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

[lori stetson]

Set mine on the 4 th so they are due omorrow I'm a little concerned that nobody has pipped yet but I am hearing some peeping. When they go in the lockdown incubator I use styrofoam egg crates but they go in the lid, not the sectioned part. After they hatch the chicks get out of the lid quickly but they don't often climb back in. This keeps the ones still hatching from being stomped, picked or fallen on as they

 

[FeyRaine]

If you heard a peep, that chick has internally pipped. You should probably go ahead into lockdown and get your humidity up before the chick externally pips.

Okay everybody we need some quick help!! So today is day 18 we were planning on going into lockdown tonight or tomorrow morning...but this morning my mom came into my room and told me she heard a peep, and maybe a wobble? So i went in and was watching and listening...and heard a peep. SHould we go into lockdown? We could be just hearing things we aren't 100% but we don't want to mess this up!

I came from lunch to find a PIP!
I wonder which kind of Maran it is? I wish the farmer had labeled them. I have lots of wobblers now!

Going into lockdown a little early is totally fine. I've taken eggs into lockdown 3 days early when doing staggered hatches with no problems at all.

Good you went into lockdown/raised humidity when you heard the peep=internal pip.

& OF Course, since I made a big point of Marans tend to run late, everyone's Maran's this hatch are gonna be early, of course they are all laughing their cute fluffy butts off at me while they tap tap tap their way out of those egg shells. & Since I've so calmly been assuming mine will run late, and I have this heads up on the joke, I must run and get the brooder ready now, since my day 21 is Sat. So Lesson from hatch #1 was Maran run late, bet this hatch #2 lesson will be "done count on Marans running late" LOL!!

 

[dblea202]

We are officially in lockdown! Woohoooo 12 hours earlier then we thought but maybe we will get some chicks early! and now we wait......

 

[aka Rachel]

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.

I love the math, thats great!! And I never would have guessed 3:1 either

I will lock down later tonight, but I SWEAR on my last tosser check yesterday (found a leaker!) I saw a wiggler. I'm sure i did.

 

[aka Rachel]

All these pips and what I'm sure was a wiggle in my bagor and such going on, I want to run over and stare into my bator! But I can't...cause my cat is laying there and its COLD here and I don't have the heart to move him lol.

I wonder if the cold temps are what has contributed to the very steady 100degrees my bator has been holding, after the swings from 98 to 102 the entire rest of the hatch

 

[jnjross]

We're PIPPIN

 

[FeyRaine]

We're PIPPIN

Yah! Maybe you'll have the first chick hatch on this thread...gotta post us a pic when it happens

Meanwhile, mine are locked down, but no action of any sort yet. I'm working on a brooder for them, since my NYDH 2 chicks are still using theirs & the outdoor opens are no-go atm,
we have an ICE storm scheduled for tonight thru Fri, again, ugh. (Have packup heating plan of lg canning pot w/ tea candles if nec. to keep eggs warm, hoping I don't have to try to make that work!)

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

We're PIPPIN

Yay!!

I'm still stuck at one pip, but I've seen maybe 5 other eggs wobbling.
I'm trying to distract myself. Watching chicks hatch is like trying to watch a pot of water that takes 3 days to start boiling.

 

[chicken pickin]

So exciting that some have pips already. I still just have wobblers. And Im trying not to stare to much at them also.

 

[SarahJaneB]

No wobbles or pips for me yet but i'm just now going into lockdown lol

So hopefully I did something right and some hatch