Ameraucana Forum
The Official Ameraucana Forum => Breeding => Topic started by: Mike Gilbert on December 13, 2015, 04:52:09 PM
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Since our 2016 national meet will be held on October 15th, we will want to get those large fowl hatched out by the end of February, and preferably even sooner. Is anybody saving hatching eggs yet? Bantams don't need more than six months generally, so those hatched by mid-April should be ready to show by October. This assumes good care and nutrition during the grow-out period of course, and feather picking held to a minimum. A friend hatched off a few wheaten/blue wheaten bantams for me earlier this month, but that is because I only saved one cockerel for breeding, and I wanted to make sure he would be fertile. I will probably start saving hatching eggs right after Christmas if the weather cooperates. How about the rest of you?
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Guess I'll have to buy some lights! Haven't gotten eggs yet from my March chicks...I hadn't planned to start hatching till March, but I want to be able to give Russell some competition ...loll...
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This past hatching season I got the bug early and started hatching too early...it may happen again. After Christmas or the 1st I'll setup the breeding pens and start collecting eggs to hatch after 3 weeks or so. I'll start the birds on 12 hours of light and increase it a bit each week until they have 16 hours of light each day. I generally collect for about 2 weeks before the first setting and should have a couple hatches out in the last half of February.
Some will feather and mature faster than others, but I usually figure 5 to 6 months of age before most Ameraucanas are ready to show. 7 or 8 months should get even the slow ones up to par.
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My Large fowl are on strike still due to the molt or being young. Lights will go on this weekend now they are through the molt. I have collected some Bantam eggs and despite my wife's grievances I did turn a little hovabator on yesterday. I will be setting some wheaten, silver and black bantam eggs tonight 😃. I am justifying it to check fertility and for 4-H birds for my children lol. Hopeful I will fire up the Dickey come January for the Large Fowl.
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I started supplemental light 2 + weeks ago and now my pullets and hens are laying at full speed. I've been collecting LF blacks' eggs for the last week and will be setting them soon.
Thanks to a VERY NICE member who honored me with a pair of incredible wheaten cockerels, I have some quality boys to put over my pullets. They are very enthusiastic :o. I will give them another 3 weeks to make sure their genes have overpowered those of their predecessor (a brother mating sisters), and hope to set their eggs soon after the blacks hatch.
Duane
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I have bantam eggs in the incubator but the LF are only laying an egg here and there. Fingers crossed I can get some set by the end of the month!
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I'll start collecting eggs to set in a few days and my first setting will be on Monday the 25th. Then it will be weekly setting each Monday evening thru May 2nd.
Each year I print calendar pages, like those below, to help keep me on track in the hatchery.