INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! w/Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs No problem!

[ChickenCanoe]

So it't normal for them to start peeping before they pip the internal membrane?

-Kathy

I'm just saying 'they can'.
I'm a little different. I don't dote over them. I give them proper temp and sometimes even proper humidity. If they hatch, I know they're strong. If they're weak, they don't belong.

 

[BullChick]

In the dead of winter it will definitely freeze to a rock. My Gro2Max powder says to keep it between 32 and 100 so either the yeast or bacteria has a problem being frozen.

Mine froze once in three years. That was in the bowl overnight.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm just saying 'they can'.
I'm a little different. I don't dote over them. I give them proper temp and sometimes even proper humidity. If they hatch, I know they're strong. If they're weak, they don't belong.

@casportpony I'm sure most here disagree with my point of view. If I gave better incubation conditions, I may get more embryos that were vigorous. I want something that is hard to kill. Something that will survive no matter what. Breeder health and nutrition is a big key that IMHO, few consider.
I can't raise chickens that need my help generation after generation. From the start, I adopt a mother hen strategy. She doesn't dote until they are viable on their own. She gives good incubation conditions. She can't and won't intervene if the chick can't emerge on its own.
They haven't needed our help for millions of years. There's no reason they need our help now just because we want to dote.
Call me cruel.

Mine froze once in three years. That was in the bowl overnight.

It must not get that cold there. Mine will freeze solid in an hour in the trough when it is zero out. I finally quit feeding FF when it stays below freezing during the day. I just put the buckets inside till it warms up.
If I leave the bucket out in those conditions, it is solid and not scoopable.

 

[bauerdog]

Soooo, I just swore that I was done hatching for the year. THEN, my new friend asked if I could hatch out some duck eggs for her since the incubator would be idle otherwise. Of course I said yes....but I have never done ducks. Are they hard? I don't even know the breed, they are large and white. One has a really cute crest, like a toupee.

 

[nanasacres]

Sevin?

Neem oil.

 

[BullChick]

Soooo, I just swore that I was done hatching for the year. THEN, my new friend asked if I could hatch out some duck eggs for her since the incubator would be idle otherwise. Of course I said yes....but I have never done ducks. Are they hard? I don't even know the breed, they are large and white. One has a really cute crest, like a toupee.

Sounds like Pekin. No, they aren't hard. No, you don't have to spritz them. Hatch like chickens, only for 28 days.

 

[BullChick]

You are not going to believe this. My Muscovy laid in the chicken nest box.

 

[bauerdog]

Sounds like Pekin. No, they aren't hard. No, you don't have to spritz them. Hatch like chickens, only for 28 days.

Awesome! Lockdown at 25 days?

 

[BullChick]

Yup!

 

[nanasacres]

I have 13 eggs due in 24 hours. 2 are iffy but there are already lots of pips and peeping. Probably was a little hot occasionally.