need advice on first eggs to hatch EVER!

[ksct]

Hi all.
I have a few questions......
We're going to be putting some eggs in the incubator hopefull at the end or toward the end of march/beginning of April......
We purchased the incubator and egg turner from TSC. (we have Buff Orpingtons)
here are my questions.....
-is there a better place to put the incubator while we wait for them?
-are the odds of getting more roo's than hens great?
-If we have 1 Roo and 12 hens.... can anyone say can anyone say how many eggs will be fertile? (ie- should we put in 20 eggs to get 10 chicks?)
-If we do get many roos..... what do people do with them? I know our roo now wouldn't like another... if we build a seperate coop for a couple roos and some hens if the roos grow up together should they be ok and not fight?
-what if a chick is too sick/weak etc to make it.... how do you cull a chick?

ok I think that's a lot of questions. i'm sure I'll have more but I hope you can bear with me here. I'm worrying i'm sure far too much but having never done this I have to worry.

thank you all!

 

[easttxchick]

You can set up your incubator anywhere the temp is steady and there isn't a draft.
There is no way to predict the sex of a chick before it hatches.
If 1 egg is fertile and he is breeding all of your hens, they should all be fertile-I wouldn't incubate 20 eggs to get 10 chicks-you might end up with WAY too many chicks if your hatch rate is good.
I have rehomed roosters by placing an add that they were free. Many people on here use Craig's List to get rid of extra roosters.
As far as culling a chick-do a search on here and check out your options-many people say shears.
Good luck to you.

 

[Goose and Fig]

You want to put the incubator where the temps don't fluctuate, and run it for a few days before putting the eggs in. Make sure you can keep a fasirly constant temp.

1 roo to 12 hens should be pretty good fertility.

You will end up with extra roosters. I usually sell/give mine away, and if that doesn't work- sell them off in pairs. You will lose a hen for every roo, but it's better than having tons of roosters. You can keep them until almost maturity before they would really start to fight over girls. Or house them seperately- out of sight of the ladies. I tried that. It's kind of a pain

 

[Ridgerunner]

-is there a better place to put the incubator while we wait for them?

You need to set the incubator up and run it for a couple of days to assure it can maintain temperature where you have it. They need to be some place the temperature is pretty constant. The heaters are not real powerful and do not handle temperature swings very well. They also do not like to be in a draft or wind, like under a heating/cooling vent. I have mine in a spare bedroom.

-are the odds of getting more roo's than hens great?

The odds with each egg being male or female is 50-50. Here are the odds if you get 8 chicks to hatch.

8 male 0 female - 1 in 256 or 0.4%
7 male 1 female - 8 in 256 or 3.1%
6 male 2 female - 28 in 256 or 10.9%
5 male 3 female - 56 in 256 or 21.9%
4 male 4 female - 70 in 256 or 27.3%
3 male 5 female - 56 in 256 or 21.9%
2 male 6 female - 28 in 256 or 10.9%
1 male 7 female - 8 in 256 or 3.1%
0 male 8 female - 1 in 256 or 0.4%


-If we have 1 Roo and 12 hens.... can anyone say can anyone say how many eggs will be fertile? (ie- should we put in 20 eggs to get 10 chicks?)
With this ratio, most or all eggs should be fertile. It depends a bit on the age and energy of the rooster and the willingness of the hens, but this is about the right ratio. Do not expect to hatch every egg you set. 100% hatch does happen occasionally but it is normal for fewer eggs to hatch. Don't set any more eggs than you can brood or that you want chickens, but don't expect them all to hatch.

-If we do get many roos..... what do people do with them? I know our roo now wouldn't like another... if we build a seperate coop for a couple roos and some hens if the roos grow up together should they be ok and not fight?

Some people eat their extra roos, some give them away, like on Craigslist or put up a sign at the feed store. Roosters kept by themselves normally do not fight more than hens kept by themselves, just a pecking order thing. If hens are around, it becomes dominance fighting. Often roosters raised together, either as brothers in a brood or in a flock with a grown rooster, will often work out their dominance and pecking order issues without a lot of bloodshed, but sometimes it can be a fight to the death. I always recommend you keep as few roosters as you can and meet your goals. There is a lot of false information floating around on this site about roosters not being able to coexist in a flock. Don't get me wrong. There are some pretty big risks with keeping multiple roosters but multiple roosters coexist pretty peacefully in many flocks.

-what if a chick is too sick/weak etc to make it.... how do you cull a chick?

Any way you can do it quick and sure. Many people use poultry shears or a sharp knife to take the head off, but any way you can be sure that you are quick and sure, the chick will not suffer.

Every one of these questions could have much longer, more detailed answers. You can use the Search feature in the blue bar above to look for more detailed answers or post more questions. This site thrives on questions.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

 

[ksct]

I thank you all for your help! (thanks ridgerunner for being so detailed.)
i'm very nervous about all this... mostly I'd like to make sure that if we do get many roos that they either go to someone that will eat them

or home them forever

I don't want them to be with anyone that doesn't take care of them.

i will do some more searching into this subject. I know we won't have 100% hatch rate that would be amazing if we did especially on the first try

that's why I was curious about the percentage of roosters etc. We will be giving some of the chicks to a friend of ours and we will keep a few. I suppose if he wants 10 and we want 5+/- then if we put 20 in we should have a good shot at getting that number?

thanks again and if anyone else has any advice/info please let me know. I'm very excited and nervous at the same time.