Simulated Natural Nest Incubation~Experiment #1 So it begins....

[fisherlady]

Awwwwwww! Turkey eggs! What a perfect birthday gift!!!!

LOL... When he saw the price he was pretty happy, I'm such a cheap-o Thank you for the Bday wishes!!!!... Its also our sons 26th birthday, He always says he doesn't ever have to get me a gift because he is just the gift that keeps on giving Thank goodness his lovely wife knows better

Happy Birthday!! Congrats on the turkey eggs.

 

[AmericanMom]

Sounds like my sons...

Last year one of them got me a Mother's Day card and left it blank...didn't sign it. Said that was so he could use it again next year. Men....

So glad mine aren't the only "forward thinking" guys

 

[fisherlady]

LOL! Well, we have one broody on day 13...we only get to see her eggs maybe once a day. But we do get to see her shuffle them frequently. And my DH and I just picked up a dozen hatching eggs from a good breeder to give to another hen who went broody a few days ago. Tis the season!

Okay...I've got broody envy now.  I was hoping to get some very prized eggs from a very good breeder from a very coveted line this year if I only had a good broody to hatch them....but instead I'm trying to learn how to be a broody well enough to maybe, finally, if it isn't too late in the breeding season by the time I get a decent hatch rate, get a few of this man's leftovers. 

I just didn't know enough about incubating to build my own foam cooler and do all the controls there and felt this would be a quicker learning curve....ahem...thought wrong, didn't I? 

What breed did you hope to get?

 

[normanack]

So...how is everyone's hatches going out there today? . . . .
Captain's Log Entry, March 28, in the year of our Lord, 2014:  Day 2 of exile on Incubation Island.  Today I turned the eggs.  Looking forward to turning them later on.  Ship's crew growing restless, must find food and fresh water before they decide to mutiny.  Will log progress.

Ha! Love it!

I have 11 in a standard styrofoam incubator, day 12. Candling them today, they all look about the same: mostly dark with some possible veining, plus the air cell. Last week I saw embryos with heartbeats in three of them, a still embryo in the fourth, and not at all sure of the others (more or less dark, with air cells).
I apparently have no clue how to candle. :-/

 

[Cowpoke]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU AND YOUR SON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Thank You for your responses! I've been told by others that a hen if she is going to go broody will usually be over two years old.......does that sound right?

Yeah, "Broody Envy" too!!!!

 

[AmericanMom]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU AND YOUR SON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Thank You for your responses! I've been told by others that a hen if she is going to go broody will usually be over two years old.......does that sound right?

Yeah, "Broody Envy" too!!!!

The Java that is sitting now is about a year and a half but my other broody was right about a year old when she first went broody but I never let her hatch chicks til she was 2 1/2 or 3.... I have 10 pullets that are around 6 or so months old and I have had a couple of them act like they would like too but pop right back out... I think a lot depends on the Hen, I have heard silkies will brood anything...

And thank you for the Birthday wishes1

 

[AmericanMom]

Happy Birthday!! Congrats on the turkey eggs.

Thank you!

 

[Zanna]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU AND YOUR SON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Thank You for your responses! I've been told by others that a hen if she is going to go broody will usually be over two years old.......does that sound right?

Yeah, "Broody Envy" too!!!!

I have had some that lay their first 12 eggs then go broody. Most all that I have had go broody anytime from laying for a couple of months up till their 2nd birthday. Some go broody once and never again, some go broody every year, some stay broody most of the year! Just depends on the pullet/hen. Also, some breeds are much more inclined to go broody such as Silkies, not so much Hatchery leghorns although there are always exceptions.

 

[Cowpoke]

Bee are you using the wigglers for your thermometer?

 

[fisherlady]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU AND YOUR SON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Thank You for your responses! I've been told by others that a hen if she is going to go broody will usually be over two years old.......does that sound right?

Yeah, "Broody Envy" too!!!!

It depends on the breed and individual hens. 5 of my 6 current broodies are under 1 year old. The silkie is over 2, but this is her 5th brood.