She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[scflock]

How many readers have roosters who climb in the empty nest boxes and wiggle around, making it just so, tossing bits of nesting material over his shoulder, and clucking up a storm to entice the girls to "lay an egg here"?

My roosters are too busy trying to make the 8 seconds

I do have a 4 month old cuckoo marans cockerel that likes to sit in the nest with his mommy

 

[kwhites634]

There are things that can be controlled, if you aren't ignoring what's happening! I don't "worry"... I "monitor".

There IS a difference!

 

[scflock]

There IS a difference!

I'd let that one go. The only fighting allowed in here is me and Amy, and that's only once every 4 weeks

And yes, I said "me and Amy". I know how she loves it when I get top billing

 

[lazy gardener]

My roosters are too busy trying to make the 8 seconds

I do have a 4 month old cuckoo marans cockerel that likes to sit in the nest with his mommy

I bet that cockrel is going to be a good daddy. My roo seems to be very attentive to the gals. He's more of a 4 second guy.

 

[scflock]

I bet that cockrel is going to be a good daddy. My roo seems to be very attentive to the gals. He's more of a 4 second guy.

If someone doesn't buy him soon, he's going to be a good dinner in about another pound

 

[RubyNala97]

I lost a huge multi-quote, so just doing these after all that lost typing!

Oh yeah! I forgot my girl had a 20 too
We never really got to talk about setup. When I got the spot check, I found that mine was usually 1-1.5 degrees lower on the wall side, so every few days I take out the entire tray and rotate it 180 degrees. I forgot to do that on the last batch, since I was running dry, so maybe that had something to do with the low hatch rate. I usually rotate it when I add water. It's really not that hard, I just set the lid on the table, lift out the entire tray, and rotate it 180 degrees and set it back down.
The only other thing I have heard you say that concerns me is how tight your eggs are in the rails. Are they touching? Did you squeeze them down between the rails? I think that's why NT was getting cracked eggs. If mine are touching, I move the rails to the next slot. They rock a little more when turning, but I've never had one crack

Maybe the ones on the outside were delayed a couple days then? How long did you leave the incubator on for after the last chick hatched?

Got golf balls?  Fake eggs?  Even real eggs in the nest boxes might sway them in the right direction.  As far as Loretta goes, I had one stubborn girl who insisted on laying in the back corner of the coop.  I put down plywood, and blocked off that corner.  I put down a big mess of garlic scapes.  She moved to the other corner.  I blocked off that corner too.  She gave up and started using the nest box like a respectable pullet.  

Try moving all of their eggs to one of the other boxes.  Or try blocking off that box for a day.  Leave them in the coop until they are forced to "try" out an other box.

I find that my new layers will often give the exploratory pecks.  I think they wonder what just came out of their butts!

IMO, the whole straw/mite story is amusing.  If you've had mites, you'll see them everywhere.  While it's possible for mites to come in on contaminated straw, it's also possible for them to arrive from a passing wild bird.  Mites will hang out in the litter, roost crevices between roost and wall, and especially love the nest boxes.  

Ruby.  Sorry you're dealing with poor shipped eggs again.  Can you tell us how they were packaged?  Pics?  

No dumb questions.  Yes, they get lighter, b/c the air cell gets bigger.  

I love the "like a respectable pullet" line!!! Classic!!
Ok: these are the best eggs I ever had shipped. From GA to NY. Only half had loose air cells. The other half had no damage. Hatch rate was about 60%.

These are the Worst air cells I've ever had, all extra loose, half detached totally. 0% hatch rate. From Northern (Jacksonville) FL to NY. Both 4 day priority trip and a 20 hr express trip. Don't know % on current batch.

Inside the egg carton, each egg is wrapped in a THIN layer of bubble wrap.

 

[RubyNala97]

Wv, I had you quoted in there before I lost it...I can't wait to do dual hatches when I get the 20....Call eggs in Spring! I've read before that duck eggs are amazing to candle! I can't wait! I need to do major research on what's the best shipping method for eggs before then! Priority vs express?

 

[mixedUPturk]

I lost a huge multi-quote, so just doing these after all that lost typing!
Maybe the ones on the outside were delayed a couple days then? How long did you leave the incubator on for after the last chick hatched?
I love the "like a respectable pullet" line!!! Classic!!
Ok: these are the best eggs I ever had shipped. From GA to NY. Only half had loose air cells. The other half had no damage. Hatch rate was about 60%.

These are the Worst air cells I've ever had, all extra loose, half detached totally. 0% hatch rate. From Northern (Jacksonville) FL to NY. Both 4 day priority trip and a 20 hr express trip. Don't know % on current batch.

Inside the egg carton, each egg is wrapped in a THIN layer of bubble wrap.

im so sorry

 

[RubyNala97]

im so sorry

Thank you! I really hope that someday we find away to ship eggs without damaging them. It's really only been in the last 5 years or so that shipping eggs has gotten popular. I hope in another 5 years there's a better way. I was on a website yesterday where this man is trying to get legislation passed that shipping eggs must be treated the same as live animals. Hopefully we will get there!

 

[scflock]

I lost a huge multi-quote, so just doing these after all that lost typing!
Maybe the ones on the outside were delayed a couple days then? How long did you leave the incubator on for after the last chick hatched?
I love the "like a respectable pullet" line!!! Classic!!
Ok: these are the best eggs I ever had shipped. From GA to NY. Only half had loose air cells. The other half had no damage. Hatch rate was about 60%.


These are the Worst air cells I've ever had, all extra loose, half detached totally. 0% hatch rate. From Northern (Jacksonville) FL to NY. Both 4 day priority trip and a 20 hr express trip. Don't know % on current batch.


Inside the egg carton, each egg is wrapped in a THIN layer of bubble wrap.

The cartons were loose in the box like that? That's horrible...
I let my incubator run until early day 23 with no more pips. When they haven't pipped by then, I don't want them to hatch. I'm pretty sure those were the perimeter eggs, because all my hatches came from one side of the tray. That's what reminded me to rotate the tray. It's a simple thing to do, I just forgot about it because I wasn't adding water. I'm rotating every other day this time.
I'm also getting the after hatch deaths again...

I had a few looking puny on Monday. I gave them water, but they just got more and more lethargic. Lost one Monday, one Tuesday, and one this morning. They were all healthy and active on Saturday, so I don't know why they drop off after the hatch. All I can figure is they aren't eating and drinking. I get them to drink when I'm there, but don't know if they do on their own. I've tried to look for any similarities in the ones that died, and all I have noticed this time is they are the blackest chicks. Maybe they aren't bred well, or maybe there is another issue with those pullets. After 6 weeks of hatching and 48 eggs set, I only have 15 chicks to show for it. With my luck, the ones dying are pullets...
I'm trying to be a little more hands on this time by turning the egg tray, but I'm still not candling until lockdown. I'm watching sidewings chicks with keen interest. If his do well, and he hatches better than me in the spring, I may be getting chicks from where he got his

ETA: I also added sav-a-chick to the water, so