MARCH Hatch-A-Long 2015: Please Read the First Post to JOIN the H-A-L

[bekkanblue]

My Jan HAL finally get to feel grass under their feet! It's still mainly brown but they 're having a ball stretching their wings and scratching around in the sunshine.

Two young Norwegian Jaerhon males.

Two NJ males, two NJ females and 2 Iowa Blue females.

Some of the free ranging layer flock have stopped by to see what's going on. Too funny, they are soooo nosey!

 

[Heron's Nest Farm]

Update:
I decided to take the chicks out with the help of my daughter it took about 10 seconds. The one 3 day old chick had really gotten rowdy and started pecking everyone and everything. It drank immediately without dipping its beak! I have 7 eggs left in the bator and one chick. I will give it until the end of tomorrow to see if I get some pips. I got the humidity up within a minute, so I am hoping the chicks will be OK. I REALLY hope that FEW MORE eggs will hatch. My hatch is at 55%, like my last hatch and I was hoping this would be better.

I HATE MY THERMOMETER. I feel like I can't trust it. I am going to get a mercury one.

 

[drott3]

Set 3/5/15
17 mixed maran and 6 olive eggers
All went into lock down
3/26-28/15 14 marans 5 olive eggers hatched
Their just too cute.

 

[ochochicas]

I HATE MY THERMOMETER. I feel like I can't trust it. I am going to get a mercury one.

You can try to candle the eggs to see if there is anything moving in them. I did that to my "duds". I saw movement in two and heard peeping from a third. Those three eggs hatched late, but the rest were dead already. I'm wishing you luck and more chicks!

I have a mercury thermometer and a digital one in my incubator just so I can compare the two.

 

[Heron's Nest Farm]

You can try to candle the eggs to see if there is anything moving in them. I did that to my "duds". I saw movement in two and heard peeping from a third. Those three eggs hatched late, but the rest were dead already. I'm wishing you luck and more chicks!

I have a mercury thermometer and a digital one in my incubator just so I can compare the two.

That's a great idea. That is what I will do. I remember one going in at lockdown that looked very lively but behind. I'm going to hope!

 

[HugHess]

Well we just beat the March buzzer....

 

[WalnutHill]

I have five thermometers in my incubator. Two Accurite, one cheesemaker's thermometer, one medical digital thermometer, and an incubator alcohol thermometer.

Something is wrong...ALL FIVE AGREE!

They are all on different shelves in the incubator and I've been trying to tune the thermostat sensor location to get optimal stable temperatures. I think, I hope, that I found it!

 

[ochochicas]

I have five thermometers in my incubator. Two Accurite, one cheesemaker's thermometer, one medical digital thermometer, and an incubator alcohol thermometer.

Something is wrong...ALL FIVE AGREE!

They are all on different shelves in the incubator and I've been trying to tune the thermostat sensor location to get optimal stable temperatures. I think, I hope, that I found it!

Haha, that is funny!

My thermometers agree, but unfortunately they agree that one side of the incubator is hotter than the other. I believe the temp difference killed off some of my chicks after lockdown. I ended up with a 73% hatch rate on non-shipped eggs, which is pretty low for me. All of the eggs that were in the "cool" corner at lockdown died around day 19 or 20.

 

[mymilliefleur]

I have five thermometers in my incubator. Two Accurite, one cheesemaker's thermometer, one medical digital thermometer, and an incubator alcohol thermometer.

Something is wrong...ALL FIVE AGREE!

They are all on different shelves in the incubator and I've been trying to tune the thermostat sensor location to get optimal stable temperatures. I think, I hope, that I found it!

That's a good idea. I should put a couple more thermometers in my incubator, and see if I have stable temps through out the incubator. I have noticed that I seem to get the most dead eggs towards the back. Coincidence?

 

[WalnutHill]

For my March hatch-a-long, I ended up with 15 healthy and happy chicks of 23 that went into lockdown from old refrigerated eggs. I don't know the parentage but I would class them as Easter Eggers based on the fuzz and combs, but definitely some feather footed breeds in the mixes. A couple were from my EE x EE crosses.