Great TipsPeep 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
Awesome, let us know how it goes. How many hens do you have? I'm getting 11 out of 20
Good thing you got back when you did, I've left my lid off before for hours and all my eggs hatched so maybe it will be ok.
Having said that, I love the darned things so more is always better, I have room for over 200 but I don't want to get to crazy. Getting ready to candle here in about 30 minutes, I'll fill you in shortly.
Holy cow.. now that's selling some serious eggs... I cannot fathom picking 600 eggs a day, that's a full time job. lol
I like my boys but even more so when they do their jobs.Ok, the candling results are in.. I set eggs on the 10th of this month, 23 to be exact.
I have 21 swimmers, one fertilized, but died(small blood streak, spotting), and one unfertilized. 91.3% survival rate at this point.
Not going to complain about those results.. Now to see what the actual hatch percentage will turn out.
Really happy about my 6 month old Black Copper Marans ability to get the job done, only one loss from him and the other unfertilized egg from my Buff O.
I'll keep you posted as to how this hatch turns out.
I hear ya there.
His grown daughter helps him out. He is in his 80's, really nice man, recently lost his wife, he's there every week. He says the hardest part is getting them all washed.
Nice that she helps him out, sorry to hear of his loss. I cannot imagine having to wash that many eggs. I have a solid customer base which is great to have, I don't wash mine unless they are soiled. With the bloom left on the eggs they last for months and the folks that buy from me actually prefer it that way so it saves me a lot of time.
