Okay, this is our first try on home fertilized eggs!!! SO:
I have one hen that’s truly committed to being broody. Okay is her 4th or 5th. My other hen broke early, so she’s fired
BUT, from her poor effort, I was able to break and check for viability, and 6 of her 7 eggs were viable!! All had developed the start of blood rings, so I didn’t feel bad at all about cracking them.
Tomorrow, I’m going to grab all the eggs laid and the preferred eggs from the day after and put them into our incubator. Can they just go directly in, or do they need any kind of rest before going in, like shipped eggs?
Also, the incubated chicks will be about 6 days behind the brooded ones. Is this an okay age gap, or should I also pull the currently brooding eggs and replace them with fresh ones? Will my hen have an internal alarm clock that won’t let her sit that long, or is it more likely that she’ll sit until the job is done? I know every hen is different, but I’m just wondering
Either way, we’re really excited to finally be trying for our own backyard blends! Our rooster is a high quality privately bred BCM, and we have a fun variety of breeds of hens. Please let me know what you guys would do in my shoes!!
I have one hen that’s truly committed to being broody. Okay is her 4th or 5th. My other hen broke early, so she’s fired
BUT, from her poor effort, I was able to break and check for viability, and 6 of her 7 eggs were viable!! All had developed the start of blood rings, so I didn’t feel bad at all about cracking them. Tomorrow, I’m going to grab all the eggs laid and the preferred eggs from the day after and put them into our incubator. Can they just go directly in, or do they need any kind of rest before going in, like shipped eggs?
Also, the incubated chicks will be about 6 days behind the brooded ones. Is this an okay age gap, or should I also pull the currently brooding eggs and replace them with fresh ones? Will my hen have an internal alarm clock that won’t let her sit that long, or is it more likely that she’ll sit until the job is done? I know every hen is different, but I’m just wondering
Either way, we’re really excited to finally be trying for our own backyard blends! Our rooster is a high quality privately bred BCM, and we have a fun variety of breeds of hens. Please let me know what you guys would do in my shoes!!
