First lockdown!! couple questions.

BarrettG said:

Oh that's awesome. Congrats! Ya I always crack open one of every breed egg before they go in the incubator. Then I candle them a few days after. Good luck with the huskies. I'm in the middle of a hatch myself lol

Click to expand...

Hope it went well!

This is my first time. Not sure when my eggs are due to hatch. Planning to put them on lockdown Monday. Can I put wet washcloths on the bottom of the incubatoroom before they hatch? Do you hear chirping with duck eggs? I have so many questions....ugh!

You will have better luck posting your own. Do a lot of reading/searches. One must read but its a little lengthy but really covers it all is...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101
Pretty much the same for ducks but lock down is a few days later...and I believe you should have been misting/drying them out regularly? I only tried hatching ducks once and I didn't have a single one develop....but I determined later the few I had refridgerated for eating weren't fertile......

This one I go to for comparison on air cell/incubation stage. I try to remove any eggs not developing by Day 6-7.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation

Best of luck! I realize your post is a couple days old now.

@southernhusky

I'm so sorry I didn't see your messages last year! I didn't mean to drop out on you like that! I got 9 chicks on my first hat, and about 20 on the following hatch!(was so surprised by that)

Anyway this winter I had a fox (I saw him, so I am certain) kill 20 chickens mid afternoon and leave them all for dead. I believe the Fox is gone now.

So of course this spring I hatched another20 plus 6 guineas. They are 5 weeks
old and adorable.

Congrats on your husky pups!

jstlitlome said:

@southernhusky

I'm so sorry I didn't see your messages last year! I didn't mean to drop out on you like that! I got 9 chicks on my first hat, and about 20 on the following hatch!(was so surprised by that)

Anyway this winter I had a fox (I saw him, so I am certain) kill 20 chickens mid afternoon and leave them all for dead.

I believe the Fox is gone now.

So of course this spring I hatched another20 plus 6 guineas. They are 5 weeks
old and adorable.

Congrats on your husky pups!

Click to expand...

No problem! I think I didn't quote you anyways so it might not have "notified" you! I was still figuring out this website... So sorry to hear about a fox getting your chickens! I've seen a few but always across the road in the cow field or pine trees, between my Huskies and Danes nothing gets unnoticed in this yard, only 1 side of the yard a dog wouldnt see them is the corner the chicken coop is on but it does have chain link fence around it and my house dogs check out that area all the time. I still want some guineas, I've seen several snakes in my yard....mostly corn snakes at least 4 foot, and 2 I think were eastern hog nose. I do worry about snakes getting to the chicken eggs after what I've heard from others but I haven't seen any sign they've been near my coop. My chickens arent getting broody....One thought about it but kept switching back and forth between 2 nests so on day 3 of switching I just put them in incubator. Couple blood rings of course but I have so many eggs.....about 100 set, a few in the "hatcher" incubator.

But I've been hatching plenty of chicks. 5 by 3pm yesterday with more pipping. I'm doing staggered hatches, its like Christmas every few days! I'm about to go peak again. I had a blue one, a blue/ylw one, a ylw one, a....odd newly hatched one when wet was like yellow tipped darker base coloring....some are mixed because I don't have all my pens set up. Oh and I got 3 polish pullets yesterday to go with my gold laced frizzle Roo...who is 7 mths and I haven't seen him crow, him and a Salmon fave are the only Roos running around now. I think I want to focus on Cochins, Marans, and Cream Legbars. Have about 18 half-grown of the latter 2 breeds, haha, now I'm just babbling about chickens LOL

Good to hear from you and wish you & your chicks the best!