Saturday chatter

This was the view from my chicken run yesterday. We really got a good amount of snow dumped on us on Weds and Thurs. Its actually snowing right now, but I don't think its going to add much more at this point. This seems to be more of a wet snow coming down, and its in the 30's out there at the moment. Next week however, there are going to be a few days when its in the 60's!!! Hooray!!! I don't plan on breaking out the shorts and flip flops just yet though...even though I would love to...as would most people here in Virginia.

Sunday(tomorrow) my incubator goes into lockdown. That means I'm only a few days away from seeing those cute little fuzzy butts. I'll candle them all though as I'm taking them out of the turner to lay them on their sides to get ready for hatching. There is one egg in particular that I haven't been overly sure about. Its one from my own chickens. There does appear to be a baby growing in it, but the shell just looks off to me. Its probably just because its a thin looking shell, and because I haven't hatched out any of that chickens eggs before. I'm kind of excited to see how that chick is going to turn out if he/she does hatch out. That one is going to be a buff rock/rhode island red mix. The other one that I'm interested to see how he/she turns out, is a dark brahma/rhode island red mix. So far all of the chicks that we've hatched out that have been "barnyard mix" have been really pretty. Sinatra (my RIR) seems to have some great genetics going on for him.  This summer however, we will be hatching out some chicks that are pure RIR, and then what we are hoping will turn out to be sex links. We are breeding him with some White Leghorns, hoping for Red Stars. If you know anything about chicken breeds you know what I'm talking about. Red Sex Links, also known as red stars, or golden comets depending on the mix, are some of THE BEST egg layers. Once they start, they don't seem to stop until they hit a certain age, or until they molt, and even then they still lay through the molt, just not as much. We have 2 sex link chickens, we have a Red Sex Link, and a Black Sex Link. Our black sex link is indeed a very good layer, but not as good as our Red Sex Link.

Now just so you know, if you don't know already, you get a sex link by breeding certain types of chickens together, and when they hatch out, you can actually tell if they are male or female. With a whole lot of research, my hubby picked out the white leghorns that we have (through Ideal hatchery, which is a great place to mail order chickens). We have talked to other people who raise chickens, and have bred their own sex links, and are pretty satisfied that we will more than likely achieve our goal of breeding our own. We plan on doing a constant hatching, and will be getting a second incubator in the very near future. Our plan is to keep rotating eggs in, and then putting them in the second incubator for the lock down. Sex links are in high demand here, and people prefer to be able to buy them locally. We may end up having to set up a second area to let some of them get big enough to be considered pullet size for those who would rather have them as bigger than chick size.  Lots and lots to take into account.

Well, that's todays ramblings. I'm going to go watch some YouTube videos on how to sew pleats. (I have a pattern for a  really cute top, but am lost on making pleats)
Have a great weekend everybody!!!!