February 2023 hatch-a-long

[junior67]

I discovered via Facebook that my favorite breeder/hatching egg source is going out of business in June, so...
I'll be adding half a dozen each of Wheaten/Blue Wheaten Ameraucana and Wheaten/Blue Wheaten Marans eggs into my hatch. I'm hoping she can get the eggs to me before 1/28, but my hatch might be a little bit delayed depending on her egg availability. I'll add enough of my own eggs to fill the incubator.

Oh no! I would be heart broken if my fav seller went out of business. I tried 3 sellers from ebay and this was the only one that I feel was worth it and I had amazing hatch rates. The others I just wasted $ so would hate to try to find someone new again.

 

[LhickenChicken]

I set aside one egg, IDK if the rooster did his work, but the hen is normally white, it is mud season and her back is muddy. I marked it so if it is not fertile I can pull it. Eggs are coming next week so this egg will be in a cool room
View attachment 3375557
I placed it in an open bag. Keep moisture, but still breathe.
View attachment 3375560
And tilt-tilt.

Hope it's fertilized! Our rooster is constantly dancing and mating, so it's a safe bet that most of the eggs are fertilized.

 

[BuckeyeFoodie]

My rooster just seems overly polite. It has now been a week.

My Splash Silkie boy is like that, but trust me, he gets the job done!

 

[BuckeyeFoodie]

So I've got 12 Splash Silkie eggs and the very first two ever laid by my fabulous Cuckoo pullet in the incubator, for a Feb 3rd hatch date. Cuckoo girl had been away from a rooster for about two weeks so I doubt her eggs are fertile, but I put her back with the Splash pen for two days, so hopefully they will be fertile going forward! I'm excited to finally be able to test-breed her - I'm not sure if she's blue or black base!

 

[gimmie birdies]

Hens bred to a rooster can lay fertile egg up to 3 weeks, I think 4 is also not unheard of.

 

[BuckeyeFoodie]

Hens bred to a rooster can lay fertile egg up to 3 weeks, I think 4 is also not unheard of.

I know, but I don't know if he had bred her prior to going up in her conditioning crate because she hadn't matured quite yet.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Where is MA?

 

[gimmie birdies]

I put these in the incubator. if they are not fertile I will feed them to the dog. Roo is EE.
12'oclock Blue bell egger, 2 oclock Frizzle/NN, 3 o'clock is steel egger (the one that was fertile), 6 o'cock blue copper maran, 7 o'clock some light white-pink egg, I think it is a brown leghorn first egg. 10'oclock is an OE, Middle is a black frizzle.

I think at least one the steel egger may be fertile. I was hoping for some, this will give me an idea, soon enough. Then I can save some to go with the shipped eggs.

 

[junior67]

I have 30 eggs in my NR360 so they are stacked so I need to hand turn them for a few days till I candle them. Some are a little dirty so we will see. I cleaned them as much as I could with a dry cloth. I will candle on Wed night to see what is going on. Not sure what day I will remove obvious clears.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Okay, I'll jump in with you folks! I just set 27 eggs last night in my brand-new IncuView incubator
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GS9ZSOK?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
....it's a long story about how I had to modify this thing to get some control of consistent temperature, and I'm still tweaking how to keep humidity where I want it, but I think we're ready to give it a go.
I made a foam box to insulate the unit, drilled 2 extra holes in the lid for ventilation (added plugs, too), and added a protective cover for the turner motor. I won't go into all the gory details about how I struggled to get the numbers right, let's just say it has taken me two weeks of tweaking. I even had to make test logs to isolate the variables and fix them.
Anyway.... My first hatch date of the year is Feb. 4th! I'll brood them in the basement for a week or two, then they'll go to the nursery/brooder coop with a mama heating pad and heat lamp to get through the last two weeks of February and into March.
I'm planning four hatches like this, if all goes well.

My flock are barnyard mutts, a mixture of BPR, RIR, Australorp, and the genetic remnants of one Easter Egger and a Leghorn hen I had for a short time. Doesn't matter to me - they're all good dual-purpose birds (except the Leghorn, but oh the eggs!).