New Years Day Chicks

[Mike Gilbert]

So I have some chicks out to start the new year.   Overall, only 62% of the eggs set produced baby chicks.   But in Ameraucana bantams, there were 25 chicks out of 29 eggs set.  Not bad for December eggs in Wisconsin.   A nice mix of Wheaten, Blue Wheaten, Silver, Black, and Brown Red.   Those are the only Ameraucana varieties I'm breeding from right now in bantams.   It's not a lot, but it's a start.   I mainly wanted to check fertility on the male breeders, and they all came through.

[Michael Muenks]

Congrats Mike! That is a nice size hatch. My first batch of white bantam hatch this week. At the time I set the eggs one of the hens and one of the pullets was laying. The hen's eggs were fertile and the pullets were not. I shall be interested to see how fertility is with the next batch I set. Nothing much else is laying here in Missouri.

[Mike Gilbert]

Michael, if the pullet's eggs are not fertile this year, don't give up on her.  Sometimes a male rejects a female or vice versa.   I understand that females can even eject sperm from a male they don't like.   So that pullet might work with a different male next year or later this year.