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

My landlord handles all the yard work. And he let the walkway behind my house grow weeds so high that you couldn't even see the walkway anymore. Then he just whacked them down. So I raked it all up today and put it in the run. Is this over-kill? Will they peck and press and down. I threw whatever worms I found in there too.
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Ooh, they will love that.
 
So my hatch was SUPPOSED to happen Friday, today still nothing. It was DH idea to try another batch. What does everyone normally use to sanitize their incubators?
I wash my foam bator out with soap and water to get out all the debris. Then, I wipe it out with bleach solution, and leave the paper towel/rag in there so the chlorine smell will permeate the whole bator. Then, I do a mild bleach wipe down, dry thoroughly before firing up again if it's been sitting for a while.

Sorry your hatch was a bust. Have you checked your eggs for fertility? Do a sampling before commiting them to hatch. Have you calibrated your thermometer(s)/hygrometer? I recommend calibrating the thermometer to 100 degrees with a good medical grade thermometer. What did you use for temp and humidity? What are you using for a bator? Still air or fan? Did you do spot checks throughout the bator box to check for warm/cold spots? Did you have any temp spikes?
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We went away for some much needed family time today. Right now, leaving my flock is a risky endeavor, b/c of the recent hawk attacks and fox siting. But... I can't ignore my family's and my need for R and R, so off we went. We didn't get back until after dark at 8:00 PM. Biggest concern is that some of the girls keep flying out of the electronet fencing. The ones that are out are the ones most vulnerable to hawk attack. Well, I came in the front door, checked on the cat, grabbed my head lamp and headed out the back door. All was pretty quiet. But, when I turned on the deck light, I spied these little faces peering up over the edge of the steps. Then I started counting... there were 7 of them. The naughty girls had not been able to fly back over the fence, so they came to what they figured was the next safest place: The top of the deck steps (6' high) closest to where the treat dispensing human was last seen! I had hubby come out and help me, and we were able to use the head lamp and gentle encouragement to get them down the steps, across the back lawn, through their electronet gate, and into the coop. After tucking them, and Mama broody and her 6 babies back into the coop, all were accounted for. Can't wait till I get my new fence made.
 
We went away for some much needed family time today.  Right now, leaving my flock is a risky endeavor, b/c of the recent hawk attacks and fox  siting.  But... I can't ignore my family's and my need for R and R, so off we went.  We didn't get back until after dark at 8:00 PM.  Biggest concern is that some of the girls keep flying out of the electronet fencing.  The ones that are out are the ones most vulnerable to hawk attack.  Well, I came in the front door, checked on the cat, grabbed my head lamp and headed out the back door.  All was pretty quiet.  But, when I turned on the deck light, I spied these little faces peering up over the edge of the steps.  Then I started counting... there were 7 of them.  The naughty girls had not been able to fly back over the fence, so they came to what they figured was the next safest place:  The top of the deck steps (6' high) closest to where the treat dispensing human was last seen!  I had hubby come out and help me, and we were able to use the head lamp and gentle encouragement to get them down the steps, across the back lawn, through their electronet gate, and into the coop.  After tucking them, and Mama broody and her 6 babies back into the coop, all were accounted for.  Can't wait till I get my new fence made.  

That's great news that they were all safe!! I'm happy you got some r&r with your family and you got all the chickens in for the night. What is an electronet? And how did they get around it?
 
I wash my foam bator out with soap and water to get out all the debris.  Then, I wipe it out with bleach solution, and leave the paper towel/rag in there so the chlorine smell will permeate the whole bator.  Then, I do a mild bleach wipe down, dry thoroughly before firing up again if it's been sitting for a while.  

Sorry your hatch was a bust.  Have you checked your eggs for fertility?  Do a sampling before commiting them to hatch.  Have you calibrated your thermometer(s)/hygrometer?  I recommend calibrating the thermometer to 100 degrees with a good medical grade thermometer.  What did you use for temp and humidity?  What are you using for a bator?  Still air or fan?  Did you do spot checks throughout the bator box to check for warm/cold spots?  Did you have any temp spikes?  

it was my first so a complete learning experience for me. I am bummed but also was prepared for failure :) I had not checked for fertility 31 days ago, but after seeing the bullseye while making breakfast yesterday I am confident these ones will be. I did calibrate my thermometers (two of them) with my candy thermometer which I know is accurate from using it to make candy (boiling points of different points in the candy process) plus a digital temp / ra thermometer. I have a Farm Inovations Styrofoam still air incubator with a turner. The only temp spikes was the outside weather going from 80* to 50* and now back to the 80's.
 
My landlord handles all the yard work. And he let the walkway behind my house grow weeds so high that you couldn't even see the walkway anymore. Then he just whacked them down. So I raked it all up today and put it in the run. Is this over-kill? Will they peck and press and down. I threw whatever worms I found in there too.

If in a couple of weeks you think it's too bulky, you can pull out the big dried stems and toss them. The rest will break down fairly quickly.

I bet your chickens are loving it!



We went away for some much needed family time today. Right now, leaving my flock is a risky endeavor, b/c of the recent hawk attacks and fox siting. But... I can't ignore my family's and my need for R and R, so off we went. We didn't get back until after dark at 8:00 PM. Biggest concern is that some of the girls keep flying out of the electronet fencing. The ones that are out are the ones most vulnerable to hawk attack. Well, I came in the front door, checked on the cat, grabbed my head lamp and headed out the back door. All was pretty quiet. But, when I turned on the deck light, I spied these little faces peering up over the edge of the steps. Then I started counting... there were 7 of them. The naughty girls had not been able to fly back over the fence, so they came to what they figured was the next safest place: The top of the deck steps (6' high) closest to where the treat dispensing human was last seen! I had hubby come out and help me, and we were able to use the head lamp and gentle encouragement to get them down the steps, across the back lawn, through their electronet gate, and into the coop. After tucking them, and Mama broody and her 6 babies back into the coop, all were accounted for. Can't wait till I get my new fence made.

Glad all were safe and sound! I have some sections of temporary fencing connecting the run and coop, and I can't wait until I can start on the final areas.
 
That's great news that they were all safe!! I'm happy you got some r&r with your family and you got all the chickens in for the night. What is an electronet? And how did they get around it?
It is an electric fence that is manufactured with all the wiring going in a grid system. It has fence posts built into the grid every 10' or so, so you just push the posts into the ground, hook it up to your fence charger and ground rod. It will repel land predators, up to and including bear. Obviously, it's not hawk proof, and if chickens choose to fly over it... that's not a good thing either.

it was my first so a complete learning experience for me. I am bummed but also was prepared for failure
smile.png
I had not checked for fertility 31 days ago, but after seeing the bullseye while making breakfast yesterday I am confident these ones will be. I did calibrate my thermometers (two of them) with my candy thermometer which I know is accurate from using it to make candy (boiling points of different points in the candy process) plus a digital temp / ra thermometer. I have a Farm Inovations Styrofoam still air incubator with a turner. The only temp spikes was the outside weather going from 80* to 50* and now back to the 80's.
I may be totally wrong, but: I'm sharing my opinion often! IMO, the boiling water or ice water test for a thermometer that you intend to use for incubation may be perfectly accurate at those extreme temps while still being inaccurate at hatching temps. If a bulb thermometer has any discrepancy of tube size... while accurate at 32 degrees, by the time the liquid gets up to the 100* range, it may still be off enough to cause hatch failure. Same with a candy thermometer. May be accurate at very high cooking temps, while still not being accurate at 100*. I know I'm not a scientist, and only have my opinion to go by, but... there it is, for what it's worth. I wish you the best next time around.
 
It is an electric fence that is manufactured with all the wiring going in a grid system.  It has fence posts built into the grid every 10' or so, so you just push the posts into the ground, hook it up to your fence charger and ground rod.  It will repel land predators, up to and including bear.  Obviously, it's not hawk proof, and if chickens choose to fly over it... that's not a good thing either.  

I may be totally wrong, but:  I'm sharing my opinion often!  IMO, the boiling water or ice water test for a thermometer that you intend to use for incubation may be perfectly accurate at those extreme temps while still being inaccurate at hatching temps.  If a bulb thermometer has any discrepancy of tube size... while accurate at 32 degrees, by the time the liquid gets up to the 100* range, it may still be off enough to cause hatch failure.  Same with a candy thermometer.  May be accurate at very high cooking temps, while still not being accurate at 100*.  I know I'm not a scientist, and only have my opinion to go by, but... there it is, for what it's worth.  I wish you the best next time around.  

I did high temp calibration. I figured that it would be closer to the temp I need at high rather than freezing. Thats why I also got the digital that matched our house thermostat.
 
it was my first so a complete learning experience for me. I am bummed but also was prepared for failure
smile.png
I had not checked for fertility 31 days ago, but after seeing the bullseye while making breakfast yesterday I am confident these ones will be. I did calibrate my thermometers (two of them) with my candy thermometer which I know is accurate from using it to make candy (boiling points of different points in the candy process) plus a digital temp / ra thermometer. I have a Farm Inovations Styrofoam still air incubator with a turner. The only temp spikes was the outside weather going from 80* to 50* and now back to the 80's.
Sorry about your hatch, OMC. This may sound ridiculous, but our meat thermometers are still working great. Budget-friendly temp gauges that have been spot on since we learned how to test them properly.

Here's hoping your next hatch is all popcorn!
 

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