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

[heirloomorps]

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.

We go into lockdown late tomorrow. Ours is going to be a little tricky this time, as we have eggs which are due to hatch today. We may leave it until early Thursday am.

 

[chicken pickin]

Where do you have gracie housed while nesting, is she in the garage or a shed? Adding the extra straw is a very good idea.

 

[chicken pickin]

We go into lockdown late tomorrow. Ours is going to be a little tricky this time, as we have eggs which are due to hatch today. We may leave it until early Thursday am.

Oh that is tricky. DO you have 2 incubators, one as the incubator one as a hatcher? If I really get into hatching I may get a second one as a hatcher, well one day, not any time soon.

 

[fisherlady]

Where do you have gracie housed while nesting, is she in the garage or a shed? Adding the extra straw is a very good idea.

She is in the coop, in a segregated area specific for her... still visible to the rest of the birds, but they can't bother her.

I just spoke to my SO... he is going to go to a pet shop after work and pick up a ceramic 'bulb' for a heat lamp. They are designed for lizards and such in terrariums... give off heat without light. It is a 125w. We will place it in her general area, probably over her waterer. I don't want to get her 'warmer' as much as we just want to avoid her getting too stressed with the cold. It should raise the temp of her broody box enough to keep her more comfortable without adding any light.

 

[fisherlady]

Here are a couple of pics of the broody pen set up... it is in a corner of the coop (which has insulated walls/floors) with an adjoining small area of the general coop fenced off to allow her a dusting area, a door off of the other side can be opened to allow her and her new chicks out into the 'people area' of the coop for another 20sq ft or so of running around room. The bottom sections of the broody pen area are enclosed with 1/4" hardware mesh so the babies aren't able to get snagged in it, the top of the door side has 1" chicken wire to allow nosey humans to watch what is going on inside without disturbing the new brood.



The side of brooder seen in above pic is double hinged, which allows it to be folded completely up and out of the way and give us access to the broody box area, I snapped this pic while we were building it.

 

[chicken pickin]

She is in the coop, in a segregated area specific for her... still visible to the rest of the birds, but they can't bother her.

I just spoke to my SO... he is going to go to a pet shop after work and pick up a ceramic 'bulb' for a heat lamp. They are designed for lizards and such in terrariums... give off heat without light. It is a 125w. We will place it in her general area, probably over her waterer. I don't want to get her 'warmer' as much as we just want to avoid her getting too stressed with the cold. It should raise the temp of her broody box enough to keep her more comfortable without adding any light.

Oh good idea. I have a heat lamp in my Bantam house because the roosters combs were turning colors so I had to add heat. I have a 250w red bulb in there and it keeps the temp at about 30-35 degrees which I like but i think a bulb that doesnt give off any light might be healthier on them for night time sleeping. Im going to look into a bulb like that.

 

[FeyRaine]

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.

I understand how you feel, I have these green eggs this time which I cannot see into, I thought they would be easier to candle then the choc. eggs. I just marked the air cell lines on days 7 & 14 and will again tonight (day 17) & other than that I just have to believe they are doing well...

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...

Good plan! The broody hens DO gen. "lock themselves down" so don't worry if she doesn't even get up for food or water for an entire day or 3, also she may look like a zombie-- eyes kinda glazed & sluggish to respond if you make noise. That is how a couple of mine were those last few days and even in nice weather I got concerned, but it is normal, they really stay right there esp. once the first internal pip happens, until they give up on any unhatched eggs (which you may need to make a decision to remove when the first hatched chicks need to eat & drink , so you need to time from the first hatch not more than 72 hrs then if nec. you would need to either help the chick or make Gracie give up on unhatched eggs so she can take the hatched chicks for their first drink & food).

---
So I've got the staggered hatch thing here. Right now is day 17 on 11 chicken & 6 duck eggs, w/ 1 chicken egg added later to hatch the same day as the ducks. I candled back on day 14, last sat, and the only 1 chicken egg was a big question, I'm thinking it is unfertile but I've been leaving it in b/c it is one of the largest browns & I think poss a SFH egg which I really really want, so I'm holding out hope for it...

Since I really can't see into the colored eggs, the ducks aren't due til a week later, & the weather here has continued to be terrible I've had a hard time getting organised on a brooder. I have several options but now it is just too cold for the outdoor options so I'm going to have to rig up one in the bathroom : ( done it b/f just not real happy about it (no basement no garage & no electrical at the barn for heatlamp). Oh, well, in the back of my mind I knew it was gonna end up being brooder in the bathroom when I set the eggs, now I need to get on that To Do item today! (Which includes upgrading the brooder for the 2 NYDH chicks who are also not outdoors for a couple more weeks yet.)

Hope everyone stays warm & that lockdown preparations are going well for all.

 

[fisherlady]

I understand how you feel, I have these green eggs this time which I cannot see into, I thought they would be easier to candle then the choc. eggs. I just marked the air cell lines on days 7 & 14 and will again tonight (day 17) & other than that I just have to believe they are doing well...

Good plan! The broody hens DO gen. "lock themselves down" so don't worry if she doesn't even get up for food or water for an entire day or 3, also she may look like a zombie-- eyes kinda glazed & sluggish to respond if you make noise. That is how a couple of mine were those last few days and even in nice weather I got concerned, but it is normal, they really stay right there esp. once the first internal pip happens, until they give up on any unhatched eggs (which you may need to make a decision to remove when the first hatched chicks need to eat & drink , so you need to time from the first hatch not more than 72 hrs then if nec. you would need to either help the chick or make Gracie give up on unhatched eggs so she can take the hatched chicks for their first drink & food).

Thanks for the broody info... our first time, I don't know if Gracie ever did this before or not because the lady we got her from didn't either. We will check for the pipping Saturday (our day 21) so we have an idea of how long to let her sit after the first hatches...

 

[Peggy-Sue]

Here are a couple of pics of the broody pen set up... it is in a corner of the coop (which has insulated walls/floors) with an adjoining small area of the general coop fenced off to allow her a dusting area, a door off of the other side can be opened to allow her and her new chicks out into the 'people area' of the coop for another 20sq ft or so of running around room. The bottom sections of the broody pen area are enclosed with 1/4" hardware mesh so the babies aren't able to get snagged in it, the top of the door side has 1" chicken wire to allow nosey humans to watch what is going on inside without disturbing the new brood.



The side of brooder seen in above pic is double hinged, which allows it to be folded completely up and out of the way and give us access to the broody box area, I snapped this pic while we were building it.

Your broody pens is awesome!!!

 

[heirloomorps]

Oh that is tricky. DO you have 2 incubators, one as the incubator one as a hatcher? If I really get into hatching I may get a second one as a hatcher, well one day, not any time soon.

We have two incubators and a separate hatcher. So in teary we just have to move them across but it's the timing that's tricky!