(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
Although I haven't been on BYC for a while, I have had chickens since 2011 when I retired. I started out with seven pullets of seven different breeds that I ordered from My Pet Chicken. That was the beginning . . . . Then chicken...
Good luck, COSteveo. It will be interestng to see how your new revised temp control affects your hatch rate with the shipped eggs,and how that compares with the results you get from your own eggs. I bet you find it's night and day difference. Eggs from my chickens hatch like popcorn popping...
Hi Becky. I know how you feel. I was so discouraged last year I could hardly stand it! Local eggs are just so much easier to hatch than eggs that have been through the shipping trauma. And high elevation just makes it that much harder. I got my first chicks several years ago at...
Hi lgc1970. I did keep the humidity in that range -- probably closer to 55 percent average. It is really dry here, esp. when the furnace is running. But I didn't increase the room humidity with a humidifier, and the room temp was closer to 68 average. But the incubator was really stable...
I heard somewhere (can't remember where) that quail are a little more forgiving of the higher altitude and hatch a little easier. So best of luck to you!
Wow! You are really high up! I live north of Colorado Springs at around 7300 ft. and I thought that was up there! Where are you?
I can share my experience with shipped eggs with you. I did a lot of reading about it, and I think the air cells get ruptured when the post office puts them on an...
Lady, I appreciate so much all the information you have shared in this thread. It is so helpful to hear from someone who has so much experience. I have recently been blessed with a very determined Wheaten Ameraucana broody who waited for me to come to my senses and let her hatch some chicks...
Thanks! This is her first hatch, but she seems like she has that mommy instinct! So much easier than using the incubator, and really fun to see them together. I totally agree with Lady of McCamley's advice. Based on my recent experience, I won't ever have the mom and eggs in a nest box that...
The final count was two out of three of the cold eggs hatched. I brought the last egg up to the house and candled it and the chick was in hatching position but had died. So I ended up with four chicks out of five eggs. So that just goes to show, they are tougher than I thought. So my young...
Thanks for your encouragement!! The final count was two out of three of the cold eggs hatched. I brought the last egg up to the house and candled it and the chick was in hatching position but had died. So I ended up with four chicks out of five eggs. So that just goes to show, they are...
I went out this morning, and she had a third chick hatched out in her little floor nest. So at least one of the eggs made it after cooling down. And she is still tending the other two eggs. I let some cold air in when I opened the coop and the three babies scooted under her. When one of the eggs...