I know I am. I have just 4-5 eggs left to hatch and then this big broody is going on vacation. All the worrying and waiting and anticipating, it will be nice to just "chill" for a little bit. Of course I'll start back up in a few months once we cull from the first round of hatching. My brooders and pens are too full right now. Anyone else looking for a break? This broody is just about burnt out for now. LOL -Kim
Nope. I'm burnt out on shipped egg failures but not on hatching. I'm gonna hatch some from our new year old hens now.
Quote:We are on summer break now. We started hatching in September and didn't stop until April. The bators are empty and there isn't a brooder in our kitchen, for now .
I plan to start back up in fall as well. My last 4 Java eggs are hatching right now. Then I'll be left with a peafowl hatch next Saturday and then DONE! I kept filling up the bators and just couldn't stop until ALL my hens went broody the same day. They broke up within a few days but it still took them a couple weeks before they began laying again. LOL. So my chickens decided I needed a break. LOL Forced vacation.. -Kim
Quote:Yeah, I hear that! I did have pretty good success with BYC member bugadyleah's eggs. I'm done hatching for a while. I don't have the room for what I have now, and finding homes for roos has been difficult this year. I have 25 button quail eggs in the hatcher, and that' it until next year.
I was at first of june, but then the crazy egg chain and whatchagot and yea, now I'll be ending at the end of this month.
I feel ya! I started hatching in February and didn't stop 'till a couple of weeks ago. I finally got my incubators stored away and the last chicks out of the house!! YAY! I mean, I do love the little boogers, but I don't really want to live with them in the house 24/7! I swear though, I still hear peeping even though they've all moved out to the "kindergarden" brooders in the barn and shed...I think that's a sign that I needed the hatching break! I have also had a really hard time getting rid of roosters. It didn't help that I hatched a much higher number of roosters than hens--my last Polish hatch I hatched ONE hen. The rest (9, 10? I forget) where roosters. I can't give them away! So things are getting much more crowded than I anticipated and I really don't like that--it's just not good for the birds. I'm hoping that a friend of mine wants them for his freezer, he mentioned he was interested a couple of months ago. I have no other choice. I plan to spend the summer getting more pens built and doing a lot of culling. I have about 70 birds right now and I'd like to get down to half of that! Then come fall I should (hopefully ) have my pens/coops the way I want them and will have a good plan for how my breeding pens will be set up for next year. I'm also hoping to be able to condition some birds for show in the fall, if I have the time. We just bought 100' of 1/2" hardware cloth today, so this weekend will hopefully see the completion of more pens!
Started hatching in March and have hatched several hundred chicks this year. Seven eggs left in the bator and they are pipping. That will be it until the cooler temps in the fall.