March 2023 hatch-a-long

[Titiana]

nice! What kind of frizzles are they? I have 1 Frizzle Cochin/EE cross and I am hoping to hatch some eggs from her and maybe get more frizzles from her!

It's a barnyard mix with frizzle genes.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

how do you figure your hatch rate? I am guessing just by how many start and how many you end up with? so don't count clears???

Yes, that's it. I don't count clears because they were never fertilized in the first place and would be impossible for them to develop anything. They just shouldn't count at all.

I just fill the incubators, then at the first candling I remove the clears, and what's left is my starting number. Whatever hatches and survives to make it into the brooder, and makes it through the first few days, is my ending number.

I don't count any chicks who die after hatch due to reasons unrelated to the incubation and hatch - such as injury, wry neck, or electrical failure (heat).

 

[Kwoka]

I forgot to update, but the 8 shipped eggs went into lockdown this weekend. They should be hatching 3/7 and 3/8, in time for my and my son’s birthdays! Maybe we will start making a tradition of hatching on our birthdays.

And…after that, i should be hatching every week until the end of March because i couldn’t stop adding eggs but now the incubator is FULL. all should be barnyard mixes from my SLW cockerel, perhaps a few SLW/GLW

 

[junior67]

What do you do with all of your chicks?

I will keep a few and sell the rest. I hatched out 29 last year I think and bought 6 (lost one early though) to give to a broody that her eggs didn't hatch). I sold all but 5 of them that I kept.

 

[junior67]

Yes, that's it. I don't count clears because they were never fertilized in the first place and would be impossible for them to develop anything. They just shouldn't count at all.

I just fill the incubators, then at the first candling I remove the clears, and what's left is my starting number. Whatever hatches and survives to make it into the brooder, and makes it through the first few days, is my ending number.

I don't count any chicks who die after hatch due to reasons unrelated to the incubation and hatch - such as injury, wry neck, or electrical failure (heat).

ok thanks! that is what I thought. So I had 11 shipped and 6 of mine that started. so starting # should be 17. down to 16 now hopefully we stay there!

 

[Kwoka]

Oops! I posted a pic of the incubator from last night - I checked this morning and there’s a pip and peeping!!! might have an early bird.

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Agree with @junior67. I just finished my first hatch 4 days ago and when I seen a pip it was so hard to leave. My first to hatch took no time at all. My last one to hatch took hours and I was up just watching in the middle of the night.

Been there, done that!

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

I took 14 chicks out this morning. One is still trying to hatch. I just couldn't tell if all had hatched or not. That is the only bad thing about this incubator. You can't see what is happening in the back. But 14 out of 15 chicks is not bad. And who knows, maybe the last one will make it too until tomorrow morning. After that he or she is out of luck. Tomorrow morning those chicks will get their Marek immunization. And I will turn off the machine.

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Omg how adorable!

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Mph! I am SOOO behind here. I missed like 6 or 7 pages here because I accidentally closed the tab and I felt too lazy to open it again. Then I thought of all of the pages that would be there. I am NOOT going back to read them, like @BarnyardChaos.

@gimmie birdies, I use elastic bands, for the sake of just sharing.

No joke! I’m literally reading 15 previous pages to catch up because I’m currently swimming in chicks. I have one broody who just hatched nine chicks yesterday, and had to add two of her eggs in the bator with 19 eggs that are on day seven. I have a broody who hatched nine chicks three weeks ago. I have a brooder with nine chicks that are two weeks old. I have a broody fixing to hatch 10 eggs on Wednesday. I will be up all night trying to catch up

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Each one of the blue egg positioners holds 48 eggs, there are two egg positioners per tray. Each level holds 96 eggs plus the hatching tray on the bottom.

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That is no joke!