Rare chicken breeds desired for their meat qualities?

[LindaB220]

Marans are good sized, dual purpose birds. Not like a Cornish though. They are considered a delicacy in France where the breed originates, for their meat, and just gorgeous, dark brown eggs. Friends who have seen our dark brown eggs in person seem intrigued by the dark shells. Martha Stewart likes Marans eggs as well.

So does Bond, James Bond.

 

[Our Roost]

LindaB220, when are eggs due to hatch?

 

[LindaB220]

LindaB220, when are eggs due to hatch?

Hopefully on the 27th. I'm on day 14 right now. I'm worried about them because they came all the way from Pa and I'm in La. And I'm wretched at candling. I think I'll try again tonight.

 

[Our Roost]

Trust the incubator! Best not to handle or open unless need be. If nothing stinks or smells, let them be. Checking for life only gives "you" security and not the eggs. If you candle at all, do it on day 17 before lock down. Humidity should be no higher than 40-45%. It will rise as they start hatching. No extra water should need to be added. Dont forget to vent once they start pipping. An extreme amount of moisture from inside the egg escapes at this time.Good luck!

 

[LindaB220]

Trust the incubator! Best not to handle or open unless need be. If nothing stinks or smells, let them be. Checking for life only gives "you" security and not the eggs. If you candle at all, do it on day 17 before lock down. Humidity should be no higher than 40-45%. It will rise as they start hatching. No extra water should need to be added. Dont forget to vent once they start pipping. An extreme amount of moisture from inside the egg escapes at this time.Good luck!

Yeah, I like the lower dry hatch. I just hatched out 11 super blue egg layers. Out of 14 and I thought that was a good ratio. Only trouble is now I have to turn these for another few days and I've got 18 more blue layers coming in a day or two. I was such a newbie that I opened the incubator box the day the eggs came. I spent the first day in a panic because I had them in an uninsulated storeroom and even with A/C temps were spiking well over 100 all day long. I pretty much wrote them off but left them in the 'bator. Brought them in the house and they were fine the rest of the time. So with these 3 hatches I'll never have a lockdown. Someone told me to turn off the turner and put wet papertowels in if need be. Turn others by hand. So Batch 1 out of the way. On the 2 and 3.

 

[Our Roost]

What is lock down anyway? I guess it means no more tampering and let them rest on their sides before they hatch. I had a chick hatch early and it trampled all over the rest of the eggs anyway! I had to finally lift the lid and take the little trouble maker out. Everything was fine. I like the damp, moist paper towel idea better than sponges. If need be, I'll try that.

 

[LindaB220]

What is lock down anyway? I guess it means no more tampering and let them rest on their sides before they hatch. I had a chick hatch early and it trampled all over the rest of the eggs anyway! I had to finally lift the lid and take the little trouble maker out. Everything was fine. I like the damp, moist paper towel idea better than sponges. If need be, I'll try that.

My instructions was to not turn the first 3-4 days then turn3 x manually or with the turner. On day 18 you turn the turner off and let sit for 5 days. That's 3 days until hatch and 2 days while they dry off. To do a dry hatch keep the humidity 35%-45% until lockdown adding water 1 T at a time. Then bump it up to 50%-60% as they hatch. I had to turn my new eggs so I couldn't leave it closed.

 

[Our Roost]

Wow! I have a Pro Series model 4200 with all the bells and whistles it offers. The instruction sheet was really weak on dos and donts. University of Indianna offered a pretty good guideline for incubators. Nothing at all like what you are doing. I guess everyone uses what works best for them. Tips are sometimes very beneficial.

 

[LindaB220]

Wow! I have a Pro Series model 4200 with all the bells and whistles it offers. The instruction sheet was really weak on dos and donts. University of Indianna offered a pretty good guideline for incubators. Nothing at all like what you are doing. I guess everyone uses what works best for them. Tips are sometimes very beneficial.

I've been researching a lot and the hatching threads seem to have better hatches the dryer it is. Check out the Dry Hatching Thread under search.

 

[Our Roost]

Your absolutely right. I find more people are having better luck with dry hatches than what is being recomended by the statistics. Ha! maybe its the climate change and global warming! I know my broodies dont add water and whatever the humidity is within the coop they live with. They always manage to hatch out a few chicks. This is my first dry hatch effort. Hoping it works out.