December hatch-along?

[aliciaplus3]

7 out of 12 silkies look good, one was questionable so we left it in. 2 out of 2 Nn and 9 out of 12 marans, 2 were questionable but with these dark shells I was not comfortable throwing them so they are still in

hatch day is Saturday

 

[AstraChick]

only day 6 for me, did my first candle and 5 out of 6 look really good can see the eye and veins developing, 1 im not sure on as its only day 6, will check them in a few days. yeah its so hard to take them out when its questionable. I wait until day 14 or 16, but keep a close eye on it for any funny smells.

@Scrambles55 yeah its such a great feeling when you can see the eye and the veins developing around it.

@aliciaplus3 Good-luck for Saturday they all hatch

@Kat MacK Congratulations update with pics, we all love pics

 

[Scrambles55]

Question for all the hatchers.
What will you do with your chicks and cockerels?
I only want 3-4 layers and I’m not sure what to do with the others.
If I get a Liege Fighter cockerel, I will sell him. But.....
What are y’all going to do with your chicks

 

[aliciaplus3]

Most of what we are hatching for the next several months will be fair projects for my 2 daughters. Any exteras will be offered for sale, kept as layers or invited to dinner as the guest of honor. The girls have discovered that there are folks in the area interested in homegrown poultry to eat.

 

[Kat MacK]

Question for all the hatchers.
What will you do with your chicks and cockerels?
...
What are y’all going to do with your chicks

I usually only hatch enough each year to add a couple of layers and find homes for the cockerels (there's usually only one or two, since I usually hatch only 4-6 eggs). Sometimes I'm successful getting people to take the cockerels as half of a breeding pair if I have enough pullets to spare, mainly because I usually stick to purebreds.

This year, I'm trying to build up Olandsk Dwarf stock, and they're tricky to hatch, so I've had more hatches than usual. I've worked out a deal with a local small farmer who has a commercial poultry/hatchery business to take the cockerels and a couple (a few, if I have enough to spare) of the pullets to start their own line. I believe they plan to sell off (or, worst case, process) any extra cockerels and then establish a a steady stream of hatching eggs to sell from the ones they keep. If they are successful, the payback to me is a dozen hatching eggs a year for the next couple of years.

This fall I've also ended up with three EE chicks (long story). If they're all pullets, I have a potential home for two (friends are thinking about starting out with chickens) and I'll keep one (or rather, my teenager is making us keep one). If one or more are cockerels, I'll have to rehome them (they're too charming to let someone eat them). But there are a couple of rooster rescues in our area, so I have that option if needed.

 

[AquaDuck]

Question for all the hatchers.
What will you do with your chicks and cockerels?
I only want 3-4 layers and I’m not sure what to do with the others.
If I get a Liege Fighter cockerel, I will sell him. But.....
What are y’all going to do with your chicks

I sometimes sell young chicks, but the real market where I live is in selling pullets. Around 10-12 weeks, as soon as I can sex them with some reassurance.
Last season I sold everything I had and even had to throw in a few of my older hens...
The cockerels, well, unfortunately there's no market for them. I try to keep as many as I can (I got 4 roo's now) and MAYBE I get to give away one, but the rest ends up in the freezer.

 

[kirkyanne]

We have nine eggs in incubator due boxing day, maybe earlier. They all look good so far. Removed infertile eggs from other hens when I candelled. Its our first eggs we've hatched from our own hens and rooster. We bought our eggs in past. A surprise as the rooster was barely 12 weeks old when he started getting busy!
Rooster named Dwight is an Easter egger. Delilah is a frizzle, Francesca is polish and Matilda is a wyandotte. So a slight mix there.

Our broody Bridgette is also sitting in another 4.

 

[Scrambles55]

 

[wolfwalker]

Tonight is lock down. and only 5 made it out of 11. And one of those is iffy. And now they have to make the final 3 days.

I really did not expect much as the post office shipped these to my post office on Saturday, they are closed. Then they went back to the hub and was reshipped to my post office on Sunday, once again they were closed and then shipped from the hub back out on Monday. Which is when I went and got them.

 

[AstraChick]

Question for all the hatchers.
What will you do with your chicks and cockerels?
I only want 3-4 layers and I’m not sure what to do with the others.
If I get a Liege Fighter cockerel, I will sell him. But.....
What are y’all going to do with your chicks

cause we are in re-build mode, i will keep all pullets, at the moment i have eight 7 week old chicks out in the coop, not 100% on sex looks like 4 girls/4 boys.
6 eggs in the bator but looks like only 5 are developing, hope i get 5 girls lol.
I plan to only keep 1 rooster for my girls, will have to cull the boys as people around here dont want roosters. If they are not fighting each other i might be able to grow them up for our freezer.