The 4th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long

[Hurley]

And you got his accent, perfectly. He really wuvs his duckies.

 

[mstricer]

Quote: That is so cute, can't till my grand daughter is born in April

Nice

 

[Jessshan8]

Went out to the coop after work to feed and gather eggs and heard some chirping from under my broody!

She is separated from the rest of the flock so the other hens wont push her off the nest. she is still hunkered down on the nest so not all have hatched yet. I will post pics as soon as she lets them come out to play in a day or two. She accomplished this in weather in the mid 20's to high 30's. Such a good broody! I posted a pic of her on the eggs a couple weeks ago on here.

 

[Jessshan8]

Here she is.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Here she is.

 

[Jessshan8]

I have yet another couple questions for you all on here.
1) How do you guys determine hatch rate? I personally judge it by counting all the eggs that start to develop (including blood rings) and then by how many make it all the way through and actually hatch. I have seen a post where that person only counts which ones made it to lockdown. This doesn't seem right to me.
2) How do you guys determine fertility? I count everything set in the bator and at first candling I check any clears for fertility. then go from there.

 

[CayuseRanch]

Was someone looking for Jersey Giants? Someone posted in the BST section some eggs for sale.

 

[tadpole98]

Tad..
during laying season we use an A frame with an enclosure for safety. A large dog house will work great too.


This is an old cupolo off our coop..they ducks use this for nesting also


This end is closed with a temporary fence during breeding season. The back run is open to them and enclosed for safety.

thats a nice design! i like how it wouldnt cost a few hundred dollars, and it would be effective. I am probably going to do the A-frame until I have time to build a purdy one.

Quote: We have wild dogs out here, so i would want to shut them in at night before the dogs dig for them. but i hadnt thought of feeding/water outside, that will save some space and cleaning!

 

[CayuseRanch]

I have yet another couple questions for you all on here.
1) How do you guys determine hatch rate? I personally judge it by counting all the eggs that start to develop (including blood rings) and then by how many make it all the way through and actually hatch. I have seen a post where that person only counts which ones made it to lockdown. This doesn't seem right to me.
2) How do you guys determine fertility? I count everything set in the bator and at first candling I check any clears for fertility. then go from there.

I calculate hatch rate as Total eggs set - Infertile then # eggs hatched/fertile eggs

So for example lets say I set 10 eggs
at 10 day candle I remove 1 because of a crack or something...I open it and check for development, no development, so minus 1
Day 18 Remove 1 for blood ring, again open it and confirm development. So do NOT minus 1.
8 eggs in lockdown, 7 hatch, open last egg and it confirms late quitter.
7 eggs hatched / 10eggs set - 1 infertile (9) =78%

To me if it is fertile it has the potential to hatch and the rest falls to me and my incubating, hatching equipment and skills.

 

[Jessshan8]

I calculate hatch rate as Total eggs set - Infertile then # eggs hatched/fertile eggs

So for example lets say I set 10 eggs
at 10 day candle I remove 1 because of a crack or something...I open it and check for development, no development, so minus 1
Day 18 Remove 1 for blood ring, again open it and confirm development. So do NOT minus 1.
8 eggs in lockdown, 7 hatch, open last egg and it confirms late quitter.
7 eggs hatched / 10eggs set - 1 infertile (9) =78%

To me if it is fertile it has the potential to hatch and the rest falls to me and my incubating, hatching equipment and skills.

We are pretty much on the same page but I check all clears for signs that it was fertilized and if so I count it against myself. If not then it counts against fertility not my incubating so minus 1 then .