This hatching adventure started with a big snow storm. we set eggs in a coordinated hatch with a farm in Pa. I was doing Australorps, they were doing buff orps.. and to make a long story short..it was nerve racking and delightful ..Ive learned over the years, the better you feed your birds in the frozen north the better the vitamins in the yolks and more to create strong babies.= fewer problems with hatch....So chopped up spinach, and little ground beef once in a while to make up for loss of juicy buggs..shredded carrots now and again and the regular feed..we set the eggs on feb 19th..no egg setting for me would be complete without the massive snow storm..I could set eggs in june and it would snow.
instead of easter egg hunts, we play try and get the eggs befor they freeze, even with heat lamps. And all of you who know what it is like to run an LG bator knows you have to be a little bit of a mad scientist to run it..they are very touchy and hard to keep in line , somone almost has to be there every minute to keep watch..it might go along for days steady then suddenly drop or spike a little..but if your able to be around it alot you can do well with it..
I picked up 29 eggs and out of those 15 wound up to be fertile..I was shooting for 10 for the other person in the coordinated hatch..so all went well and into lockdown
One started pipping almost right away..husband called at work and said that three had hatched while I was at work..over night they popped out like pop corn..DH said must be all that shopped spinach they popped out of those shells like popeye.
The rooster, and this was befor the snow storm one of many
once they were all dried off, moved to the brooder..there were a few straggler eggs left in bator had not pipped yet so cleared these babies out and re-set humid and waited for the rest..so now that they are all here and healthy , tgheir new owner drove up from Pa to get them today and traded me some great black buff orps , very excited about them..My husband thought I drove around the block and changed boxes because the baby black orps look a lot like baby Australorps..I said ..DH, they are the foundation breed of australorps.
It was very hard to see them go because they had imprinted on me and thought already I was thier mom..
but they are going to a nice new home..
instead of easter egg hunts, we play try and get the eggs befor they freeze, even with heat lamps. And all of you who know what it is like to run an LG bator knows you have to be a little bit of a mad scientist to run it..they are very touchy and hard to keep in line , somone almost has to be there every minute to keep watch..it might go along for days steady then suddenly drop or spike a little..but if your able to be around it alot you can do well with it..
I picked up 29 eggs and out of those 15 wound up to be fertile..I was shooting for 10 for the other person in the coordinated hatch..so all went well and into lockdown
One started pipping almost right away..husband called at work and said that three had hatched while I was at work..over night they popped out like pop corn..DH said must be all that shopped spinach they popped out of those shells like popeye.
The rooster, and this was befor the snow storm one of many
once they were all dried off, moved to the brooder..there were a few straggler eggs left in bator had not pipped yet so cleared these babies out and re-set humid and waited for the rest..so now that they are all here and healthy , tgheir new owner drove up from Pa to get them today and traded me some great black buff orps , very excited about them..My husband thought I drove around the block and changed boxes because the baby black orps look a lot like baby Australorps..I said ..DH, they are the foundation breed of australorps.
It was very hard to see them go because they had imprinted on me and thought already I was thier mom..
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