HALLOWEEN Hatch-a-Long 2016 w/ Hosts, Mike, Sally & BantyChooks

[deserteggs22]

The white one is a Leghorn cross
The black one is a BCM cross

 

[OneMountainAcres]

    Loving your tank!! I've wanted one like that....well, since forever. (I've got 3 smaller ones)
I keep seeing guppies and such for sale and I keep reminding myself "I will not get fish (right now), I will not get fish (right now)

Thank you it's amazing what's deals are up on Craigslist. There were a few 55 gallon that we were going to get from there for under $100 but then found this one very close from a customer who bought chicks from me this spring. Extra bonus-I got to see 5 of the girls that I sold her, all grown up and beautiful

 

[kajira]

Good morning everyone!!!

I went to a small animal sale yesterday, sold my chicks and a rooster....and was hoping the Ameraucauna breeder be there with eggs.
He wasn't.

And I didn't want any of the breeds of hatching eggs that were there.

But my ears still have radar for picking up when someone says "hatching eggs" apparently.

I heard "button quail hatching eggs!" I bid a $1...someone else bid $2 and I threw in a $3 bid. I got them sight unseen.

Ok, so it was 3 DOZEN hatching eggs!

They are SO tiny! It appears they made a 3+ hour journey so it's possible they may not hatch.
(Especially the way they were packed)

But like, what am I going do with button quail??? The things I get myself into.

Soooo, guess I will be hatching; several dozen of my EE eggs ("trying" everything 4 weeks+ and under)...AND button quail.

Anyone have tips for hatching button quail?? I'm letting them rest today. Putting them on as soon as I get the 'bator washed.
Lower end of the scale, 99.5 degrees instead of 100...stop turning at 13 days and they hatch 16 days on...
And I have to grind their (higher protein) feed so they can eat it because they're the size of bumblebees when they hatch.

Am I close?

What do you do with quail? LOL are... are you going to eat them?

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Quote:
X 2!!
Nice avy Wicked!
Good morning Mike!!!

Thank you! Halloween is my favorite day of the year!!!

I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for Oct. 1 to put that avy up!!

I already bought fake hard plastic rats and spiders and put them out already.
The chickens like my foam headstones WAY to much.

 

[mlm Mike]

Good morning everyone!!!

I went to a small animal sale yesterday, sold my chicks and a rooster....and was hoping the Ameraucauna breeder be there with eggs.
He wasn't.

And I didn't want any of the breeds of hatching eggs that were there.

But my ears still have radar for picking up when someone says "hatching eggs" apparently.

I heard "button quail hatching eggs!" I bid a $1...someone else bid $2 and I threw in a $3 bid. I got them sight unseen.

Ok, so it was 3 DOZEN hatching eggs!

They are SO tiny! It appears they made a 3+ hour journey so it's possible they may not hatch.
(Especially the way they were packed)

But like, what am I going do with button quail??? The things I get myself into.

Soooo, guess I will be hatching; several dozen of my EE eggs ("trying" everything 4 weeks+ and under)...AND button quail.

Anyone have tips for hatching button quail?? I'm letting them rest today. Putting them on as soon as I get the 'bator washed.
Lower end of the scale, 99.5 degrees instead of 100...stop turning at 13 days and they hatch 16 days on...
And I have to grind their (higher protein) feed so they can eat it because they're the size of bumblebees when they hatch.

Am I close?

I only hatched button quail once, they are so tiny. I feed crumbles and don't recall grinding their food, but it's possible I did.

The white one is a Leghorn cross
The black one is a BCM cross

Cute

Quote: X 2!!
Nice avy Wicked!
Good morning Mike!!!

Thank you! Halloween is my favorite day of the year!!!

I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for Oct. 1 to put that avy up!!

I already bought fake hard plastic rats and spiders and put them out already.
The chickens like my foam headstones WAY to much.

Hello, sounds like you are getting ready for Halloween, did the chickens destroy the headstones?

 

[kajira]

I'm trying to decide when to candle the eggs I got to make sure they are fertile so I'm not wasting time on eggs in my incubator. I put them in on thursday night, so, candle them tomorrow? or tonight before bed? or in a week? LOL

I'd like to candle them at least 3x to keep track of progression, if I did it tonight or tomorrow, I'd do it again around 10-12days and then right before lock down to remove any non-viable eggs.

do you think it's too early to do it tonight?

 

[AlilSassy]

From my experience day 5 or 7 is definitely better, 5 lands on Tuesday for you. If you are out of room, and need space...then I guess day 3 could help with that. If baby is growing at aircell you won't see it though is problem with that. I opened a 3 day old because of that. It grew till day 15 too... pretty sure bacteria got it due to egg being open.

 

[mlm Mike]

I'm trying to decide when to candle the eggs I got to make sure they are fertile so I'm not wasting time on eggs in my incubator. I put them in on thursday night, so, candle them tomorrow? or tonight before bed? or in a week? LOL

I'd like to candle them at least 3x to keep track of progression, if I did it tonight or tomorrow, I'd do it again around 10-12days and then right before lock down to remove any non-viable eggs.

do you think it's too early to do it tonight?

Typical candling days are 7,14, and 18 (before lockdown). I wouldn't toss anything until day 5 at the earliest.

 

[kajira]

From my experience day 5 or 7 is definitely better, 5 lands on Tuesday for you. If you are out of room, and need space...then I guess day 3 could help with that. If baby is growing at aircell you won't see it though is problem with that. I opened a 3 day old because of that. It grew till day 15 too... pretty sure bacteria got it due to egg being open.

I candled a couple (I have 27 in there) and saw signs of development in the couple I tested. I had to rotate them, so I did, and will leave the rest alone for now and candle around day 10. I just wanted to make sure the incubator seemed to be doing it's job.

It says it's 100.8 in there, based on 2 of the 3 thermomters, but one is reading 97.8 so I am rotating the eggs in the incubator around to make sure they develop evenly, in case one corner of the incubator IS lower than the other parts. (I followed the recommendations to put rocks in there, and had to add a little water to the rocks to keep the humidity around 40%.)

I haven't used this incubator before, so this is a test batch to tweak everything just right, and figure out the best way to get success.

The shipped eggs werent bad, I got 30, for 45 with shipping on a NPIP show-quality silkie eggs... and I know how to contact her to get more, later. lol

 

[kajira]

Typical candling days are 7,14, and 18 (before lockdown). I wouldn't toss anything until day 5 at the earliest.

I posted above, in response to both you and sassy. lol I don't usually throw anything away until after day 10, just to make sure I don't have any stragglers.