5th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2014 Hatch-A-Long

[ronott1]

Just collected 12 eggs from the girls for this hatch. Including two more bantams ( rare in my flock) then promptly dropped them all on the sidewalk. *^$#//. At least I thought to check fertility. 11 had bullseyes so that's nice to know.

Good Fertility though!

 

[insanity]

I just hope those bantams keep it up. They are the laziest freeloaders I have. Even the 6 yr old rescue case out lays the four of them.

 

[fosterson]

Oh good lord the anxieties. I think my digital thermometer's on the fritz...

I swear, maybe I should send this incubator back -- if it's making me THIS anxious before I even set eggs, I worry about my sanity

 

[chiqita]

Oh good lord the anxieties. I think my digital thermometer's on the fritz...

I swear, maybe I should send this incubator back -- if it's making me THIS anxious before I even set eggs, I worry about my sanity

If the thermometer isn't working send it back and get a new one. You want that stuff right!

 

[Penny Hen]

Just collected 12 eggs from the girls for this hatch. Including two more bantams ( rare in my flock) then promptly dropped them all on the sidewalk. *^$#//. At least I thought to check fertility. 11 had bullseyes so that's nice to know.

What kind of bantam?

 

[insanity]

What kind of bantam?
[/quote]


I have one DUucle one cochin and two sultans. Also three serama but they are kept seperate. I'm lucky to get three eggs a week from the four in the main flock and two a week from the serama.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Setting up the bator tomorrow. But....EEK.....we are supposed to get a winter storm in my area on Sunday. That would be fine except I live in the area where heavy ice is predicted with widespread power outages expected from the ice. I have a car battery with a power inverter to run an incubator if necessary..I hope we don't get a power outage. We haven't been able to scrape together the money for a whole house generator yet (previous owners took it with them when the bank foreclosed). Plus the people who lived here before us installed gas logs in the fireplace...but you can't light them when the power is off, and the propane company said the line from the tank to the fireplace is no longer code and wouldn't fill the tank.


I can donate a dozen Swedish Flower Hen eggs (parents are direct from GFF) as a prize if anyone can come up with a suitable contest.

Gas will light with an old fashioned thing known as a match. Just hold it where the gas comes in. However, if you can't get gas in the tank, that is another issue altogether. I just wanted to remind you about matches. They work great when the power is out. I use them on my stove.

Just collected 12 eggs from the girls for this hatch. Including two more bantams ( rare in my flock) then promptly dropped them all on the sidewalk. *^$#//. At least I thought to check fertility. 11 had bullseyes so that's nice to know.

Sorry; I couldn't help it. Hopefully they'll lay more soon so you can put them in the bator.

 

[Aphrael]

My seremas are terrible mothers. They have to have heat or they kill their chicks. Sometimes they do it anyway little buggers...
What ron said still air for hatching.
Can you ask the seller to put hold for pick up on the box and go get them? Save them a trip in the freezing open mail truck.
Under 25% rarely works. Dry incubation works better I know I repeat myself but if you want to know what humidity is right for your house and incubator weigh and adjust accordingly after the first week.

I could have them held at the P.O. But our mailman doesn't drive a mail truck. He drives his pickup and the mail rides inside with him. Although it might be a better idea to pick them up myself anyway with the terrible roads here. My concern is them getting exposed to the freezing temps on their way here. I'm not really sure how postal shipping works and don't know if they'll be protected enough in the trucks or whatever they ride in or if they'll be out in the elements for any amount of time during their transit.

Oh, and the person I purchased them from doesn't use heat packs. So no go on that.

Just collected 12 eggs from the girls for this hatch. Including two more bantams ( rare in my flock) then promptly dropped them all on the sidewalk. *^$#//. At least I thought to check fertility. 11 had bullseyes so that's nice to know.

Oh my gosh, that sounds SO much like something I would do. So sorry you lost them. Hopefully your ladies will cooperate with plenty more. And yay for that fertility!

What kind of bantam?

I have one DUucle one cochin and two sultans. Also three serama but they are kept seperate. I'm lucky to get three eggs a week from the four in the main flock and two a week from the serama.[/QUOTE]
My bantams were laying like little champs until the colder weather hit. Then they pretty much told me if I wanted eggs I could darn well go out and lay them myself. Ungrateful brats.

 

[ronott1]

Gas will light with an old fashioned thing known as a match. Just hold it where the gas comes in. However, if you can't get gas in the tank, that is another issue altogether. I just wanted to remind you about matches. They work great when the power is out. I use them on my stove.

Sorry; I couldn't help it. Hopefully they'll lay more soon so you can put them in the bator.

Some gas appliances use a thermo coupler that has to be warmed by electricity(It is a coil that gets hot) to open a valve to let the Gas out.

 

[insanity]

Aphrael
Mine have no excuse. The coop is lit, heated, and insulated better than my first apartment. Outside today the high is 5 and tonight the low is -15 but no ice in my water dishes, the coop stays above freezing...... Darn kids today are just lazy.