Chicks for Christmas ! Submit your holiday chick pictures contest on!

[ajcress]

Quote:
so sorry to hear about the bator getting unplugged.. I wouldn't give up on them though just yet. Last winter we lost power from 4 days and yes I was on day 10 of incubation and when the power came back on I left everything alone and ended up hatching 12 peeps from 36 eggs... and that was from an ol lg still air. I am so glad I upgraded but that little styrofoam bator sure did hatch alot of peppies...

 

[notinoz2007]

i really want to get working on a little brooder for my chickies but its so cold (48 and rainy) that i have no desire to move. i was thinking about using an 18 gal storage container for the first few weeks. what have you used for a brooder? i'm looking for ideas so i dont have to think much, lol.

 

[ajcress]

Quote:
what type of bator are you using? If it is a still air.. I have the lg that I used faithfully for years and I always went by the thermometer/hydrometer. make sure the prob is laying on the top of the eggs which is where the heat should be most accurate and also change the batteries. just to be sure. definately should be around 100 no less for lg. hope this helps

 

[notinoz2007]

Quote:
Bummer, I found the incubator door open and the temp was down to 93, i am hoping those will be OK. I candled the styrofoam bator eggs and tossed 11 eggs. Then i candled three trays of eggs from the cabinet. Don't know how many Xmas eggs I culled from those, i will count them.

sorry to hear about the bator getting unplugged. i read somewhere that if the power goes out to just make sure the lid stays closed until it gets fixed. not exactly the same, but similar. hopefully you'll get some pleasant surprises.
hot 2 pot, how long does it take to candle 3 trays of eggs? i stress out just candling the 42 my hovabator will hold.

 

[notinoz2007]

Quote:
what type of bator are you using? If it is a still air.. I have the lg that I used faithfully for years and I always went by the thermometer/hydrometer. make sure the prob is laying on the top of the eggs which is where the heat should be most accurate and also change the batteries. just to be sure. definately should be around 100 no less for lg. hope this helps

it does help, thanks. i didnt even think about having back up batteries, putting that on my grocery list now.
i use a hovabator 1602, still air. first hatch, first incubator i've used and i like it. we'll see after the hatch if it passes the test or not.

 

[RareBreedFancier]

I still have 6 Dorking eggs growing nicely, not sure what else, I couldn't see well through my green eggs and what I could see looked like they are all clear bar 1, I really, really want to be wrong about that. Considering the hen's disheveled back feathers I find it hard to believe they aren't fertile.

I was going to count up my Christmas eggs but I opened the 'bator and was greeted by chirping from two early pips so I shut it back up again and injected water to bump up my humidity. Once these chickies are out I'll count up my Christmas eggs.

My surprise pips are from eggs I confiscated from the broodies because they are due all over the place. Oddly nither of the pipped eggs were the ones I expected to hatch first.

 

[notinoz2007]

i think that dorkings are very pretty chickens, can you explain the name to me tho? it just doesnt sound pretty...
i candled about 2 hours ago and cant get the temp in the bator to go above 99, i have to get to bed. is it a bad idea to let them be at the lower temp til i can figure it out in the morning?

 

[RareBreedFancier]

I believe they were imported to England through the town of Dorking by the Romans and that's where the name come from.

 

[sheila3935]

If you havent tallied up the eggs yet from page 18 so far we have 819 eggs. I just included mine which is 11 going strong. So I am going to guess 430 to hatch Christmas Eve and 200 to hatch Christmas Day. Although I really hope that all the eggs everyone set hatches!

 

[In His Service]

Quote:
Sorry, did not know to guess by day...
I will guess 198 on Christmas Eve and 323 on Christmas Day