I’m not Mother Nature, but..... My journey hatching broody and bator chicks

[Mimi13]

Big scare just a bit ago. The power went off and stayed off for over an hour. Used to I would’ve been concerned about getting my freezers plugged into a generator, but today, I was worried about getting my incubator out to the truck and getting it plugged in!

I mean, what is worse, dead chickens thawing or live chickies dying? Yes, I thought you’d agree!

All is good now though!

 

[chickengr]

Big scare just a bit ago. The power went off and stayed off for over an hour. Used to I would’ve been concerned about getting my freezers plugged into a generator, but today, I was worried about getting my incubator out to the truck and getting it plugged in!

I mean, what is worse, dead chickens thawing or live chickies dying? Yes, I thought you’d agree!

All is good now though!

I would have done the same!

it is not a problem if there is no power for a couple of hours.

 

[Mimi13]

I would have done the same!

it is not a problem if there is no power for a couple of hours.

And I remember reading that somewhere, but the temp in the incubator started dropping fairly quickly so I got scared. The bator eggs are on Day 7 today. My broody’s eggs are Day 14. Whoop, whoop!

 

[WVduckchick]

Keep in mind that a broody hen leaves the nest almost every day, and sometimes for an hour or more at a time. She may (or may not) cover the eggs with bedding, but usually they don't, so minimal temperature drops are no huge concern.

Yes, I remember panicking with my first bator-running power outage also, but let me tell ya, broody hens taught me how to relax a little, in so many ways! I still prepare the generator when I have an outage now, but not so much in panic mode.

It also depends if you have any idea how long it will be out. Storm, downed line, etc, I would probably go ahead and prepare. But usually when my power flicks off, its back on pretty quickly.

 

[Mimi13]

Luckily the power came back on. It was off a little over an hour. We have had a lot of rain, no wind, so I’m thinking there might be several trees along the power line that we’re uprooted.

This whole not-knowing-stuff kills me. One of these days I’ll be more versed on the subject, but thankfully I’ve got the wonderful people on BYC to help me out.

 

[Mimi13]

Today was the first time the broody was off her nest when I went to let her out a little bit ago. She was still in her cage though. She obviously was needing to go out and came off the nest when she heard me coming. The eggs were still very warm, so she hadn’t been off long.

And some of you can go ahead and send me the slap emoticon, but I am planning on candling all my eggs tonight - 4 @ 14 days under her and 18 @ 7 days in the bator. My very quick candling of the 18 eggs several days ago made me think 6 are clears. I’ll have better answers tonight.

I know this definitely isn’t necessary, but I’m doing it as much for a learning experience as anything.

 

[WVduckchick]

Today was the first time the broody was off her nest when I went to let her out a little bit ago. She was still in her cage though. She obviously was needing to go out and came off the nest when she heard me coming. The eggs were still very warm, so she hadn’t been off long.

And some of you can go ahead and send me the slap emoticon, but I am planning on candling all my eggs tonight - 4 @ 14 days under her and 18 @ 7 days in the bator. My very quick candling of the 18 eggs several days ago made me think 6 are clears. I’ll have better answers tonight.

I know this definitely isn’t necessary, but I’m doing it as much for a learning experience as anything.

do it!
I expect a full report too.

Edit - also meant to say glad she was taking a break on her own. Yeah momma!

 

[Mimi13]

do it!
I expect a full report too.

Edit - also meant to say glad she was taking a break on her own. Yeah momma!

Oh I will! I’m really not afraid of the Big Bad Emotion People!

And I will say I was relieved to see that she came out on her own...just as long as she’s not fixin (country slang for ‘about to’) to bail. Good sign though was that she went back on her own.

 

[WVduckchick]

Oh I will! I’m really not afraid of the Big Bad Emotion People!

And I will say I was relieved to see that she came out on her own...just as long as she’s not fixin (country slang for ‘about to’) to bail. Good sign though was that she went back on her own.

After leaving you a nice big smelly dump, I presume?

 

[chickengr]

Today was the first time the broody was off her nest when I went to let her out a little bit ago. She was still in her cage though. She obviously was needing to go out and came off the nest when she heard me coming. The eggs were still very warm, so she hadn’t been off long.

And some of you can go ahead and send me the slap emoticon, but I am planning on candling all my eggs tonight - 4 @ 14 days under her and 18 @ 7 days in the bator. My very quick candling of the 18 eggs several days ago made me think 6 are clears. I’ll have better answers tonight.

I know this definitely isn’t necessary, but I’m doing it as much for a learning experience as anything.

you asked for it