Hands on hatching and help

[BantyChooks]

Wow, I love that new coop! 

Ooooh, keep me in mind for those mottled cochin. 

I have 2 pips in my cochin eggs!    Blue frizzle roo over cuckoo hen. 

 

[Laurel Meadows]

Wow, I love that new coop! 

Ooooh, keep me in mind for those mottled cochin. 

I have 2 pips in my cochin eggs!    Blue frizzle roo over cuckoo hen. 

Thanks! I'll keep you posted on the mottled as they grow

:yiipchick Go babies, go! I can't wait to see your chicks- I bet they will be gorgeous!!

 

[Laurel Meadows]

That's great! Thank you for the info. Now did they do an inspection while they were there? I've heard some crazy stories like you can't even have cobwebs in the coop and you can't keep the incubator in the same room as the brooder. Any info on the inspection?
Oh boy! They are little destroyers, aren't they?! They love pulling everything out of drawers, throwing everything off of beds and tables. Mine sleeps in bed with me since I'm still nursing but I'm a pretty light sleeper and it takes me awhile to fall back asleep. He wakes up and starts crying a little, I nurse him back to sleep and then it takes me like a half hour to fall back asleep. About 20-30 minutes after I fall asleep he starts moving around and crying again and the cycle starts all over. So I'm really not getting much sleep at all. A few hours that are totally broken. I guess he could be teething, maybe getting molars or night terrors or a cold coming on. I don't know but it really drains me the whole day! At least I know I'm not alone!
My little one must be going through something! On all the shipped chicken eggs I've had any that made it passed two weeks had air cells that completely firmed up. But with the last batch of duck eggs one was looking really good but still had a totally loose air cell. Unfortunately it quit during lockdown. I'm glad to hear Friday has had luck with them. I'm my fingers for them. Can't wait to see pics at hatch!

We didn't have any inspections of our coops or brooders. I've read some states do that, but our tester stayed outside the coops the whole time I believe in the interest of biosecurity. She wore a disposable protective jumpsuit and shoe covers (that were bagged up and we threw away after the testing) and we would go into the coops to bring out and put back our birds. The coops were pretty clean but not pristine that's for sure lol. I don't think she even looked inside them, actually! Our birds were all out doing their normal thing. We didn't have any of them closed up in coops or caged up. We just went in to the run or coop and grabbed whoever we knew would be easiest to catch.

But they're all a pretty friendly laid back bunch so no chicken chasing involved lol.

She knew we had lots of chicks and hatched eggs but there were zero questions about incubators, brooders or birds under 4 months old.

After the tests were over we went over some of the program rules. There was emphasis on any new birds I get should come from other npip sources and to keep those certificates to show any outside birds are in compliance with the program rules.
Any I sell should have certificates included, that type of thing. And we went over what breeds we plan to sell so they can be added to the certificates and database. Every bird on the property is considered tested clean.

It was really relaxed. I didn't at all feel like our coops or birds were under scrutiny.


You're definitely not alone in your sleep deprivation. My daughter didn't sleep through the night until just a few months ago at 24 months

I almost forgot what it was like to sleep through the night! My older 3 all were great sleepers as babies (and still are). This child hates to sleep

Hopefully for you and your son its just a tooth- those are quick couple days of discomfort and back to normal! Maybe he will nap well for you today and you can get a little rest too!

 

[WildHens]

And don't forget me...I'm here too!  I'm the thread's Official Stoopid Question Asker. My job is to ask the really dumb questions so people who might have the same questions can get the answers without having to ask them themselves!  You're welcome!  

Bwhahahaha...hey that is a legit job in my world and probably helps more people than you know..and I don't think there is such a thing as a stupid question fyi.. trust me on that.. maybe some stupid answers...but you can not learn if you do not ask ♡♡♡

 

[D Annalee]

Hi everyone. I am new at this texting thing and also new at incubating. I have eggs coming from a breeder in Florida. Buff Orpington and I'm trying to get my incubator ready. I think I have the temp correct but having difficult time getting the humidity to come down some. I have the incubator in my cellar and I think the humidity is high. So I emptied the incubator to see if it will drop back down. First then I will add the water slowly to see. At this time it is staying at 60 % humidity

 

[TurksPoultry]

Hi everyone. I am new at this texting thing and also new at incubating. I have eggs coming from a breeder in Florida. Buff Orpington and I'm trying to get my incubator ready. I think I have the temp correct but having difficult time getting the humidity to come down some. I have the incubator in my cellar and I think the humidity is high. So I emptied the incubator to see if it will drop back down. First then I will add the water slowly to see. At this time it is staying at 60 % humidity

Good thing you contacted us before you started! 60 is too high during the initial incubation period for most of us. I am in Southern LA and my humidity runs high all by its lonesome.

I try to monitor the air cells by tracing them while candling on days I set eggs plus, 7, 14 and 18. So I can track the moiture loss causing the air cell to grow to the right size. These days would allow you to try to fix things if there is a problem.

And shipped eggs are super tough! I hope you dont live far from FL! Also do u have a secondary thermometer and hydrometer to monitor the accuracy of the bator? What kind of bator is it? The brand and model are helpful but the type of material it is makes a difference in its stability as well as its location? ( ex. Outdoors, in a spare room, closet...) you want ur bator in the most stable environment possible.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Wow free?! That's a great incentive to get more people to have the testing done
Lol well I know I can't keep all 13 of these mottled Cochins

If you'd like any after I see what I can keep (a lot depends on which ones are smooth and frizzles) just let me know!
My little lavender boys are starting to crow which is adorable lol so maybe soon I'll have some fertile self blues too

We are having the utility folks out to mark underground lines this week. My husband has decided it's time to start building another large coop and run

We still have another bantam coop in progress and just finished building this one for the calico Cochins:





We're now up to 5 coops

Ohhhhh, nice.

Sorry to hear your incubator is giving you fits

I sure hope things settle down for you soon.

keeping fingers crossed for your eggs!

Thank you. I think I finally got it to settle down between 97-99 which for hatching I guess I can handle. As long as it stays away from that 101-103 it was shooting for...lol

Hi everyone. I am new at this texting thing and also new at incubating. I have eggs coming from a breeder in Florida. Buff Orpington and I'm trying to get my incubator ready. I think I have the temp correct but having difficult time getting the humidity to come down some. I have the incubator in my cellar and I think the humidity is high. So I emptied the incubator to see if it will drop back down. First then I will add the water slowly to see. At this time it is staying at 60 % humidity

and welcome to the thread. Run it without water if your humidity will stay around 30%ish and you can monitor the air cells to tell you if you need to add more. Good luck on the shipped eggs. Once you get the eggs in there it will change too.

Good thing you contacted us before you started! 60 is too high during the initial incubation period for most of us. I am in Southern LA and my humidity runs high all by its lonesome.

I try to monitor the air cells by tracing them while candling on days I set eggs plus, 7, 14 and 18. So I can track the moiture loss causing the air cell to grow to the right size. These days would allow you to try to fix things if there is a problem.

And shipped eggs are super tough! I hope you dont live far from FL! Also do u have a secondary thermometer and hydrometer to monitor the accuracy of the bator? What kind of bator is it? The brand and model are helpful but the type of material it is makes a difference in its stability as well as its location? ( ex. Outdoors, in a spare room, closet...) you want ur bator in the most stable environment possible.

xs 2

 

[Pyxis]

The welshies are coming early! Had one already pipped when I got home from work last night So I quickly locked them all down and had a bunch of internal pips. The one that had already externally pipped did it on the wrong side, away from the air cell, so I may end up having to help that one, but we'll see.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

2 little nns out!!!

 

[Blooie]

2 little nns out!!!