32 in lockdown

[WILIFORD]

I just put 32 eggs in lock down this morning. My goal this year is to raise them through the whole process using only my wool hens. No artificial light, no heat source, other than the wool hens. I started out with 41 eggs. I only candled at day 10 and day 18. At day 10: I disqualified 3 eggs as being infertile, I also marked 10 as questionable, I didn't not see the development I was expecting, I just couldn't tell. I Also marked 3 others as most likely not fertile but figure I would leave them just in case. This morning at day 18: I candled and found the 3 I marked as unlikely, were truly infertile, 2 of the 10 I marked as questionable were also infertile, however the other 8 had actually developed and I could see movement. I also found one that I had to cast out as it had stalled in development and had no movement. So, discounting the infertile eggs, I had 33 viable eggs of which 32 have gone into lockdown, I'm good with that. However, I have 3 in lock down that I marked as being cracked at day 7, but at candling today they are still looking good and had movement. The cracks actually seem more minor now than they did at day 10. Now let’s see how many actually hatch on Friday.

 

[nuthatched]

How warm can a wool hen keep them?

 

[WILIFORD]

I did the wool hen approach last year, except the first week I did use a heat lamp. But here is my theory on temperature as it pertains to a wool hen. So last year I had a thermometer hanging in the wool hen. It was only reading about 55F. All the chicks were in the wool hen at that time. My initial thought was, they're all dead, or going to die. I immediately stuck my hand in the wool hen and found the exact opposite. They were clustered together under a layer of wool and toasty warm. In fact, I also observed frequently one or two would be off on their own, still in the wool hen, but not in the cluster. Which lead me to believe, when they get to warm under the wool hen, they will separate themselves from the cluster to cool down. Now mind you they were only a week old in an outside brooder, with nighttime temperatures in the mid 40's. So, the short answer to your question, to me the internal temperature of the wool hen is not relevant, as their body heat is trapped under the layer of wool, so in my opinion, the temperature under the layer of wool is what is important. Good luck trying to get a thermometer under there with 30 chicks to get an accurate reading. So, I use their behavior as a guide. If I frequently find one, or two separated from the cluster, I know there is sufficient warmth for them. However the couple of times I was able to get a temperature reading with them under the wool, it was in the mid to upper 90's, but I don't believe that number is dead on accurate, I believe it is warmer than that, as it is pretty difficult to get a thermometer in there to take a reading, as you are disrupting the wool which immediately causing heat to escape, therefore giving you a lower reading.

I know that was a long answer, to a short question, sorry that's me being me. I guess the simple answer would be warm enough