimes if you took their eggs.

My Granny's side by side chickens both wanted to brood. They also wanted to use the same box. So they'd wedge themselves in there together side by side over the combined clutch of eggs... Chickens are silly

I don't know about your chickens MPL but all of the chickens I've dealt with preferred a certain box almost every time. Come hell or high water they were using THAT box and ONLY THAT BOX!

[Wisconsin Beth]

Do we get more pictures today MPL? 

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2015 8:26:14 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Do we get more pictures today MPL? 

I think it will have to wait until at least the weekend when I'm home during the daylight.  The coop is so dark.  I tried taking some pics last night and they turned out awful.  This is Fluffy Butt.

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2015 7:47:19 GMT -5 CarolinaKat said:

Feb 10, 2015 17:01:55 GMT -5 @patstab said:

I had hens that wanted to set too, the would get kind of mean sometimes if you took their eggs.

My Granny's side by side chickens both wanted to brood. They also wanted to use the same box. So they'd wedge themselves in there together side by side over the combined clutch of eggs... Chickens are silly

I don't know about your chickens MPL but all of the chickens I've dealt with preferred a certain box almost every time. Come hell or high water they were using THAT box and ONLY THAT BOX!

Well, the broody one won't leave the dog house.  That is HER spot.  But I'm not sure about the others because I don't see them sitting much.  I think they do have favorite boxes because some lay different color eggs and they seem to be in the same places.

[Artemis Windsong]

Can you give us a tutorial on different breeds of chickens along with photos?  I know some are really beautiful.

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2015 9:32:51 GMT -5 @patstab said:

Until a snake gets in the box, be careful sticking your hand in, I almost did that to a snake.

Then the hens would lay eggs on the floor and not get in the boxes. Came out one morning

with a snake draped over a chicken, she wouldn't move.

We don't have snakes here.  At least I've never seen one in 15 years.

[milee]

Feb 11, 2015 10:00:13 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Feb 11, 2015 9:32:51 GMT -5 @patstab said:

Until a snake gets in the box, be careful sticking your hand in, I almost did that to a snake.

Then the hens would lay eggs on the floor and not get in the boxes. Came out one morning

with a snake draped over a chicken, she wouldn't move.

We don't have snakes here.  At least I've never seen one in 15 years.

Having lived in SW Florida most of my life, it's hard for me to picture a place that's covered in snow for much of the year, but I can just about picture it if I try.

I can't, however, picture a place without snakes. Inconceivable!

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2015 9:39:31 GMT -5 Artemis Windsong said:

Can you give us a tutorial on different breeds of chickens along with photos?  I know some are really beautiful.

I think there are a gazillion breeds of chickens! Mine are Brahma. I like them because they have feathers on their feet and very small combs so they are hardier in the winter. Big combs get frostbite.

See their fluffy feet? They are so funny when they run. 

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2015 10:04:23 GMT -5 milee said:

Feb 11, 2015 10:00:13 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

We don't have snakes here.  At least I've never seen one in 15 years.

Having lived in SW Florida most of my life, it's hard for me to picture a place that's covered in snow for much of the year, but I can just about picture it if I try.

I can't, however, picture a place without snakes. Inconceivable!

I've seen a grass snake once or twice and they claim there are rattle snakes more towards the edge of the bluff, but the don't come this far in.  My mom lives only 20 miles away and has tons of Bull snakes and fox snakes.  They are all over.

[milee]

One of my chickens was a white Brahma hen. She was very chill. No nonsense, very calm.  If the other hens got spooked, she just gently swiveled her head and fixed them with her "silly girls!" glare.

She also laid large pinkish eggs.  But not as reliably as some of the other breeds.  The Rhode Island Reds were egg laying machines - never laid less than one a day.  The Brahma laid around 4 a week or so.

If you're getting other colors of eggs, are they also from the Brahmas or do you have other breeds?  I had an "Americauna" (which is the fancy term for mixed breed but primarily Aracauna roots) that laid really pretty bluish/green eggs.  Smaller chicken and eggs than the Brahma or the RIs, though. 

[Deleted]

All our eggs are brown, but different shades.  Some are really dark, some just a pale beige.  Their daddy is Aracauna (we think anyhow).

[Artemis Windsong]

Lovely chickens with built in leg warmers!

[CarolinaKat]

Feb 11, 2015 9:32:51 GMT -5 @patstab said:

Until a snake gets in the box, be careful sticking your hand in, I almost did that to a snake.

Then the hens would lay eggs on the floor and not get in the boxes. Came out one morning

with a snake draped over a chicken, she wouldn't move.

THIS is why I have barn cats!!!!!

[CarolinaKat]

Feb 11, 2015 11:45:51 GMT -5 @patstab said:

Big as those snakes were a cat couldn't handle them.

Cats also remove the target prey animals that attract snakes, lowering the likelihood that they will come close enough to find the chicken house in the first place. 

[Icelandic Woman]

Feb 10, 2015 20:13:10 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Feb 10, 2015 17:18:04 GMT -5 Icelandic Woman said:

OMG those chickies are soo cute!

So I profess to know absolutely nothing about chicken reproduction so I have to ask this. You can keep eggs in the fridge for a week and a half and still have them hatch into chicks?

You can maybe fridge them even longer, I don't know.  Some people say it lowers the hatch rate if you cool them much lower than 45 degrees waiting to incubate, but I had 80% hatch from my 31 eggs.  There's a guy I know that keeps quail eggs in the fridge more than a month.  I suppose it really isn't much different than freezing embryos.  It's just halting development and heat starts it up again. 

Thanks! That is very interesting to know that I could hatch the eggs in my fridge if I wanted to.

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2015 12:21:37 GMT -5 Icelandic Woman said:

Feb 10, 2015 20:13:10 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

You can maybe fridge them even longer, I don't know.  Some people say it lowers the hatch rate if you cool them much lower than 45 degrees waiting to incubate, but I had 80% hatch from my 31 eggs.  There's a guy I know that keeps quail eggs in the fridge more than a month.  I suppose it really isn't much different than freezing embryos.  It's just halting development and heat starts it up again. 

Thanks! That is very interesting to know that I could hatch the eggs in my fridge if I wanted to.

It's doubtful you could hatch the eggs in your fridge unless you got them from some local farmer that ran a rooster with the hens.  The ones you get at the grocery store are not fertile. 

[Icelandic Woman]

Feb 11, 2015 12:25:59 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Feb 11, 2015 12:21:37 GMT -5 Icelandic Woman said:

Thanks! That is very interesting to know that I could hatch the eggs in my fridge if I wanted to.

It's doubtful you could hatch the eggs in your fridge unless you got them from some local farmer that ran a rooster with the hens.  The ones you get at the grocery store are not fertile. 

Ahh okay! See I learned even more today!

[Bob Ross]

I'm sure that they will grow up to be delicious.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Feb 11, 2015 13:24:03 GMT -5 Bob Ross said:

I'm sure that they will grow up to be delicious.

  And and and

[cael]

I keep seeing this thread and thinking "wtf...." I call my cat Fluffy Butt, and she is a female.

Chickies are super cute, mpl!

[Artemis Windsong]

A home for the chickens.

www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/other/country-living-readers-adorable-chicken-coops/ss-AA8YQSD