April 2023 Hatch-A-Long

[HipMystic]

Still have to catch up, but I set 42 chicken eggs from my flock yesterday. I completely forgot about Easter, and that I wanted to try the full moon hatching
Oh well, maybe next time

But anyway, 42 eggs split between my Little Giant and my Brinsea Mini Advance 2. Dad is a Rhode Island Red, moms are Barred Plymouth Rocks, Golden Comets (some type of red hybrid, not sure which one specifically), and one Amberlink. I also have 3 Polish eggs set - they just started laying again but I’m not sure that my rooster realizes they’re chickens

 

[HipMystic]

Still have to catch up, but I set 42 chicken eggs from my flock yesterday. I completely forgot about Easter, and that I wanted to try the full moon hatching
Oh well, maybe next time

But anyway, 42 eggs split between my Little Giant and my Brinsea Mini Advance 2. Dad is a Rhode Island Red, moms are Barred Plymouth Rocks, Golden Comets (some type of red hybrid, not sure which one specifically), and one Amberlink. I also have 3 Polish eggs set - they just started laying again but I’m not sure that my rooster realizes they’re chickens

Now the RIR crossed with BR would be sex-linked, correct? This is my first time hatching from this flock.

 

[Canadian Wind]

I always love seeing the posts from those of you hatching with broodies. I can't wait to do it someday. I hope some of mine go broody this year but I don't know if they're a bit young. They hatched in June and July last year. Do they ever start that young?

Oh, they should be more than old enough at this point!

 

[Waterfaery]

Oh, they should be more than old enough at this point!

At 9 months old? That's great. Maybe I'll give them some fake eggs and see what happens.

 

[junior67]

When do you combine them? This will be my first time incubating back to back and I was wondering at what stage I can put them together with the three week age difference.

I think I will try when the younger ones are about a week. This is my first time as well. I would do it after a couple days but I brood in my coop so like to watch the babies for a bit before I put them out there.

 

[Canadian Wind]

I think I will try when the younger ones are about a week. This is my first time as well. I would do it after a couple days but I brood in my coop so like to watch the babies for a bit before I put them out there.

I had a bunch of OEGB eggs that I staggered the hatch for, so chicks were a few weeks apart in age (dang hens kept laying!!!). I had no problem getting the younger chicks (two weeks younger) in with their older siblings. That being said, I wouldn't try with much older than that, personally. And I kept a close eye on them.

 

[junior67]

I had a bunch of OEGB eggs that I staggered the hatch for, so chicks were a few weeks apart in age (dang hens kept laying!!!). I had no problem getting the younger chicks (two weeks younger) in with their older siblings. That being said, I wouldn't try with much older than that, personally. And I kept a close eye on them.

I have heard from others that have said 3-4 weeks and younger normally do fine. I am going to sit with them and watch for a while when I put them in.

 

[junior67]

I always love seeing the posts from those of you hatching with broodies. I can't wait to do it someday. I hope some of mine go broody this year but I don't know if they're a bit young. They hatched in June and July last year. Do they ever start that young?

I had one go broody in Oct last year, she hatched in April. So about 6 mo old. So far this year I have had an 11 mo old and now have one that is 9 mo old. Lol. So yes June and July is old enough to go broody.

 

[Cluckatar]

I have a Brinsea with the 24 egg disk and I'm so annoyed with it! I chose the Brinsea because I had read they were really reliable and I wanted something I could trust to just work so I didn't have to worry about it. I was deciding between the one I have (Maxi 24 EX) and their other type of one that holds the eggs upright but I chose this one because I have a 6 year old and wanted really good visibility.

I have to say the temp and humidity control is perfect but otherwise I was expecting a lot better quality from the whole thing. The plastic parts seem so cheap and flimsy. It's totally overrated for the amount of eggs you can fit in. They don't turn properly at all. They keep getting stuck against each other and against the side. They slide along instead of turning. And if it's not full and they all have space, they clatter around, risking damage to the eggs. There's not nearly enough room for 24 chicks to hatch in there so you have to open it all the time to get batches out. I've only hatched regular sized hen's eggs, it's not like they were particularly large ones. In my first two hatches, as I had quitters, I swapped out a couple of the quadrants for the duck egg ones and they turned better with more room but they still clattered around.

The other thing was that I got so many malpositioned chicks. Almost half of my eggs from my first hatch and more than half from my second were malpositioned. I troubleshooted everything that could possibly cause malpositions and deduced that the way the eggs sit in the trays and the way they kept sticking was the problem.

For my third hatch, I designed a solution by making a modification to the base. I made a cardboard ring that's positioned so that it raises the eggs up so they're at a tilt instead of flat on their sides and I cut some shelf liner to go on top of it to add traction. I just finished my third hatch now and the eggs turned perfectly the whole time and I got zero malpositions. I'm using it again for the 24 I've just set now and they're turning perfectly as well so far. I must take some photos of it when this batch are finished.

I really don't think it's fit for purpose as it is and I'm surprised they're allowed market it for 24 eggs. I was thinking about buying a different model and just using this one as a hatcher but since my modification worked so well I can probably stick with it. We'll see how this batch does now.

Did you try turning some of your eggs around to point out instead of in? And swapping particular eggs around into different positions? You might have to do a lot of fiddling to improve the turning.

Just joining the hatch-along, but you are talking about some issues I'm also experiencing. I do really like my Brinsea. I get better turning results if I increase the turning time for more seconds. Ones that are dragging will eventually start to turn that way. I do fiddle a lot with initial positioning to get everyone rolling, and I do put pointy ends out to avoid getting hung up on the rounded exterior edge. My smaller eggs turn without issues, but the very large Marans eggs are often problematic.

 

[Cluckatar]

I've just gone into lockdown with these shipped eggs (same eggs, different lighting). Splash Marans. I added in a handful of cream legbar x mosaic crosses as well. Candling was quite the joke. The one egg I could see into was a straight cream legbar, and sadly empty. Everything else was completely dark, no light getting through those shells. I'm not sure what is in that mosaic genetics, but they are as difficult to see into as the marans eggs. It's mysterious. So by the end of the week I will have a completely unknown number of chicks... or no chicks. As per my usual bad luck, I did drop the lid on the day one, and crushed three eggs. How and why do I manage to do that???