Got my Incubator & getting more chickens!

Soo I got my incubator! It's more awesome, and MUCH bigger than I thought i'd be! I can litterally pull the egg trays out and hide in there if I needed to ha ha ha! Theres four trays, and each can hold 100 chicken eggs! It can also hatch anything from quail to goose eggs. :) I highly doubt I'll be hatching any geese eggs unless someone asks me to, otherwise for me...no...MAYBE pilgrims someday but I doubt it.

My friend Brian now has me interested in Black East Indies ducks. He acts like he was the one that got me interested in them, but nope nope...I myself got interested in them from a picture he took of his dads! hehe! Though Brian did tell me a lil bit about them and that helped fuel my interest so I'll give him credit for that I guess ;P. They are just really pretty, black with a purple hue!

I just told a breeder I'll be sending them out mula for a half doz. Blue Laced Red Wyandotte eggs! OH my gosh I cannot wait for those! In this new incubator, as long as they ship here well I should have a decient hatch. Even if I get half, I will be over joyed! Even if I got two I'd be okay. :) If this half doz. come to me fine I'll order again to make a complete dozen BLRWs!

Also, it sounds like I'm going to be getting Black and possible split lavender standard Ameraucana hatching eggs from another BYCer! I had paid her for bantam amers because that's all I thought she had. To find out she's offering me Standards because her banties arent laying well is exciting enough but to hear some may hatch out possible split lavenders! That's so exciting it's unreal! I can't wait to hear back from her on that !:)

Tomorrow I'll get my coturnix eggs in the mail! Got my White Leghorn hatching eggs in a swap the other day and just put them in tonight :)

Clear the way! Hatchaholic who can't help herself! LOL!

*weeeeee*!

Chicks are here with more on the way AND more eggs

The madness never ends I guess! :)

I had two chicks hatch...a male and female Golden Comet. I haven't named them yet, but boy oh boy are they cute! The chick in the picture is the male...the hen is slightly darker and smaller. The hen I am deffinatly keeping, and this male I am probably keeping as well because they'll be added into my large mutt pen of chickens in the spring, and the rooster that's up there already needs only one more hen to have his maximum amount of hens per rooster while holding fertility (12 hens per). I have several eggs (i think atleast 7 though I could be wrong) that I have to stop turning tomorrow! Many of which are Road Island Red eggs! :) I cannot wait to see those beauties! I just love RIRs! Esp roosters! Yep I plan to keep a rooster from that as well. I just love how big dark and shiney they are. :) So finnally FINNALLY I have baby chicken chicks to show for all my work i've done trying to bring them into this world. I was beinging to think I'd never hatch chicken chicks! I wasn't giving myself enough credit though. It wasnt my fault I lost those chicken chicks before...it was my incubators. I've slightly mastered the problem by rebuiling the incubator so that it's now mostly homemade and works much better.

Speaking of incubators! Still going this upcoming saturday to get the Sears Roebuck FarmMaster incubator!!! I called the guy and he said he fired it up the other day and its' holding temps steady at 102!!! I could shout at the roof tops im so happy! :) Cheesy saying but I am extreemly excited! That's really going to up my hatching odds!

I'm getting ATLEAST 30 coturnix hatching eggs from a fellow BYCer that I am estatic about (new blood can't pass that up)! For the generosity I will repay them with their choice from my birds in the spring/summer so I can't wait to repay too....giving a gift is just as fun as recieving a gift IMO. :)

These birds are just making me so happy, and theres enough of a want in others for the birds that I know within time (just months) they'll be paying for themselves in eggs. :)

Oh and also this week I'm getting mailed out a dozen White Leghorn eggs from a breeder I'm swapping RIR eggs with! :) My eggs ship out tomorrow for her, and I think she said she's shipping mine out to me as well tomorrow! :) So I'll get the fun job of tracking my eggs of both the coturnix and the WLH eggs. :) Makes my day! :)

I just couldn't be happier right now things are falling into a place where I finnally feel like things are going the way they should and that puts me at so much peace its' unreal. I don't know if I mentioned it in my last blog but I was very upset because hubbies promised raise was supposedly ignored and he wasn't going to get it! We went something like 4 days thinking he wasn't getting it and last night Ronnie called me from work saying I'd be very happy with the news he was about to tell me. Here, he IS getting the raise, but he's getting it a dollar and some change, at the end of every month, until march then he'll be making 16.50 an hour! :) Now he's at 13.50. :) So once he gets that raise I'll feel comfortable once again looking at houses for sale and drooling over them but for now all my focus is on these eggs and fluff balls that magically come out of them! LOL!

I cannot forget to mention that I went to SamGs house (another BYCer) and picked up the hens! They are ABSOLUTELY STUNNING! Ronnie and I are in love with the Blue Ameraucana, and I also LOVE the golden laced Wyandotte! :) They are all gorgeous though! The EEs are as cute as a button! *heart melts* I havent been able to get any good pictures of the girls yet because of all of the snow they are staying in their home....so I must wait. :)

My Coturnix Hen Henny Penny started laying eggs

5 days ago! :) For some reason she didnt lay tonight, but hopefully she'll start back up tomorrow. :)

I have soo much news coming in the way of chickens it's exciting. :) My buddy Brian is going to supply me with my first future flock (via hatching eggs) of Wyandottes from his dads new flock. They are Blue Laced Reds!! Talk about beautiful! It's thanks to HIM that im addicted to the darn things they're gorgeous! Darn you Brian! ;)

Tomorrow I'm getting the birds from my BYCer friend SamG. Seven beautiful hens! :) I cannot wait! :D Then tomorrow as well, eggs should start hatching for me....I HOPE!

THEN the weekend after my INCUBATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a lot of good things coming my way! wee :)

Getting a 70 y/o incubator that still works!

Yep you're reading my title correctly, a seventy year old incubator that still works we will be purchasing on the 27th....I think that's not next weekends but the weekend afters saturday I'm too lazy to find my calander....just suffice to say not this weekend coming up...next weekends saturday we'll be going to get it. :) $125 dollars is not bad in my eyes...may seem like a lot to others but cabinet style incubators are not cheap but this one IS! :) Most are 300 for used and 700-800 NEW!

This half LG half homemade incubator of mine just isnt cutting it. I don't even know if I'll have a sucessful hatch for as much as my incubators temperatures have fluctuated from TOO HOT to TOO cold! So it's just a waiting game now to see if any were amazingly strong enough to make it. I will be extreemly suprised if I even get one sucessfullly hatched on it's own chick from all of this. I just cannot wait to get this incubator and throw in a ton of eggies! :D

The incubator is a Sears Roebuck marketed soon after the depression so it's old old old. It can hold something lke 400 chicken eggs!!!! Ofcourse I wont NEED that many, but as long as it works great I can hatch chicks for people and sell chicks like mad and make myself a profit to manage my own birds. :)

We plan to strip the wood stain off of it to give it a natural look (its too shiney for me), and fire it up! :)

welp ending this here just had to vent my excitedness :D

New Birds Coming!

Look at one of the BEAUTIES I will be getting next weekend as long as the weather is nice (if not the weekend after)! This gorgeous hen is a standard blue Ameraucana! I'm also getting a Wyandotte hen, a Light Brahama hen, 3 EEs and a Road Island Red hen! They're coming from a pal of mine who I got my second stock of Coturnix hatching eggs from! I didn't realize how close we were to eachother, and he offered them to me so I just HAD to say yes! $25 for them all thats' a great deal! They will be apart of my "mixed-mutt-flock" that I'll hatch eggs from for fun and eating eggs. Also next weekend my first batch of chicks should start hatching (or atleast pipping), AND i'll be picking up somewhere around a dozen hatching white silkie eggs from another breeder!

The guy I was going to swap coturnix for bobwhites called me today. Instead of bobwhites it's going to be a trio of standard game chickens (he should be sending me pictures of them soon), annnd some mixed barred rock hatching eggs!!! WEEE!!!!

The golden comet and road island red hatching eggs I've been selling, the first two shipments got to their new "owners" by the second day! Only one egg was cracked in only the one package! WOOT! I send out my third one on monday to another Ny'er! :D

The snow is supposed to DUMP on us tonight starting around midnight...if it's pretty I'll snap some pics to add on here. :)

It's so nice having a lot of positive things coming my way this time of year being so cold and boring. :)

Incy back to good

...well only because the weather outside is back to being burr-chilly cold!!!! *shivvers* But for my eggs, i'd rather it be cold outside so my incubator runs correctly and keeps my chicks thriving. :) I candled several of the eggs this morning to see how they were doing still and no deaths that I can see YAY! :)

I don't know if I mentioned but the lady I'm getting my Ameraucanas off of is waiting until the weather is better for me to get my eggs, I could get them next week, or the week after depending on the weather that is. I cannot wait! I'm so happy she's willing to wait, she offered to wait herself I didnt even have to ask. I appreciate that so much. :)

I can't wait to see those pretty blue eggies! :) OH! And I haven't heard back from a guy near me but I may be getting a doz silkie eggs sooner than I thought I might!!!!

As for the guy I was going to trade some coturnix for for bobwhites, I emailed him back. I decided I'm going to pass. Theres too much to raising bobwhites correctly, and they're not great for putting with other birds without risking fights. So I'd rather not even attempt to raise them. :)

Well I really dont have much more to say here tonight....just cold and bored. :D

Niki

Blah....

Well, I had a crappy night and day today. Last night my upper lungs started hurting and I kept getting light headed and losing breath....aka....lung cold. So I took a chest cold pill and it did help some. I was tired but I wanted to candle some eggs, so I took several out and was overjoyed at all the moving lil chickies!

That was all trashed (well mostly) this morning. I was sick all night long, tossing and turning, gasping for breath, and feeling like I was having a heartattack (I know I wasnt but it hurt). I FINNALLY passed out to sleep at around 5 am but before it I checked my incubator temp....it was fine, I think it read 100.7 which is fine. I woke up at noon, and the first thing I always do is check the incubator.... 108!!!!!! AND the fan had fallen on an egg, thankfully didn't break it. SEVERAL chick embryos were killed because of this. I cried. Lol. I also opened up the eggs that were gone to just make sure I was right.....5 were dead, but 2-3 I opened up were still alive and I was so mad at myself.

Luckily I had eggs in the fridge that are fertile (we were eating them) and now they're in the bator as well! LOL! And my good ole hen outside gave me an egg as well, it's a mutt baby in the egg if it develops but I don't care at this point. :) Like one BYC told me, it's still VERY early in the season, so he told me to keep trying. :) Everyone was so supportive on there to me, if I wouldnt have that support system I would have just given up.

I just want to hatch some chicken chicks! *takes a tantrum* LOL! I hatch quails pretty easily but I always have some sort of bad luck with chicken chicks. I have YET to sucessfully hatch a chicken chick. Jan 17th my first are due to hatch.

I might be getting some silkie eggs again too it looks like :) I'm not going to get excited yet about it though, we'll see what happens. Even if I get them, no guarrentees they'll hatch with my darn ole luck! :)

I'm feeling better since I took another pill, but I'm sure I'll feel horrible again tonight....I'll be paranoid the whole time about the eggs in the incubator now too...on top of feeling like crapola.

I was just outside, its' freezing cold again so my incubator temperature is going down again which means i need to turn it up again AHH i hate that! LOL! I wish the weather would make up it's mind! It's gotten so bad that some of the male coturnix outside are crowing! IN JANUARY!!! Theres beena lot of sun and enough warmth obvoiusly they feel content lol!

They wont be tonight though *burr* It's snowing lil ice balls.

well off to monitor the 'bator and watch John Edwards :)

Now Bobwhites!?!

Oh good gosh! I advertised today online the trio of button quails I wanted to find a home for as well as mentioning that I also had a pair of coturnix quails I'd sell for $3 each. Well, a man contacted me and said he'd take the button quails, as well as buy the pair of coturnix. He then asked me if I'd be willing to sell him a trio of coturnixs instead of just two. I said I'd have to look at my birds but that I didn't see why not. He said that it was fine and no big deal if I couldn't. He then mentioned his pheasants, and bobwhites. He then said "would you like some of them?" I said 'what like as a trade?" he goes "sure!" SO! long story short. I'm getting a trio of JUMBO bobwhite quail, and finding good homes for my trio of buttons as well as 3 coturnixs. :)

He's driving the whole way from Bradford! *jaw drops*! He's supposed to come down this weekend, weather permitting. Either way our deal has been made I'm willing to hold them for him ofcourse. :) I wont get big on bobwhites at all, they'll just be here so I can enjoy hearing the male call. It is after all, my cell phones text ring-tone! :)

I just stopped typing for a bit to candle some eggs early....looks like a bunch aren't developing, but a few are! Hoping the golden comet egg that's a doubleyolker is fertile, it's 3 days incubated here in just a few hours....so it's almost impossible to tell. *keeping fingers crossed* I know they aren't developing because of their treatment, hatched in the dead of winter first off. LOL! However, what I mean by "a bunch aren't developing" is 3 didnt look fertile. Ha ha! I want them all to hatch so I'm allowed to exaggerate in my complaining....right!? Right!

I sent out a money order (well actually it's money wrapped in a peice of paper to hide it ha ha) to a breeder on the other side of PA for Bantam Black Ameraucana eggs! The TRUE blue/green egg layers! They are purebreds where as Easter Eggers (aka EEs) are "mongrels". I've had EEs and they're a joy as well but its' fun/exciting to have the true color-makers coming! I hope hope hope that the weather stays nice to them in transit!

I cannot wait, soon I'm going to send out mula for Black Jersey Giants from a fellow BYCer/Blog Spotter! EEk!!! Always wanted JGs! Then from my buddy in Ohio, I'm getting Buff Orphs THEN from another BYCer Buff/Splash orphs! Oh joy!!!

I shipped out two boxes of eggs today....1 going to Ny, the other going to Oh. First time I've ever shipped in the dead of winter so I hope that they get atleast some to develop! They are supposed to keep in contact with me on how the eggs come to them, as well as how they develop! :)

This isn't the end of my happiness...no. :) I wake up this morning to my bob-white call on my cell phone informing me I have a text message. I roll over and open up my cell phone to see a text from hubby. I click "view" and it says something along the lines of "as of today I am a relief driller, 16.75 an hour" GEEEE! He wasn't supposed to get that until next month! :) So you betcha I cannot wait to see that paycheck! Then we can start saving up for our first house! We've already been approved by our bank, and by ColdWell Banker. So now we just need to save up. I want to save up atleast $5,000 before we start the process of SERIOUSLY looking for a house..Iwant to do it right. Then we'll have to either save up more for furnature and applicances, OR open up a new credit card..blah. I want a place where I can have atleast one coop (perferably more) for my birds. If we get aplace with MORE land than I expect then ofcourse I'll get a horse too and a meat pig or something along those lines. I'd love to live "off the land" as much as I can. It would be possible here where we live/rent now but my mom has a problem with a ton of animals so!

I will be really sad to leave my mom alone though. So I hope to live as close to home as humanly possible. Which can be hard...can't force someone close ot sell their house ha ha! Theres a few for sale around here but will they still be when we have the $? Maybe. Maybe not. One day at a time... :)

My coturnix quails in the house are starting to mate....so I hope HOPE that means eggs very soon. They are 6 weeks old today. :D When I get eggies I'll post the lil pretties here. :D

Well, I will end this here...between typing about ramblings and watching "why I ran" I'm not paying too much attention he he!

Niki

About Me & My Life and My Animals

Hi there! I've been apart of this blog site since July 2007, however I didn't stick with it much. I plan to now as a way to share my love of my life with my family and birds! Maybe someone with like-wise thinking and interests will take interest in my blog to make it worth while. In the mean time it's here for me to keep track of my breedings and such! :)

I raise and breed the wonderful little quail called the Japanese Coturnix, known by many as just Coturnix Quails. They are more like mini chickens than quails, as they are no where near skiddish like most quails are, and they can get so comfortable with you that they'll eat out of your hands. Ofcourse just like chickens, they perfer not to be held...well some do but most...don't. I also bred Button Quails (Chinese Painted Quails) however they are just too skiddish, and to unaffectionate for me to have any interest to keep breeding and working with them. I'm finding homes hopefully here soon for my trio of buttons and I'm keeping my first ever button quail hen because she was my first ever hatched bird, as well as she's actually semi tame and likes being with people. :)

*Pippin to the right*

Here are some of the varieties of Coturnix Quails I raise and will be offering for sale (pick up or shipping on hatching eggs).

*Golden* aka Manchurian, Italian etc

*Tibetan* aka British Range

*A & M* aka Texas A & M White*Jumbo Brown* aka Large Pharoah Coturnix

*Tuxedo* aka Tibetan crossed with A & MJust a few more months and my outdoor coturnix (the main breeders) will be penned up according to color and I will start getting eggs! I cannot wait! Then will come the work of finding new colors to add to my existing flock! :) Looking for Silver and Ginger mostly. :) Well and other dark tibetans. :D Anyone interested in my quail for hatching eggs can email me at monarc23@yahoo.com or visit my website at http://www.freewebs.com/quailgal.

I have a small flock (5) of Golden Comets, they are gorgeous! I am willing to sell their eggs in the future (right now im only getting 1 egg a day) however these are MUTT birds. They are a cross of RIR and White Leghorn- they are sex-linked but their babies won't be. They will be $2 for a dozen plus shipping when they all start laying. They are amazing layers, HUGE eggs....below is the birds and their eggs:

*Beautiful Medium-Brown Speckled eggs*

I am working on getting Black Bantam Amerucanas, as well as Black Jersey Giants, Buff & Blue/Splash Orphingtons, and mutt chickens for bettering my egg laying....I cannot wait!

I have in the incubator right now over 3 dozen Golden Comet eggs amungst Golden CometXGolden Comet (mutts), and pure Road Island Red (RIR) eggs. First are due to hatch on the 10th of this month!!!! :D Ofcourse I will update here with pictures and maybe even videos!

Niki