Yes...the year we got MS in our flock we tried both the 114 deg. internal temperature method and a method that soaked the eggs for 15 minutes in a solution with a strong antibiotic. Both methods claimed a 10% drop in hatch rates. Both were more like a 30% drop for us. My current hatching method just consists of washing any egg that has anything stuck to the shell (not mater how small) in soapy water then rinsing all the eggs (even the ones that are nest clean) in a water with bleach. I know there are better solution for killing germs than bleach, but I have it on hand and so it is easy. Peroxide is another thing that I have heard people use to clean the shell that I would consider using. Mycoplasma only has a 6% chance of passing via the eggs to offspring from a pullet and only a 1% chance of passing from a hen, so if you hatch from hens that helps with some of the things that could pass from the parents to the offspring too.
Good luck with your hatch!
Every one that I have had pip has hatched itself -- so that's a good sign.(if yours are like mine) -- they are just a bit later. Mine have started shortening incubation to 20 days the little hooligans. They are really vigorous chicks.
Be sure to let everyone know the outcome.
That's so funny that you say that, I was JUST thinking about this tonight and had started a list. Including sitting tight, taking someone under your wing, pecking order, etc., etc...
Awesome brooder!That's so interesting - I only have an "n" of 2, but my earlier CL hatch was early (pips day 19, hatches day 20 for most), and for my current, I've got pips on day 19 again. Maybe Dumbledore carries the "impatient" gene...The littles are doing well outside - they had their first super-fierce thunderstorm last night and did just fine. They are all scared of me because the way I brooded them, I loomed a lot even though I tried not to (they were on the floor). I've been sitting in their growout tractor to get them more used to me, and though they almost all avoid me still, one of Paula's girls has decided to adopt me as her best friend - just like her mother (whom I still miss, she was my very first chicken and loved me an awful lot). She loves to jump up on my knee and shoulder. Here's a selfie we took yesterday - it's nearly identical to selfies I have of me and Paula.
I just finished the new brooder for the CLs in the hatcher (Lissa's babies - I was worried she might get sick with Marek's but she and Dumbledore have been resistant so far which is excellent). It's elevated because, in addition to not wanting to loom over the chicks, my back could NOT cope with brooding ANY more chicks at floor level - EVER!!!! (There's a divider because I'm also expecting some other chicks in the mail next week - German New Hampshires and Blue Copper Marans).
That's so funny that you say that, I was JUST thinking about this tonight and had started a list. Including sitting tight, taking someone under your wing, pecking order, etc., etc...
OK, I'm pooped - gotta go to bed. Still need to get the last bit of the brooder set up tomorrow morning before work...
- Ant Farm
Awesome brooder!
Love the pict of you and the chick....how nice that she got the friendlines from her mother.
The trick Ive used with the few flighty breeds I raised was to hand raise them with some friendly breeds like buff orps or in my case Pita Pintas.
Weird, mine are constantly underfoot, I have to be careful not to step on them when I move around the coop. It's particularly so when I'm carrying a pan that they suspect has "treats" (usually the same pellets they have free choice, just with water added to make it mush). They don't perch on my shoulder, but that's because I haven't singled out one to get really tame.
