Official Hatchers Unanimous Thread! ***Oh, and Support Group~~~~

[Woods_Woman]

Hello all my name is Tina..I too am a Hatchaholic/Hoarder. I live in City limits where we are only allowed 3 hens, and Im now up to 5 and would love to top out at 10-12 w/o drawing eyes to my yard. I've got 3 incubators and lately all have been running, I use one as a hatcher. My husband and 18 y/o daughter think I have lost my mind, my 4 y/o son loves it so he's on my side. Currently I have 20 chicks in the house ranging from 2 days to 2 weeks. I have 4 eggs going into lock down tomorrow, and I just set another 12 eggs this morning. My mother always told me Birds of a feather Flock together, so figured I'd join you all in the addiction.

 

[Illia]

Hi, my name is Illia and I'm a hatch-o-holic. I started my addiction late January with a couple test eggs from my own flock, they failed, then I bought another incubator and got myself dozens and dozens of Ameraucana and Marans eggs as well as more from my own flock. Currently I have 2 incubators I use, one for the most important eggs and the other for the extras that don't fit but we didn't spend as much money on.

My addiction is at this state: I'm due for 20 babies to hatch tomorrow, 4 more babies to hatch Monday, then on Tuesday I've got 20 chicks coming in, and on Friday I'm putting in another 4 dozen eggs to the two incubators, plus almost 2 dozen of my own polish eggs to run some fertility testing.

Once those are done, I'll have the incubator open for some Partridge Brahmas and Buff Brahmas. . .

One those are done, I'll have room for some Tolbunt Polish and possibly some more Araucanas.

My incubator is booked until mid may.

 

[Spunky~Chick~Mom]

Quote:
Brahmas? Yes they will.

 

[Spunky~Chick~Mom]

WELCOME TO THE NEW MEMBERS!!!

Joanne <Joyryder>
Tina <tibanks>
Illia

Thanks for joining our compulsive need to incubate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Peep_Show]

You know you're a hatch-a-holic when.....

....You phone home and the second words out of your mouth after "Hi" are "Could you check? What's the temp in the incubator?"

....You have fantasies about the next incubator you're going to acquire.

....You have a couple of dud eggs, but it's not so tragic because you've got another box of eggs already coming in the mail.

....You start rationalizing and strategizing: "If I don't eat lunch out, I can buy more eggs!"

 

[LarryPQ]

You know you are a hatchaholic when:

You look in the incubator, and there is an egg you do not recognize. It is marked with a sharpie, which I did when the OEGBs went broody...but both gave up and left the nest. I vaguely remember picking up still-warm eggs when I saw one roosting for the night. I don't remember putting them in the incubator.

Both OEGBs started/gave up 5+ days apart---and I can't find any posts where I mention it. So, while the egg looks pretty far along, I have NO CLUE when it is due. Hmmm...when to take it out of the turner?

 

[CoopCrazy]

Hi my name is CoopCrazy and Im a Hatchoholic... I swear I can stop anytime I want.. I just dont want to....

 

[Peep_Show]

Quote:
Uh-oh! An egg blackout!
Well, at least you recognized your incubator....right?

 

[LarryPQ]

Quote:
Uh-oh! An egg blackout!
Well, at least you recognized your incubator....right?

Am I setting eggs in my sleep? Where am I getting the eggs? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?

 

[beckymom3]

Newbie Becky here: I got the Dorkings (oh, joy, I can't wait!!!!), half the Brahmas and all the Australorps in the Hova bator, temps steady at 100,and humidity 48%.

I put 2 goose eggs in an LG still air (TSC job, last minute buy when I found out my Brinsea wouldn't be here until next week!) and I'm having a dickens of a time keeping the temp stable.

I have 3 thermometers in there to prove I'm not crazy!!!! I do not like that incubator...I will use it for hatching and that's it for future batches.

I have the rest of the Brahmas to put in still, not sure if I want to use the LG or hold out on the Brinsea. I am nervous about running the chickens and the geese at the same time.

So, despite having hatched all of 2 chicks from my first batch, I am now so addicted I have 2 incubators and a third on the way!

Honestly, it was just a matter of time considering my obsession with fluffy baby chicks! I am so addicted to babies I go to the feed store just to watch them (and finally succumbed and bought some to play with the 2 I hatched on my own!)

I love reading the stories of how crazy people are about their chickies and hatching. It's so wonderful to know I'm not alone (and there may be some who are nuttier than me, even!)