how do you not put eggs in the incubator?

[austinhart123]

this might be a dumb question but i was jsut wondering how you all keep from the temptation to put eggs in the incubator, i just see them and i am so tempted to take them in and then i gather a clutch and start again, i dont think im going to be able to stop hatching unless they stop laying for a little while

 

[Akane]

Clean them up really well, say you are done for the year, put them in storage in the back of the closet or garage... now keep reminding yourself the effort you went through to clean them for next year. It will work for about 2months and then you'll have them full of eggs again. Hopefully by then cool weather is setting in and you'll only get one hatch out of them before you do have to put them up for the year. Which lasts until about Feb and then you convince yourself that maybe having a few chicks in the house for the end of winter won't be so bad.

 

[popcornpuppy]

The best way to discurage yourself from hatching is too look at the numbers.

How much coop space do you have, how many chickens do you want in your flock, how many groups of different age chickens do have to intergrate, if you are not going to keep the chicks you hatch, will you be able to find homes for them, ETC, ETC, ETC.

If I had my way, our family would be hatching all year round. I am bound to do 2 more hatches this season and then be done for the winter. Once my husband and I pondered the answers to the above mentioned questions, we decided it was time to stop hatching.
Hatching is the fun and easy part. It's building more coops and intergrating new members into the flock that is hard.

 

[Bedste]

It is very addicting..... hatching.

Unplug it and store it out of sight......

 

[Akane]

Unfortunately I converted a grain bin to a coop and have 170sq ft of coop space along with hatching mostly bantams that only need 2sq ft of space each so that's not much of a limitation for me.

 

[austinhart123]

Quote:
hahah those are all good points but i secretly love building coops, and having little individual pens for each bantam pair, ugh im such an addict

 

[LarryPQ]

you loan the incubator to a friend....it is like being a drug pusher.

 

[popcornpuppy]

In June of this year I said to DH, "I just want half a dozen laying hens." We now have 45 birds in the coop, 38 in the brooder, 20 in the bator, 18 more eggs to be shipped in a week, a new coop under construction, and a stressed out hubby wondering where we are going to put all of these chickens.
It is not just an addiction, it is one of the worst addictions

 

[mahalo4]

Sorry can't help You my last hatch was 3 hatches ago!!!

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

After more than 600 chicks this year, we just had to say no more. So we put the bator in its box and the turner in its box and stuck them under the bed in our office. But we can hardly wait to pull it all back out in December for our first run of little fluffy butts.
Welcome to the addiction.....