September Hatch-A-Long

[darkbluespace]

I'm in as soon as the eggs I ordered arrive. I have 36 Icelandic eggs ordered. The incubator is up and running to check if it is holding temperature. I will also add some from my one Black Australorp pullet that is laying. She has only thrown out six eggs and three of the first four were fertilized (had the bullseye) and the last couple are notably bigger.

My roo is an EE and I am really curious about what the combination will look like. I have two eggs set back and will add whatever she lays till the other eggs get here as long as there is room in the incubator. This will be my first hatch so I am kind of nervous, but have done a lot of research so I think I am ready. Will post as soon as the eggs arrive. Good luck to all of you with your hatches!

I love seeing what everyone is hatching... Icelandic chickens are so pretty! Good luck with your first hatch!

 

[dldolan]

We had to move broody to a different nest this morning because the other girls would not leave her alone. Well don't you know she will not sit. I'm not sure how long she has been off maybe 8 hours? Is their any hope that are still viable? I quickly made a homemade bator. I have a small cooler with a light and a warm wet washcloth over them. Right now the temp is around 99. Please any advice!

I have done this a few times and the key, as I've found, is to lock them into the new nest site for 24 hours until they go back to being settled on the eggs. I use modified dog houses with lid or side panels that open for broody nest, but always find the broody setting (at first) in the main next boxes. I leave them 3-5 days to make sure they are serious about it, then move them to their new brooding home and block them in for 24 hours, usually with a milk crate against the opening so they have plenty of air. I've done this at least ten times and they soon settle in. Then I give them the "real" eggs, instead of ceramic or golf balls, which never fails to delight these gals. They totally know the difference!

Anyway, you didn't say what day you were out of 21, but unless it is really cold where you are, you probably will still hatch most. I'd get her settled for a day on fake eggs using my system, then get the eggs you have in your makeshift incubator back under her.
Good luck!

 

[dldolan]

Thanks for the welcome

I seriously didn't expect my RIR to go broody either. I have 2 BO's whom I half expected it from, but my 4 RIR's were bought to ensure egg supply in case the BO's were hatching chicks. Hmmm, I guess I forgot to tell her that!

She is only on Day 4, but so far is not keen to get off the nest. I pick her up and take her out once a day at 2pm to feed and water her. She does her business, has a little scratch around, and then starts grizzling to herself and goes back to the nest. I presume that is enough to keep her going, although she is losing some condition already. She sat for 3 days on plastic eggs before I gave her the 11 real ones just to make sure she really was keen.

I don't have an incubator, but I was looking to expand my flock by another two or three birds so I'm glad she is sitting for me. I am hoping I get at least two or three pullets from the 11 eggs. I guess there is no way of knowing how many (if any) will hatch. Trust my luck, they will all be cockerels, lol. We are taking the excess to the chook auctions when they are old enough to determine their sex.

Do you know what sex your 6 week olds are yet? Do you intend to keep any/all of them? How do you get rid of excess chickens where you are?

- Krista

My chicks are all Marans, which show quite early their combs if male, so I have known since week 2-3 which ones are little dudes (two/six in this batch, but I've had a few 75% male hatches--frustrating!). We have a farm store nearby that takes cockerels (starting at about 8 weeks) for resale. Or I keep them and process them if I have enough. I will keep one as my new Splash Marans rooster. I am waiting as both are Splash and I want to see how they develop, but i do have a favorite so far! Here is Joe Joe as a little tyke ( have a strange sense of humor, i know!)

 

[Housemom408]

Thanks everyone for the help. The eggs were on day 8. I will candle today but not looking good. This was our first attempt. More than likely they are done. This has been another learning experience, like everything else with these animals! I'll try again, but next time I will be more prepared!

 

[Peep_Show]

At Day 8 you should be able to tell if the eggs are Go or No and possibly see some movement. Good luck!

 

[duluthralphie]

At Day 8 you should be able to tell if the eggs are Go or No and possibly see some movement. Good luck!

One would think so, BUT us hatching optimist can fool ourselves into thinking the most barren egg will hatch......Then we curse ourselves when the rotten egg explodes for no reason and we have to clean it...




Feel free to interchange with the word ourselves with Me-Duluthralphie....

 

[Housemom408]

Well I guess my homemade incubator was a big flop! Got up this morning with a temp of 120. I figured all chance of survival was gone. I did learn from it, when I candled them a few days ago I marked the ones I though were good and the one I thought wasn't. Turns out I was mostly right. When I cracked them this morning the one I thought was no good wasn't. There was one other one that was no good. It was a little depressing to see the developing chicks that could have survived.

 

[TeaChick]

I can understand that...

I cannot hatch here until spring, as winter is fast approaching. No one told Ethel I guess.

I am already trying to decide which roosters to keep. I would like to keep Brutus, he is a HUGE production red, but he walks like a CX already, he kind of lumbers. He is beautiful bird, but I wonder if he will be able to breed in the spring, or even be here with his size. I would love to have his babies, if they grow as fast as he did though...

Now a question, Ethel came up to eat a couple hours ago, I picked her up to carry her to some higher energy/protein feed. She is skin and bones. Is this normal during broody time? Should I find her nest and take her eggs to the incubator? Suggestion required.

As I understand, yes, it's normal for a broody to lose some "conditioning" during a brood. I read (the one and only time I had a broody) that a lot of ppl give their brooding hens extra protein and fat during a brood to help stem the loss of condition that a brood often brings.
There's an Old Fashioned Broody thread where you can ask questions like these and get answers and information from ppl more experienced than me. =)

As for keeping Brutus, I KWYM. I have roosters I'd really like to keep right now, but I just don't have enough hens to go around and they don't fit with the direction I'm taking my flock. I'm just going to process my jr. roo and both my bachelors, but I can't bare to eat my sr. roo. I'll wait until winter, when my chicks are mature and my girls are getting to POL, then I'll sell/rehome my lead rooster with a couple of his girls. I'll miss him, but at least he'll have a good home where he can continue to free range with his girls. =)

 

[kittykitty30]

My first hatch is due on the third or fourth. All of the eggs will hopefully be hatched by the tenth.

 

[duluthralphie]

As I understand, yes, it's normal for a broody to lose some "conditioning" during a brood. I read (the one and only time I had a broody) that a lot of ppl give their brooding hens extra protein and fat during a brood to help stem the loss of condition that a brood often brings.
There's an Old Fashioned Broody thread where you can ask questions like these and get answers and information from ppl more experienced than me. =)

As for keeping Brutus, I KWYM. I have roosters I'd really like to keep right now, but I just don't have enough hens to go around and they don't fit with the direction I'm taking my flock. I'm just going to process my jr. roo and both my bachelors, but I can't bare to eat my sr. roo. I'll wait until winter, when my chicks are mature and my girls are getting to POL, then I'll sell/rehome my lead rooster with a couple of his girls. I'll miss him, but at least he'll have a good home where he can continue to free range with his girls. =)

Sorry, I am new here and do not understand all the acronyms...KWYM???? POL???