Setting 80 on 9/8, 10/1, 10/24, and probably 11/16

[scflock]

I'm just making every mistake that can be made...to get them behind me...

I never thought about light helping to prevent trampling. Most of the 17 had been sat on (e.g. they were very flat), and I thought initially it was the colder weather, but then I found one dead that was just sitting there, looking alive...away from the corner they typically congregated at...so clearly it wasn't trampling.

@scflock
, hope you and yours are doing well, I haven't paid enough attention to the weather turmoil.

Anyway, thanks @WVduckchick
, for the update on everyone.

Yeah, I don't pay much attention to the weather in Canada, either
We had a hurricane pass by offshore, but it ran into a low coming up from the gulf and dumped anywhere from 7-23 inches of rain on SC. We got 7 where I am, but I work in construction, so it's been a mess. 50 miles south of me, in Columbia, was a disaster. No water for days, dams burst, 19 people died in floodwaters... It was a mess. All the chooks are fine, though, and we have turned the corner on the cleanup at work

 

[NTBugtraq]

Sorry I am so late to this thread.

Thanks for still responding!

I don't like the idea of brining chickens for sale, I'm forcing customers, but I get your point they will get something they can work with. If I sold smoke birds, perhaps it would make more sense. I appreciate your explanations as to how birds used to be cooked, perhaps that's why I have 1/2 customers saying they were great and 1/2 saying they aren't. I need to turn that issue into a selling point so I don't get unhappy customers (ok, so this bird can't be just roasted in an oven like one you'd buy from the grocery store, you need to..."

 

[NTBugtraq]

Yeah, I don't pay much attention to the weather in Canada, either

We had a hurricane pass by offshore, but it ran into a low coming up from the gulf and dumped anywhere from 7-23 inches of rain on SC. We got 7 where I am, but I work in construction, so it's been a mess. 50 miles south of me, in Columbia, was a disaster. No water for days, dams burst, 19 people died in floodwaters... It was a mess. All the chooks are fine, though, and we have turned the corner on the cleanup at work

@scflock , I hope you and yours are ok.

 

[WalnutHill]

Thanks for still responding!

I don't like the idea of brining chickens for sale, I'm forcing customers, but I get your point they will get something they can work with. If I sold smoke birds, perhaps it would make more sense. I appreciate your explanations as to how birds used to be cooked, perhaps that's why I have 1/2 customers saying they were great and 1/2 saying they aren't. I need to turn that issue into a selling point so I don't get unhappy customers (ok, so this bird can't be just roasted in an oven like one you'd buy from the grocery store, you need to..."

The best method is to educate your customers on your product and sell to those who "get it". I can sell every old hen and full grown roosters to my ethnic customers, be it Asian, Eastern European, or Latin American. I can't sell them to the people who live in my neighborhood.

I doubt you can legally sell your chickens "adulterated" (brined) or smoked. Generally a LOT of regulations around that...

My heritage turkeys sell to the high end market, the people who shop at the stores I can't afford to. Not a single ethnic person or anyone in what I'd call the working class buys the heritage birds, only executives and business owners. Price may have something to do with it, but they do appreciate the product and that it is NOT your Butterball bowling ball.

 

[NTBugtraq]

Well, as usual but slightly better, today is day 20 and I have had only a single hatch. As I moved the eggs out of the turner in the Janoel yesterday I notice there were 3 pip starters (shell had been broken in one spot, but no shell chips had fallen away). Today, my first hatch. Fingers crossed, I have potentially 73 viable eggs going into lockdown (I only checked for clears on day 10, I did not check again prior to going into lockdown.) Fingers crossed that I will wake up to a lot of hatches.

 

[FridayYet]

Hope you have a great hatch!

 

[WalnutHill]

Best of luck hatching!

 

[WVduckchick]

x3 good luck on the hatch! What's going on now?

 

[NTBugtraq]

Day 22 Update:

Bator​

Eggs Set​

Clears​

Fertility Rate​

Hatched​

Early Deaths​

Late Deaths​

Hatch Rate
Janoel8-48​

42​

5​

??%​

17​

0​

0​

45.95%
Brinsea Octo ADV EX​

40​

3​

??%​

25​

0​

1​

75.68%​

I haven't given up on the eggs yet, hence the ??% fertility rate. I don't think my young BCM cockerels were performing during the time I collected these eggs (they were only 19 weeks old at setting time), so I suspect the fertility rate is down around 80% or slightly lower.


My 1 "Late Death" is actually a cull. I had a chick born without a skull cap...

...who knew.

1 of the 41 chicks I put into the brooders this morning didn't seem to be thriving and was getting stepped on, so I just gave him some vitamin water and put him back into the bator, we'll see how he's faring tomorrow. Nothing visibly wrong with him.

My mentorship program seems to be working well. I did this for my last hatch also. What I do is before I put the day olds in the brooder, I picked the 2 smallest of my 3 week 2-day-old chicks from other brooders and put them into the day-old brooder. They have been great with the day olds. This will hopefully help the day-olds learn to eat and drink. Seems to be working because I'm having great luck with the brooders.

I moved 10 of the 3 week 2-day-olds out to the immature run. That run now has those guys, plus 7 week and 10 week mixed, and 14 and 15 week old cockerels. The 10 are moving around just fine (they've been in there all day) even going outside. We have had some freezing temperatures and I want to see how the 3 week olds fare with the weather. Also, to see if cocci affects them, they got medicated chick starter since birth.

I found one of my 23 week old pullets inside my 40lb hanging food bin...lolz, shoulda taken a picture of that.

So now at 67 birds in my living room, and in case you are wondering...yes everything is covered in 1/4" of the finest dust you can imagine.

 

[WalnutHill]

what a reason to cull. Seems the Brinsea did well, were the eggs similar across both incubators?