4th Annual BYC NYD Hatch-a-long

[Lilwanis]

From a few days ago, it was mentioned that you can get leftover grain mash from breweries. I called a local micro, and they said to bring 5 gallon buckets with our info and they'll call us when they are ready to be picked up! So cool to have a free food source!!! Thank you to those who suggested this. A bucket will feed my small flock for quite a while. It's cold outside so preserving the mash won't be an issue for us, and we have a freezer for summer months (though our flock will be growing)

 

[Daloorashens]

had to skip to the end, lol.... sooo excited for lockdown tomorrow!!!

question... how do you time setting the eggs so they hatch at night??

lilwanis... thanx for the reminder on the breweries.. I wanted to try supplementing a little of that... I need to call the one here...

 

[Cynthia12]

Oh my goodness! Good luck to all of you that are going into lock down! You must be soo excited. I'm just waiting to see pictures. And, will be watching for any cams going.
From that..to this..won't be long. )

 

[cluck-cluck]

Thank you!

Still not sure how I got down to one from 23. At least if I knew why, I could fix it. Now I am a bit scared to try hatching again.

From my readings, when this happens, a lot of people find that their thermometer wasn't working properly, even if it had been working properly before. I used a medical thermometer inserted into a small baggie of water to simulate an egg (ziplock type, double bagged, wrapped around the thermometer) to check my digital thermometers. Also, if your eggs were shipped, well... this was a really lousy time to have eggs shipped (but this fun was well worth it!) Anyway, my machine has been pretty steady, and my eggs almost all either didn't develop or quit on me, and I think that was due to the postal system which is pretty rough!

So, those are your top reasons for such a failier. I started with 19, and am down to 3, but if they hatch, I'll be super happy

From a few days ago, it was mentioned that you can get leftover grain mash from breweries. I called a local micro, and they said to bring 5 gallon buckets with our info and they'll call us when they are ready to be picked up! So cool to have a free food source!!! Thank you to those who suggested this. A bucket will feed my small flock for quite a while. It's cold outside so preserving the mash won't be an issue for us, and we have a freezer for summer months (though our flock will be growing)

Good for you! I still haven't called!

I thought I'd give myself until after new years,

I'm such a

Oh my goodness! Good luck to all of you that are going into lock down! You must be soo excited. I'm just waiting to see pictures. And, will be watching for any cams going.
From that..to this..won't be long. )

That's such a cute picture!!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

My duckies are rocking and I mean ROCKING!!! WOW So freaking cool!!
One has internal pip already and tomorrow <insert looking at watch here> ok today is lockdown! So I locked them down FAST!

Do ducks chirp like chicks do in the shell?

 

[Lacy Blues]

had to skip to the end, lol.... sooo excited for lockdown tomorrow!!!

question... how do you time setting the eggs so they hatch at night??

lilwanis... thanx for the reminder on the breweries.. I wanted to try supplementing a little of that... I need to call the one here...

You have to begin them at night, around the time you'll want them to hatch, three weeks later.

 

[mattfulleroc]

LOCKDOWN!

For those of you that are new, lockdown is when you close the incubator lid turn off the turner and DO NOT TOUCH YOUR EGGS! Its the 3 days of crazy up and down excitement and worry when your eggs start to hatch. Why do you do this? Well for a couple of reasons. You stop turning so the baby chicks can get into position in the egg. You don't open the incubator so the humidity ( turned up) stays stable and no one get stuck in he egg. Once an egg is pipped it relies on the humidity of the air outside it to keep it moist enough to not get stuck in the membranes while they are zipping and escaping the egg.

Once the chicks are out of the egg they will start peeping like mad and "fluff" out over several hours. The question that will be asked several times over the next few days is " should I take this chick out of the incubator?" The answer will depend on many things including how well your incubator holds humidity. If there are pips on the other eggs, leave the chick if you can. If there are no pips then its a different story. If you want more advice on individual chicks, ask, that's what a hatch a long is for!

Once your chicks are out you will be sticking them in a brooder where they will be nice and toasty. You need a heat source that will give your chicks around 95 degrees and a place they can be safe from drafts and get air ( don't want it tightly closed) and something on the bottom that can be changed and is stable for them to walk on ( paper towels, old pillow case, newspaper that is NOT slick) so you can remove poop once they start . Keep an eye out for wobbly feet and pasty butt in your new chicks those are the 2 most common problems. Also, remember baby birds LOVE to drown themselves, so its not a bad idea to put rocks or marbles in their waterer so they don't fall asleep IN it and drown.

If you have a single chick hatch with no friends, you might want to put in a small mirror for them to look in and a stuffed friend for them to cuddle with. Also might want to find a friend for them if you can. Check craigslist ( can also ask on cl sometimes people who do not intend to sell chicks will feel compassion for your lonely baby) your friends, and local feed stores.

I'm sure there will be a lot of advice from our vets thats better then what I'm giving, so keep an eye on the thread. Ill post this again tomorrow at noon when people start moving the eggs. But I thought I'd start now.
Tomorrow the roller coaster starts, is everyone ready???

I am printing your post and putting it next to the incubator (its in my room next to the bed) for reference..Thanks!

 

[mattfulleroc]

Quote: Can you go through this again? I have it about 35 % right now. Do I take it up to 60-62 for lockdown and then up again for pipping or do I take it up to 62 and then that is it?

 

[gabrielle1976]

I'm super excited as well. We have winery; s up the wazoo around here but I dont think that would work .
If my camra holds out ill do the hatch cam again when things start happening.

 

[The Chickeneer]

Ready for lock down everybody?!. In a day or so, this thread will be heavy with pics from people. Cant wait! And I didn't know you could get leftover grains from breweries. Thanks to who ever posted that

during times like these, were all looking for cheap feed lol.