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[littlechicklet]

Here's Uno the only surviving cockerel from the predator attack. He is a little younger than your cuckoo; he is closing in on 9 months old. His comb & tail are not good but like you said I like a lot of things about him. I don't know why but I do. I think part of it is his structure & that you can see a good portion of his hock.

 

[member 142084]

Is there a secret to hatching orp eggs in an incubator? I have a turner, and only a few of my eggs hatch and that's following the directions

What's your guys turnout percentage wise?

 

[littlechicklet]

Is there a secret to hatching orp eggs in an incubator? I have a turner, and only a few of my eggs hatch and that's following the directions

What's your guys turnout percentage wise?

You will get better advice from someone more experienced than I am. I did not trim my Orps so my fertility was not very good to start with I would guess I was less than 50% on my one and first attempt at incubating. My first time broody hen did poorly, she hatched only 2 Orps out of 8 or 10 eggs but again I have not trimmed butts to help.

I would say to make sure to trim butts, check your roo to hen ratio, how old are they & check your eggs to make sure they are fertile before saving any to try to hatch. I personally collected my eggs 2 times a day, stored them in a cool pantry in egg cartons & turned them 2 times a day.

Good luck & I am sure others have much more experience and advice to share.

 

[member 142084]

My ratio is good I will just keep tying I guess. *sighs*

 

[Sonja73]

Is there a secret to hatching orp eggs in an incubator? I have a turner, and only a few of my eggs hatch and that's following the directions

What's your guys turnout percentage wise?

I get a consistent 80-100% hatch rate. I have a turner, fan, etc. I bought a cheap mercury-like thermometer for the interior, it seems to keep the best temp, even better than fancy digital ones.
First, I let the eggs sit in the same room in an egg carton pointy side down for two days prior to putting them in the incubator. Any eggs over 7 days old should be tossed, your hatch rate drops dramatically after 6 days old. Then try to keep a consistent 99.5 degrees. I leave them alone for the first ten days. Only lifting the lid for water. I keep the humidity at @ 30-40%, this is not as important as temperature. On day ten I candle them, tossing the bummers. Then leave them alone until day 18, at which point I take them from the turner, pump up the humidity to @ 70% and pull the top plugs. Sometimes I have to disconnect the fan, depends on the hatch.
I should point out that my incubator is in a non-darfty room and has been set up and running for many hatches, therefore it is "dialed in". Also my rooster to hen ratio is 1-3, so fertility isn't an issue.

Everyone has their way of doing things, this is what has worked best for me. Trial and error, then when you finally get it dialed in-nothing but fun!!!

 

[aveca]

Is there a secret to hatching orp eggs in an incubator? I have a turner, and only a few of my eggs hatch and that's following the directions

What's your guys turnout percentage wise?

Are they shipped eggs? or out of your barn?

 

[Johnn]

I REALLY want a Buff Orpington cockerel now!

 

[thedragonlady]

I REALLY want a Buff Orpington cockerel now!

Hooray ! I'd send you one if I could !

 

[Johnn]

Hooray ! I'd send you one if I could !

Bella's brother needs to go first but the way he's acting, I might get a friend to cull him because he is aggressive towards me and it is really starting to annoy me!

 

[chicksooner]

I think Orps make the best moms. She is way better at brooding chicks than I am. Very impressed with how the big buy watches over his off spring. He even finds goodies for them. I could watch them all day. The chicks are 2 weeks old and the hen is letting them wander a little further and she even let them leave the cover of the bushes and trees for a bit of exploring.