5 hens, 5 males..one huge nest and Numi is only one brooding. I pulled 10 early on, 2 weren't fertilized, 8 are on day #13.
Some still drop an egg where ever, but Numi can't possibly cover the number of eggs she's on.
So- I know it's not correct, but I pulled 12 more last night and added to incubator, so they'll be on day #13 -#15 when these start hatching.
This was a knee jerk reaction that I woke up this a.m. thinking, "you dummy-" and was reminded/saw where @R2elk said eggs can be stored up to 21 days before incubation. So I will start pulling and storing. I pulled yesterday while she was having her daily constitutional, she didn't seem to notice the 12 missing- I candled those, none were progressing.
Again, I know mixed batches in incubator isn't proper. I've done it before with much smaller batches and it worked out. This may be a disaster.
But- I'm more concerned for her than I am the eggs, remembering conversations abt birds who won't stop brooding, and I don't want her to exhaust herself. She did well with her batch last summer, but by the time Mama came off her nest, it took awhile for her to bounce back. She seemed so wiped out that I wasn't sure she would. *
I saw Willow go in once early on and sit on top of Numi-absolutely no help as far as covering eggs! - But I've not seen anyone else attempt to brood since. - this is their 1st season.
* regarding Mama's weakness - random advice given was to cull my jumbos bc they are worthless meat birds that have weak legs and don't live long. - If not living long is due to predators, then I can see that, I only have the 2 males left. It was her legs that seemed weak after nesting for a month, she staggered and moved slowly. But beyond that, mine fly just as well as the smaller ones, run just as fast, and seem impervious to everything but predators and combines.
Some still drop an egg where ever, but Numi can't possibly cover the number of eggs she's on.
So- I know it's not correct, but I pulled 12 more last night and added to incubator, so they'll be on day #13 -#15 when these start hatching.
This was a knee jerk reaction that I woke up this a.m. thinking, "you dummy-" and was reminded/saw where @R2elk said eggs can be stored up to 21 days before incubation. So I will start pulling and storing. I pulled yesterday while she was having her daily constitutional, she didn't seem to notice the 12 missing- I candled those, none were progressing.
Again, I know mixed batches in incubator isn't proper. I've done it before with much smaller batches and it worked out. This may be a disaster.
But- I'm more concerned for her than I am the eggs, remembering conversations abt birds who won't stop brooding, and I don't want her to exhaust herself. She did well with her batch last summer, but by the time Mama came off her nest, it took awhile for her to bounce back. She seemed so wiped out that I wasn't sure she would. *
I saw Willow go in once early on and sit on top of Numi-absolutely no help as far as covering eggs! - But I've not seen anyone else attempt to brood since. - this is their 1st season.
* regarding Mama's weakness - random advice given was to cull my jumbos bc they are worthless meat birds that have weak legs and don't live long. - If not living long is due to predators, then I can see that, I only have the 2 males left. It was her legs that seemed weak after nesting for a month, she staggered and moved slowly. But beyond that, mine fly just as well as the smaller ones, run just as fast, and seem impervious to everything but predators and combines.
