APRIL Hatch-A-Long 2015: PLEASE READ FIRST POST

[WalnutHill]

I bought the 50 BR eggs from jessshan8. They were packed amazingly well.

 

[paris_r]

i set a tray of eggs today in my new incubator-48. i am not pretreating them , i want to see how well this baby does by itself. i have 7 speckled sussex eggs from ebay, 14 silkies from my stock and 27 d'uccles from my stock. i did move some already incubating into it as soon as it was stabilized since the temp spikes in my table top killed more than half my viable embryos and it had cold spots too!

 

[FreeRanging Hen]

Hatching with kids is so special and makes it that much more fun to see the miracle of life and birth. Good luck on the hatch!!

We just love watching the chicks hatch.
It never gets old. If ever there's a chance to watch a chick hatch out, the kids and I are right there watching and cheering the little chickie on LOL

 

[Purpletie3]

i set a tray of eggs today in my new incubator-48. i am not pretreating them , i want to see how well this baby does by itself. i have 7 speckled sussex eggs from ebay, 14 silkies from my stock and 27 d'uccles from my stock. i did move some already incubating into it as soon as it was stabilized since the temp spikes in my table top killed more than half my viable embryos and it had cold spots too!

Good luck with that! I have heard a lot about the GQF cabinets. How many does it hold?

 

[paris_r]

Good luck with that! I have heard a lot about the GQF cabinets. How many does it hold?

well according to the manufacturer it is 270, 6 trays on 3 racks. but i got 'universal chicken' racks that were made by another company, so i can do (6X48) 388. i wont do that since i have a small yard, but i may offer hatching to locals to warrant keeping it running. these newer models are not made of wood, so they are lighter. the outside is a plastic laminate foam composition. its not hard to get these-i applied for paypal credit and got a 12 month no interest offer. if i hatch 30 silkie chicks a month (always popular local sellers on craigslist) and sell them for only 5 $, i can have it paid off in under 6 months. i justified the purchase not only on how many chicks were hatching badly (or just lost to temp issues) but also on it establishing me a revolving credit record as i dont have credit cards/car payments/etc.

 

[Purpletie3]

well according to the manufacturer it is 270, 6 trays on 3 racks. but i got 'universal chicken' racks that were made by another company, so i can do (6X48) 388. i wont do that since i have a small yard, but i may offer hatching to locals to warrant keeping it running. these newer models are not made of wood, so they are lighter. the outside is a plastic laminate foam composition. its not hard to get these-i applied for paypal credit and got a 12 month no interest offer. if i hatch 30 silkie chicks a month (always popular local sellers on craigslist) and sell them for only 5 $, i can have it paid off in under 6 months. i justified the purchase not only on how many chicks were hatching badly (or just lost to temp issues) but also on it establishing me a revolving credit record as i dont have credit cards/car payments/etc.

Awesome you have a hatching plan. I wound up with a 360 cabinet figuring I would have room in the bottom to use as a hatcher and never fill it up. I had eggs on every shelf at one point.. I love it~ I am sure you will love yours. They are expensive to fill if you are not hatching your own eggs! LOL

Unfortunately, credit makes everything seem affordable. Sure has been that way in my experience.

 

[scflock]

Ok, joining a little late here. I set 24 cuckoo marans on March 30 with a due date of April 20

 

[Purpletie3]

I am getting very excited! After Easter break I will be hatching again! I really have missed it! Right now I have some of our Easter Eggers in the Brinsea Mini and one extra egg from the farmer down the road to fill it up. I just can not see through these eggs...the green blue is so dark even in a completely dark room. I will be curious if I can hatch my own chicks okay. I am leaving my boyfriend in charge of the mini while I am gone. Not too much there he can screw up; pretty much low pressure foolproof!

I hope everyone else is progressing well with their incubation. I just love it.It really is so addicting!

 

[Phunter14]

I need help!
We are on day 19 of incubation, we couldn't get our humidity levels high enough so husband decided to move the incubator to our bathroom so it was in a less drafty area. Well he slightly rolled some of the eggs during the "move" okay fine whatever but then he OPENED the incubator... Did he kill them?! This is our first attempt to hatch obviously.

 

[paris_r]

I need help!
We are on day 19 of incubation, we couldn't get our humidity levels high enough so husband decided to move the incubator to our bathroom so it was in a less drafty area. Well he slightly rolled some of the eggs during the "move" okay fine whatever but then he OPENED the incubator... Did he kill them?! This is our first attempt to hatch obviously.

he closed it soon after right? opening it is not a problem unless its for a longer time, remember momma gets off the nest for at least 10 mins a day to do one incredibly large and smelly poop, get a drink, chow down some grub and if she can she will squeeze in a dust bath.

oh yeah, a quick way to boost humidity is a spray bottle-you dont have to spray the eggs-just spray the air around it (yes i open the edges of the bator to do this)