Early quitters

[Chuckkeeper]

Are your hands clean every time you handle your eggs?

Yep and I candle at roughly 8, 15 & 18

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I incubate quail eggs, they take about 18 days. I don't bother candling any more. Less work for me, less risk for the eggs. It's not like they're in the incubator long enough to explode.

I'm sorry for hijacking this thread. Tycine1, did you get much rain from hurricane Eta that hit Nicaragua and Honduras?
Have you ever been to San Vito over the border in Costa Rica? I want to move there.

Thank you so much. That's incredibly interesting and will shape my next attempt.

When boosting breeder nutrition, it needs to begin about 3 weeks before beginning to collect eggs for incubation. That's how long it takes for hens to pack their bodies with those nutrients. I know of a guy who keeps all the chicks for his replacement stock that he hatches out of eggs that come early in the season after recovering from molt and their winter break. The idea being that the hens have been stocking up on nutrients and have not been shedding same laying eggs.
You should be able to ask your feed manufacturer what their levels of amino acids, vitamins and minerals are.
I don't know if it is available in the UK but we have a product called Nutri-Drench that I add to the birds' water.
If you wish, I can give you a list of my 3 favorite extremely accurate thermometers that won't break the bank.

 

[Chuckkeeper]

I'm sorry for hijacking this thread. Tycine1, did you get much rain from hurricane Eta that hit Nicaragua and Honduras?
Have you ever been to San Vito over the border in Costa Rica? I want to move there.

When boosting breeder nutrition, it needs to begin about 3 weeks before beginning to collect eggs for incubation. That's how long it takes for hens to pack their bodies with those nutrients. I know of a guy who keeps all the chicks for his replacement stock that he hatches out of eggs that come early in the season after recovering from molt and their winter break. The idea being that the hens have been stocking up on nutrients and have not been shedding same laying eggs.
You should be able to ask your feed manufacturer what their levels of amino acids, vitamins and minerals are.
I don't know if it is available in the UK but we have a product called Nutri-Drench that I add to the birds' water.
If you wish, I can give you a list of my 3 favorite extremely accurate thermometers that won't break the bank.

Thank you. The list would be incredibly helpful.

I use absolutely loads of tonics/supplements for mixing with food and water. I just buy a random selection of everything I find! Perhaps I should be using less products, more consistently and paying more attention to ingredients

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Thank you. The list would be incredibly helpful.

I use absolutely loads of tonics/supplements for mixing with food and water. I just buy a random selection of everything I find! Perhaps I should be using less products, more consistently and paying more attention to ingredients

Yeah, less is more. A properly formulated feed is all they really need most of the time. Adding treats of any kind, especially scratch grains usually negatively affects overall nutrition. For instance, scratch grains are usually between 8% and 10% protein. Worse yet, they are devoid of some essential amino acids. So if you have a layer feed that is 16% protein and 25% of their intake is scratch grains, they are only getting 14% total crude protein. If supplementing fruits and vegetables, that lowers the protein intake even more.

I don't know which of these thermometers will be available in the UK but I imagine all may be.
I love this instant read one that is calibratable but extremely accurate out of the box.
https://www.thermoworks.com/RT301WA It is accurate to ± 0.7ºF .
This one may be more accurate but has a narrow reading range and outside of that range it only displays H for high and L for low but you don't know how high or how low.
https://www.brinsea.com/p-394-spot-check-digital-incubator-thermometer.aspx It is accurate to ± 0.2ºF .

This is my new favorite.
https://www.amazon.com/Govee-Thermometer-Hygrometer-Bluetooth-Temperature/dp/B07R586J37

 

[Chuckkeeper]

Yeah, less is more. A properly formulated feed is all they really need most of the time. Adding treats of any kind, especially scratch grains usually negatively affects overall nutrition. For instance, scratch grains are usually between 8% and 10% protein. Worse yet, they are devoid of some essential amino acids. So if you have a layer feed that is 16% protein and 25% of their intake is scratch grains, they are only getting 14% total crude protein. If supplementing fruits and vegetables, that lowers the protein intake even more.

I don't know which of these thermometers will be available in the UK but I imagine all may be.
I love this instant read one that is calibratable but extremely accurate out of the box.
https://www.thermoworks.com/RT301WA It is accurate to ± 0.7ºF .
This one may be more accurate but has a narrow reading range and outside of that range it only displays H for high and L for low but you don't know how high or how low.
https://www.brinsea.com/p-394-spot-check-digital-incubator-thermometer.aspx It is accurate to ± 0.2ºF .

This is my new favorite.
https://www.amazon.com/Govee-Thermometer-Hygrometer-Bluetooth-Temperature/dp/B07R586J37

Thank you so much. I have found a similar Govee product (at a similar price) on the Amazon UK site

 

[Chuckkeeper]

I'm sorry for hijacking this thread. Tycine1, did you get much rain from hurricane Eta that hit Nicaragua and Honduras?
Have you ever been to San Vito over the border in Costa Rica? I want to move there.

When boosting breeder nutrition, it needs to begin about 3 weeks before beginning to collect eggs for incubation. That's how long it takes for hens to pack their bodies with those nutrients. I know of a guy who keeps all the chicks for his replacement stock that he hatches out of eggs that come early in the season after recovering from molt and their winter break. The idea being that the hens have been stocking up on nutrients and have not been shedding same laying eggs.
You should be able to ask your feed manufacturer what their levels of amino acids, vitamins and minerals are.
I don't know if it is available in the UK but we have a product called Nutri-Drench that I add to the birds' water.
If you wish, I can give you a list of my 3 favorite extremely accurate thermometers that won't break the bank.

Thank you Unfortunately Nutri-Drench seems to be a US only product. Are you familiar with any other brands which might be available in the UK too?

I do have access to these:

https://www.viovet.co.uk/Johnsons-P...eqB-wRWdvWNl-mi_kswvGZLB9vEJ68bwaAoIcEALw_wcB

https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicke...3OarIhIELDR1ipPBo6qrUZvDucuJYiJwaAtqTEALw_wcB

https://www.wilko.com/battle-poultr...tbBO3N7PsNBsfbT5bwUaAm_BEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[ackie]

I never considered that layer pellets weren't sufficient for hatching eggs. My girls do free range though so maybe they make up for it with bugs?

 

[Chuckkeeper]

I never considered that layer pellets weren't sufficient for hatching eggs. My girls do free range though so maybe they make up for it with bugs?

Thanks for sharing your experience too I presume you hatch successfully? I am still learning!

 

[ackie]

Thanks for sharing your experience too I presume you hatch successfully? I am still learning!

Well, I don't hatch at a really good ratio tbh but I've had hens wander off and come back with lots of babies 21 days later. I usually only incubate eggs if I notice a hen is sitting on way too many, but that means theyve been improperly started already so I dont have high expectations. Because my hens like to sit on like 30 eggs?

 

[ackie]

The incubator I use is

https://www.walmart.com/ip/AUTCARIB...bator-US-Standard-Green-Transparent/794826422

rotates every 2 hours, hygrometer, temp and humidity alarms, fan at the top to circulate air. the two 'practical viewing windows' at the top arent actually practical but it is an easy way to put in more water without opening the whole thing.