Incubators Anonymous

[spowell]

Rachel'sFlock :

Quote:
Please, pretty please! All I get is grief from mine for my hobby!

bikerchick, I feel your pain. My husband was not as supportive as I would have liked, for the first year or so, despite loving eggs more than all other foods.
He thought they were expensive and time consuming, and more or less a "waste of time".
"How much time are you going to spend reading about chickens /???"
The rooster was too noisy, and he was costing too much, "all he does is eat- he doesn't even lay eggs!"...
Then my broody had chicks, and all of a sudden he finally understood.
Like a light came on in his head, and he finally understood what was going on, here.

Then, his best friend got bitten by the chicken bug, and has been furiously building a coop and run for some chicks he doesn't even have yet.
I came out of the bathroom one afternoon, and overheard my hubs giving the friend chicken advice over the phone. My mouth dropped open and I couldn't believe what I was hearing! My husband giving someone chicken advice????
My husband who has never even logged on to BYC, picked up a library book or spoken to a single chicken farmer (save for me, of course, and I barely qualify) was giving his best friend chicken advice.

Next thing I knew, he had questions. He actually wanted to know why I chose the things I did (lighting hours, free-ranging philosophy, total number of laying hens needed to fulfill the quota I had in mind, etc). Now he is interested in what goes on out there. The complaining about the crowing has ended. He recognizes the importance of the rooster in the flock, and what a magnificent specimen he truly is. (seems he understands him on a "man to man" level, now; protection of the flock, finding them good things to eat, warnings when the hawks are in the sky above...)
He even opens the run door for them in the morning (he is an early bird, and I am a night owl, so they get to go out and play far sooner, and without me having to set an alarm)


I can't promise your mate will ever come to the Path of chickens, but I can say there is hope. Maybe he will come to appreciate them, even if for no other reason than they make you happy, provide you joy, and are important to you.
Fingers crossed for that understanding to come to your shared farmyard.

Ok....My DH has been giving me grief about all the chickens I've hatched out lately. so, last weekend we had a flock swap at out local feed store. He asked me if I was going to sell some of my chicks and I told him that was the plan......

He decided the night before the swap that he thought I probably needed to keep those chicks a while longer just in-case there was a really good one I should keep.

 

[Chickangel79]

My other half commented yesterday ' and I really thought you meant it when you said the incubators would be off by September' lol. He is just as bad though, we built a new run and he said we should make it bigger for more chickens !! I am totally addicted to hatching, I did mean to turn them off but an offer of eggs was just too much for me !!

 

[Rachel'sFlock]

Quote:
It is a good thing I am a broody-hatcher. If I had access to a way to incubate and brood large numbers of eggs and chicks, I would be in big, huge trouble.
I was ready to set more when my babies were 2 days old!
I still have room for a few more clutches, tho....

 

[Chickangel79]

My experience with broodies has never been great, only had two go like that all summer and one of those killed three eggs in the process.
It's all too easy lol, buy eggs place in incubator, wait, hatch, buy eggs, place in incubator.... lol. I do think this lot will be my last lot as its getting cold here now and lots of babies in the house smell. I do plan to sell all the girls from this hatch though.

 

[Rachel'sFlock]

Quote:
I guess broody-trouble can be common, especially in hatchery birds, as broodiness is generally bred out of them. (broody=no eggs)
I was so very blessed to have wound up with a hatchery Born-to-be-Broody. She has been trying to set since she was 6 months old. She went consistently broody every 4-6 weeks her whole life. Breaking her up breaks my heart.
So I got her a fine roo, and now we have loads of fertile eggs to try to hatch.
Turns out, she was not only good at setting but also chick-rearing as well.
I feel like the luckiest Mum on the chicken-loving planet to have been so fortunate as to have scored a Super-Broody in the random mix of the last 6 BA pullets in a feed store bin.
As I only need one broody, I will not be hatching any of her eggs, until such time as she gets old or infirm or stops going broody. (broodiness is a heritable trait, so a broody Mum is more likely to throw broody chicks)
My broody is the only chicken on this farm who will be allowed to expire of natural causes and be buried, with full honours, beneath the Big apple tree.

 

[Chickangel79]

Rachel'sFlock :

Quote:
I guess broody-trouble can be common, especially in hatchery birds, as broodiness is generally bred out of them. (broody=no eggs)
I was so very blessed to have wound up with a hatchery Born-to-be-Broody. She has been trying to set since she was 6 months old. She went consistently broody every 4-6 weeks her whole life. Breaking her up breaks my heart.
So I got her a fine roo, and now we have loads of fertile eggs to try to hatch.
Turns out, she was not only good at setting but also chick-rearing as well.
I feel like the luckiest Mum on the chicken-loving planet to have been so fortunate as to have scored a Super-Broody in the random mix of the last 6 BA pullets in a feed store bin.
As I only need one broody, I will not be hatching any of her eggs, until such time as she gets old or infirm or stops going broody. (broodiness is a heritable trait, so a broody Mum is more likely to throw broody chicks)
My broody is the only chicken on this farm who will be allowed to expire of natural causes and be buried, with full honours, beneath the Big apple tree.

Aww that's sweet ! You are very lucky to have such a hen! Or buff orp was our broody one, I broke her no less than 9 times this season. Halfway through I gave her eggs but it was her who killed them. MY best one was the choc bantam, sat and sat and sat and was a great mum, but won't do it again !! My only successful broody hatch ! SHe let me candle and everything with no fuss.
I have read about hatchery chicks but I don't know much about them. We can't (unless I just can't find one) order and ship chicks like you can there. And none of our pet stores have any chicks like yours does.​

 

[Rachel'sFlock]

Quote:
I guess broody-trouble can be common, especially in hatchery birds, as broodiness is generally bred out of them. (broody=no eggs)
I was so very blessed to have wound up with a hatchery Born-to-be-Broody. She has been trying to set since she was 6 months old. She went consistently broody every 4-6 weeks her whole life. Breaking her up breaks my heart.
So I got her a fine roo, and now we have loads of fertile eggs to try to hatch.
Turns out, she was not only good at setting but also chick-rearing as well.
I feel like the luckiest Mum on the chicken-loving planet to have been so fortunate as to have scored a Super-Broody in the random mix of the last 6 BA pullets in a feed store bin.
As I only need one broody, I will not be hatching any of her eggs, until such time as she gets old or infirm or stops going broody. (broodiness is a heritable trait, so a broody Mum is more likely to throw broody chicks)
My broody is the only chicken on this farm who will be allowed to expire of natural causes and be buried, with full honours, beneath the Big apple tree.

Aww that's sweet ! You are very lucky to have such a hen! Or buff orp was our broody one, I broke her no less than 9 times this season. Halfway through I gave her eggs but it was her who killed them. MY best one was the choc bantam, sat and sat and sat and was a great mum, but won't do it again !! My only successful broody hatch ! SHe let me candle and everything with no fuss.
I have read about hatchery chicks but I don't know much about them. We can't (unless I just can't find one) order and ship chicks like you can there. And none of our pet stores have any chicks like yours does.

They tell me the entire Orpington line can tend toward broodiness, and I am really glad I got a good one.
My hen threw 3 eggs from the nest one week, smashed and ate them, before eventually hatching 2 chicks. Sometimes, they just know.
I haven't seen chicks at the pet stores here, bur definitely at feed stores.
It can be a little bit stressful to allow the hen to raise the chooks (as I am learning, now). I cared for them with such precision when I brooded the girls...and now she has the week+3 day old chicks out free-ranging, eating bugs and dirt when it is 55 degrees and drizzling out. Makes me have bad dreams...
But, I have committed to letting Nature have Her way, and I'm determined to do it.
(even tho it makes a nice incubator and a cozy little brooder box with thermometer and heat amp seem pretty appealing right now...)

 

[Chickangel79]

Rachel'sFlock :

Quote:
Aww that's sweet ! You are very lucky to have such a hen! Or buff orp was our broody one, I broke her no less than 9 times this season. Halfway through I gave her eggs but it was her who killed them. MY best one was the choc bantam, sat and sat and sat and was a great mum, but won't do it again !! My only successful broody hatch ! SHe let me candle and everything with no fuss.
I have read about hatchery chicks but I don't know much about them. We can't (unless I just can't find one) order and ship chicks like you can there. And none of our pet stores have any chicks like yours does.

They tell me the entire Orpington line can tend toward broodiness, and I am really glad I got a good one.
My hen threw 3 eggs from the nest one week, smashed and ate them, before eventually hatching 2 chicks. Sometimes, they just know.
I haven't seen chicks at the pet stores here, bur definitely at feed stores.
It can be a little bit stressful to allow the hen to raise the chooks (as I am learning, now). I cared for them with such precision when I brooded the girls...and now she has the week+3 day old chicks out free-ranging, eating bugs and dirt when it is 55 degrees and drizzling out. Makes me have bad dreams...
But, I have committed to letting Nature have Her way, and I'm determined to do it.
(even tho it makes a nice incubator and a cozy little brooder box with thermometer and heat amp seem pretty appealing right now...)​

I agree, they seem to know when something is not right. I put the mum and babies in a run on their own for a week but she just wanted the babes to go and explore, I do admit to sitting and watching her and making sure she went back in. I know what you mean about bad dreams lol. Maybe ill try again next year as my neighbours have said its ok for me to keep a cockerel so I can breed them.
But for now I like the control of my incubators !

 

[ki4got]

OK... I said a while back I'd post pics of my coops. I finally got the pics online just today.

here's my original coop, slightly improved, since my mini horses did a number on the door end when they got out, trying to get the food inside.

here's my 'new' coop, because the other one ended up too small, but should work just fine for a trio i'm picking up on monday.

and broodies? here's "owl", a quail d'anvers hen... don't know if she's going to sit reliably, but today is day 2 she's been mostly on the nest.

and if you want to watch a short video i did today, click here. never heard a hen make such noises...

 

[Cattitude]

What a cute little covered-wagon coop! I'm definitely going to have to try that one. I hope your broody keeps on doing her thing.