Chicken Hatch 2014

[1876 Farm]

Nice!

I will be setting eggs on Thursday/Friday. I have Cream Crested Legbar eggs arriving tomorrow, will need to let them sit for a day before I put them in my incubator. I've been collecting eggs from my own flock (OE and BCMxBR eggs) for 2 weeks... CCL eggs were delayed and that's why some of my collected eggs are now 2 weeks old. I have 35 eggs collected, but I don't think I will set that many... just too many chicks. I will only do it if I can sell whatever extra I have.

I'll take a picture of the eggs before they are set.

 

[DarynA146]

My silkie chicks are going to hatch soon,but I dint know if am going to need to put a globe in a box in their cage? Do they need a box with a globe for heat or can they live without it?

 

[gimmie birdies]

what is a globe?

 

[gimmie birdies]

set more eggs than chicks you need if you can.

 

[1876 Farm]

set more eggs than chicks you need if you can.

this is where I run into an issue... I really don't need any more chicks... I have these eggs coming, hopefully, today. More eggs arriving in May and I'm purchasing chicks from a breeder in June.

I really just want OE hens.... so perhaps I should set 12 OE eggs... assuming 50% will hatch and 50% will be hens.

I have one BCMxBR hen that I was thinking of hatching all of her eggs, crossing her with a BCM roo.... she lays probably 5 eggs a week and they are nice and dark.

and to think that I told my DH I was going to start paring down my flock, I guess I'm just replacing the 14 that we will be rehoming in the fall. Replacing them with 30 or more if they all hatch. Whoops, I guess that is not paring down is it?

How much do people sell OE chicks for?

 

[DarynA146]

a light bulb

 

[1876 Farm]

a light bulb

All chicks need warm after they are hatched... from my Pet Chicken:

The first week of their lives they require an air temperature of 95 degrees, the second week 90 degrees, and so on - going down by 5 degrees per week until they're ready to transition to "outside". A 250-watt infrared heat lamp is the best way to achieve this, placed right in the middle of their living area and suspended off the ground. The height of the light will depend on what it takes to achieve your target temperature.

 

[1876 Farm]

Last night I set eggs in my incubator....

7 Cream Crested Legbar


and 12 (2 more than the picture) of a BCM mix- My hen is a BCM x BR mix, mated back to the BCM rooster. I'm hatching these for my eating egg sales and not for hatching eggs.


Now let the waiting begin!!

 

[1876 Farm]

My candled CCL eggs are on the following thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/872953/1st-time-hatching-shipped-eggs#post_13322627

 

[gimmie birdies]

these are due tomorrow- BCM has a pip, Isbar is not in air cell yet, and I hear the legbar pecking.