HomesteadNowhere Hatch-a-long! Set April 7, hatch April 28!

[HomesteadNowhere]

I've been collecting eggs and will be setting soon! It was fun last time so I decided to do a hatching thread again. If you're setting near the same time feel free to join in!

I'm prioritizing my experimental breeding meat birds. So I've been collecting from them and if needed I can pull some of the others eggs to fill up.

Incubator is the farm innovators. Not great but making due til I build a cabinet incubator. Turning by hand to be able to cram it with eggs! I got a thermostat (for the cabinet build) and I plan to use it with this to double check my thermometer and the warm/cool areas that I'm pretty sure are in it from the last hatch.
We'll see how it goes!

Freedom ranger hens x new Hampshire roo are the bulk of the eggs.
Freedom ranger hens x Bielefelder roo will be some of the eggs, these hens have turned into bad egg eaters in the temporary cage situation in order to breed them to the Bielefelder roo. Grrr!
I don't think I will but.. if there is space left to fill I can pull some eggs from the other pen which are buff brahmas and a white orpington. They were with the new Hampshire roo and have gotten fun time visit from him just to keep them bred if I do need to pull eggs.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

75 eggs in! I miscounted something because my notes say 18 brahma/orp, 44 FR, 12 B/FR. One of those is plus one. They are loaded up just so.. I'll check it when I candle before pulling anything.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Ok 16 in the pot I'm really done, until I have a hen go broody

Ever since @sourland , the broody magician waved his magic wand over my coop, I have had at least 3 or 4 broody hens each summer. I have already had one who hid a clutch of eggs under my house, disappeared for 3 weeks and I heard peeping last night and I have 15 new chicks.
I would ask @sourland so you have a broody hen on a regular basis. I am telling you, for real, it works.

 

[sourland]

Ok 16 in the pot I'm really done, until I have a hen go broody

Be careful what you wish for.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Be careful what you wish for.

That's what you told me @sourland and I couldn't be more pleased with the results I have gotten. Thank you

 

[Justso]

I'm going to join you on April 7th!
I've had my incubator running a couple days, steady Eddie. My hatch will include Arkansas blue, Arkansas blue x Silveruud, and I'm throwing in a couple AB× gold laced polish cross, that should be interesting.

 

[Justso]

Wow 75!
I loaded my 13 today, maybe 2 more if anyone decides to drop some later. May include an olive egg to test fertility.
And we're off!

 

[Justso]

Ok 16 in the pot I'm really done, until I have a hen go broody

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

I've been monitoring the incubator. I have a farmers innovators plugged into a thermostat. It's working well so far! My last hatch I was really not sure I trusted my thermometer/hygrometer, the one I put in the incubator to check the unit. But I trusted that much more than the unit!
I've been checking it with a laser pointer surface temp thermometer on the eggs. When I found some eggs that were on the edge of too hot I moved the thermostat sensor there. I have the thermostat set to 99.3 and it's been good now. There doesn't seem to be any eggs that are too cool but there is variation across the incubator.

Now before someone has a heart attack on how I got 75 eggs in a farmers innovator
I fit 57 eggs laid on their sides. I put a binder under the incubator to tilt it and started setting the eggs, air cell up, as if there were in a carton but leaning against the side and each other. But yes they are all wedged in carefully.
Mine has a plastic mesh floor and after the last hatch I saw the weight of the eggs had started to warp it. The bottom is supported on a ledge around the outside and three supports in the middle. So I cut to length some wood dowel, smaller than a pencil, and laid them across under the plastic mesh. It looks good so far.

 

[airynn]

Well I candled my duck eggs on day 7; assuming I’d have duds. All 14 are growing! So I added my Ameraucana and CLB making it 31 eggs in my 22 egg NR 360. Oh well.