Ended Official 2020 BYC Halloween Hatch-Along

[jolenesdad]

Y'ALL NO ONE SAID IT WOULD HAPPEN THIS FAST!

I only had one egg go into lockdown yesterday. 40 minutes ago I checked humidity and added a wet paper towel as it was low. Just went back to check numbers and THERE'S MY CHICK!

View attachment 2395325

GREAT PHOTO! CONGRATS!

 

[Pensmaster]

@piminuse
I noticed you mention Barbezieux have you had them? Pros and cons of the breed if you have.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

If I were using an egg carton, I would either take them out earlier or later than day 7... I’d either want the chick larger or smaller to have such a change in conditions.

@SnapdragonQ am I losing my mind or did you work with how to keep your eggs turning while upright in a NR360 this year?

I personally no longer do not turn shipped eggs from day 1. I used to rest inside the incubator and my shipped egg hatch rates have increased exponentially. I’ve read too many scientific articles that say the most important days to turn are the first three. Interestingly I believe the studies also say more eggs will quit if you don’t turn for three days and start turning than if you turn for three days and then never turn again.

Yes, you are of sound mind...(most of the time....*giggle*) I did figure out a way to keep eggs upright in the NR360 while riding around the turn radius on the turner. I made little cardboard cradles...think like the back of the box with the circle punchouts from when you color Easter eggs...and fastened them individually to the turner itself. You have to make sure to spread those out for balance though.

If I were not using the turner for other eggs at the same time, I also figured out I could cut strips of toilet paper tubes into circles to make little holders, then manually turn/twist them however many times per day. (With the turner either off or removed)
The headspace on the NR360 does not really allow you to tip a carton from side to side very much, and propping up one side of the while unit, then the other, can cause issues with the water channels.

 

[piminuse]

@piminuse
I noticed you mention Barbezieux have you had them? Pros and cons of the breed if you have.

I currently have a few, though I haven't tasted any yet. First processing was supposed to be last week, but work happened and they got a reprieve until just shy of Thanksgiving as they're my Holiday Feast birds.

As a breed they've been pretty fun! Really curious and intelligent, but a bit skittish. The girls are just about 5mos and no eggs yet, and they still look kind of young with not a lot of waddle/comb development. Boys are handsome with lustrous feathering and full combs/ears/waddles and early crowers at about 8 weeks old. They've done some awkward mating dances, but not committed to the deed as of yet. They're also a bit slow to put on weight, and are kind of gangly/leggy. Regular heritage meat birds problems I guess. I was hoping they would fill out a bit more with 2 weeks of yogurt and corn buuut

There's a dedicate Barb thread on here that I plan on posting to once I process, and again once I eat them.

Overall: for a first time heritage meat birds they've been a pleasure.

 

[Pensmaster]

I currently have a few, though I haven't tasted any yet. First processing was supposed to be last week, but work happened and they got a reprieve until just shy of Thanksgiving as they're my Holiday Feast birds.

As a breed they've been pretty fun! Really curious and intelligent, but a bit skittish. The girls are just about 5mos and no eggs yet, and they still look kind of young with not a lot of waddle/comb development. Boys are handsome with lustrous feathering and full combs/ears/waddles and early crowers at about 8 weeks old. They've done some awkward mating dances, but not committed to the deed as of yet. They're also a bit slow to put on weight, and are kind of gangly/leggy. Regular heritage meat birds problems I guess. I was hoping they would fill out a bit more with 2 weeks of yogurt and corn buuut

There's a dedicate Barb thread on here that I plan on posting to once I process, and again once I eat them.

Overall: for a first time heritage meat birds they've been a pleasure.

Thank you. I’ll stop in on the Barb thread. I know yours haven’t started laying but do you know if they’re supposed to lay well. Can’t find much information on egg laying.

 

[- Serama Mama -]

Hey folks!

Welp, mine came a day earlier than I thought they would I went out to feel for pips in the eggs and almost freaked out when I felt a fully fluffed up chick under her. This was my very first natural hatch and I gotta say, I'm so so proud of my little hen. Obama the Serama (*my son named her; the second her realized they rhymed that was it ) had 8 eggs under her and all 8 of them hatched out beautifully and perfectly. What a difference between eggs straight from my place and eggs that have been shipped!

Anyhow, it's just awesome to be where we are right now. I can't believe my own hen hatched a clutch of eggs! It feels like just yesterday that I was shopping around for eggs to incubate and now everyone is making their own beautiful babies

Happy Halloween And thanks for letting me share!

Just wanted to include some photos of the little guys! She finally let me close enough to get some pics There was 8 in total so I'm gonna need to eventually get the pics of the rest but for now, I'm just happy she's rocking it as a new mom. So proud of my girl!

Obama the Serama - best first time mom, ever!

 

[piminuse]

Thank you. I’ll stop in on the Barb thread. I know yours haven’t started laying but do you know if they’re supposed to lay well. Can’t find much information on egg laying.

Maybe you and I can revive the Barb thread lol.

I had trouble finding egg deets as well. I went deep into French-Google and saw some stats at about 170-200/yr.

TBH Barbezieux were not my first choice, but the breeder I was sourcing from ran out of Bresse and gave me a great deal on these. I don't plan on breeding these (right now) as I want to try a few more breeds before I settle, but for pure personality and looks these are definitely recommended. I hope you have fun with yours and congrats on the hatch!

 

[Pensmaster]

Maybe you and I can revive the Barb thread lol.

I had trouble finding egg deets as well. I went deep into French-Google and saw some stats at about 170-200/yr.

TBH Barbezieux were not my first choice, but the breeder I was sourcing from ran out of Bresse and gave me a great deal on these. I don't plan on breeding these (right now) as I want to try a few more breeds before I settle, but for pure personality and looks these are definitely recommended. I hope you have fun with yours and congrats on the hatch!

Good amount of eggs then. The slow to grow is concerning. Bresse grow quickly

 

[generaldsherman]

It's suddenly occurred to me why I was able to get the humidity so much higher this time around then I have in the past.
I unintentionally hooked up a humidifier right next to the incubator. I don't know why it didn't occur to me before that I could put a humidifier outside of the incubator and humidify the air that was going into it to help raise the humidity some.
Sure work though because this little one makes seven out of eight.
And whoever on this forum sent the link for that awesome Bluetooth thermostat/humidistat, you're my new favorite person.
part of the humidity problem I've had in the past is I always forget to check the water level and because every humidistat I've gotten in the past doesn't work very good. The Bluetooth thing reminds me if it starts dropping low.

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

Final count for this here hatchalong....

10 chicken and 1 lonely duck. May have to hand raise it. Almost feel bad leaving it with the somewhat mindless chimkens.

There is one straggler chick still in the incubator. But it has brain matter sticking outside of its head. So will have to cull if it doesn’t pass on its own.

‘Twas fun. Now onto the next hatch!