***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[poultryand bees]

old*cowboy :

Incubator report.... Candled first 84 eggs that were put in 30 got kicked out. 54 good. This kinda suprised me, I expected more bad. Am happy I was wrong. Some of the bad eggs probable my fault. I started saving eggs to early in anticipation of getting it, and it took longer for them to ship than I expected. ( they clearly state on website, DONT SAVE EGGS TILL INCUBATOR ARRIVES, but hey I was in a hurry) So some of these eggs had some age on them. Also noticed I kicked out alot of my cornish bantam eggs. I hope my rooster is doing his job. As heavy as he is, I will have to watch him more closely. Now I am a chicken pervert, watching my little chickens do there thing. Oh the shame of it all. I put 28 more eggs in the bator after kicking out the bad ones. So it is about full again. With the egg turners in it and not useing the top trey because I use it for my humidity bowl of water and keep my digital therm and humidity read out on top shelf also it holds 123 eggs. I have about 60 outside under hens. I am so ready to start looking at biddys running around the place.

Sounds like you are well on your way to having lots of chicks!

Would sanding the edge of a tray help them pull out more easily, without affecting the integrity of the paint/sealant?​

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
gorgeous berries!!!!!
How long did it take to dehydrate them and do you have a favorite book on dehydration?

It has taken 12+ hrs. The first ones were finished at about 12 hrs, but others are still dehydrating. I set up the dehydrator in the garage so it doesn't heat up the house. As for favorite books, no not really since this is my first year, but the books I've been using are "Preserving food w/o freezing or canning" (I hate canning) and "Preserving summer's bounty" and "Make it easy canning, pickeling, and preserving"

One thing I've learned is most veggies loose alot of nutrition from dehydration (not tomatoes) and most fruits either don't lose nutrition or it is enhanced through dehydration. I'm still learning quite a bit.

 

[CityClucks]

Quote:
Has anyone tried dehydrating bananas yet? Mine came out dry but chewy...is that what they're supposed to be like? They taste good - and as Jack said, "What did you put on these to make them taste like bananas?!"

 

[Kassaundra]

I tried many years ago when at home (w/ Gma) mine never looked like the stores and were leathery too, not crisp. My husband is a banana fiend and I would hate to think the number I would have to bring home to have any to preserve!!! I don't eat them b/c they hurt my stomach.

The books all say they will turn out leathery to crunchy.

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

I used to have a reciepe for a glaze that you dip a lot of fruits in to keep them from coming out with a bitter taste I don't remember what all it had but it was called a honey glaze something or other I used to dehydrate a lot of stuff from the garden canned a lot too LOL I still have a few jars that came out so pretty I never broke the seal to eat them, I am betting they aren't any good now even though they are still sealed well.

 

[Kassaundra]

The book says equal parts honey and water (1 c each), w/ juice of 1 lemon.

 

[old*cowboy]

Quote:
Sounds like you are well on your way to having lots of chicks!

Would sanding the edge of a tray help them pull out more easily, without affecting the integrity of the paint/sealant?

Yes I am sure it would, but will have to wait till hatching season is over to sand it. When I candled the eggs I had DW help and we pulled out the turners. Little more of a pain than pulling out the trey, but it worked.

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

Since it's day 24 I removed all the eggs that didn't hatch and the one Campine egg had pipped and zipped on the back side where I couldn't see it, and the chick was still trying to get out so I helped it, It really wasn't stuck to the shell just seems like it couldn't zip any further around to pop on out, I wish I'd seen that yesterday, I'm not sure that it will make it it's real active trying to stay right side up but it's a bit curled from being too long in the shell, I'll give it a chance though since it was the only one of the dozen that made it this far. Any suggestions to help it out?

 

[poultryand bees]

Quote:
I have never had much luck with successfully helping a chicken out of its shell. It seems like they have club feet or a crooked neck, when I have tried it in the past.

 

[Kassaundra]

Well b/c of 2 miss communications w/ my husband I have now planted more okra then should be legal. Hope the girls like it since we don't eat the stuff. (was planted for the chickens)