Minnesota!

[joyfulkeeper]

What is the most anyone has hatched at one time around here?
This isn't going in the record books, but at the moment I have 34 duck eggs for a family member in my incubator, getting more mixed duck eggs, Ancona duck eggs and trying my hand at some silkie duck eggs.
Fingers crossed!!
On another note, I actually saw the SUN today!! I kind of forgot it was up there.....

I have a dozen duck eggs in the incubator, put in yesterday. This is my first time hatching anything. So Exciting! I also have 8 chicken eggs under a broody in the coop!
What do you start your humidity level at? My guess from reading, and reading, and reading... was 40%. I have them weighed so I can check their progress in a couple of days but I'm a nervous mama.

I had sun today as well! We actually had the lights off in the living room (school room) today.

 

[jbenson]

Oh my gosh how fun! I just visited the Grinkie Girl FB site. What a hoot! I'm a nostalgia kind of person anyways...Not real up on taking pictures of myself...but I would totally do that! Wow! FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

It is totally fun. If you're ever down this way and we're doing a mini session, you should think about joining us.

 

[RandomChicken]

I know, right? How is it that every offspring of this pairing is absolutely the most adorable thing ever? And why can't I get that silly chicken to lay more regularily so I can hatch more of this cuteness? Silly girl laid 8 eggs over a couple weeks and stopped again.

Rare = special

 

[RandomChicken]

Oh yeah, DH has bees too

I'm still a little scared of them, so I tend to not think about them. This is year 2 for the bees and we are up to 2 hives. He is a 3rd gen beekeeper (his dad does and his dad's dad did as well).

OH! Seriously? SO.NOT.FAIR.

 

[jbenson]

What is the most anyone has hatched at one time around here?
This isn't going in the record books, but at the moment I have 34 duck eggs for a family member in my incubator, getting more mixed duck eggs, Ancona duck eggs and trying my hand at some silkie duck eggs.
Fingers crossed!!
On another note, I actually saw the SUN today!! I kind of forgot it was up there.....

At the end of March I hatched 43 bantam chickens. That is my all time record for one hatch. I started with a lot more eggs (71), but there were a number of infertile given the lower fertility with the hard cold winter and had some early quitters and non-hatchers due to it being my first time hand turning and I was a little lax on it.

 

[jbenson]

OH! Seriously? SO.NOT.FAIR.

yeah, seriously. And he's working to expand further. Father of a friend of his used to have bees and his last hive died off over this past really hard winter. DH is gonna clean out the hive boxes and get it set up so next spring we can fill his 6 hives with our bees out in Stillwater (we'll probably have to get a few more colonies of bees to have enough cause we might be able to split ours next spring, but it's not for sure and that would only give us two extra colonies. I have to say, I feel almost invincible with the bee suit on when I help him tend hives.

 

[Minniechickmama]

The fluff flock

 

[Minniechickmama]

What is the most anyone has hatched at one time around here?
This isn't going in the record books, but at the moment I have 34 duck eggs for a family member in my incubator, getting more mixed duck eggs, Ancona duck eggs and trying my hand at some silkie duck eggs.
Fingers crossed!!
On another note, I actually saw the SUN today!! I kind of forgot it was up there.....

Not sure what will actually hatch until they do, but I set 300 chicken eggs on Monday.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I have a dozen duck eggs in the incubator, put in yesterday. This is my first time hatching anything. So Exciting! I also have 8 chicken eggs under a broody in the coop!
What do you start your humidity level at? My guess from reading, and reading, and reading... was 40%. I have them weighed so I can check their progress in a couple of days but I'm a nervous mama.

I had sun today as well! We actually had the lights off in the living room (school room) today.

You should have higher humidity for ducks than for chickens, and especially for lockdown/hatch. I forget what percentage, but chickens normally run 50% until lockdown.

 

[joyfulkeeper]

You should have higher humidity for ducks than for chickens, and especially for lockdown/hatch.  I forget what percentage, but chickens normally run 50% until lockdown.

Ok, thanks. The eggs have been in for 48 hrs now so I think I might weigh a couple to see if they are on track for moisture loss.

We candled the eggs under our broody yesterday and all 8 are looking great!

So, our rooster has turned mean. He was fine until about 6 wks ago, but now he has attacked all of my kids. No one was afraid of him and even my 10 year old would calmly pick him up and show dominance by holding his head down by his comb after an attack. Nothing the kids have tried has worked and the aggression is getting worse. From the reading I've done, it seems we did everything well to not have this happen. Maybe because of the long confining winter and genetics? Anything else we might try other than freezer camp?