roster died this morning.... I want to incubate his last eggs

[3goodeggs]

So, the girls are down to about 2 eggs a day, and of course my perpetually broody girls are not broody at this time.
I am willing to go get a small incubator and try to incubate the 14 eggs that I have on the counter. They have never seen the refrigerator, and the day temps have been cool-70 degrees.
I realize also that he has been rundown for about three weeks (since his molt) and the eggs may not even be fertile, but the last ones I cracked were. These may not be.

I also realize that because we could not find anything wrong with the poor guy while he was under the weather, that it may have been a defect that was genetic.

With all of these things that I have going against me, should I try to incubate?
He was such a sweet and lovely young man, I hate to lose his temperament gene.
If you all think I should go for it, any hints? I was going to let them hatch a clutch this spring anyway. I waited just too long.

 

[sourland]

Go for it! Good luck.

 

[kizanne]

Well I'd get an incubator. When you get it let it be up and running for at least 12 hours to make sure your temps are stable before putting in the eggs. 2 weeks for fresh eggs is nearing the limit on good hatchability rates but it doesn't hurt anything to put them in and try. Remember your girls may be fertile for up to 2 weeks after he died.

There are lots of threads for hatching. I recommend the dry hatch method.

Run the incubator at 35-40% humidity for the first 18 days then bump up to 60-65% for the last 3.

Durning lockdown try to avoid opening the incubator. Everyone has a hard time following this rule but for the most part it will help keep you from having trouble during hatch.

 

[kizanne]

Where is north central florida?

 

[bobbieschicks]

So, the girls are down to about 2 eggs a day, and of course my perpetually broody girls are not broody at this time.
I am willing to go get a small incubator and try to incubate the 14 eggs that I have on the counter. They have never seen the refrigerator, and the day temps have been cool-70 degrees.
I realize also that he has been rundown for about three weeks (since his molt) and the eggs may not even be fertile, but the last ones I cracked were. These may not be.

I also realize that because we could not find anything wrong with the poor guy while he was under the weather, that it may have been a defect that was genetic.

With all of these things that I have going against me, should I try to incubate?
He was such a sweet and lovely young man, I hate to lose his temperament gene.
If you all think I should go for it, any hints? I was going to let them hatch a clutch this spring anyway. I waited just too long.

If you want more chicks I would go ahead and pick up a bator at a Tractor Supply and put the eggs in it. My broody hatched 4 out of 5 of her eggs a couple of weeks ago and those eggs had been collecting on the kitchen countertop for 10 days in our 70+F house. You can try it and if you find the off spring are not as tempered as the sire - you can always figure out a plan for them.

 

[3goodeggs]

Thanks everyone. We are borrowing an incubator, I'd rather borrow a broody hen, but- oh well. They are rare this time of year.

North central Florida is Gainesville/ Ocala area.

I just do not want to make any exploding stink bombs. I have a lot of past posts to read, and I may be bugging you all again when I start getting all mother hen-ish.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I am so sorry to hear about your Rooster : ( what breed was he and what did you name him?

 

[3goodeggs]

His name was Renard. He was an Australop. I think he had some Buff Orpinton in him though, he wasn't solid black.

But he was a GREAT roster. very careful to watch the skies and gave the alert whenever he felt his ladies were in danger, very gentle, he never ate first.... and when they were running out of food he run up to me and say,"LOOK-LOOK-LOOK" and walk me to the feeder and insist that I remedy the situation. Then he would chase the ladies into the coop and tell them to eat. 'EAT-EAT-EAT!"

I hope we get at least one rooster... I know this is strange, the rest of this site is hoping to get at least one hen from their set.

I will post a picture, if I can figure it out.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

His name was Renard. He was an Australop. I think he had some Buff Orpinton in him though, he wasn't solid black.

But he was a GREAT roster. very careful to watch the skies and gave the alert whenever he felt his ladies were in danger, very gentle, he never ate first.... and when they were running out of food he run up to me and say,"LOOK-LOOK-LOOK" and walk me to the feeder and insist that I remedy the situation. Then he would chase the ladies into the coop and tell them to eat. 'EAT-EAT-EAT!"

I hope we get at least one rooster... I know this is strange, the rest of this site is hoping to get at least one hen from their set.

I will post a picture, if I can figure it out.

Love the name!!! its easy to post pics!! https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/inserting-pics-in-on-the-new-byc

 

[3goodeggs]

http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/c/c9/200x200px-ZC-c9a4c778_32107_cimg3726.jpeg

That did not quite work out like I thought it would. but if you click on it, he's there.