I just set 5-21-11 in my home made incubator

[LaGeniaLoca]

Dumb question of the day: What exactly is different about dry incubation?

What other kinds are there? All I can think of as an alternative to dry incubation, is wet incubation (eggs floating in a jacuzzi?)....and I know that can't be right!

 

[chickenjoefan]

Quote:
you just don't put any water in the incubator.

the first couple of times i incubated eggs i followed the instructions and put water in the bottom to keep the humidity up. Then i got a hydrometer and realised it is really naturally humid here so i tried not adding any and got much better results. I still add a bit at lockdown which is not technically a dry incubation, but i have had problems with chicks getting stuck before. A semi dry incubation works for me.

there is a thread on here somewhere about dry incubation I'll see if i can find it and add a link to it.

great candling pictures matlock!

congratulations on the lavender orp. can't wait to see the pictures chicksintexas.

Hi Time out and

i have 7 hens and one cockerel just now so hoping to add to my collection of hens with this hatch. my last hatch resulted in 2 girls and 6 boys. I'm afraid we had no choice but to eat some of the boys there were just too many to rehome. That was the last hatch i did for myself, in between i have done lts of hatches for friends and they have had better boy to girl ratios and have either kept or rehomed them.

Don't think i'll ever be able to give up the incubating now, much too addictive. Fortunately i don't have my own bator and as i have to borrow it from a friend it helps us both limit the amount of eggs we hatch. If we had one each we would def be overrun!

 

[matlock585]

Here is a pic of the four EE's I hatched 3 weeks ago. I'm getting their grow pen ready today so I can make room in the brooder for the new babies due Friday.
These little ones are so sweet and curious. I think I'm gonna enjoy them. I think only one is a roo so far, but this early it is hard to tell for sure. The one we had to take out of it's egg it the only one with really puffy cheeks. Two of them have small puffed cheeks, and one doesn't look puffy at all.

 

[chickenjoefan]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-DryIncubation.html

link about dry incubation.

I just locked down. had to throw another 2 who quit about day 12 i recon. fingers crossed.

Lovely birds Matlock.

 

[chicksntexas]

Pretty birds matlock!!

Here's Laverne

New lavender orp...I hope she makes it...constantly chirping & I can't figure out why! Temps are good, poops are good...food & water good & she's eating & drinking. I have her in with the other 2 babies...separated by wire...maybe that's why...but OMG! that's alotta chirpin'! Anyone have any ideas?

Cute...cute...cute....

We're just about finished with the coop!!! Check out my pages with bird & coop updated pics! Birdies spent last night in the coop & did great! I'm very proud of the coop! While you're there....give me your best guess of what you think 'Peeps' is !

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=89480

Good luck chickenjoefan!

 

[matlock585]

Well your coop looks nice. I gotta get something better since I can't seem to stop myself from cranking them out now.

I don't have any ideas on peeps, but I think buff is a hen. If you look in the breeds page on here you can see the hens have fairly high combs. I have two that I thought were both roos, but neither one crows, and all the other little roos are crowing big time by now. They are about 18 weeks old. I don't have a roo for them though. I thought about putting them in a tractor with one of my black/white ancona roos and just seeing what I get.
The lav orp is really cute, kinda makes me want some of them too.
I guess fore too much longer I'm gonna have to clear some woods to make room for chickens!

 

[chickenjoefan]

Quote:
wow day 29! Well at 8 weeks her comb isn't too red although it is quite big. optimistic guess - girl. i haven't hatched black rocks (that is what she is right?) so i don't know how quickly they develop and its always hard to tell without an opposite sex to compare with.

What a beautiful collection of birds you have. I love having all different breeds and colours. Have to admit Batman and robin are my favourites they are just sooooo cute with their fluffy feet. And Laverne is gorgeous.

The coop looks great, i'd love to see pictures of inside.

Still waiting - my broody egg is due in the morning and I am going mad waiting- it is so much harder when you can't just peer in through the bator window and check for pips.

 

[chicksntexas]

I'm not sure what Peeps is! The teacher I got her from was told her eggs were leghorns. But I don't think so. After searching pics, think maybe Black Star (would be the same as Black Rock or Black Sex-Link ??) You can't tell from my pic, but the black feathers have a pretty deep green sheen to them. So, I'm still guessing at this point!

Both of the LBs are so sweet! And beautiful! I may get more...

Here's the link to the coop page...inside & outside pics
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=89480-chicksntexas-coop

 

[matlock585]

Wow! that's really, really nice inside and out. I'm so envious...
That's actually kind of inspiring.

 

[matlock585]

Well... I just went an bought some golden lakenvelder eggs off ebay. Man... there just ain't no hope for me now. I'll barely have time to get the bator cleaned out before they get here.