B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[ki4got]

i'll stand by my guns... incubators each have their own personalities. even between the same brands within the same room of the same house...

it's not about brand or model or even home-brew vs commercially made.

it's about learning the quirks of the bator you have, and working with it to learn what works best. 1 or 2 or even 6 tries may not be enough to figure out all the details, but if you keep good records of everything you do (including room temp and humidity, local weather patterns, etc) you'll start seeing patterns that will help you figure out what works best. it took me nearly a year of almost constant hatching to get mine down pat.

by constant hatching i mean having rotating hatches almost weekly. incubating in 2 hovabators and hatching in the 3rd.

 

[greenhorn]

i'll stand by my guns... incubators each have their own personalities. even between the same brands within the same room of the same house...

it's not about brand or model or even home-brew vs commercially made.

it's about learning the quirks of the bator you have, and working with it to learn what works best. 1 or 2 or even 6 tries may not be enough to figure out all the details, but if you keep good records of everything you do (including room temp and humidity, local weather patterns, etc) you'll start seeing patterns that will help you figure out what works best. it took me nearly a year of almost constant hatching to get mine down pat.

by constant hatching i mean having rotating hatches almost weekly. incubating in 2 hovabators and hatching in the 3rd.

I've been trying on and off for about 2 years now with the old one. Even though i've done a lot of researching the last few days and have found a few likely mistakes I feel much more comfortable with my new one. I agree that there is no substitute for experience but I need to have confidence in the incubator i'm working with.

Only time can tell but i have a feeling things are going to turn out better next time and hopefully we will start to see increased success as we move along.

I can run a batch of eggs every week in this one because i have way more space now too. The old one should make a decent enough hatcher til I come up with something better.

Yep, we are in for a learning experience but then I guess that's another reason we got into this.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: well, if you want to send it on, i'd be glad to adopt the repti-pro and test it out for you. 8)

 

[DEEINIOWA]

I am an ex-Dorking breeder, but still supporting the breed! And we will have Dorkings again in future on our farm!

Let's start a B.Y.C. Dorking Club! Feel free to join if you have Dorkings, want Dorkings, like Dorkings, are going to get dorkings, are interested in Dorkings, etc. Sign right up!/img/smilies/frow.gif

 

[yinepu]

i'll stand by my guns... incubators each have their own personalities. even between the same brands within the same room of the same house...

it's not about brand or model or even home-brew vs commercially made.

it's about learning the quirks of the bator you have, and working with it to learn what works best. 1 or 2 or even 6 tries may not be enough to figure out all the details, but if you keep good records of everything you do (including room temp and humidity, local weather patterns, etc) you'll start seeing patterns that will help you figure out what works best. it took me nearly a year of almost constant hatching to get mine down pat.

by constant hatching i mean having rotating hatches almost weekly. incubating in 2 hovabators and hatching in the 3rd.

oh I agree.. I love mine though.. I stack eggs in them.. have crammed close to 100 eggs in the same Reptipro and had every one that was fertile hatch (only 4 clears in that particular batch). I have done staggered hatches.. incubated duck, goose, quail, turkeys and chickens in it all at the same time and still get 100% hatch rates.
It's just a matter of learning HOW it works and then keeping an eye on air cells or weights.. I have also incubated parrots, peafowl and emu in it with no issues. Mine has run for an entire year nonstop minus about 2 weeks when I took a break. Right now I have 6 incubators running... I had thought about getting one of the big commercial type incubators again.. but in this house I just don't have room in one particular spot where I can keep it.

 

[pysankigirl]

I am an ex-Dorking breeder, but still supporting the breed! And we will have Dorkings again in future on our farm!

Welcome!!! I am relatively new to dorkings but am thrilled to have them. such great birds...personality is the best there is!!!

 

[greenhorn]

well, if you want to send it on, i'd be glad to adopt the repti-pro and test it out for you. 8)

For now the wine cooler is going to hopefully make due for a hatcher. And yes we are going to start taking a little more scientific approach to hatching. From now on we are going to weigh the eggs before they go in and weigh them 3 more times throughout incubation to inspect air cell size or egg weight loss.

We obviously need to dial in our new incubator too but hey, we were in the same boat with the wine cooler. Now that I have a clue, good chance i'm going to become dangerous haha.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: i have a commercial shelving unit (like at walmart or whatever) and the incubators live on 2 shelves... 2 on each (but the 4th is unused for now). what i want to do is get a shelf unit, once my kitchen is done, to put just the incubators on, one over the other. i'd love to have a gqf sportsman (or similar) but figured out it uses more electric than just 3 20 watt hovabators do. so until i find a lower power option for a bigger 'bator, i'll stick with what i've got.

 

[greenhorn]

On a more cheerful subject, the 2 white dorking chicks are in the brooder and doing good. The bigger one looks like a keeper..... Man i hate making accommodations for just a single bird but it is my first dorking that I hatched from an egg. Oh well won't be the first spoiled rotten pet chicken on the farm. Guess he does hold a certain amount of significance. We've come a long way in the past 1.5 yrs when I first discovered white dorkings and saw what they looked like on Joseph's web site. Have to pinch myself sometimes, still can't believe we actually have them on our farm now. Haha off to a slow start on the incubation scene but i guess we all had to start somewhere. I think we have a new farm mascot and white dorking chicks hatched on our own farm, woohooo!

I know Joseph isn't going to like this but we are going to do some black and silver grey chicks too. My kids won't let me get away with doing only whites. They help do a lot of chores here so I have to let them make some decisions on their own. You should see my daughters face light up when it comes to those silver greys. She just loves her SG hen.....

 

[Yellow House Farm]

I know Joseph isn't going to like this but we are going to do some black and silver grey chicks too. My kids won't let me get away with doing only whites. They help do a lot of chores here so I have to let them make some decisions on their own. You should see my daughters face light up when it comes to those silver greys. She just loves her SG hen.....

Yes, but you threw in the trump card---kids. It is such an awesome thing to feed a child's desire to do something constructive and creative. If you give them a sense of ownership it expands the field in which they feel free to grow.

On our front, we're preparing to liquidate almost everything bar the Dorkings and Anconas--we're down to one elite pair of Black Muscovies, which we've decided to sell, even though the male was Super Grand Champion of the New Hampshire Poultry Fanciers Association annual show in 2012. I'm pretty sure the geese are going, too. I just have to find out want my much better half decides this evening. Our entire stock of Narragansett turkeys is being picked up this evening at 7pm.

It looks like there may be only White Dorkings and Rosecomb Anconas. If we're going to maintain the orchard and keep the gardens and can the food and pretend to have a life, while maintaining the goal of the very best heritage poultry possible, we've just got to hone tight focus, disciplined breeding, and consolidating to expand.