Hatch-Along - Setting eggs on 2/8/13 Anyone want to join me?

[Crisses]

Welcome Crisses, I have debated about cooling my eggs for 10-15 minutes a day this time. I did it last year and it worked famously. 100 % hatch rate.
Starting tomorrow I'm going to cool daily around 4 pm. I just hope I never forget for put the lid back on. Last year I did but luckily my son saved me both times.

Do you have a kitchen timer? Or an alarm on your cell phone? I personally need to rely on my electronic buddies whenever I have to time something like that.

I've been turning them by hand, so by the time the incubator comes back up to proper heat, I figure they get a cooling period. I'm also turning them maybe 3 x a day. Fussing like a mother hen. I'm not worried about them -- I'm sure I'll get a better hatch rate than last year, and I need 5 pullets, so 14 eggs sounds like good math. Still, it's only my second time doing this. Well, since in grade school anyway....

 

[r4eboxer]

Do you have a kitchen timer? Or an alarm on your cell phone? I personally need to rely on my electronic buddies whenever I have to time something like that.

I've been turning them by hand, so by the time the incubator comes back up to proper heat, I figure they get a cooling period. I'm also turning them maybe 3 x a day. Fussing like a mother hen. I'm not worried about them -- I'm sure I'll get a better hatch rate than last year, and I need 5 pullets, so 14 eggs sounds like good math. Still, it's only my second time doing this. Well, since in grade school anyway....

OH yes I use a kitchen timer, that doesn't mean much in my house. I'm always busy doing something or another and I have been known to walk away from the bator. It's time to start seeding my broccoli and cauliflower in my zone so when I cool I think I'm just going to hang in the area of the bator and start my seeds. That way I'll be right there when the timer goes off.

I hand turn my goose eggs, I have a goose egg turner but it is worthless, the eggs are too heavy for it so I resorted to hand turning them. My chicken egg turner works like a charm though

 

[chucksaway]

Welcome crisses and farmer john. Good luck with your hatches. Nice to have someone who is a bit more relaxed with hatching crisses (unlike me) i'm like a mother hen lol. Glad u have some eggs developing OR4-hmom congrats on your developing eggs, hope everything goes well. Glad u have your eggs in the bator r4eboxer, hope that the bator does its job well for u. I have started to put more and more eggs in mine now for a staggered hatch, beside my 12 eggs that my girls gave me i now have 6 brahma, 6 jersey giants, 6 polish and 6 guinea fowl, hoping i get a good hatch, but they were sent through the post and our new postman is not too careful with my parcells deapite me telling him that they contain eggs and need careful handling, he told me to get them insured if i didn think he would be carful with them. What ever happened to good manners, my old postman was a lovely bloke, and would even come back later in the day with the eggs if i was out when he called.

 

[r4eboxer]

I candled last night and I have LIFE

All the eggs appear to be fertile though it is really hard to see through my dark green eggs. I even saw movement in my eggs that were in the fridge for 3 weeks and washed. We shall see if they are viable or if they quit early.

 

[chucksaway]

Yippeee!!!! Well done r4eboxer. Not long till u will b a surrogate mummy hen. I have 6 polish showing signs, 4 brahma, but only 1 jersey giant.

 

[Crisses]

I candled again on Sunday night, and of the 7 I put in earliest, I still have 6 (I tossed one that didn't develop veins) -- and all 6 were moving on Sunday. Of the other batch that I put in a week later, they all have good vein development and I think I saw some tiny babies moving around in there (swimming, I guess lol) -- so right now I seem to have 13 viable eggs of the 14 I put in the incubator.

I got a second incubator for the hatch, and I've been calibrating it. Going out for a herp tank thermometer/humidistat this evening...for the hatching incubator. The room temp is pretty steady between 66F and 70F, so I think I can count on the temps in the second bator staying good through the hatch...

I have my anti-slip mesh in the second bator, and I have my dependable wood eggs in there just to put the thermometer at the right height. Oh and I got water wigglers at a local dollar store -- and a digital probe thermometer which I put through the side of the incubator so I can turn it on and off -- the wiggler was at 99.4F I'm happy. Crossing all my fingers and toes, getting excited.... next week I should have peeps!

 

[r4eboxer]

Yippeee!!!! Well done r4eboxer. Not long till u will b a surrogate mummy hen. I have 6 polish showing signs, 4 brahma, but only 1 jersey giant.

That's great, I love the polish breed. It's on my wish list.

I candled again on Sunday night, and of the 7 I put in earliest, I still have 6 (I tossed one that didn't develop veins) -- and all 6 were moving on Sunday. Of the other batch that I put in a week later, they all have good vein development and I think I saw some tiny babies moving around in there (swimming, I guess lol) -- so right now I seem to have 13 viable eggs of the 14 I put in the incubator.

I got a second incubator for the hatch, and I've been calibrating it. Going out for a herp tank thermometer/humidistat this evening...for the hatching incubator. The room temp is pretty steady between 66F and 70F, so I think I can count on the temps in the second bator staying good through the hatch...

I have my anti-slip mesh in the second bator, and I have my dependable wood eggs in there just to put the thermometer at the right height. Oh and I got water wigglers at a local dollar store -- and a digital probe thermometer which I put through the side of the incubator so I can turn it on and off -- the wiggler was at 99.4F I'm happy. Crossing all my fingers and toes, getting excited.... next week I should have peeps!

That's an amazing rate of viablility. Sounds like you are ready for some fuzzy butts. I need to get some anti slip, of course I have no idea what I did the the rolls of it I had.

 

[Crisses]

Peep prep...

In case anyone is raising their chicks in a normal room, you might want to invest in some cheap/thin drop cloths.... I used sand for bedding which made very easy cage cleanings, but they'd dust bathe every day and the sand made for lots of chick dust everywhere... I'm going to do the sand again, maybe with some hay on occasion and bits of newspaper* for fun, because it really does make clean up super duper easy. I could quickly clean the brooder cage daily with a cheap strainer that would act like a catbox scooper. Scoop, shake out sand, and toss whatever was left in the strainer. I just get one bag of playbox sand from the hardware store or home depot/lowes etc. and add sand when it looks like it's getting a little low. They also use the sand as grit.

So this time I'm learning my lesson and getting some drop cloths to make it much easier to clean up when incubating/brooding season is over....

* Chicks playing "I got it! I got it!" and running around/away from everyone else.... just drop a single corner of newspaper into the brooder -- 20 minutes+ of fun times to be had for all...it doesn't take much to amuse the babies. That or pill bugs/compost bugs I get from under some pieces of wood outside... or spiders.... the first time they see a bug it's worth filming for YouTube. I should do that this time

 

[chucksaway]

Great tips crisses will have to get some sand, had never thought of giving the chicks live food.

 

[Farmer-John]

Have to candle my 23 eggs this evening... I did a spot check last night before doing the entire incubator tonight. 5/5 fertile, including two pullet eggs (Marans-Golden Laced X's) nothing like seeing swimmers, hopefully the rest are doing this well.. I'll update with a total percentage later tonight.

Even with the shortness of day light and the cold weather I'm still getting around 20 eggs a day from the coop, when i start getting over two dozen a day I'll fire up the incubator with a full 41 once these hatch out.

Happy Hatching!!