May 2020 Hatch-A-Long

[CindyinSD]

We used to have a butcher nearby who would process the chickens for us, so we always went there. But then we moved to a rural area & have had to do it ourselves twice now. So much work! I think part of it is that we don't have the right equipment. It takes us about 2 hours per chicken. But I do enjoy the chicken soup.

It gets faster and easier as you do it more times. I don't know why exactly this is. Part is knowing what to do without hesitatation, part muscle memory. Frankly the rest must be simply magic--I can't explain it, but it's a huge relief.

I did buy a plucker. Unfortunately it's only worth cleaning if you're doing a lot of chickens at once--super good for a tractor full of CX, etc. I don't like raising CX etc. though. They're too sweet and too unhealthy, esp the CX. You can raise them to be healthier, but then you lose the fast grow-out. I don't even like white meat, so for me it's not worth doing. I just ordered some Chantecler chicks for sustainable meat birds. Maybe I'll sell the plucker once the plague passes. Or maybe I'll be glad to have it if all my goose eggs hatch...

Recently I've been doing turkeys and the occasional rooster. It's too small for the turkeys. Maybe it would work for heritage but I'm afraid of bruising the carcasses. Anyway, it's not that hard to do. Plucking chickens by hand seems child's play now, after plucking turkeys. Even turkeys seem easy.

 

[mandi427]

It's day 3 for us, but I think we've had the humidity too high until today. Will that be a problem? Will they still grow?

 

[FortCluck]

My drake Courage is so nice with his female, but with anything smaller than him he has decided he is a jerk. He would try to grab Ebony my black East Indie female and yank her off her feet and into the pool to force mate her. With my male he would chase home around and yank the crap out of him until he started getting a bald spot.

Yeah Drake's can be such jerks sometimes and so can't roosters

 

[CindyinSD]

It's day 3 for us, but I think we've had the humidity too high until today. Will that be a problem? Will they still grow?

Yes, they'll be fine. Humidity is a goal, not a precise number. Ideally you would salt test your hygrometer. https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/22474590/ The goal of controlling humidity is to encourage the eggs to dry out a little each day, allowing the air cells to enlarge at the ideal rate. A few hours or even a few days of "off" humidity isn't going to spoil that.

 

[kelseyk]

Day 0 for my first May hatch - Set 7 Svart Hona eggs this afternoon - Hatch day is May 12th. Have Gold Neck d'Uccles, Gold Appenzellers, and Delawares on the way for May hatch too. (Might also be ordering some more Silkie eggs if I have room in my Janoel 12).

 

[mandi427]

Yes, they'll be fine. Humidity is a goal, not a precise number. Ideally you would salt test your hygrometer. https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/22474590/

That makes me feel a lot better. And thanks for the link! Good to know that we can test the hygrometer.

 

[kelseyk]

Yes, they'll be fine. Humidity is a goal, not a precise number. Ideally you would salt test your hygrometer. https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/22474590/ The goal of controlling humidity is to encourage the eggs to dry out a little each day, allowing the air cells to enlarge at the ideal rate. A few hours or even a few days of "off" humidity isn't going to spoil that.

I had no idea you could calibrate a hydrometer...especially a digital one! Thanks so much for sharing the link!!

 

[beth1004]

We have 3 incubators going —one at my house and one at each of our daughter’s houses. Eggs are due to hatch 5/7 and 5/8. We have an experiment going on. I wasn’t happy with the percentage on my EHAL. Each incubator contains 6 ameraucana eggs. I candled mind tonight. 3 are developing and 3 appear to not be fertilized. We will see how things progress. I’ll have my girls candle the eggs at their houses and see how those eggs are.

 

[Vantic]

I posted a subset of the pictures I took from the day 7 candle here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hatching-learning-candling.1364263/

I'm a sick puppy because I took a picture of all 53 eggs.

 

[SongBird1798]

On day 15! Chicks look great. My worry is about the air sell. 30% humidity was evidently TOO MUCH and I realized this around day 12/13. So now it’s around 15-20. Hoping that will help till lock down. They are small bantams and I’m worried the air cell won’t be large enough....

so has anyone done a Safety hole????