February 2017 Hatch-a-long

[orrpeople]

I hatch often for the fun of it.  I tend to keep a few of the best from the last couple hatches to deepen my own breeding flock, but I don't have a ton of space.  We sell most of them.

Do you sell them for people who pre-order? If not, how do you get the word out ?

 

[jbenson]

Do you sell them for people who pre-order? If not, how do you get the word out ?

We don't really do pre-orders. We mostly sell via Craigslist, word of mouth and repeat customers. Hoping to breed a few more polish (if they cooperate and lay eggs again) and sell them to the local farm and garden.

 

[theceltichorse]

What are your plans for them? Actually I'm curious about that for everyone who hatches. To sell? To add to the flock? For meat? To breed/make a project of, etc?

I just wanted "pet" chickens, with egg benefits. Decided to try hatching.

Now I am addicted...

 

[lilwildrabbit]

I wanted just a few for eggs until I came across the deal from TSC last year now I can't get along without at least 40 birds lol

 

[CuzChickens]

We are a regular recovery enablement group!

Yessss! Just what I need!





Like a hole in my head.

I started a thread " Hachaholics Unite"!

Well, I'll have to find it! Like I need ANOTHER thread to keep up with.

In other news (because my eggs are not all that interesting at this point) my three week olds spent their first night outside - granted, we had a low of only 45 - under their heating pad. They emerged this morning rambunctious as ever! We have a portable tractor set up in the carport, so they can stay out of our perpetually rainy weather!Whew! So good to get them out of the house!

I am going to need to kick mine out of the shed they are in in about 3 weeks, so they'll be 5 weeks old, our lows can be less than yours were, but let's hope mine do as well as yours!

Unfortunately, I have an enablement group. I put pics of my Silkies on FB, and admitted that I am a hatchaholic, and asked for some help. Then all my friends, started in "Hey, hatch some of those all-black chickens!" "What about the curly chickens?"... and then the remark "I think you should just hatch anything and everything you want to! Why not?"  So, here I am with Brahma chicks and Sebright eggs.

The most dangerous enablers are cheerful non-chicken people who don't understand the expense and space issues of chicken math.

And ya know what is the most dangerous DIS-enablers are? Moms who understand chicken math and know it is very dangerous.

I need some help, i put 42 eggs in my brand new 1588 Genesis Hovabator, the temp was preset at 100F and i checked with 2 thermometers to verify, it was right on, ran steady between 99.9 and 100.1 at 30 to 40 percent humidity and then on day 18 i moved the eggs to a hatcher with temp of 100f and 80 humidity, within 2 hours 1 hatched and 2 hours later one  more, this morning, day 19 four more have hatched and another 6 are pipping, i know 99.5 is the right temp but would 1/2 a degree make them hatch 3 days early? They seem healthy so i am not complaining just wondering, any help would be appreciated. Thank you!!

Mine began pipping on day 18 and had many hatched on days 19 and 20, but they were all healthy, so I was just happy I got them that much sooner!

I love this shot momma giving baby a piece of food.precious

That is so sweet.

Next batch of eggs is due to hatch Wednesday or Thursday. Just put in the CCLs I won on the 24 hour auction.

Now, a question for y'all. In the mass multiplication of chicks, what do you plan to do with them? We are gradually trying to get some breeding groups together, sending some to the "rooster trailer" (I converted an old horse trailer and built a pen for it) for eventual culling

And, the hens (and a sweet rooster I don't want to get beat up in rooster land) to two grow out pens to figure out which ones to breed and which ones to sell or add to my run-of-the-mill layer flock.
I would love to hear your plans as well!!

The current babies I have right now, I will sell the pullets to a guy that pre-ordered them, and working on the roosters, so far I have four spoken for out of approximately 12, so we area getting there. The ones in the bator, 10 are spoken for and the others are semi spoken for, I don't think I'll have any trouble selling them. Post Craigslist adds, join farm swap pages on Facebook, word of mouth, and a little BYC too.

My incuview, which I was using as a hatching bator, had a catastrophic failure. 3 hatched late on day 19, 2 hatched day 20, and last night the temps dropped to 76. I was away. My folks were watching the bator. My dad pulled out the miserable chicks and rebooted the bator. He went to work. I stopped at the house to check, and found a VERY cold, just hatched chick. The incuview said it was 98, my egg o meter said it was 73. The egg o meter was correct.

Thankfully I had 2 other bators running. I consolidated those eggs, and moved the cold chick and the rest of the eggs to the warm bator... and I had to leave again. I just heard that the cold chick survived and 4 more have hatched.

So I'm amazed how horribly you can treat the eggs, and they still hatch!!!

For the cold chick, it's shell is coated with blood. Is it possible it hatched before absorbing all its blood vessels?

That is horrible. I'm glad most of them are doing well. You are scaring me over here with 27 in there on day 13.

 

[supersymmetry]

What are your plans for them? Actually I'm curious about that for everyone who hatches. To sell? To add to the flock? For meat? To breed/make a project of, etc?

All of the above! I love breeding animals, and I've had a lot of experience with guppies and rabbits in closed systems. We hatch so many so that we can fill our freezer, but most importantly, we pick the top 10% of what we are looking for: confirmation, vigor, and temperament... in that order! It's been my experience that it's hard to keep a line improving without having a lot to pick from.

In our area, there is usually still snow on the ground (another record breaking warm day today), but hatching this early will allow us to have birds on pasture as soon as they feather out @ 4-6 weeks. I love hatching, but I love watching them free range more.

I've tried marketing the baby chicks but I think we have two things against us... it's still winter... and they are a mixed flock... I think most people want 'pure' lines.

 

[CuzChickens]

I've tried marketing the baby chicks but I think we have two things against us... it's still winter... and they are a mixed flock... I think most people want 'pure' lines.  

Interesting....everybody around here just want eggs, and couldn't care less about breeds. So I throw 27 eggs in the bator, and sell mutt chicks for two bucks a pop and profit $50.00. I like the folks around here...

 

[theceltichorse]

Interesting....everybody around here just want eggs, and couldn't care less about breeds. So I throw 27 eggs in the bator, and sell mutt chicks for two bucks a pop and profit $50.00. I like the folks around here...

I keep throwing around the idea of offering hatching to those without an incubator or who just don't want to bother or know how on CL... but that is for the thread I just started called "Hatchaholics Unite"! LOL

 

[CuzChickens]

I keep throwing around the idea of offering hatching to those without an incubator or who just don't want to bother or know how on CL... but that is for the thread I just started called "Hatchaholics Unite"! LOL

I'm gonna go find that thread right now!

 

[Jessimom]

Yessss! Just what I need!





Like a hole in my head.
Well, I'll have to find it! Like I need ANOTHER thread to keep up with.
I am going to need to kick mine out of the shed they are in in about 3 weeks, so they'll be 5 weeks old, our lows can be less than yours were, but let's hope mine do as well as yours!
And ya know what is the most dangerous DIS-enablers are? Moms who understand chicken math and know it is very dangerous.
Mine began pipping on day 18 and had many hatched on days 19 and 20, but they were all healthy, so I was just happy I got them that much sooner!
That is so sweet.
The current babies I have right now, I will sell the pullets to a guy that pre-ordered them, and working on the roosters, so far I have four spoken for out of approximately 12, so we area getting there. The ones in the bator, 10 are spoken for and the others are semi spoken for, I don't think I'll have any trouble selling them. Post Craigslist adds, join farm swap pages on Facebook, word of mouth, and a little BYC too.
That is horrible. I'm glad most of them are doing well. You are scaring me over here with 27 in there on day 13.

Well, last update I got said in the recovery bator, 10 hatched and 5 new pips, so we're still doing good!!