Cochin Thread!!!

[K Epp]

Actually it is a little over 2 months.

 

[lilcrow]

Actually it is a little over 2 months.

She looks to be a very young large fowl Barred Cochin. If it is a large fowl, I could be of on the sex but I don't think so. The truth of her color is that technically she is more of what is called a cuckoo, but I'm guessing since she is LF (just scrolled up and saw that you got her from a group of LF) the color could be a work in progress. And yes she appears more blue or silver or whatever they're calling that in this variety. She really looks to be kind of nice, definitely better than a hatchery bird. I'll bet she's very sweet. The person who would know absolutely about her sex is Tom Roebuck, but it's the height of breed/hatching season and I personally haven't seen Tom on line for a little while. I'm guessing he's up to his ears in chicks.

 

[sbucciarel]

I used LG incubators for years and with a stable basement temp and somewhere between regular and  constant monitoring I had decent hatch rates.

In 2011 I bought my 1st Hovabator Genesis.  I soon bought a 2nd one. Digiatal preset. I can not speak for any other incubators but the Genesis is simple to use and I have not had temp fluctuations in over 2 years. The piece of mind that comes with that stability can not be overstated.

The Cabinet incubator I have is a digital GQF but not any better at hatching than a Genesis. It just holds more eggs than a foam incubator.

I dumped my LGs too and got the Genesis Hovabator 1588 - actually 3 of them. Two are full of eggs and 1 is for lock down and the temps stay steady and humidity is perfect. Have been getting much better hatches. I will go with a Sportsman cabinet later, but this is good for now.

 

[Triplell]

I have 3 LG's and have no problem with them since I put a screw threw a milk jug lid then screwed that into the heat controller. That has helped to much. I have two for incubation and the third is for hatching. I have not had to adjust anything on them since I did this. They are in my basement. I also put a heavy book on top to prevent any heat or humidity from escaping. I will soon be getting a cabinet incubated and still keep the lg's.

 

[davony's chicks]

I don't know if you've ever tried this, but I've had some "shrink wrapped" babies before and have saved them. I get a paper towel and wet it with very warm water, while holding the egg in my hand while it is cradled in the warm paper towel, I stand at the sink and run very warm water. While dampening my fingers I start to moisten the membrane and gently work it around until it becomes slippery and then begin to work it back away from the head first, then I start peeling shell - WITHOUT - membrane. If you just remove the shell so that you can see the membrane you won't be so likely to break a blood vessel and then lose the chick to bleeding to death. It's a process of remove a little shell, then remove the membrane under it. If you get to a point where you can see blood vessels - STOP!!! Warm up your paper towel and set the wet paper towel with the chick in it back in the incubator.
I usually only get in trouble that way if I open the incubator too much. They say to leave it closed for a good reason and I've had to find that out the hard way. There are times I will open the incub. but it must be a life or death call and no chicks that have pipped or are zipping. I've got some Birchens that are hatching as we speak and the first time I saw them this AM there were still a few that were working on their entrance, but now they have all hatched and there are 3 eggs that haven't done anything. I'm going to guess they won't but I'm still not going to open the 'bator probably till late afternoon. I hope this helps a bit and I don't want to insult anyone that already knows this.

Much appreciated. I have used a warm wash cloth and wrapped them in it and put them back in the bator until i can slowly chip away. My prior hatch where I had the one buff columbian he was shrink wrapped and I did pretty much what you said above and it worked great. I almost didn't try to save him because I had decided a few years ago that if they can't hatch without my assistance then they probably should not hatch. I am so happy I did in this case.
As far as this last hatch, unfortunately I was away too long and they were dead by the time I got home and checked.
I have been in the middle of so many debates on if you should or should not help. I have had great luck helping chicks hatch and only one nightmare. I just wish I could have been able to check sooner.
Thanks for posting!

 

[davony's chicks]

I used LG incubators for years and with a stable basement temp and somewhere between regular and constant monitoring I had decent hatch rates.

In 2011 I bought my 1st Hovabator Genesis. I soon bought a 2nd one. Digiatal preset. I can not speak for any other incubators but the Genesis is simple to use and I have not had temp fluctuations in over 2 years. The piece of mind that comes with that stability can not be overstated.

The Cabinet incubator I have is a digital GQF but not any better at hatching than a Genesis. It just holds more eggs than a foam incubator.

I am convinced. I will be ordering two of these one for the incubator and one as a hatcher. If I ever have a bigger operation I will get the GQF. I have been so tempted but thats a ways off for me.

 

[davony's chicks]

My Cochin bantam is trying to be a little pig and hoard all the eggs in both nest boxes.

they are so funny! I have a mottle hen that is terrible about this.

 

[Jharper]

 they are so funny! I have a mottle hen that is terrible about this.

I had to break down and let her sit on them. Then I realised that they were either going to hatch late or get kicked out because that meant she had 18 eggs to cover. so then today I removed them. I candled them and made sure nothing was a growing inside of them. I also removed any clear ones that had been up under taking up space. so when i removed the first eggs there were 12 left. Then i removed the bad ones which gave her 8 to hatch out. My silkie, for the first time ever, has been preparing her clutch and removing feathers from her chest and placing them in her nest. so that means that she should sit on either 8 or 7 eggs of her own. Just like my cochin.

 

[Reyvaughn]

Much appreciated. I have used a warm wash cloth and wrapped them in it and put them back in the bator until i can slowly chip away. My prior hatch where I had the one buff columbian he was shrink wrapped and I did pretty much what you said above and it worked great. I almost didn't try to save him because I had decided a few years ago that if they can't hatch without my assistance then they probably should not hatch. I am so happy I did in this case.
As far as this last hatch, unfortunately I was away too long and they were dead by the time I got home and checked.
I have been in the middle of so many debates on if you should or should not help. I have had great luck helping chicks hatch and only one nightmare. I just wish I could have been able to check sooner.
Thanks for posting!

My Sportsman dried the chicks to the membrane if they don't get out really quick. I found running my humidity between 68-72% helps a lot. I have had drownings go up by 1-2% though. Better than helping half the chicks out of their shrink wrapping. I use a q-tip and moisten the membrane stuck to them, crack off as much of the shell as I can and as long as it looks blood vessel free, I start removing the membrane. What I hate is when the membrane and mucus won't come off. I had 2 that were matted for days and one's butt was matted over and couldn't go potty. I am so glad I caught that in time! I keep an eye out for it now (like today's shrink wrapped baby couldn't poo and I had to clear the path).

As for the LGs - I got rid of mine in 4 months. I got a Hovabator 1602 and used it for a year. Temps would vary with ambient temps - to be expected - and would get a bit weird when the chicks were in lock down. I would check the temps 3-5x a day. Overall, it was a good incubator. It just sits here, unused... I should probably sell it...

 

[ki4got]

Quote: or use it as a dedicated hatcher... much easier to regulate humidity in a smaller space.