Jan./Feb. 2014 hatch a long

[Heidisgran]

I have my frizzles eggs in the bator....some due next week
my cochin bantam
and a mystery one of my other girls has started laying...it's either a phoenix bantam or a silkie

 

[gimmie birdies]

I just met a nice lady and she says I can have some hatching eggs- black copper maran, leg bar, and swedish flower hen, I get them in a couple of days,, she only lives 2 miles from my house, no shipping.

 

[Gen9]

Before

After

 

[SilkieSensation]

They are keeping him. The home health nurse did something wrong when she came by yesterday! It caused all of the bleeding. Oh man... Won't go into details, but he still needs to get that stone out. Thank you everyone. I am not so worried now. And my son sounds a lot more relaxed! I see either appts. coming up, or they will keep him and decide to just go for it and do the surgeries in the next couple of days. I hope. Hey, I'm seeing some pretty nice looking eggs and..baby chickie pictures on here!

Sending prayers your way for you, your son & eveeryone involved in his care. edited by staff

 

[Farmer Viola]

In this incubation and hatching guide (it's for goose eggs but it applies to chicken eggs too), he talks about seeing a "shadow" as the chick moves into position for hatch before it internally pips. you can see the illustration for this part way down the guide.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/491013/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed
it is a LOT of reading but it helped me understand the process so much better!

here is an internal pip (on a white egg)

 

[DeannaA]

Max and I watched American Idol.

Max taking his seat getting ready for the show.


Max enjoys watching the singing butour favorite part...


Harry

My Max story of the day. Max and I decided to watch American Idol. I usually hate these show because they are so mean to each other. I read they are trying to make it more friendly and Harry Connick Jr. was going to be a judge. I love Harry. Have for years and years. Well, Max seemed to be enjoying it as much as I was. So I decided to leave a message on Harry's Facebook page, figuring it would be lost in the hundreds if not thousands of comments left for him. Not so. Harry 'Liked' my comment about keep Max, my turkey, on the edge of his seat. I had to check if they 'Liked' everyone's comments. Nope only about 4 or 5 out of oodles. Max is going to be hard to live with for a few days. Harry knows who Max is.

 

[DeannaA]

THANKS FOR THAT!! I didn't understand it at all either. I didn't understand why or how. It was only on this thread that I had even heard of it. Tried doing some research and, your right, it sounded complicated so I gave up. You just put it in terms I completely understand and feel confident enough to try.

A few questions. I've read we are suppose to add to it and stir it. Can you tell us how that is done (in what I call Lisa Lingo = Lingo I can undersand. lol)? Are we suppose to have it in a warm place for fermentation to take place or is a cold shed fine?

It works better in warm areas. I have mine in the laundry room, I don't mind the smell (it's yeasty). You will notice how warm the container gets. I haven't done this but you could try, get it started then put the container into a cooler in the shed. Maybe wrap a towel around it. Check on it to see if it is still warm. Some people put it on top of the fridge. I have way too much for that.

It's best to start off adding a little at a time to the regular chicken feed to easy your chickens into it. I have heard over months, I did it over a couple weeks. I stired a little into there pellets. They turned there nose up the first day, nibbled the second and attacked it on the third. I started with a quart jar, now I have 2- 2.5 gallon containters that I fill 2-3 times a day. It sounds like a lot but remember it is over half water. About 3 gallons of actual food. I have 48 chickens that are eating it right now. It needs air so you can cover it with a cloth but not a lid. Mine container has a hole in the lid. I forgot to mention, don't fill it. It bubbles and swells. The first few times, only put in enough to fill half way so you can get an idea how much it expands. This is what I'm using.

I started out with purified water, but it got expensive. Then I went to letting tap water sit out over night so the chlorine would evaporate. But my chickens are eating so much now that I don't have room to let 5 gallons of water sit out. I use straight from the tap now. I had read this would kills of the bacteria and it wouldn't ferment. I haven't been having any problems. Everyone's water is different. So you will have to watch yours. If it's bubbling (very subtle bubbles), it's fermenting. There may be some probiotics that are affected but I don't know. I haven't noticed a difference since I started using tap water. There are so many levels of fermenting. All of the way from getting the feed wet to organic, purified, 15 grain, strained, super expensive, time consuming and special containers. I know a lot of people use BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds). I would because they are great but they are very expensive where I live. I might start adding them in the summer when it's too hot for scratch.

The container should be glass or ceramic (food safe of course). No cracks. I made mine because it was cheaper and there's a place I could do it by office. Walmart has glass containers resonably priced. I use a long handled spoon to stir. When you first start, use an old quart jar. Put in a cup of pellets and a cup of warm (I use warm because it helps ferment faster) water, stir and add 2 Tablespoons of buttermilk, stir and wait. I just pour in the milk, it doesn't have to be exact. You can stir whenever you think about it. After a few hours, if it's dry add water, runny add pellets. I like mine about like fluffy oatmeal. My friends is like think soup. My chickens don't like it very wet. There is nothing that has to be measured, there is no 'must' do with fermenting. When you feed it to your chickens, always leave a little in the container. Then you don't have to add the buttermilk again for awhile. The left over will start the next batch. You just add the feed and water and stir. Make sure to get it up off of the bottom when stirring.

Recap
-quart jar
-1 cup pellets
-1 cup water
-bit of buttermilk
-stir cover with wash cloth or paper towel
-wait 24 hours
-feed to chickens

 

[dfreas]

I heard chirping!

Still no sign of movement or anything - the eggs just look like eggs. But they are chirping eggs!

 

[Cynthia12]

I have two EE's that have hatched, and three more working on it. Whoot..!

 

[Cynthia12]

I tried to read it but I am a little naive don't get things that easy. They said in a cat litter put some seed. The thing is what seed and where do I get it.
I'm trying to do a home incubator for months now, I end up buying a new one. Lol I guess it's the age

I just buy the wheat in the grocery store..that folks use for storage. I think I have the red wheat. I used a plastic bin..about the size of a 9X9..like a cake pan size. I drilled holes in the bottom for the water to strain out. It's really easy to do. I am thinking that the aluminum pans would work. Easier to put holes in the bottom. You soak the wheat overnight in a bowl. In the morning, I spread a very small amount on the bottom of the pan. You don't want it to dry out..so..have a spray bottle ready. Keep it damp. You will go and run water over it a couple of times a day. Let it drain well.
You do want it put close by to a window, but not right in front of it. So, a lighted room but not right on it. You will see sprouts starting pretty quick. When I said I put a small amount on the bottom, I mean enough to cover the bottom. If you put too much/thick, then you get more roots than green. You will get roots anyway, but my chickens eat that too.. no problem. You don't want it to get moldy. So, be careful that the room is not a real warm room. This is going to be damp always. A room in the low 70's works well for me.