Hatch-Along - Setting eggs this weekend (Jan5/6) WHOS WITH ME!

[chicken pickin]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH make that 3 wobbling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wasnt expecting wobbling so soon.

 

[chicken pickin]

Anyone else have any movement?

 

[fisherlady]

OH OH OH OH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 eggs are really wobbling I eve had family members look to make sure I wasnt seeing things. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[heirloomorps]

This may be kind of nerdy. Just for fun, I decided to calculate my flock fertility. We had 31 eggs set in our incubator on day 1. On day 14 I pulled out 8 eggs and did "eggtopsies" on them to make sure I was correct in my assumptions. All 8 were indeed infertile. So 23viable eggs / 31 total eggs x 100 gave me a flock fertility of 74%. We have 10 hens and 2 roosters. So we have a hen:rooster ratio of 5:1. With a 5:1 ratio we have calculated a flock fertility of 74%. Based on these findings, to increase flock fertility it would be wise to add one more rooster to lower the hen:rooster ratio.

It was just very interesting to come to the conclusion mathematically that to get close to 100% fertility in your flock a 3:1 hen:rooster ratio will give you the best results. I know, I know, I'm a huge nerd!

We try for a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio. This year we have had a 100% fertility rate with our Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, which have three hens and a roo.

Tonight we are moving our eggs to the hatcher. We just took about 30 chicks and ducklings out of the hatcher and need to clean what we can before these eggs go in!

 

[SilkieSensation]

Ok, just want to make sure from you experienced hatchers: I put the eggies in on Sunday the 6th. Lockdown should be tonight, and chicks should start hatching on Saturday through Sunday. In theory of course, because I'm sure they won't be on time.

Hatch day will be Sunday the 27th, you are a day ahead of me. You never count the day you set. Day 1 is the day after set.

 

[LuvMyRoo]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH make that 3 wobbling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wasnt expecting wobbling so soon.

Wohoo, let the hatching begin!

 

[SilkieSensation]

so we had to get rid of one of our mystery eggs today because it was starting to smell

Anybody that is hatching marans or has hatched marans we need some advice with ours!!
So we candled lastnight and it looks like they are maybe a few days behind and tomorrow is day 18 lockdown was supposed to start on friday...should we go into lockdown the day we are planned to or should we wait a day or so since they seem to be a few days behind? We aren't quite sure what we should do...we are kinda starting to lose hope not sure how many good ones we have

Lockdown as planned. The chicks will decide when to hatch. Apparently Marans are 1 of those breeds that often take an extra day or 2.

 

[SilkieSensation]

I think it is ok to lockdown (& therefore not turn) the maran eggs day 18 just like other chickens -- that is what I did in my NYDH & what others seamed to do. It was just that I found out after 2 days of total stress that they can go as long as day 25 and it be perfectly normal. So they main thing is do everything normal and they _may_ hatch "on time" day 21 but don't get the least concerned if you don't see them til day 23 or even possibly day 25. I'm going through this again myself, I've got a bunch of maran & poss. some x maran and they don't look as far along as I'd expect, so I'm going to kinda lock down tonight (but I still have 1 chicken & 6 ducks to turn).

My plan is to remove the turning try, set the duck & 1 chicken - still in their styro egg cartons so I can slip my hand in there to lift alternate end of carton up each time I add water to the sponges (which I'll have to do every 8-12 hrs based on last time in order to get anywhere near 50-60% humidity). Meanwhile the 11 chicken eggs "due day 21 = sat" I'll set out of their cartons, on their sides so I can best view what is going on. I really don't expect hatching sat, maybe sun, or monday, or poss, on into the week overlapping w/ some early ducklings -- I foresee basic chaos...but at least I know this now. & I'm w/ Gracie's humans, an adult bev. might be involved so I can keep myself distracted when I want to be over-helping ;>

This will be my BF's 1st hatch. After watching the silly man baby talk my hens for the past week & carry quail around in his hoodie pocket I can just imagine what he's going to be like when the eggs start peeping at him.

(I didn't just find an enabler for my chicken addiction, I created a fellow addict!!!)

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Anyone else have any movement?

Yep! I've got one wobbler!

 

[SilkieSensation]

This may be kind of nerdy. Just for fun, I decided to calculate my flock fertility. We had 31 eggs set in our incubator on day 1. On day 14 I pulled out 8 eggs and did "eggtopsies" on them to make sure I was correct in my assumptions. All 8 were indeed infertile. So 23viable eggs / 31 total eggs x 100 gave me a flock fertility of 74%. We have 10 hens and 2 roosters. So we have a hen:rooster ratio of 5:1. With a 5:1 ratio we have calculated a flock fertility of 74%. Based on these findings, to increase flock fertility it would be wise to add one more rooster to lower the hen:rooster ratio.

It was just very interesting to come to the conclusion mathematically that to get close to 100% fertility in your flock a 3:1 hen:rooster ratio will give you the best results. I know, I know, I'm a huge nerd!

On a side note, have anyones eggs pipped or started rolling around? Very excited to see some fluffy chick pic's. We don't go on lockdown until friday.

Typically a rooster can adequately handle about 4 hens, so you can add a roo & 2 hens