one long thread for all of my current and future incubation questions

[black_cat]

Title says it all! Here's a long thread for questions so taht I don't clutter the forum with 20000 threads. First questions:

How long do you leave chicks in the incubator after hatch?
Do hatched chicks bother the other chicks that are hatching or mess up the other eggs?
Is it ok to candle every day?

 

[black_cat]

@CHlCKEN for you too

 

[MGG]

Title says it all! Here's a long thread for questions so taht I don't clutter the forum with 20000 threads. First questions:

How long do you leave chicks in the incubator after hatch?
Do hatched chicks bother the other chicks that are hatching or mess up the other eggs?
Is it ok to candle every day?

I'll answer them in the morning!!!

 

[Xouie]

My personal experience/opinion answers below:

How long do you leave chicks in the incubator after hatch?

Number of hours depends on species. I take them out when dry because it just gets too busy in there when a bunch are out.

Do hatched chicks bother the other chicks that are hatching or mess up the other eggs?

I hear they don’t, but more than once I’ve had a zipping baby get punted around kind of brutally to the point I get concerned.

Is it ok to candle every day?

You can, up to the the last few days. Considering the mana hen gets off the nest daily anyway for a while, they won’t suffer from cooling off for a few minutes. (Not really recommended if you’re incubating several dozen eggs of course.) You’ll get over wanting to candle daily after the first thousand eggs anyway.

 

[black_cat]

My personal experience/opinion answers below:

Number of hours depends on species. I take them out when dry because it just gets too busy in there when a bunch are out.

Chickens. Is it true that there should always be one in the incubator to encourage the others to hatch? Is opening the incubator bad to take one out if there's one mid hatch or one that isn't dry?

I hear they don’t, but more than once I’ve had a zipping baby get punted around kind of brutally to the point I get concerned.

If you see that happening, do you remove the chicks?

You can, up to the the last few days. Considering the mana hen gets off the nest daily anyway for a while, they won’t suffer from cooling off for a few minutes. (Not really recommended if you’re incubating several dozen eggs of course.) You’ll get over wanting to candle daily after the first thousand eggs anyway.

No candling in lockdown, right?

 

[black_cat]

Does getting flipped around to candle cause issues?

 

[black_cat]

Would shipping eggs completely ruin my first hatch? (STRUGGLING to find fertile eggs anywhere near me)

 

[MarshyRooster]

I haven't been on a farm for long, but what I did was my family adopted some wonderful chicks at a farm nearby (we only had one rooster, but we're glad we have him because he stops the girls from fighting for dominance) and they grew up, and then we got one of their eggs and put it in the incubator, and now we have three little chicks (long story of why we have three even though there was just one egg put in). If I were you, I might just adopt chicks and wait for them to lay to hatch eggs. If you want, you could also get hens that are already laying and a rooster, (but I'm not sure you would want that, because everyone's chick preferences are different) and then keep collecting their eggs without doing any shipping at all. Although it's always trial-and-error with eggs. Anyway, embryos are delicate little creatures, so I would suggest not doing shipping.
But if you have your heart set on getting eggs immediately, you could try visiting farms around you, if there are any, and seeing if they have any unwanted eggs that they think might be fertile. You could do shipping if you want, but it's pretty risky. Good luck!

 

[Xouie]

Chickens. Is it true that there should always be one in the incubator to encourage the others to hatch? Is opening the incubator bad to take one out if there's one mid hatch or one that isn't dry?

If you see that happening, do you remove the chicks?

No candling in lockdown, right?

I suck at quoting. It worked the first time.

With chickens I feel comfortable leaving in up to a day old if necessary. Yes, I like to leave a cheerleader behind — it seems to help. Usually the last one out. Eggs that are actively working tend to wiggle in response to chirps (super cool!). I have heard it’s bad if there’s a chick is mid hatch when you open the bator. I do try to time it so nobody is just starting to zip. But IME there doesn’t tend to be a problem if humidity is high enough and stable.

I absolutely remove the football players from the bator. Maybe it is unnecessary but it’s a little bit less stressful for me.

Only candle during lockdown if there is a specific need (eg, to see if a very late hatcher is still alive).

Once you go into lockdown, binge watch Vikings or start a 1000 piece puzzle or reorganize your closet —- find something to do that will keep you occupied and not peeking in the incubator every 10 minutes. If that doesn’t work, get a nice bright flashlight to help you see well without disturbing things.

 

[black_cat]

I haven't been on a farm for long, but what I did was my family adopted some wonderful chicks at a farm nearby (we only had one rooster, but we're glad we have him because he stops the girls from fighting for dominance) and they grew up, and then we got one of their eggs and put it in the incubator, and now we have three little chicks (long story of why we have three even though there was just one egg put in). If I were you, I might just adopt chicks and wait for them to lay to hatch eggs. If you want, you could also get hens that are already laying and a rooster, (but I'm not sure you would want that, because everyone's chick preferences are different) and then keep collecting their eggs without doing any shipping at all. Although it's always trial-and-error with eggs. Anyway, embryos are delicate little creatures, so I would suggest not doing shipping. Good luck!

I already have adult chickens but would be hatching for other people so can't keep chicks. I am trying to specifically find cream legbars because they are autosexing.