December Hatch-A-Long 2014

[Kaylish]

I've been waiting and waiting for someone to start a December Hatch-A-Long thread and it hasn't happened so I decided to start one. My plan is to set a dozen chicken eggs this Friday Nov. 21st. This will be my first hatch ever. I am so excited and nervous and I hope if I have questions I will be able to get them answered here.

I'd love to hear of others planning a December hatch!

I have a 1st time broody with eggs that should

hatch Dec 1.

I had to drive an hour and a half one way in a snowstorm to pick them up. But it will be worth it!


I hope I don't break down and order a third incubator! Hatching your own chicks is addictive!

Understatement of the Year!

my neighbor is my kind of crazy. She's my best friend and we share our 4 chickens that live in my yard. Her kids and my kids share in doing the chicken chores and we all enjoy the yummy eggs. So when we lost one of our chickens we knew we would get a couple more chicks and when I brought up hatching them ourselves she was totally onboard. Come on Friday!

How lucky! One of my neighbors has chickens but not Crazy like me.

Phew crisis averted. Checked in with the breeder today. He had planned to start gathering eggs for us last Wednesday but apparently the hens were laying so well he didn't have to start until yesterday so the eggs will be fresher than I originally thought. He said he hasn't collected a blue egg yet but he still has today, tomorrow, and early Friday morning as I asked to pick them up Friday morning instead of tomorrow. And he said that I can choose the eggs I want when I get there, yay!!

So anyway I msg'd my neighbor to let her know our eggs are being collected and she informed me that her boyfriend now has the incubator we are borrowing. Yay!! I can't wait to get my hands on it and get it figured out and set up. I still can't believe this is all happening.... wait I still can't believe I even have chickens and I've had them since April.

So I originally planned to set them Friday night but then I thought if they start hatching at night, we will all miss it. So then I thought maybe I'd set them on Friday morning but then again if they start hatching on time all the kids will be at school and miss it. So my next thought was to set them mid day Friday because our kids get out at noon on Fridays and that way hopefully no one will miss the exciting event!! But it will make for a weird schedule I guess. I just don't want anyone to miss it, I really want the kids to experience it and we chose to set them this weekend because my neighbor has her kids the weekend they will hatch otherwise they may have been with their dad and miss it altogether.

Ahhhhh decisions, decisions. And I have plenty more to make still because I'm still a bit unsure of how it's all going to come together!!

Since the eggs are local I wouldn't think I'd need to let them sit too long before setting them right? I guess I have to see what kind of incubator I'm dealing with to determine if I will have to hand turn them or not. And if I have to hand turn them then I will have to decide whether I will leave them laying on their sides of it I will use the egg cartons at an angle. Oh boy, I'm gonna be nuts the next 3 weeks... if having all my college classes ending around the same time isn't enough stress!! I am one crazy lady.

Local eggs shouldn't need to sit but it won't hurt either. I have an auto turner so not sure about the turning other then to make sure that you turn an odd number of times so that they are not on the same side every night.

Hello all...I would love to join your December hatch a long.

I just set some splash and sizzle eggs yesterday. They should hatch on 12/9. This will be my second hatch. I bought these from a BYC Member and I am soooo excited to see them progress.

I also ordered a little Brinsea which just came this eve. I am hoping to get some Rhodebars by friday I got off a E-BAy auction...Greenfire Farm lineage.

My first hatch was dreadful...shipped eggs with detatched air cells and a scrambled looking box. I did get one chick from that and he passed Monday. I cried for the day and I just received some shipped silkies this morning...unfortunately, only half made the journey. So sad.

So, I think I should change my name to "One who walks without chickens" But, I am a stubborn and determined gal!

Hang in there! Shipped eggs are rough but it'll happen.

Yes, I did, 21. That's what is in my bator now. I bought two of her auctions. It must have taken her all day to wrap mine...she really did take her time to make sure those eggs made it to me safe..1,000+ miles of travel. I only had 3 with detatched cells and the air cells looked great! I am really looking forward to these hatching out well. My last eggs were from MPC and they were all detatched air cells, one crack, the air cells seemed low like they were old or something and only one hatched out assisted...Out of 17/5 made it to lockdown.

That's great packing! Hope you get a good hatch! (also, who/what is MPC?)

Yes I am getting eggs from emvickrey also....Mine will probably be frozen by the time they get to me. 16 degrees here this morning!

Don't lose hope! From what I understand Frozen eggs can still hatch! It's heat that's the real killer.

WE are very cold here too!!! In the teens. At least I missed Buffalo's 100 inches of snow in a week. I feel aweful for the farmers out there! I hope they are not frozen either....I know mine are coming today do not have a heater pack in them....the seller didn't believe in heater packs in the eggs...crossing my fingers for us!!!!!!!!

Again! There's hope (see above)

 

[Debs55]

They made it finally! Post Office gave them to a wrong delivery person! Luckily the guy drove them to my house after he was done with his route. Who knows where they would have ended up?

yay! good luck!



my incubator is still being weird with the temps going up and down. it wasn't like this before! the boyfriend is bringing over some insulation and a higher wattage bulb tonight so we will see if that helps

 

[Renee572]

They made it finally! Post Office gave them to a wrong delivery person! Luckily the guy drove them to my house after he was done with his route. Who knows where they would have ended up?

Yay! Glad you got your eggs. Will you be setting them tomorrow morning? If so then we will be on the same schedule. That will be fun!

 

[Renee572]

Yay! I have the incubator in my possession. Now to get it cleaned and all figured out. It's a Hovabater 1602N thermal air!

 

[mistyhollow]

Yay! I have the incubator in my possession. Now to get it cleaned and all figured out. It's a Hovabater 1602N thermal air!

That is good news!

 

[Sustained]

Yay! I have the incubator in my possession. Now to get it cleaned and all figured out. It's a Hovabater 1602N thermal air!

 

[Kaylish]

Yay! I have the incubator in my possession. Now to get it cleaned and all figured out. It's a Hovabater 1602N thermal air!

That's Great news! I've heard good things about the Hovabators

 

[Renee572]

Lol my daughter is running around chanting "it's at 80 we're almost there!" It cleaned and heating up so hopefully I can get the temp just right. It has a bulb thermometers so I think I'm going to go out and buy a digital thermometer, one that tells humidity. Also no automatic turner which is fine, I've only got 12 eggs so I need to decide if I'll lay them on their sides of incubate in the egg carton. What is everyone else doing?

 

[Rainier]

yay! good luck!



my incubator is still being weird with the temps going up and down. it wasn't like this before! the boyfriend is bringing over some insulation and a higher wattage bulb tonight so we will see if that helps

Depending on what type of incubator you have covering the windows with small tea/dish towels can help to stabilize temperatures. I had the worst time trying to stabilize my temp's in my LG 9200 still air. Moved it to the bathroom and covered the windows (left the vents open) and haven't had a problem since!

 

[Purpletie3]

Lol my daughter is running around chanting "it's at 80 we're almost there!" It cleaned and heating up so hopefully I can get the temp just right. It has a bulb thermometers so I think I'm going to go out and buy a digital thermometer, one that tells humidity. Also no automatic turner which is fine, I've only got 12 eggs so I need to decide if I'll lay them on their sides of incubate in the egg carton. What is everyone else doing?

Hey...I am so happy you have that thing in hand! woot woot!

I incubate in egg cartons. I have a Hovabator too. I turn them about every 8 hours. I have x's and o's on opposite sides so I don't get confused. There's a section on turning in Incubation 101. I had to look that up because it was specific...and funny on day counting too...Luckily, I figured that out before lockdown a day early!

Good luck with this...It is so exciting!