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

[tadpole98]

Woohoo !! Won both auctions. The bator is gonna be topped off this year. Seramas and Cochins both! Hoping to raise them and sell the eggs (for hatching). Maybe show the Cochins. soo excited!! Haha you should have seen me bouncing off the walls waiting for the second to bid. I swear I cleaned the incubator twenty times in anticipation. Jeez I'm helpless

Wow!!! they will be gorgeous!!! so xcited for you!!! the more we post the more crazy I get! my empty bator sitting in my room is just driving me bonkers!!

then again, every now and then I go downstairs, open my egg cartons, and stare at my eggs, or hold one or two, imagining how great of a chick they would be and their possible potentials.

I would drop the egg if I were to pick it up. #truestory

 

[Penny Hen]

Haha I love the "test runs" people do they should really be called "excuse to hatch some chicks". Especially when it comes to "testing an incubator".

Shhhhh! Don't give me away to DH!!

 

[Ramblin Rooster]

Shhhhh! Don't give me away to DH!!

Haha when I get my new incubator I'm going to have to test it once a month to make sure that its still running well

 

[Penny Hen]

I was thinking the same thing Whoops! I have never met a docile JRT! Glad you have one that likes the chickens chickengirl!

Well she will never have to worry about rats getting her chicks with him around.

 

[bantambury]

... I am SO glad I am not the only one who does this.

Its all ok! we are all crazy chicken lovers....im sure it all happends!!! im just glad im not the only one!!! bahahahah!

I would drop the egg if I were to pick it up. #truestory

Omg!!! im always so scared of that though!!! hahahahahhahah

 

[chiqita]

As for culling roosters..... I had never done it before, but I read, and watched vedios on the internet and thought maybe I could try it. I rehomed all of them except 3 (I had 12) and in one afternoon, figured it out and had some pretty nice looking chicken for the freezer. I made chicken noodle soup the other day and I have to say it is the best I EVER tasted. 
I hate to have to take a life, but on a farm an animal has it's place..... the hens provide food through eggs and the roos through meat. 

I was upset about eating roosters until I reflected on how happy their lives had been. They ran around having fun until they were no more. I'd rather that then most ways to go myself. Let alone what most food experiences. Your giving more joy then you are taking.

is it to late for me to join in? it will be my first hatch, I'm getting 12 hatching eggs shipped out on Tuesday, so depending when they get here I'll be setting them a few days late. I didn't originally plan to set for new years day lol. I just think I need the support since its my first hatch!

Welcome! Great place to get support.

Thank you for this information!

I have just completed my very first hatch (3 hatched from 12 set), I had a lot of issues with thermometers but I will definitely be using my kitchen thermometers for this next hatch as I know they are spot on with temperatures.  I was thinking about getting a probed meat thermometer to use with a water wiggler, your comments have helped me make the decision to go ahead.

You give a wonderful example of why to calibrate! I assume all thermometers are off and I need to check them. I recheck frequently they can go off and screw you!

I just ordered a brinsea 20 advance! Thanks for the coupon code! Happy birthday to me!

Happy biiirthdayyyy!

That info is amazing! I so wish I'd gotten a hold of this pdf a year ago. But at least I have it now. This sort of sharing is part of what makes hatch-a-longs and BYC so great. 
Thanks again Ron  

Now if I would just get some notice that my eggs shipped yesterday...I'd like to think no news is good news, but I'm not feelin' it so much atm.
I got that one egg yesterday, none today, and have no idea if the eggs my cousin ordered (or well what he ordered isn't even it, b/c some of the breeds he picked weren't laying so I said sub. in as nec) but atm I don't even know if I'll get any in time... 

I did get a new CL roo today who went in w/ the 2 EE mutt pullets I have laying green eggs. If he covered them this afternoon, then wed eggs could be fertile, right??
which could give me 2 more eggs to put w/ that one I have from the other CL roo, but at this point I'm trying to count chicks from eggs that haven't even been laid, sooo not good

My cl roos have all been hyper fertile early! The hens not so much.

ive been slacking with the thread... im almost 100 pages behind... but i have a question... for my first incubator... should i get a hovabator genesis 1588 or a gqf sportsman ?? i plan to be hatching alot and frequently so i came up with the sportsman but again its my first incubator so idk what to do.. i dont wanna buy the genesis when i might buy the sportsman in the future.. seems like a waste of money id rather just get the cabinet. any suggestions??

If you are getting shipped eggs and can do it, get a dicky. They seem to have by far the best hatch rates.

 

[Whoops]

Whoo hoo - just got a tracking update on my eggies. They are in the ABQ sorting facility. I better remember to put out the electric blanket and note tomorrow! And maybe take a quick trip home at lunch.

hoping hoping hoping

 

[rochelle1021]

 

[ronott1]

Whoo hoo - just got a tracking update on my eggies. They are in the ABQ sorting facility. I better remember to put out the electric blanket and note tomorrow! And maybe take a quick trip home at lunch.

hoping hoping hoping

Congratulations to all of you getting eggs!

 

[rochelle1021]

Eggs came Saturday but I believe they're old and had a bumpy ride... 18/24 had detached air cells ..,none broken but I accidentally broke one... Then checked 2 they were scrambled.... So not so sure about this. Eggspecting more eggs this week but may not come in time.... Hmmm