Anyone HATCHING?!?!? Newbie's and addicts WELCOME!!!! Hatch Calendar page 1!!!!

[CALI CHICK]

Silkymom, Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like how you are still excited about every new baby, even though you've done many hatches.

Maybe you mentioned this before, but I'm curious what kind of bator you use, what temperature you keep and what your humidity levels were for day 1-18 and then at lockdown? Thanks for the info. I might start a hatch this weekend with EE eggs and silkies and I was nervous about the eggs needing different temps, etc...but you do mixed breeds, so I hopefully won't have a problem.
And these will be local eggs, so I shouldn't have such issues with the air cells this time.

Now if that guy would just call me back and say the eggs are ready to pick up...

As if this morning 10 of 13 orginally set have hatched!!!

7 RIR and 3 silkies!! The other 3 silkie eggs have pipped so

when I get home they have hatched, since today is actually day 21!!!! I forgot to get pics before I left,

 

[silkymom1986]

Thank you so much!!

I want to do a chicken dance everytime one hatches, lol

My DH thinks I'm crazy. I'm really excited about these because they came from my RIR's and silkies. I can't wait to see what color my silkies will be, looking like buff!

I use a R-com20 incubator and highly recommend it, it's a little pricy but worth the money if you plan on hatching alot like I do because it holds temp and humidity exact as long as you keep water in it. No babysitting the incubator with this baby, lol

I keep my temp at 99.5 the whole time, and humidity at 35% the first 18 days then I raise it to 75% for lockdown. I don't think I have ever done a hatch that was all the same breed, lol. So I wouldn't worry about that. Hope the guy calls you soon about your eggs!!

Have you heard of using a wiggler to monitor the inside temp of the eggs? Just curious because that helped me out a whole lot when I first started hatching!

Silkymom, Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like how you are still excited about every new baby, even though you've done many hatches.

Maybe you mentioned this before, but I'm curious what kind of bator you use, what temperature you keep and what your humidity levels were for day 1-18 and then at lockdown? Thanks for the info. I might start a hatch this weekend with EE eggs and silkies and I was nervous about the eggs needing different temps, etc...but you do mixed breeds, so I hopefully won't have a problem.
And these will be local eggs, so I shouldn't have such issues with the air cells this time.

Now if that guy would just call me back and say the eggs are ready to pick up...
Quote:

 

[CALI CHICK]

I've only incubated with borrowed incubators. Someday I want to build one or invest in one but I tell myself it isn't a true "need". Do you sell some of the chicks or just keep acquiring more and more chickens? If there was a market for baby chicks, maybe that would justify buying an incubator!

We actually have an awesome feed store in our area that gets baby chicks every week, so I don't know?

I've only done one hatch (4 silkies out of 10 eggs) but I know I could become (maybe already am) addicted to hatching! Perhaps I should hold off until March 17 and join the Easter hatch, but I want to start as soon as I get my hands on some local fertile eggs-LOL!

Thank you for the "numbers". Obviously, I ran my humidity too low. The lady I bought the (shipped) eggs from also said 35%, so I'm thinking that must be the right level.

 

[silkymom1986]

I've only incubated with borrowed incubators. Someday I want to build one or invest in one but I tell myself it isn't a true "need". Do you sell some of the chicks or just keep acquiring more and more chickens? If there was a market for baby chicks, maybe that would justify buying an incubator!

We actually have an awesome feed store in our area that gets baby chicks every week, so I don't know?

I've only done one hatch (4 silkies out of 10 eggs) but I know I could become (maybe already am) addicted to hatching! Perhaps I should hold off until March 17 and join the Easter hatch, but I want to start as soon as I get my hands on some local fertile eggs-LOL!

Thank you for the "numbers". Obviously, I ran my humidity too low. The lady I bought the (shipped) eggs from also said 35%, so I'm thinking that must be the right level.

I sell some as chicks and haven't had a problem selling them so far, but my overall plan is to keep hatching and raising the 3 breeds I have (RIR, Welsummers and silkies) and as the chicks get to laying age I sell the ones that have been laying for a year for $25 each. Obviously they are worth alot more when full grown and laying, and alot of people don't want to go through the whole hatching process, they just want chickens for eggs. Everytime I have listed laying hens for sale they are sold the same day, with chicks it sometimes it takes longer to find a buyer.

When I first started hatching I bought a cheap LG for $40. It worked as long as you had someone home 24/7 to babysit, lol

I used it for a while though until I realized I was really getting into it and hope to make some money from my addiction,

That's when I splurged for the R-com. I know I will never come close to breaking even but it keeps me busy and happy and that's all I care about right now.

You soooo should join the Easter hatch!!! It's so much fun! This will be the first week my incubator has been empty all year waiting to set on the 17th, lol. I am doing shipped eggs, some welsummer eggs and more silkies,

I will probably throw some of my own in too, hehe

Do you know when your suppose to get you eggs yet?

 

[CALI CHICK]

Do you know when your suppose to get you eggs yet?

I located someone (off Craigslist) that lives about 7 minutes from me. He works a full time job, but raises chickens as a hobby, because he enjoys it! (You know the type, right!

) Well, he said he's got a bunch of Americaunas (EE) and then he has a black silkie roo with 2 hens. One hen is also a black silkie and the other is part silkie/part sebright. The silkies only give him about 3 eggs a week right now, so he said he would call me on Friday and I could hopefully pick up a dozen eggs Saturday (when he is home).

I'll probably sell the mixed silkies (unless they're too cute) and sell any EE that are roosters. One reason I wanted eggs now is because I have a Buff Orpington who is acting broody and I was curious if she would sit on eggs for 21 days.

If not, I was going to put them in the bator or put half under her and half in the bator (and see who has the better hatch rate)?

My plan is to have a flock of hens that lay different color eggs. So far I have BO, RIR and PBR which give me pink, rust and beige eggs. I want to add Easter Eggers, Olive Eggers, Black Copper Marans and others.

Then, I want to raise silkies, eventually B/B/S. Right now my chicks are about 3 weeks old (and they all seem like Blues). I just purchased 2 little black silkies which are a week old. I want to raise these as pets and also to show. I'll probably be able to sell off PQ hens and roosters and chicks eventually. Maybe I should order more B/B/S eggs for the Easter Hatch-a-long?

I would also like to have a flock of Plymouth Barred Rocks. I love the big brown eggs our Rocksie gives us. I would sell chicks and eggs from this group.

 

[silkymom1986]

I definetly know the type, ME

I work 7-3:30 M-F, and pretty much spend every daylight moment I am home with my chicks and chickens, lol. I have only had chickens for a little over a year, and if you had told me a year ago when I got my first 3 hens and 1 Roo that I would have over 30 chickens in a year I would have called you a lunatic!!! lol

Wow you have a very pretty variety of birds, I bet your egg collection is beautiful! There are so many more breeds I want, I am planning on selling hatching eggs eventually though so I have to have seperate coops for all of them, and we just built our third one so I doubt I will be adding any breeds anytime soon, lol

I can't decide what color silkies I want to keep, they are all so darn cute!!!

I just don't have the coops to keep them all seperate or I would.

One of my silkie hens just went broody too! This is her second time, first go around she stopped sitting because I had to move her, she's very picky, lol. She is only on day 4 so far so we will see. If she doesn't I'll throw em in the bator but she seems to really want to be a momma so I'm hoping she hatches some, she has the same eggs under her as what I just hatched so I know they are fertile. I think it will be so sweet seeing her actually raise her own chicks!!

 

[CALI CHICK]

Right now I only have 1 each of RIR, BO and PBR. Then I have 4 Blue silkies that are 3 weeks old and 2 Black silkies that are 1 week old.

I love having chickens so much too. I just got my first four chickens less than a year ago as well. They were a bunch of mixed silkies, but all turned out to be roosters

and had to be re-homed. Then I decided to take the plunge with Large Fowl and got the RIR, BO and PBR from the feed store in August. I was thankful that they were indeed hens and have enjoyed getting eggs from them. Even my DH is impressed! I love how my son helps me care for them and is part of the poultry project in 4H.

I just e-mailed that guy again and asked if I could pick up about 4 fertile EE eggs today for my BO. She actually FORCED the other hens to lay their eggs in HER nesting box and hasn't left her nest...this is a first. Then I requested that he save ALL the silkie eggs from now to next Friday so I can get those + more EE eggs to equal a dozen. Then, I would use those eggs to join the Easter hatchalong.

I SO want to incubate again. I hope he gets back today with a willingness to go along with my plan!

I've enjoyed talking with you, but I better get my son to his Lego Engineering class before he's late!

 

[DraigAthar]

7 eggs went into lockdown this morning! My first ever hatch! Squeeee! Wish me luck, I'm so worried I've screwed something up somehow. You know how it goes.

Amy

 

[meshellrose]

my 9 eggs are still moving around in there at day 14, I sure hope they hatch. the air cell doesn't look too big, not that I really know how it should look..lol

 

[Tressa27884]

I have one zipping, pipped at 4. Now almost all of it is zipped. OMG didn't think any would hatch!