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

[dblea202]

I just realized how close you are to me. I'm just below Wheeling on the Ohio side of the river, about an hour & 15 min from Pittsburgh. It's definitely cold tonight. The bf & my daughter had to make the ducks some "hot chocolate" to unfreeze their water buckets. (They poured hot water in the buckets.) Should have seen them going nuts with it.

I hadn't realized you were so close to us either! we were lucky enough we were able to get a heated water bowl for our girls for a pretty cheap price which has definitely come in handy for our girls!

 

[jnjross]

Have any of you hatched bantams? What's the protocol for lockdown? This whole time I've been planning to lockdown on Thursday (which would be day 18)...but with these bantams, whose air cells seem right on track, should I be planning for an earlier lockdown? If so, when?!? Or should I just go with day 18 as planned?

I am, its not any different than i do for LFs. i just moved them to cartons tonight (18th)
edited to say, they both take 21 days so no reason to do things different..?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Have any of you hatched bantams? What's the protocol for lockdown? This whole time I've been planning to lockdown on Thursday (which would be day 18)...but with these bantams, whose air cells seem right on track, should I be planning for an earlier lockdown? If so, when?!? Or should I just go with day 18 as planned?

Most of the bantams I've hatched pip on day 19 or 20, but I still do lockdown on day 18. Once I heard a bantam egg chirping on day 17, so I knew it had internally pipped, and I went ahead and locked down then. Locking down a day earlier definitely won't hurt them, but they probably don't need it.

 

[Outrun Acres]

Thank you for posting these diagrams. WhenI saw the top one it put my mind at ease. There is another diagram floating around BYC that had me worried. I don't think it was a very accurate drawing like these two are.

 

[chicken pickin]

Has anybody gone into lockdown yet? I go into lockdown tomorrow

I dont feel ready though. I am so unconfident this hatch. I cant see into the eggs well or at all and the ones I can see into a little Ive convinced myself they arent growing at the proper rate agh. Im sure all is fine with them but these colored and dark eggs are difficult. I cant wait though to see my chick variety and I hope most that go into lock down hatch. Me being silly counted my chicks before they hatched and I have most of them spoken for I hope enough hatch so I can keep some.

 

[Outrun Acres]

Has anybody gone into lockdown yet? I go into lockdown tomorrow

I dont feel ready though. I am so unconfident this hatch. I cant see into the eggs well or at all and the ones I can see into a little Ive convinced myself they arent growing at the proper rate agh. Im sure all is fine with them but these colored and dark eggs are difficult. I cant wait though to see my chick variety and I hope most that go into lock down hatch. Me being silly counted my chicks before they hatched and I have most of them spoken for I hope enough hatch so I can keep some.

Why is hatching eggs so exciting and somewhat stressful? We have some welsummer eggs that have been fairly difficult too. I can't remember, do you have Maran eggs? I know a lot of people on thread seem to be hatching marans. Do you have your brooder set up? That is one thing on our list of things to do still. But we don't go into lockdown until friday. We set our eggs a day or two later than most on this thread. I think you should just be excited. I hope you are going to post pictures when your little guys hatch!

 

[chicken pickin]

I am excited just a little more nervous this time. I do have my brooders set up already, 1 in the bathroom and 1 in the garage both all set with heat lamps on. The bathroom brooder is housing 4 week old chicks at the moment but are moving to the garage brooder today(ive been waiting so I can keep an eye on temps in there, its chilly) SO out they will go today and I will clean the bathroom brooder and keep it set up and ready for the new babies on sat. I have 1 marans egg the others are blues greens and olives.

 

[fisherlady]

I am excited just a little more nervous this time. I do have my brooders set up already, 1 in the bathroom and 1 in the garage both all set with heat lamps on. The bathroom brooder is housing 4 week old chicks at the moment but are moving to the garage brooder today(ive been waiting so I can keep an eye on temps in there, its chilly) SO out they will go today and I will clean the bathroom brooder and keep it set up and ready for the new babies on sat. I have 1 marans egg the others are blues greens and olives.

I have to give you credit for keeping track of who is where and all the other organization that needs done when you do multiple hatches through the winter! I'm glad we only have one to keep track of!!

 

[fisherlady]

Why is hatching eggs so exciting and somewhat stressful? We have some welsummer eggs that have been fairly difficult too. I can't remember, do you have Maran eggs? I know a lot of people on thread seem to be hatching marans. Do you have your brooder set up? That is one thing on our list of things to do still. But we don't go into lockdown until friday. We set our eggs a day or two later than most on this thread. I think you should just be excited. I hope you are going to post pictures when your little guys hatch!

Gracie will decide on the lockdown for us... we have been lifting her off the nest once a day to stretch and scratch, she only stays off maybe 5 minutes at most when she does that. I have caught her on camera getting off herself a couple of times, again, it's only for a couple of minutes and right back to the nest. After Wednesday night we won't get her off ourselves at all... if she chooses to get up she can. That's as close to 'lockdown' as we can get, I guess.

We moved her nest box a couple of more inches away from the wall, and added some straw under it for insulation from cold coming up through the floor...