# we have a hatchling!



## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

so i am getting a new rooster, he is a Quail Belgian Bearded D'Anvers his hen but i have an older self blue D'Anvers hen she is like 5. and if i breed her to the rooster what trait will likely be dominant?

ok more questions
1. how do i get an older hen to lay more eggs?
2. will the rooster help to increase egg production?
3. how do i get weight on a bird not for meat?
4. self blue quail D'Anvers what are the odds?
5. what is better, incubating or using a broody hen?
6. how do i get my hen to become broody?

misty my self blue









she hasn't layed an egg since fall but that's not unusual i have increased light and she gets layer crumbles, she was wormed in the fall (September??) and will be wormed again in april she has no worms in her poop and other than being skinny is pretty healthy. her rooster, fog







was the sweetest little guy and such a good protector.


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

here is a better picture


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

i have hatched eggs before but we purchased fertilized eggs instead of breeding ourselves. i used an incubator last time.


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## VeggieGoat (Jan 17, 2018)

Old Post Farm said:


> View attachment 126380
> here is a better picture


Fog is so cute!


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

misty is a great mother and has mothered chicks that were 2 months old before (she didn't hatch them) and she has been broody before


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

thank you


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Pretty chickens.


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

thank you


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

my bantam cochin is broody and is hatching golf balls currently. so cross #6 off the list of questions.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Ok, we haven't had D'Anvers before, so I'm not sure about the traits. But anyways. 

1. I don't really think there is a good way to do this. We've never been able to get our hens to extend their laying life really.

2. No.

3. Layers?

5. Broody hens for sure. Though it kind of depends on the hen how good of a mother she is. But incubators are really tough to get right. Most first timers get a 30% success rate. Though if you think you might want to do it a lot in the future, go for it.

6. Mostly this depends on genetics. If you want a broody hen, find a breeder that says their hens will go broody. With your average hatchery chicken, the broody has been bred out. Leaving their eggs out and not moving them around can help.

They look like nice chickens


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

yes layers. I've done an incubator before and had 50%, i am going to try both i think and see which works better. i have a hen that i made broody today with golf balls she gets broody really easily. thank you, i will post pictures of the new ones when i get them


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Are you giving them a fixed amount of feed or free choice?


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

kind of free choice the skinnier ones get as much as they want and the ones that are looking/feeling fine get like a cup of food


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

here are some of the chicks from the incubator hatch
this is mini







this is white out







this is bubbah again














this is mini all grown up














this is white out

all the boys were old English games


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

obscura the cochin is still hatching golf balls


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

obscura is so broody that she won't move 6 inches for water or food


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

I'm getting the new chickens on Sunday!


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

here is a not so great picture of the new hen and misty. i am waiting for the better pictures to load to my computer


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

got another 2 of the hen















any name ideas?


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

and the rooster:hubbahubba:


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Nice


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

this is kind of bitter sweet. one of my standards an Orpington started laying yesterday!


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## Lstein (Oct 2, 2014)

Nice! Isn't that exciting to find their first pullet egg?


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

yeah but not a pullet egg its the first eggs of the winter


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

i gave up on having obscura be broody because all of the other show birds are in the green house getting sun.
this is hickory








this wheat thin an old English game








this is misty








this is obscura








this is rain









so that is the breeding flock. i am going to use my incubator a brinsea mini advance.


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

You have gorgeous chickens! I, personally, love having a broody momma raise their babies. It's so much easier, not to mention how cute it is to see a momma hen with chicks. However, I also have so much fun using an incubator and doing it myself. My broodiest hens have always been my naked necks. It's like they just can't help themselves and every egg they see is their future child! Lol


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

thank you! awe that is so cute, i love naked necks. misty mothers chicks too even though she has never been broody. she mothered standard chicks and now they are 4 times her size.


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

Naked necks are one of my favorites.  All I have left of my previous chickens (They were killed by a dog) is my rooster. His momma was a tiny, bantam naked neck and his dad was a standard polish. Even though polish aren't huge, he towered over his mother. That's so sweet about Misty. Aren't chickens just wonderful!


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

yes i love them! a polish/naked neck sound adorable:lolgoat: i have two bantie polish hens


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

I was really hoping some of her babies would get the polish hair. A couple of them did somewhat but not like a full polish. This guy really just looks like a naked neck. He is a sweetheart, though. Sadly, i haven't been decent enough to give him a proper name. I call him Mr. Rooster and one of my friend calls him Hei Hei. What color are your little polish girls? I bet they are so cute!


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

one is a white crested black (pom-pom), and one is a white crested cuckoo (daisy)

he is so cute  i really like naked necks.


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

Awwww...I bet they are so cute. I have never seen a bantam polish in person but I know the big ones are so adorable. 

Thank you. He's my baby. His father was just evil. I would have got rid of him but one of my kids had wanted a buff laced polish (that's what he was) forever so I kept him. Thankfully this guy got his mother's personality.


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

here is a picture of pom-pom she is in the green house with the roo and the other hens to see what chicks i can get.







this picture is old from spring 2017


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

i entered pictures in a magazine competition!


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

She is so adorable!!! I couldn't get the pic to come up last time I looked so I was just able to see her. 

Awesome on entering the magazine competition! Good luck!!!


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

thank you!
do you have any chickens other than "hei hei"?


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

here are the pictures i entered


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

Oh, those pics are terrific! I can't wait to hear how you do!

Yes, I have Hei Hei, a speckled Sussex rooster, a white leghorn hen, 5 Easter egger hens, 3 little reddish/buff hens I am not sure what are, and one of then has 4 chicks (2 boys, 2 girls).


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## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

Following!


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

i got an egg from one of the hens in with the rooster! and another feels like she has an egg in her abdomen too!!! hopefully chicks will hatch in late February.


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

That's awesome!!! Can't wait to see the babies!


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

me too i think it is a red cochin, quail D'Anvers cross, i got another egg today and it will be a wheaten old English game, D'Anvers


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

I got two more eggs one more from each of the two hens.


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

:update::update::update:
signs of life in 3 out of 4 eggs when candled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the egg that i cant see anything in has a thicker seeming shell than the other. i have a fifth egg I'm waiting to put in the incubator until i get another 1.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

That is great!


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

That's awesome! Can't wait to see the babies!


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

the incubator is full!


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

Yayyy!


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Awesome!!


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

first egg is due to hatch on the 21st!


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

Just to warn you ahead of time, we will want lots of pictures!


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

Goat_Scout said:


> Just to warn you ahead of time, we will want lots of pictures!


Yes!!!!! This!


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

yes of course!


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

the wait is almost over to see chicks...
ONE IS HATCHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

starting to hatch, anyways and another is rocking and getting ready to start!


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## Lstein (Oct 2, 2014)

Hows the progress coming? I need to avoid this thread, I promised I wouldn't get chicks this year. This is making it very hard.....


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

oops sorry, but maybe you can get your chick fix this way. nothing much yet maybe a millimeter or two more if a break in the shell. it is peeping. the chick would be from the Red Cochin and the D'Anvers rooster. maybe a feather footed and bearded chick?


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

the wait is over to see babies!








it is feather footed and bearded with a single shaped comb


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

here he is, sorry about the bad picture


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Too cute!


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

Oh my goodness what a cutie!!!!!


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

Adorable!! What’s his name?


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

it doesn't have a name yet because i don't know the gender yet. i will most likely name the chicks when they are a few weeks old


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## Lstein (Oct 2, 2014)

Anymore pop out?


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

yes one more. an old English game cross 








the one on the left is the one that hatched most recently


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## Lstein (Oct 2, 2014)

Congrats!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Congrats.


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

lol since my last post 6 more have hatched. the one that hatched today is a full D'Anvers but it seems to have its mother's coloring! which is what i was hoping for. the mom is a self blue color ( i will post a picture of the mom down below. there are 5 older chicks, the youngest will be 2 weeks old this week, and the other three have hatched in the past three days, the possible self blue was today, an old english game was yesterday, on Saturday was an old English game too but a different coloring. 








sorry about the quality of the picture and her paleness the chickens can control how hot or cold they are by the color of their skin and it was hot in the greenhouse that day. this is the self blue coloring, some people call it lavender.


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

i will post pictures of the other chicks soon too


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Cute!


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