2023 hatch

[Russ Blair]

I am a little late but here’s my first hatch 1/2/2023. Looks like (all bantam)2 Wheaten, 1 Silver and 6 blue/silver splits (test mating a blue cockerel). Set 42 eggs and had 20 fertile, when I candled them at day 7, that went into lockdown. Hopefully fertility picks up now the lights have been on longer. My goals this year are to test mate my black and blue bantam breeders to ensure (or at least make a honest attempt) I have my blacks based on sex link gold and blues sex link silver. I am also hoping to build up my wheaten and blue wheaten bantam flock since last year I had a really poor hatch rate (due to old breeders). Unfortunately I am doing the same with my large fowl blue and brown reds thanks to the predator attack of 2021  . I hope everyone’s hatches and breeding season are successful as well.

[Russ Blair]

7 out of 10 eggs set, looks like the lights are working  . 2 from a blue wheaten pen, 1 from a wheaten and 4 from a blue K over silver H

[Mike Gilbert]

7 out of 10 eggs set, looks like the lights are working  . 2 from a blue wheaten pen, 1 from a wheaten and 4 from a blue K over silver H

Pretty sure I'm seeing eight chicks in that box?  Five dark ones and three wheaten/blue wheaten.

[Russ Blair]

Well out of 11 of the first hatch with the blue bantam cockerel over a silver pullet 10 of them express birchen like leakage. I have another 16 +/- younger ones that are also expressing birchen like leakage. So I am going to say it’s a pretty safe bet this blue cockerel is sex link silver based and ER at the E locus which is what is preferred for blues. I now have the cock (who I think is also sex link silver based) currently covering the silver pullet. Hopefully I get the same results as I have with the cockerel. I have 3 pullets from the same mating that produced the cockerel. Going forward I will breed the cockerel to my best laced hens, only keeping the pullets from that mating. If the Cock tests out to be sex link silver I will put him over the 3 pullets from him in hopes to get a better male. Now for my 4 other blue cockerels and 3 black cockerels