Starting staggered hatching adventure

[Rubysword]

I was going to say it... But felt silly... Guess I'm not the only one !

 

[Redhead Rae]

IDK why, but for some reason I thought all cornish birds were white. Probably b/c when we go to fairs all the meat birds are white. Those are beautiful. Are those full grown for processing or did you keep those longer for breeding?

Those are my breeding birds.

 

[aart]

How to feed your laying and breed flock

Just a heads up @KikisGirls .... Did you notice that the PDF you linked is out of date?

Here's the new one:
https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/pnw477.pdf

 

[Kiki]

Just a heads up @KikisGirls .... Did you notice that the PDF you linked is out of date?
View attachment 1276944

Here's the new one:
https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/pnw477.pdf

Thanks..no I did not notice.
A lot of things are "out of date" online.
I Like old things...

 

[Redhead Rae]

The 6 remaining mixed flock eggs that were supposed to start hatching last week, never hatched. I have them until day 26 (yesterday), candled them and there was no movement and they didn't fill the shell. They were all late quiters. So I turned off the incubator after I candled them and I chucked them today.

Today, I candled the 5 Cornish eggs that were on day 13 and they had no signs of ANY growth at all. So they got chucked as well.

On Sunday, I picked up 3 gorgeous Chocolate Orpington hens along with 2 dozen of their eggs that were fertilized by Bantam Cochins. On Monday, I set the older dozen of the CO eggs in the less buggy incubator.

Over the weekend I came to the conclusion that at least one of my incubators was too buggy to be trusted, ergo, why I have no chicks from them at the moment. So I ordered a Brinsea Ovation 28 EX. I got this incubator because it monitors and controls humidity, which was a MAJOR headache for us with the less expensive incubators.

The incubator arrived today, and it is really cool! It has a double walled lid that traps the warm air closer to the eggs.

After the Brinsea got up to temp and the humidity stabilized, I filled it with the other dozen Chocolate Orpington eggs, 4 more eggs the CO laid in the last few days, and 4 Cornish eggs. The trays are also really nice, they aren't segmented, so I can put in as many eggs as can fit. With a few of the Chocolate Orp eggs being smaller, I was able to fit 8 in one tray! This will come in handy when I need to do an egg shuffle when it comes time to setup the older incubator for hatching. Currently, I have too many eggs to put all the less developed eggs in the Brinsea when it is time to hatch the mixed flock eggs I set last week. I'm currently regretting the decision to not spend the extra $100 to get the 56 egg version (not that it was in the budget at the moment).

Not that I want any eggs to go bad, but I think I'll have to do some aggressive paring down to make it all work.

 

[aart]

<longlowwhistle> Slick!

 

[Redhead Rae]

On second thought, I guess I COULD hatch in the Brinsea, but I don't want to get my new incubator, that I mainly want for starting eggs, dirty and the other bator is notoriously hard to keep the humidity levels low for starting without having the alarm go CRAZY.

Any thoughts?

@WVduckchick @Smuvers Farm @Chickassan @TexasSam @rjohns39

 

[WVduckchick]

I think I'd try hatching in the non-Brinsea to start with. You will likely have some clears and be able to move things around when the time comes.
Plus, even though the other bator is kinda buggy, it should be ok for 3 days at a time, and once the chicks are developed well, slight variations won't be as critical. Maybe??

 

[TexasSam]

On second thought, I guess I COULD hatch in the Brinsea, but I don't want to get my new incubator, that I mainly want for starting eggs, dirty and the other bator is notoriously hard to keep the humidity levels low for starting without having the alarm go CRAZY.

Any thoughts?

@WVduckchick @Smuvers Farm @Chickassan @TexasSam @rjohns39

Can you adjust the ventilation easily on the old bator

 

[Redhead Rae]

I'm in LOVE with this new bator, the temp is rock solid. I've only seen it up or down .2 degrees C from the ideal of 37.5C and the humidity has remained solidly in the 40's.

Can you adjust the ventilation easily on the old bator

The humidity stays high enough for hatching easily, so that isn't an issue.