the daydream fund challenge thread

COOLTRIKERCHICK

If you are going down the broody hen road i would get a silkie x, i am sure i heard if you get a silkie cross, you get the broodieness of hte silkie, but the bigger body of what ever it is crossed with,

plus i have also heard that even though they suposed to go broody regular, they are not that good a mother. ( dont know if this is true)

the good thing about having an incubator, if you see eggs for sale you can buy then, it would be my luck if i was relying on a broody hen... then either i wouldnt be able to get the eggs i wanted when the hen went broody, or get/have eggs to hatch, and no broody hen...lol..

lostinrates

I have to say, and I know I'm always promoting them, but cochins are fab....mine go broody a little too often..you have to be sharpish collecting eggs....and they are GREAT mothers. The broody ATM is a first time mother having hatched five, she is a cochin cross. I'm very peased with her. And they are huge birds. Very personally I'm not inamoured with silkies


I agree with CTC though, the incubator is a boon. Ideally....if I'd given the broody some china eggs, I would have been better organised and shoved these underneath her as they cam out of the incubator.....the truth is the ones the chicken rears mean an easier job.....I've changed the indoor chick bedding twice today and had to rewater about half a dozen times. The outdoor chicks....well, I counted them.

choille

Mny thanks both - dare I buy one off ebay - an incubator that is?

I've got some money in my pay pal account & I really want to do some breedng!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

choille wrote: »

Mny thanks both - dare I buy one off ebay - an incubator that is?

I've got some money in my pay pal account & I really want to do some breedng!

check out some websites, as some of htem take paypal

Personally unless i knew who was selling hte incubator etc, then i wouldnt buy a secondhand one..

The place where i buy most of my equipment from except paypal

http://www.ascott.biz/

maybe it could be worth checking out if any farm supplies near you have a website, they might except paypal too..

Totally agree with LIR about cochins... i love them.... and are quite dorcile too

lostinrates

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Totally agree with LIR about cochins... i love them.... and are quite dorcile too

Ah, good. Not just me then. I think they are a really underated breed. They are so easy, lay reasonably well and are lovely looking with the feathery legs.

I really want a couple of partridge cochin hens but noone ever seems to have them.

choille

Just had a mini power cut - weird.

Cochins? Wish I'd have had this 'conversation' before the rare breed sale!

Now ther are some octogon incubators on ebay new & cheaper than ascots - Do you think they would be okay?

Not really tripping over farm suppliers here - Inverness nearest & I've never seen an incubator in them.

Really clear as a bell sky & bright moon up - gonna be a freezer.

lostinrates

choille wrote: »

Just had a mini power cut - weird.

Cochins? Wish I'd have had this 'conversation' before the rare breed sale!

Now ther are some octogon incubators on ebay new & cheaper than ascots - Do you think they would be okay?

No idea re where to buy from, but I would concurr: not buying second hand. Cleaning and disinfecting between hatchings is vital and can be fiddly. Its not worth taking a risk with. But sellers of new ones...I guess check their ratings. I'm not v.good with ebay.

I thought I went on about cochins to much..I rave about them. The eggs are medium sized, not huge. but the birds are massive and feather-legged. They are good in the cold but don't like the wet much, ours sulk inside in the rain while their clean legged friends will brave the run from the parlour to to the barn.

choille

If they don't like the wet much they'd be miserable here probably.

I think I'll splash my paypal account on an incubator. I'll need a heat lamp too I suppose.

Don't really get too much opportunity to see other hens - Rare breed sale only on twice yearly - I find it exhausting & not too comfortable - the noise & the stressed birds & the call ducks squawking. I'm used to not much noise & not many people. I'm not great in crowds & boy is it crowded.

lostinrates

choille wrote: »

I think I'll splash my paypal account on an incubator. I'll need a heat lamp too I suppose..

Yep. I like a ceramic dog bowl for chick water (and marbles in it) but do sometimes use a chick waterer, but I use marbles in that at first too. I use empty packaging (e.g. takeaway containers) for chick crumb, as they all sleep and poop in it and I don't always have time to clean, disinfect and dry when topping up. ETA: atm I am using disposables for both (but recleaning and re using...as just want ease) When I move the babies out I go on to solid dishes for water and start givin them the idea bed is for sleeping, food is for eating. hens never have this problem!

choille

I have had chicks before but naturally reared by their mothers. It'll be a learning curve I suppose.

I have a large stack of heavy saucers for crumbs & water - easy to pop in fresh ones & wash the muckies in the burn. It's too much doing stuff like that in the caravan - too icky.