September Hatch-A-Long

[Amina]

Can I join? I just set 5 eggs yesterday in the incubator, so they are due september 14 they are easter egger/ marans cross.

 

[AmericanMom]

Ok, How I understand hatching rates:

Homemade incubator .....34
Shipped eggs ..................46
Not home raised eggs......26

Total...............................106%

Your base rate is 106%......

If a chick dies within 2 days it is a freebee.
So 6 eggs hatching will get you around 139% hatch rate!! Not bad for a first try.

It has taken me 2 months to figure this chicken math out.

Thanks for clearing it up!!! I was having issues with the numbers but you made it all crystal clear

 

[AmericanMom]

Can I join? I just set 5 eggs yesterday in the incubator, so they are due september 14

they are easter egger/ marans cross.

Hey...welcome!!! we have the same hatch dates! I just set 56 yesterday

and I am setting 9 under a broody tonight

 

[TeaChick]

LOL... I doubt I would charge friends or family either...Unless they wanted a ton.... I do charge those who can afford it for eggs tho, $2.50 a dozen, I am not making money but it pays for the feed.

Final count.. 56 eggs placed in, I have little doubt I will have quitters and clears but it would be awesome if I got 40 at least to hatch! hatch date is Sept 14th

That's what I understand from my friend. Last I heard, she was charging $2/doz. IDK what I would charge; my eggs are way better than what you could get in the stores and they charge way more than that, so I'm thinking I'd charge at least what the stores charge for inferior eggs. It doesn't matter now, b/c I'm just getting enough to feed us, so I won't be selling at least until Jan (probably spring though).

Yay!!!
I wanted to set some eggs to hatch in the middle of next month (then I would still be able to put them in with the chicks I'm ordering), but I think it's getting too late. I'll have to check my calendar and try to finagle it, I mean figure it out.

I am so jealous of all you!


You know how many eggs you have, you can candle them and watch over them, all I can do is look for Ethel to come into the building area and bring her feed. I wish I at least knew how many eggs she has.

I do like playing mama hen, and when I had a broody it almost drove me crazy (and I almost drove her crazy), but after incubating several times (not a lot) I have developed an appreciation for the idea of not having to check the temp every hour, adjust the temp throughout the day, turn and rotate every single egg five times a day, lay in bed wondering whether I remembered that last turn, and all the other fretting that goes along with incubating eggs.
I am sorry that you're dealing with the difficulties involved in having a broody hen.

Yeah, Ethel kind of takes the worry factor out for you, eh? Think of all the spare time you'll have NOT wistfully sitting by the incubator fretting about humidity and temps. Ethel should get a big Thank You.

(Wish I had an Ethel.... me gots no bird taking over my hatching chores)

I'm trying to grow some to take over my hatching chores....and flock integration chores....and eliminating the worry that the "big chicks" weren't really big enough to start free ranging with the really big chickens.......
Sorry

 

[duluthralphie]

Teachick, I am going to try and built an incubator this winter that will hold a couple hundred eggs. I was thinking mainly of selling any "Blue Slate Turkey" I hatch out from my small flock to help pay for feed and supply costs. I never thought of charging for hatching others eggs. How would you do that? Do you charge for the chicks that hatch or do you charge by the dozen?


If you charge by the dozen, how do you determine what caused the non-hatchers, bad eggs or bad incubator?

 

[Peep_Show]

Did a Day 16 candling. One Welsummer egg looks tres weird (looked like a detached air cell and odd shapes) and I'll be able to make a better determination at lockdown. The other 16 eggs all had little jumpers in them.

The TJ eggs aren't far enough along to see anything yet, so they're just enjoying the ride.

 

[CoopCop]

Ok, got my order of 36 Icelandic eggs today. 3 were broken and another badly cracked. So I have 32 in the incubator with 5 from my one Black Australorp which has been fertilized by Booster the Rooster, my EE rooster. Turner is off until tomorrow to let the air cells stabilize.

Due to hatch on September 15. This will be my first hatch,so I am kind of nervous. Still trying to figure out which of my 3 thermometers to go with. All show different temps but the average is right where it should be.

 

[AmericanMom]

Decided I was going to have to move the broody, she kept getting kicked out of her nest today then went to the wrong nest...Fixed her an area in a shed on the other side of the area we have for the chickens...Got her 9 eggs placed , waited for it to get dark and took her out, five min later she jumped the gate and ran back into the coop, fixed the gate... will let her settle back down and for it to get darker then will try again, maybe it wasn't dark enough?? I cant portion her off an area within the coop as we are working on it right now to expand it and move the roost and the nesting boxes...

 

[earlyredrooster]

   Thanks for clearing it up!!!   I was having issues with the numbers but you made it all crystal clear 

The guy that taught math must have been a government accountant. My math says 6 out of 46 is just shy of 20%. 5.98 eggs out of 46 is 13% to be exact.

 

[CoopCop]

Ok, my thermometers are driving me crazy. My BIOS shows 101 degrees and 54% humidity. My Accu Rite shows 98.8° and 44% humidity. The built in on the incubator (Farm Innovators circulated air) reads 102° and 60% humidity.

The BIOS is at one side in a spot between the turner and the side, the Accu Rite is with a probe run down a vent hole and stuck to the side about 2/3 up from the bottom of the eggs, and the built-in is at the top in the lid. Does it sound like I'm in the right neighborhood for the first part of the hatch?