Lockdown in 2 days

[Mike10]

Mine are 9 days old now. All are good, except the 2 late hatches. A Polish with a splayed leg that I am gradually pulling tighter and tighter, and a Maran with crooked toes. She is the one I helped out. She's wearing her "sandals", and my wife has named her Cobbler. She's a runt, but she is the sweetest chick I have ever had. Loves to be held, cries when you put her down. I have moved all of the heathy ones to the outside brooder, but I am keeping these 2 inside until they can run with the pack, although Cobbler may learn to wear a diaper
Set 20 Marans and 4 Polish Friday night, so I will be looking at round 2 around Feb.6-7. Trying a little lower humidity during the first 18 days this time. I have also debated using the cooldown feature, just to compare it to the last hatch, but haven't set it yet

What kind of marans did you put in. I hatched birchen marans.

 

[Gingersnap722]

Let me know how you like it. I think I'm going to wait until next time to try the cool down. Last time my pips were a little close to the ends of the eggs. I incubated at 40-42%. I'm trying to maintain 35% this time, just to experiment. My house is so dry this winter that I'm not brave enough to try the dry incubation. I was so happy with the performance of the Octagon that I just ordered 2 Eco glow 20s and the Brinsea candler without the scope

I got the Brinsea candler with the scope from my hubby for Christmas. I love it!!!!

 

[scflock]

Sc...will do! I am running at 53% day 1-18. The breeder I got the eggs from runs 55% day 1-18 and 65% at lockdown. I tried 30%,,45% and dry hatch in the past. Didn't work for me. I need a few broody silkies!!! They are like 3 months old

I will tell you how things go.

I have 2 of the eco glow 20's... They are AMAZING! Chicks love them. I love them . We are all happy and no one gets cooked!

I have the candler too. I bought the classroom pack.

Now you have me nervous that I am running too low. Oh well, I'm gonna try it anyway. Seems like different things work for different people. I think it's all about geography. I didn't weigh the eggs, they just appeared to be a little close to the end of the egg compared to my hen hatched eggs. That's what I love about the Advance. You always know what is going on inside, and it's easy to adjust from the outside. I'm still debating the pump, but I can pour water a few times to save $140.
My silkies seem to hatch chicks every couple of weeks in the spring and summer, and will remain on unhatched eggs if you don't remove them. Those are some determined little girls!

What kind of marans did you put in. I hatched birchen marans.

Cuckoo. If I had it to do over again I would probably have done black coppers. I wanted the dark eggs to mix with my EEs. They are darker than my hybrids, but I wouldn't exactly call them "chocolate". I love the birds, though. They are very docile, even the rooster, they lay a lot of eggs, and they are so plump that I am considering doing something this year that I have never done before...

 

[northernchic]

Let me know how you like it. I think I'm going to wait until next time to try the cool down. Last time my pips were a little close to the ends of the eggs. I incubated at 40-42%. I'm trying to maintain 35% this time, just to experiment. My house is so dry this winter that I'm not brave enough to try the dry incubation. I was so happy with the performance of the Octagon that I just ordered 2 Eco glow 20s and the Brinsea candler without the scope

Keep us posted on your next hatch and how it goes! Good luck!

 

[scflock]

Keep us posted on your next hatch and how it goes! Good luck!

Sad update on the last hatch. The sweet little chick, Cobbler, was dead in the brooder when I got home last night. That has reconfirmed to me why I never help chicks hatch. It may be cold hearted, but it's nature's way. I would rather them die in the shell than to have to see my wife cry over her sweet little fluffy...

 

[scflock]

Sc...I am using the cool down feature. Next week will be the first to hatch with it. I find though that the humidity increases when the temp drops. Don't know if I am comfortable with that!

@mike...glad you are doing well. Sometimes the neck thing is just a lack of vitamins and minerals...! Glad it is doing well!

I am sure that is a closer mimick to the natural process, I just want to run two different batches at different humidities, then will use the cooldown on the next. Just trying to get a baseline for my location and breeds. I wouldn't worry about the humidity increase. The moisture content in the air is still the same, it's just the relative humidity that increases. Same moisture, lower temperature. That just means that the Brinsea will stabilize more quickly when the heater comes back on

 

[Purpletie3]

Sc...I totally agree with you about your baseline assessment. That's kind of what I have been doing with my hatches as well. so far...none of them have been where I would like them to be. But, this is my first round with my Brinsea cabinet and I think that should improve environmental factors here that influence my styrobator more....like drafts and temperature swings and sunlight and bouncing dogs and children.

Crossing my fingers;as always!

 

[scflock]

Sc...I totally agree with you about your baseline assessment. That's kind of what I have been doing with my hatches as well. so far...none of them have been where I would like them to be. But, this is my first round with my Brinsea cabinet and I think that should improve environmental factors here that influence my styrobator more....like drafts and temperature swings and sunlight and bouncing dogs and children.

Crossing my fingers;as always!

How many do you have in the cabinet? I may sell a kidney and buy one of those next

 

[Purpletie3]

SC...Just over 100. with the amount on money i was investing in my eggs and building my business and farm it just made sense to invest in better equipment. I had even driven 66 silkie and orpington eggs over 1500 miles from a breeder in Florida to NY. So, it just made sense. I have Silkies set, Orpingtons, Barnyard mix, Belgium Quail D'Anver, Speckled hamburgs (Cells detatched mostly) and CCL and Splash marans over CCL.

I had NO IDEA how big the 360 was...it is huge! Like the size of a dishwasher. I would def have looked at the dimensions but I was tired and just wanted it to be here. Always seems like the Brinsea.com shipments are only 2-3 days away.

So, this week I have 4 egg shipments due...A beautiful barnyard mix from here, the Svart Hona eggs, The CCL auction and some E-bay eggs. I am thinking they will all arrive tomorrow or Friday. I am going to set them together. I have everything too staggered right now.

I am enjoying my retirement, my farm, my new hatcher, my cool friends here on BYC and just signed up for a Greenhouse class in Horticulture while teaching again a couple classes this semester.

 

[scflock]

SC...Just over 100. with the amount on money i was investing in my eggs and building my business and farm it just made sense to invest in better equipment. I had even driven 66 silkie and orpington eggs over 1500 miles from a breeder in Florida to NY. So, it just made sense. I have Silkies set, Orpingtons, Barnyard mix, Belgium Quail D'Anver, Speckled hamburgs (Cells detatched mostly) and CCL and Splash marans over CCL.

I had NO IDEA how big the 360 was...it is huge! Like the size of a dishwasher. I would def have looked at the dimensions but I was tired and just wanted it to be here. Always seems like the Brinsea.com shipments are only 2-3 days away.

So, this week I have 4 egg shipments due...A beautiful barnyard mix from here, the Svart Hona eggs, The CCL auction and some E-bay eggs. I am thinking they will all arrive tomorrow or Friday. I am going to set them together. I have everything too staggered right now.

I am enjoying my retirement, my farm, my new hatcher, my cool friends here on BYC and just signed up for a Greenhouse class in Horticulture while teaching again a couple classes this semester.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I understand buying what you can afford. Are you buying eggs then selling the chicks? I have kind of a hobby farm. We started small with 4 chicks, but I never imagined I would enjoy raising them so much. I work full time, and I work harder on the farm than I do at work, but it is so relaxing and satisfying to me. I can't remember if I have told you this before, but I have a hen-only flock of egg chickens (various hybrids), silkies, mille fleur d'uccles, cuckoo marans, and white crested black polish. I sell whatever the hens hatch as fast as they can hatch them on Craigslist, so this year I decided to start incubating. I will never turn a profit, but it does help offset the cost of feed, and this is by far the only hobby I have that even comes close to breaking even. I don't sell day olds, I only sell them when their heat is gone, and I can tell the roosters from the hens. You can tell the marans' sex by their coloring at about 4 weeks, but the others take longer. My favorite part about keeping chickens is raising them until they are big enough to go outside, so this works out well for the people that want started pullets or small flocks ready for the yard. I have never eaten my own chickens, but I have a couple of roosters that I have my eye on. If I can process those two without going into therapy, that will be the next phase of our little farm. I have already started adding butter and seasoning salt to their crumbles