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

[Myfourladies]

Ted, one of the resident bird watchers around here, says it is starting to look alot like Christmas!! Hope everyone has a great day!

 

[chicken farmer]

I have 6 eggs in the incubator and 2 were due the 22nd 1 was due 23rd and 3 was due today and I only have the one that cracked the egg 2 nights ago and hasn't made progress

I will leave them in the incubator a couple more days and see what happens

 

[ronott1]

I am getting a late start and mine will not hatch new years but i do have some that will be die a week or 2 after . duck and chicken eggs!! Can i post my pics even tho i am late lol?

Some of us will be checking in with this thread. I added you to the list and pleas post pictures!

I always wondered if chickens raised near the arctic circle would go nuts without adding light.

It makes me wonder also about one of my favorite breeds, Jaerhons - developed in Norway. I can't imagine they used to provide extra light back in the 1930s. They're from the southern end of the country but still!!!

By the same token. I wonder about chickens near the equator and how the molt season works.
I worked with Macaws in Costa Rica at around 10 degrees north latitude. Everyone around where I lived had chickens and roosters. Some people said chickens didn't produce very long but I don't think they knew what they were talking about.
I know at that latitude I was amazed at how fast it got light in the morning and dark in the evening. As the sun was going down, it seemed like minutes and BAM, it was completely dark.

All very good observations. There a a lot of ways to preserve eggs. It they did not give them light they likely dried them or saved them up.

 

[ronniewayne]

I got him from Mustard Seed Farm in Lousia, Virginia. It's like 10 minutes from my house. I met the owner at our local feed store (Southern States) a little over a month ago. She's an awesome woman, and she LOVES her chickens!!

it is a small world I lived in lousia,va for a year when I was in high school. 1974 great part of the world. don't stress too much over the chicks some will hatch and some will not . I always try to learn from my mistakes and I have learned a lot because ive made a lot of mistakes but they are a part of nature that still lives by survival of the fittest and even if you have a hen hatching and raising them some don't make it. and in my opinion no matter how good you get you will never match that hen for knowing all about hatching and raising chicks.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

To hire someone can be expensive. It depends on how far it has to go. I've run it to one coop so far. Copper has risen a lot so the wire is the real expensive part. I always run everything in at least 3/4 inch conduit so I can add or make changes later. Actually a properly sized extension cord is safer than installed wiring that is undersized or overloaded.
I've had a 100 foot 12 AWG cord run out to one coop for 4 years. I have the coop wired just like normal house wiring with a pigtail hanging under the nest box and plug it into the extension cord.
I'm hoping to get underground electric run out there next year.

I wouldn't have to hire someone...my hubby is an HVAC tech and does electrical work as well. The distance would be about 50-60 ft.

A couple Chinese experiments showed that sperm retained their activity for at least 20 days in a non-competitive situation.
If the time interval between competing matings was less than 12 days, 14 days were required to eliminate the effect of the original mating no matter how many times they were mated to subsequent roosters.

So in other words, since the new EE mounted the females 4 days after Zeus was gone, the maximum number of days I'd have to wait would be 14, correct?

 

[MontanaDolphin]

I found photos of chick growth on this site...it looks like my two that didn't make it quit on Day 13. Warning...these are graphic!


http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/04/chicken-embryo-development-graphic.html

That is so cool to see the daily development...
but it makes me a little queasy...the only way I see that the person could have taken those pictures is to have cracked open 19 developing eggs, in essence killing each chick that was growing. No way would I have done that. That's 19 little chickies that didn't get to live.

 

[ronott1]

So in other words, since the new EE mounted the females 4 days after Zeus was gone, the maximum number of days I'd have to wait would be 14, correct?

Set eggs collected for 15 days. The eggs could be fertile longer but hatch rate will be lower.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

Set eggs collected for 15 days. The eggs could be fertile longer but hatch rate will be lower.

Sigh. I'm confused, and I feel stupid for being confused. I don't want to hatch any more fertilized by my BR, I want to hatch the ones fertilized by the new EE.

 

[ronott1]

Sigh. I'm confused, and I feel stupid for being confused. I don't want to hatch any more fertilized by my BR, I want to hatch the ones fertilized by the new EE.

So sorry.

Wait until the new rooster has been with the hens for about 18 to 20 days. They egg are fertilized early in the cycle, and there are 3 to 5 in process of being laid so you need to take the 14 days and ad 3 to 5 to the number to get 14 days from fertilization. Eggs actually incubate for a day during the egg laying cycle.

What the study says is that the addition of a new rooster will cause the old sperm to go away quicker. If you do not add a new rooster, you need to wait 20 days plus 3 to 5 days for the sperm to be gone from the old Rooster, so 23 to 25 days should work then.

Even so, there are some cases where the old sperm lasted more than 30 days. It does get tricky and if you have all of one breed you will not really be able to tell if they are mixed. with EEs and BRs, you will be able to tell easily which fathered the chicks.

Wait 18 days and collect them, set them for hatching and see what you get. EE mixes are very pretty and if you do not want them sell them on Craigs list or at an Animal Exchange.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

So sorry.

Wait until the new rooster has been with the hens for about 18 to 20 days. They egg are fertilized early in the cycle, and there are 3 to 5 in process of being laid so you need to take the 14 days and ad 3 to 5 to the number to get 14 days from fertilization. Eggs actually incubate for a day during the egg laying cycle.

What the study says is that the addition of a new rooster will cause the old sperm to go away quicker. If you do not add a new rooster, you need to wait 20 days plus 3 to 5 days for the sperm to be gone from the old Rooster, so 23 to 25 days should work then.

Even so, there are some cases where the old sperm lasted more than 30 days. It does get tricky and if you have all of one breed you will not really be able to tell if they are mixed. with EEs and BRs, you will be able to tell easily which fathered the chicks.

Wait 18 days and collect them, set them for hatching and see what you get. EE mixes are very pretty and if you do not want them sell them on Craigs list or at an Animal Exchange.

Yay! I totally understood that!

LOL...so much to learn...

I'm just gonna be on the safe side and wait at least a month. Heck, I might just wait until the chickies I have incubating right now are feathered out enough to go outside. That way I only have one brooder going in my house. It's hard enough for me to handle the dust from ONE brooder, let alone two!!! Also, by then I am hoping to get a broody hen from the same woman I got the EE and Choc Orp from...that way the hen can do the brooding for me