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

[deserteggs22]

When do I assist? I have some that haven't progressed a bit since last night.

 

[Jessimom]

@h2oratt - what an AWESOME find!!!!


It's totally stressful filling an incubator to hatch as many chicks as I did for the Easter HAL (with my hatching history), but it is going GREAT! I have not had to help anyone (other than washing a little goop off a back). I'm currently at 26 hatched, 8 still working on it. One baby that I hatched on Thursday from a different group, had spraddle leg that it's currently hobbled for, and it's doing great.

Here are some of the babies


The 3 stripes one is gimpy!!!




Here is the current temporary brooder.



Tomorrow they will be moving to a brooder like this one.

 

[kwhites634]

Have you ever seen some of Ridgerunner's posts? They are very good but he takes about 200 lines to answer what I did in 3. His are much more helpful though because they're so comprehensive. I have a buddy that's a poultry judge in northern MO that writes a book every time he comments.

Hinterlands?

I'm in the heart of America in a big Metro area that spans 2 states. i.e. regular air service.

Cold has very little impact on egg production unless it is in the -20 F range or lower.
Egg production is a function of increasing vs. decreasing day length. The same happens all over the world whether it is a warm or cold climate.
I always try to have birds coming into production by August so I don't have to buy eggs.
A brief rundown of the science that affects reproduction in most animals.
Light exposure to the retina is first relayed to the nucleus of the hypothalamus, which is an area of the brain that coordinates biological clock signals. Fibers from there descend to the spinal cord and then project to the superior cervical ganglia, from which neurons ascend back to the pineal gland. The pineal gland translates signals from the nervous system into a hormonal signal.
The pineal gland produces serotonin and subsequently, melatonin. That's the hormone that affects the gonads for sperm production and ovulation in females. An increase in melatonin causes the gonads to become inactive. As photoperiod in relation to day vs. night is the most important clue for animals to determine season. As light lengthens, the gonads are rejuvenated. The duration of melatonin secretion each day is directly proportional to the length of the night because of the pineal gland's ability to measure daylength. Besides reproduction, it also affects sleep timing and blood pressure
So as the light period increases in relation to the dark period, it stimulates reproduction and - voila, EGGS.



I have 2 classes coming up in April and another at Gateway Greening in May. More college classes in summer.
I'll probably be presenting again on the subject of Starting Right in Heritage Poultry or some similar topic at the Midwest Heritage Poultry Conference this summer.
I also have classes on winterizing and trapping predators.
My April classes are on the second page of the Master Naturalist program under the heading Ecology.
http://www.stlcc.edu/Document_Library/Cont_Ed/CE-Spring-2014-Master-Naturalist.pdf

Backyard Chickens for the Beginner
Have you thought about keeping chickens in your city or suburban backyard? There’s a lot to find out about before you get started. Learn about local ordinances and where to find more information for the area where you live. You’ll also hear about the benefits of keeping chickens, appropriate housing and feeding, and different ways of keeping your chickens healthy and happy. Instructor has years of personal and professional experience and is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable healthy-chicken farmer.

Beyond the Coop: Advanced Topics for Experienced Backyard Chicken-Keepers
This class is for individuals who have been keeping chickens for a while and are looking for more in-depth information on the following topics: diseases, parasites and treatments; chicken anatomy and egg development; incubation and broody hatching; culling and processing; breed characteristics, showing, and judging for standards of perfection, supporting heritage breeds; and changing ordinances. Bring your questions to class! This is an intermediate level class and will not include introductory information covered in previous class: Backyard Chickens for the Beginner.

We have regular air service as well, from 3 airports, even;Ronald Regan Int'l,in D.C, Dulles Int'l, in N. VA, & Thurgood Marsall Int'l (BWI) in B'more....unless it snows more than an inch, in which case all bets are off...the entire D.C. B'more goes into panic mode. It's actually hilarious. When I was in school we got dismissed early due to an impending snow storm. While we were waiting for the buses, the snow turned to rain & it rained the rest of the day; snow never showed up.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

We have regular air service as well, from 3 airports, even;Ronald Regan Int'l,in D.C, Dulles Int'l, in N. VA, & Thurgood Marsall Int'l (BWI) in B'more....unless it snows more than an inch, in which case all bets are off...the entire D.C. B'more goes into panic mode. It's actually hilarious. When I was in school we got dismissed early due to an impending snow storm. While we were waiting for the buses, the snow turned to rain & it rained the rest of the day; snow never showed up.

that is funny
I was in Fort Polk, LA when a 1/2 " of snow was forecasted and they asked all the soldiers from northern climes if they were comfortable driving in snow. Each of us were assigned to a civilian so we could drive them home and pick them up the next morning in their car. They were petrified to drive. It didn't really stick. It was just some thin slush on warm roads.

 

[Jessimom]

When do I assist? I have some that haven't progressed a bit since last night.

From internal pip to external pip it could take a day or more. Again from external pip to zip, it can take 24 to 36 hours. But, it should not take any more than 90 minutes from zip to hatch.

 

[chicken hawk 33]

The,goose eggs are rocking

 

[BantyChooks]

The,goose eggs are rocking

 

[shahtir101]

Happy birthday @flocktastic

 

[shahtir101]

The,goose eggs are rocking

How many are in there right now?

 

[chicken hawk 33]

How many are in there right now?

the last two.