FEB HATCH-ALONG THREAD ...COME JOIN US.... EVERYONE!

[gapeach717]

Ooh - I don't want to sell eggs - I just want to donate them to good causes.

I'm taking 40 eggs to a local school on the 27th and then in March, I'm taking 50 eggs to another school.......

Pug - would you like some free eggs? I've even got the shipping covered to you.........I feel so bad for both of you!

Peach - when you are ready, let me know! I get on average 14 eggs a day from my 23 hens so I could feasibly ship out eggs to one person per day.....

You truly are amazing. I cannot thank you enough for being so kind!!! I just wanna squeeze you!!

 

[aprilschicks]

She said this was day 8 they should have spider veins by now.

thats true didnt read that part but hey alot going on here doing servel things at once

 

[Cynthia12]

I updated my incubators today thanks to some tips I had read. I did go ahead and pick up the thermostats for each of them - then struggled for the last day or so to get the temp right. I read today to turn it upside down and close to the light bulb. I also added a couple of mason jars of water. This has all helped to get the temp more steady - I was having some good fluctuations in my second one - it was empty though so it was all good. I got the second one all set, moved my current eggs to that, fixed and adjusted my first one and then moved them back to the initial incubator. I also used a piece of hardware cloth to block off the light bulb so no one gets burnt. All in all, even with spending $9 for the thermostat, I still am at less than $20 per incubator - which is why I have a third one half done too.

I don't count the cost of the hygrometers/thermometers though - I have other plans for those throughout the year.

Incubator #1 - almost ready for lockdown this weekend - 23 of my own barnyard mixes - all show movement still so I'm hopeful that I'll get a few to hatch!


Incubator #2 - I just set these today. There are 16 Wheaten/Blue Wheaten from cpartist and 10 I tossed in from my own flock - just to compare how the shipped eggs did versus the ones I just grabbed from the coop. Kind of like a control group and a test group....... I do have one of the Wheaten's that had a tiny crack in it - I used a crayon to cover it up the crack in hopes all will go well - but I will be keeping a close eye that egg and am prepared to pull it just in case.....






GAPEACH717 - I know my initial offer probably got lost a few pages back - but I was wondering, since you have had such bad luck with your shipped eggs - I have a carton I just know will survive your mailman and I'd be willing to send you however many eggs I can fit into the carton if you'd like some free eggs. I don't have anything fancy in my flock - just some good layers - there is the possibility of some pure BR's - he does get lucky once in a while - mostly though, I have EE's, RIR, BSL and BR with the BR roo and a BO roo.....if you're interested, let me know. I want to experiment with shipping eggs and you've had such bad luck - I want to give your mailman a challenge.

good ol barn yard mixes..look at the size of those eggs! And, you're going to love those Wheatens!

 

[CrzyCknLady]

You truly are amazing. I cannot thank you enough for being so kind!!! I just wanna squeeze you!!

Just don't squeeze the eggs! We all know how that ends up......

I clean these doctors offices and my husband gets so mad at me when I bring home the Styrofoam coolers the meds came in and other "crap".......well guess what.......I have (almost) 3 awesome incubators that I've saved a ton of money by building and I got two of these plastic-like green coolers that apparently were supposed to be returned and re-used but were left for the trash......and I have access to a ton of shredded paper for packing materials......one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Like I said - let me know when you are ready. I just got eggs from Fla - they shipped on Tuesday and got to NY on Thursday - I would think it'd be about the same time frame for delivery to you - and like I said, I'll go out and grab that day's eggs so they are super fresh......my girls are done laying by 1pm and as long as I am at the PO by 5, we're all good.....

 

[Nicky-the-witch]

We have chicky! At least one more behind this one not yet fluffy and an egg with a beak sticking out! But it is so hot here today - 35 c but humid too - thunder storm on the way.

OK, so we now have 4 active healthy looking chickies

- sadly there was another one that made it out of the egg, but must not have been strong enough and died (I discovered and removed him/her this morning) I also have one egg left still intact. I cannot hear anything from it even if I hold it to my ear, my broody is now happy to leave it in the space next to her (I removed the divide so she has both nest boxes) I have seen her "backhoe" it underneath at least once today but it is now uncovered (but temps around 36 c today)
So the big question is when do I remove this last egg? Today is day 21 so I was going to leave it untill tomorrow and see what happens.
A couple of times today (assuming she has not left the nest at all for a day or so) Nell has been unable to hang on and has produced huge and smelly poops - 1st time I was there to clean up immediately, 2nd time I looked in and cleaned up not long after. So I guess the sooner she starts taking the chicks out the better really?
Will get more photos soon, can't seem to be able to catch them all out at once!

 

[Nicky-the-witch]

We have chicky! At least one more behind this one not yet fluffy and an egg with a beak sticking out! But it is so hot here today - 35 c but humid too - thunder storm on the way.

OK, so we now have 4 active healthy looking chickies

- sadly there was another one that made it out of the egg, but must not have been strong enough and died (I discovered and removed him/her this morning) I also have one egg left still intact. I cannot hear anything from it even if I hold it to my ear, my broody is now happy to leave it in the space next to her (I removed the divide so she has both nest boxes) I have seen her "backhoe" it underneath at least once today but it is now uncovered (but temps around 36 c today)
So the big question is when do I remove this last egg? Today is day 21 so I was going to leave it untill tomorrow and see what happens.
A couple of times today (assuming she has not left the nest at all for a day or so) Nell has been unable to hang on and has produced huge and smelly poops - 1st time I was there to clean up immediately, 2nd time I looked in and cleaned up not long after. So I guess the sooner she starts taking the chicks out the better really?
Will get more photos soon, can't seem to be able to catch them all out at once!

 

[PugBug]

Pug, I literally said "oh no!!!" Out loud readings out your chickies. I am so sorry!!! I want to mail you eggs or something!! I think I have maybe 10 out of 48 that will hatch this first bunch. And I have such an insane number in my second incubator I don't have high hopes.

awww Peachy!

 

[Nicky-the-witch]

2 of the 4 - There appear to be 3 bigger more yellow ones and the lighter smaller one on the left of these 2. As you can see Nell now sitting in the right hand nest rather than her usual left hand position.

 

[PugBug]

2 of the 4 - There appear to be 3 bigger more yellow ones and the lighter smaller one on the left of these 2. As you can see Nell now sitting in the right hand nest rather than her usual left hand position.

how precious can you get!

 

[PugBug]

YA'LL AINT'T GONNA BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have A CHICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And it did it ALL BY IT 'S SELF!

See now I have discovered the secret to hatching successfully- don't even look in the direction of the bator

This is hatch #7 and I finally got a chick that came out all by it's self. And egg #2 has pipped about 2 hours ago. Nothing yet from #3, but I have HOPE AGAIN!

Ya'll have no idea how good it feels after all this time to have it go right! I was about to give up on the whole hatching process-