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

[Ravynscroft]

Pretty duck!

I don't feed the chickens the cat food on purpose. The little stinkers know many ways to get to the food. Will it effect their laying negatively?

A handful between 7? Think you're ok...

I figured I could blame the incubator if I lost, since it will be my first time using it!

She's a beauty! I want to hatch calls.

Thanks... she's a spoiled brat and thinks she runs the whole house...

Call eggs are a big assisted hatch... short bills make giving them safeholes almost a guaranteed necessity...

On other eggs, I don't assist on eggs from my own flock, unless it's a problem I caused, etc... shipped eggs I usually assist... guess I'm purple then?

 

[scflock]

I actually wonder if I'll need it. Humidity in my neck of the woods is usually normally pretty high. We don't get the "dry heat" like everyone else, it seems to stay hot and wet here. I'll set it up for a few days without the pump and see how it goes, then decide if I need to add the pump or not.

If I had the pump, I would use it, but it's not worth the extra $140. I only added water 3 times this go around. I just wanted to dual

 

[WVduckchick]

Thanks... she's a spoiled brat and thinks she runs the whole house...

Call eggs are a big assisted hatch... short bills make giving them safeholes almost a guaranteed necessity...

On other eggs, I don't assist on eggs from my own flock, unless it's a problem I caused, etc... shipped eggs I usually assist... guess I'm purple then?

I'm sure she does run the whole house! You just think you do...

Yea, I know about the difficulty hatching calls. I haven't tried them yet, but I'm up for the challenge! I think I will wait till next spring for them though.

Yes! Another purple!!! YEAH!!!!

 

[WVduckchick]

If I had the pump, I would use it, but it's not worth the extra $140. I only added water 3 times this go around. I just wanted to dual

Now you're just teasing me!

(and the pump was included in the deal. So I count it as free!)

 

[scflock]

Now you're just teasing me!

(and the pump was included in the deal. So I count it as free!)

That's what I'm saying, if I had the pump I would use it. It would be totally hands off, then. Much better than a dry dual

 

[AmyLynn2374]

This is pretty much how Amy and I met. People posting threads about whether to assist or not. We had completely different philosophies, and would give our reasons, but never argued. We didn't start arguing until we found out I was a jerk and she was a wee bit sensitive

Yes, ding dong, 20/22=90%

You never blame the Brinsea

Brinsea is infallible

I know some people that can screw up a hatch even with a Brinsea.......lol

 

[sideWing]

I wanted to duel with SC... his Brinsea vs. my new one, but I won't have it for 2 weeks and he can't wait on me....

Congrats on the Brinsea!

Been hanging with SC much??? lol

It's just plain less stressful.

Not checking the eggs anyway. Hanging with SC..... well that's different.

If I ever get up in that neck of the wood we are definitely having a hang out.

 

[WVduckchick]

That's what I'm saying, if I had the pump I would use it. It would be totally hands off, then. Much better than a dry dual

But if you only added water 3 times, that's not bad at all! I'll let you know when I get it, and you can help me set it up.

 

[scflock]

Congrats on the Brinsea! 

It's just plain less stressful.   Not checking the eggs anyway. Hanging with SC..... well that's different. 

Posted a ton of pics. Catch up

 

[rossfam06]

You betcha!!  I'll still have to feed my candling addiction!!     I could never be full blue.

The lady selling it was a teacher, just bought it last March, but she's done... plus she has 5 incubators!  lol
The best part is that her sister lives like 5 minutes from me, and will be visiting her next week, and the sister will bring it back home!  So I don't even have to drive 3 hours to get it!!!  I'm so excited!!! 

Lucky duck!!!! I need me a brinsea.

Congrats on the octagon 20, but would be too small for me to bother with.

e
You'll be blue by the second hatch
Guess that means you will be worthy of the Am eggs this spring

She's with me........she's not going to the dark side sorry.

It's called cat food for a reason
My serious answer is it is probably way too high in protein and fat

Actually it's good for them if they need higher protein content....

   If you wait a couple of weeks, we could have dualing Brinseas...   

I would love to see that...if and when it happens.....WV would have a better hatch rates because she's purple.

Some people raise their flock protein by adding cat food.  I've been known to toss out a few handfuls (like scratch) during molts or in extended periods of sub zero weather.  An other high protein supplement that folks use is pelleted fish food.  Not saying it's right or wrong, just saying what some people do.  I'm not too proud to use what ever is at my disposal when I want to beef up their feed.  But, as a regular part of their diet... I'd not let them chow the cat food.  Fat chickens are more prone to laying problems.

Agreed.

I've seen a couple people, one specifically push this.  As willing as I am to assist and as red as I am, I'm against this. My philosphy runs a little closer to SC's in this situation. I believe that if a chick can not at least make an internal pip on it's own, it isn't meant to hatch. If it's not strong enough to take that step, I don't see how "helping" is going to change the outcome and I don't want to have to cull or watch a weak chick die. Even if you could "pip" for them and not hit a major vein, they are most likely going to die before the vascular system shuts down and you can help them further anyway.  The most I would ever do (and I haven't yet) is if I had an internal pip and heard chirping for 24 hours with no external pip is put a small hole in  the air cell to assure fresh air getting into the egg and give it more time to externally pip.  My basic philosophy is they have to externally pip and be pipped (unless there is extreme distress) for 18 hours + before I will intervine. (SP??? lol)

Been hanging with SC much??? lol

I candle if there is no internal pip then create an external to verify life. And check the membrane to see if there is blood still in the veins before I create the internal pip.

I'm sure she does run the whole house!  You just think you do... 

Yea, I know about the difficulty hatching calls.  I haven't tried them yet, but I'm up for the challenge!  I think I will wait till next spring for them though. 

Yes!  Another purple!!!   YEAH!!!! 

Yeah!!!!!!! I wonder what our total is...?