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

[ChickenCanoe]

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Question. I am turning 5x a day. I have a schedule...turn when I get up, then at 11 am, 3 pm, 7 pm, then before I go to sleep. How bad is it if I miss one or two of the turns? I have to go out today and get feed for the animals. I'm also doing some grocery shopping, so I am going to miss the 11 am turn. Then, on Christmas Day, we will be gone most of the day because we spend it with my hubby's family. I do not have an automatic turner. So, will it harm the eggs if I don't turn them 5 times? TIA.

I don't think it will matter at all if you miss a couple. Lots of people only turn twice. I was turning 3 times a day when I did hand turning.
I didn't use X and O, I used 1, 2 and 3. Just because I'm weird.

A hen shifts the eggs frequently but I doubt she knows if she gets them all moved nor how far each rolled. I think if you turn them Christmas morning and then when you get home at night they'll be fine.

 

[Myfourladies]

I didn't post yesterday after I caught up now I can't find my spot! I hope I didn't miss anything. The weather is warming up here in WV going to see 60 this weekend. The chickens will be happy!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Yesterday afternoon we were on about page 395 if that helps.

 

[roostereggs]

So I was candling tonight and had one of my silkie eggs that was growing and it slipped out of my hand and broke :-( I feel sooooo terrible

Ohhh, so sorry to hear that! I had one roll out and smash onto our tile counter, but I had it purposely on top of the others because it was clear and was culling it anyways. But I have candled daily to show my family...so I'm sure it is inevitable that will happen to me one of these days.

I thought my 13yo dd would be the most interested in the daily development, but she looks at one and is like --->

ho hum and off to her room she goes. Dh, on the other hand, hates birds of any kind...but he gets so excited every night. Last night was the most impressed he has been so far---> "Whoa, look how BIG that is now! You can see it stretched out on both sides of the EGG! Geez!!! That one is HUGE! You must really want that green one to hatch...you check it every night!" LOL, the green one is my runty bottom-of-the-pecking-order EE that has me lol every day...her name is Brainless and I already named her baby Birdbrain.

 

[Myfourladies]

Ohhh, so sorry to hear that! I had one roll out and smash onto our tile counter, but I had it purposely on top of the others because it was clear and was culling it anyways. But I have candled daily to show my family...so I'm sure it is inevitable that will happen to me one of these days.

I thought my 13yo dd would be the most interested in the daily development, but she looks at one and is like --->

ho hum and off to her room she goes. Dh, on the other hand, hates birds of any kind...but he gets so excited every night. Last night was the most impressed he has been so far---> "Whoa, look how BIG that is now! You can see it stretched out on both sides of the EGG! Geez!!! That one is HUGE! You must really want that green one to hatch...you check it every night!" LOL, the green one is my runty bottom-of-the-pecking-order EE that has me lol every day...her name is Brainless and I already named her baby Birdbrain.

That's so funny.

I am glad you might be bringing him to the feathered side.

I love the name too!

 

[BoereMeisie]

Very early on in this thread someone mentioned going away for a day or two and not having an automatic egg turner to turn the eggs. Well, we are leaving for the weekend tomorrow morning at 5a.m and coming back Sunday around 5p.m, so the eggs won't be turned for 60 hours! I hope they will be okay. Should I raise the humidity just a tad or does that have nothing to do with the possibility of sticking to the shell?

 

[SunnySkies]

Everything seems to be humming right along here. Eggs look good as far as I can tell (I only candle a couple times during the whole thing), temperature and humidity are fine.

Hoping some of our snow melts in the next couple of days, as it's going to warm up beginning today. I need to move the hog pen, rebuild the hogs' house after they smashed it somehow the other night, roll some round bales around, and move the chicken tractors, which have been penned in by a foot of snow. But there is this dumb thing called housework and I work a paying job on weekends too...plus...

I have done NOTHING for Christmas except order the kids' presents. No tree, haven't bought any food (and yes, I'm cooking a Christmas dinner for a big group of people, what was I thinking?!) no decorations are up, no wrapping is done, nothing. We have a Christmas party on Monday to attend and need to bring a gift and a Christmas concert on Sunday to take cookies for, so I guess we have to go shopping.

So...see you guys....day after Christmas? Argh!

 

[ronott1]

I have been debating on that Ron. My brinseas have the cooling option too but I've been scared to try it! Do you use it every hatch?

I use the cool down cycle when I am not stagger hatching. It is used from day 8 to lockdown.

Day 7 for me! I know I'm a day behind most of you

Set 10 eggs. Egg #'s 8 and 9 are clear. Egg # 4 I can see veining but no kidney bean or movement...if there's an embryo, I think it's suspended in the center of the egg. I can see kidney beans and movement in the rest of them though!

Question. I am turning 5x a day. I have a schedule...turn when I get up, then at 11 am, 3 pm, 7 pm, then before I go to sleep. How bad is it if I miss one or two of the turns? I have to go out today and get feed for the animals. I'm also doing some grocery shopping, so I am going to miss the 11 am turn. Then, on Christmas Day, we will be gone most of the day because we spend it with my hubby's family. I do not have an automatic turner. So, will it harm the eggs if I don't turn them 5 times? TIA.

Thee to five times a day is fine!

My wonderful hubby fixed my flashlight last night, and I finally got to have a look in my Marans eggs. 4 are clearly going strong, 1 is soo dark I can make out veining and the dark spot, but I'm wondering if it's moving, the other is either clear or that dang egg is so dark it's fooling me. But YAY my Marans are growing! So, overall 16 eggs going strong and 2 time will tells!

Marans eggs glow when they are not developing. Not glowing and getting darker is good.

.
Is the cooling option adjustable or is it set at 2 hours or not at all?

When I weigh eggs, I turn the heat off and take my time. I think that simulates the hen off the nest.
If you think about it, a hen usually has a higher hatch rate than incubators. Also, they evolved to have a daily cooling period.

The cycle is adjustable. Studies have shown better hatch rate with two hours a day for chicken eggs. Last year they had not finished studies for other poultry. It seems to work.

 

[mstricer]

 


Roosters should have Grower. Many early Rooster deaths are caused by calcium poisoning.

I think I had owned chickens for about 6 months when I found this out.  But now I won't buy layer.

So my husband bought grains which looks like scratch and I was told to keep my hens and Rooster all on layer feed and that them grains looking like scratch are more like a candy. What's your input on this. I currently have both the grainy scratch and layer feed mixed together. Could this be a future issue for either my hens or my Rooster?

From what I have read, during the grazing weather, scratch can be like candy but still have its uses.  Many people toss scratch down on the deep litter to encourage their chickens to turn the litter.  During the winter or colder months, many people use scratch or corn or Cay. pepper to help keep their chickens warm.  I'm going to try some next week and see if I notice a difference. 

As for mixing the two together, it lowers the overall protein and calcium levels.  I think layer is about a 16% protein and a 3% calcium.  I think scratch is about a 7% protein and calcium is not typically included.  a 50/50 mix would end up with a 12.5% protein and a 1.5% calcium.  That puts the calcium more in line with the rooster's needs but the protein low.  Maybe toss some scrap animal protein out for your birds until the mix is gone. 

 
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okay thanks! well my grower feed is coming in on Friday so I'll pick that up and switch my girls over I wish i knew that before. everything i read said that at 22 weeks you can switch to layer pellets and I didn't realize the extra calcium could hurt them. I guess from now on I'll feed grower feed since I'll have a mixed flock after this hatch. hopefully I didn't hurt them! Thanks again! I learn so much from this site! Will they eat the extra calcium if they need it?

I use oyster shell and as long as the hens have a way to get to the  container they will eat it as needed.  But once in a while a meaner hen will block a lower order hen and I have to put out two oyster shell area's.  I also toss crushed egg shells out for the hens.

At our last meeting for the dUccle club, we discussed, heavily the fact that dUccles are getting way to big, which is a big concern, two of the breeders breeding for size and winning stated it was due to the amount if protein in all poultry feed. They have switched to a fine screened corn form the first 8 weeks going vitimans in the water and hay. Older birds get hay (winter and free range grass in summer) and scratch grains as they are lower in protein. They also get vitamins in water. Their sizes are coming down.

 

[abmaddox1981]

Morning' fellow chicken addicts! I have a couple questions.
My hubs is an OTR truck driver so he goes all over. We live in rural Georgia so getting eggs, chicks, etc is pretty limited. If he were to pick up chicks and bring them home would they do okay? And if he's in y'all's area would you be willing to meet him? Since he obviously can't drive a semi most places not on a main road.