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

[Outrun Acres]

We probably have the same thermometer!!! We are getting eggs this friday and probably next friday to hatch!!! Can't wait!!!

Yay! Not long now! How many eggs did you set and what are they?

 

[FeyRaine]

Goo news, I have 4 healthy chicks all hatched w/in mins of each other today.
One more piped and 4 more wait&see.

These are just misc. hatcher pullets under my very pretty barnyard mix EE Roo,
so mutt EEs but will be fun colors in birds & eggs, & I have a buyer wanting 6 if I can get them hatched together so here is hoping

Pics to follow eventually.

Oh & the 3 from last wk incl the questionable yolk not totally absorbed on are all doing fine too.

Overall it looks like I have the LG temps. doing better, & the hatcher humidity also better, so there is hope for the batch next wk.
which what I hope will be my first every Heritage Buckeye hatched from my new Trio, soooo want to see that one...

Happy hatching ya'll!

 

[fisherlady]

Goo news, I have 4 healthy chicks all hatched w/in mins of each other today.
One more piped and 4 more wait&see.

These are just misc. hatcher pullets under my very pretty barnyard mix EE Roo,
so mutt EEs but will be fun colors in birds & eggs, & I have a buyer wanting 6 if I can get them hatched together so here is hoping

Pics to follow eventually.

Oh & the 3 from last wk incl the questionable yolk not totally absorbed on are all doing fine too.

Overall it looks like I have the LG temps. doing better, & the hatcher humidity also better, so there is hope for the batch next wk.
which what I hope will be my first every Heritage Buckeye hatched from my new Trio, soooo want to see that one...

Happy hatching ya'll!

Congrats!!!

OK... waiting for pics now!

 

[Sally8]

I'm having troubles keeping the bators temp even. I've come to the conclusion that it's finally starting to warm up outside so temps are fluctuating inside. I actually think temps stayed even when outside temps were colder. Who would have thunk it? Temps got up to to 102 I one incubator maybe for hours 2 days ago. Sunday we go into lock down. Out of 50 eggs only 3 looked like they weren't happening. (Before the 102) I finally took the 11 chicks out on the porch. They have a heated box to get in to but a nice pen to run around in (unheated). I removed the heat lap out of the box and replaced it with a 75 watt bulb. They seem to be doing ok. I'm running out of room. 2 separate pens and an incubator in the small bathroom. An incubator and dog crate with poults in the spare bedroom. DH is starting to complain.

 

[fisherlady]

Glad we only have the one brooder going right now... we hope to move most of these guys out to the coop next week with a lamp in their area. Seems the meaties don't care much for being very warm anyway. It is about 72 right now in the brooder and they are spread out all over. Many are in the unheated half which is in the mid 60s. No drafts in the coop, so they should be fine if the weather gets into the 40s or so. Heck, the last bunch was out there with Gracie in 20-25 degree temps, and after week 2 they couldn't all fit under her anyway and they were spread out around her with a lizard bulb keeping their area in the 40 or 50s and were fine.
Amazing how tolerant they really are.
If we can move them out next week we want to get some more meaties, that way we have staggered butcher dates but should have the freezer full by start of summer.
That is the hope... but will have to hope mother nature cooperates.

 

[SilkieSensation]

I'm having troubles keeping the bators temp even. I've come to the conclusion that it's finally starting to warm up outside so temps are fluctuating inside. I actually think temps stayed even when outside temps were colder. Who would have thunk it? Temps got up to to 102 I one incubator maybe for hours 2 days ago. Sunday we go into lock down. Out of 50 eggs only 3 looked like they weren't happening. (Before the 102) I finally took the 11 chicks out on the porch. They have a heated box to get in to but a nice pen to run around in (unheated). I removed the heat lap out of the box and replaced it with a 75 watt bulb. They seem to be doing ok. I'm running out of room. 2 separate pens and an incubator in the small bathroom. An incubator and dog crate with poults in the spare bedroom. DH is starting to complain.

I have 9 brooders with about 200 chicks (including 2 poults) between them right now. All are in the basement except the big 1 for the little babies & it's right outside my bedroom door. Monday, we are headed to Lowe's to get coop building supplies & everyone over 5 weeks old is headed outside. Most of the 6-8 week olds are off the heat lamps already & my basement really doesn't stay much above 40F when temps drop outside. The front room under the porch where most of them are even gets cold enough to let water bowls ice over at times, so they really aren't under much heat at all. I still have lights on the younger birds out there, but they spend most of the day in the unheated side of the brooder because that's where the food & water is. I even have 4 full grown Muscovies in a cage down there right now. We got them a couple days ago & I didn't want to mix them with any of my other ducks so they are stuck in the cage until Monday when we build their new pen. Then there's a pen of quail, a quad of OEGB, a trio of EE bantams & a trio of mixed banties in the room under my bedroom & 5 Silkies in the room under the porch. We have a total of 5 adult roos in the basement right now & we were up to 11 a week or 2 ago before we sold some & moved others outside. My poor fiance hasn't been around birds since he was a kid so the crowing roos in the basement are starting to get to him. He just loves it when they start in at 3am.

Glad we only have the one brooder going right now... we hope to move most of these guys out to the coop next week with a lamp in their area. Seems the meaties don't care much for being very warm anyway. It is about 72 right now in the brooder and they are spread out all over. Many are in the unheated half which is in the mid 60s. No drafts in the coop, so they should be fine if the weather gets into the 40s or so. Heck, the last bunch was out there with Gracie in 20-25 degree temps, and after week 2 they couldn't all fit under her anyway and they were spread out around her with a lizard bulb keeping their area in the 40 or 50s and were fine.
Amazing how tolerant they really are.
If we can move them out next week we want to get some more meaties, that way we have staggered butcher dates but should have the freezer full by start of summer.
That is the hope... but will have to hope mother nature cooperates.

My meaties are heading outside right along with my layers as soon as their pen gets built next week. I figure if I put enough of them out at once they will have no problem staying warm. I started tossing 4-5 week olds out to the coop mid-April last year & didn't lose a single bird. 7-9 week olds should be fine without heat as long as we build a decent coop & put enough of them out at a time.

 

[dblea202]

tomorrow is going to be 53 is that warm enough to take our almost 8 week old chicks outside for a little bit? We have beeen wanting to take them out but this is the warmest it has been since they have been old enough.

 

[fisherlady]

tomorrow is going to be 53 is that warm enough to take our almost 8 week old chicks outside for a little bit? We have beeen wanting to take them out but this is the warmest it has been since they have been old enough.

It is plenty warm out... but make sure you begin cooling off the brooder area a bit more each day to 'acclimate' them to the cooler weather. They should be fine for a while outside, but if they aren't hardened to it they may want to head back for 'warm and cozy' after a while.

 

[FeyRaine]

tomorrow is going to be 53 is that warm enough to take our almost 8 week old chicks outside for a little bit? We have beeen wanting to take them out but this is the warmest it has been since they have been old enough.

8 wks I'm assuming feathered out, 53 should be plenty fine in general but it more depends on what temp they are used to now -- if you still have then at the original 95degrees then it would be a bad shock to suddenly make it 53, but if you have weaned them down to 65or less ie indoor house temp no added heat, then 53 would not really be any big deal provided they are feathered, dry, and can get out of any wind into a sheltered area to "warm up" w/ each other if nec.

I moved some younger outside yesterday w/o heat, in overnight temps in mid fourties, but I had them totally off heat for more than a week in the house, & they went into a coop that was half draft free, w/ straw on the bottom of both parts, and as an extra precaution they got a smaller plastic bin to go into w/ straw in that too - they used it overnight and were perfectly fine, as well as cleaner having more fresh are & more space than the indoor brooder so basically a healthier more sanitary situation for their size. I've read where ppl as far north as Alaska put younger birds out sooner w/o added heat, provided a dry draft free area they are said to do just fine. They are wearing down coats after all.

 

[dblea202]

It is plenty warm out... but make sure you begin cooling off the brooder area a bit more each day to 'acclimate' them to the cooler weather. They should be fine for a while outside, but if they aren't hardened to it they may want to head back for 'warm and cozy' after a while.

okay we thought they would be okay but we didn't know. we have been lowering the heat. they started in a spare bedroom and are now in the basement which tends to stay a little cooler. the next step is the garage. and when they are in the brooder they usually don't stay by the light we still have in there which is a low wattage. So they are used to the basement temps which are usually about 60