Quote:
First, welcome to the party
It is a highly addictive thing to hatch fuzzies, and there is no known cure. Oh, and it's the most contagious affliction I know of. I've seen people spread it without even being in the same room!
There is a huge disconnect but I think it's like so many other things. The ones who want to, do, and the other ones, well, it just occur to them to try.
It is a tough time of year in many parts of the country because temps are not conducive to chick surviving outdoors. At my old house, I would never have dreamed of hatching this time of year. I simply didn't have room to hatch or house chicks inside. I only moved a 1/2 mile away but it's a much bigger house and it has a garage. Last year I hatched in an incubator in the craft room and brooded them in the garage till they were feathered out and could go outside. I had chicks in the garage for months!
This year, we have a new barn, where I can control the temps, so I'm going to keep broodies in an area that won't drop below 40*F, which is plenty warm enough for the hens to keep the eggs nice and toasty.
As for fertility, my chickens are fertile year round. I periodically check my eggs when I am cooking and have yet to NOT see a bullseye, except for the turkey eggs but that's a whole nother story
I have friends that are experienced chicken people, they firmly believe eggs cannot be fertile in winter.
It's their opinion and they are welcome to it.
As a die-hard addict, I say Hatch On!
Here in South Texas the fall and mostly non-exsistent winter weather is kinder to hatching. Our summers are so brutally hot that it makes it hard. I used to have a lovely craft room but it has since been turned into my tortoise room
. I then combined my guest room with my craft room but now the guest room has been turned into my hatchery
My chicklets are just so awesome I don't really have much time for crafting these days. Some days I find myself just sitting and enjoying my precious feathers
Happy hatching to all
