The 6th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[Kaylish]

So, it still freezing here during the day, how cold can eggs get before they aren't viable? Sorry if these questions should have been looked up somewhere else.

And I've read that some people collect and save eggs up to 2 weeks before setting them, is this a normal practice? Or should I only use ones that are a day or two old?

THANKS!!!

I don't know the answer to how cold the eggs can get, but I will only set eggs that are up to 7 days old. They do the best if stored at 65 degrees and turned daily.

Hatch rates will be lower for eggs older than 2 weeks. Shipped eggs should not be older than 7 days because of the added stress from shipping.

Older eggs will still hatch--I would not set eggs older than 30 days and if I did I would watch them very closely for rotting.

Thank you ron for this information!

All good information - I've hatched eggs from my own flock up to 17 days old with good success.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

19 eggs in the hatcher and this is my most stressful time.  I haven't seen one wobble.  I've about convinced myself that none will hatch.  I always see them wobble!  I know it's silly, but I want a little proof that someone's in there! 

Try not to worry too much. My last hatch, I was worried because I only saw maybe 2 wobble (it was my first hatch too btw) but I ended up hatching 19 lol.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

So, I bought my little giant incubator about a month ago, second hand. It was used for reptiles so I had to make a new wire bottom for it and clean it up good. I treated it for a good 3 days then and could not for the life of me get it at the right temp and hold it stable. So I basically gave up the fight until I'd need it. I didn't have any extra time to mess with it then anyway. Well now it's about a week till lockdown and I'm going to need it so I plugged it in so I'd have plenty of time to try to get it tweaked by lockdown. Wouldn't you know, it's holding steady right on lol. Now I'm afraid to turn it off so I'm doing a week long test lol.

 

[mlm Mike]

Congratulations SoManyHats!

 

[jgoldy2]

With talk about going to WA for Easter and my mom being so mad at me I am not sure if I will be hatching

 

[Happy Chooks]

I have a first grandchild due to hatch April 3!

I'm worried I won't have time to devote to baby chicks and adore my grandson, but temptation has won out and I just ordered CCL, Lav. Orp, Americauna and SFH eggs!

What is the earliest date I can set and still be part of the hatchalong?

Congratulations on the human baby!

As for setting chicken eggs, anything from March 12th to March 16th will count. Basically +/- 2 days of set dates on the first post in this thread.

 

[mlm Mike]

New Contest Now Open!​

contest link:https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...test-6th-annual-byc-easter-hatch-a-long/0_100

Contest #3 Photo Caption Contest!
6th Annual 2015 Easter Hatch-a-long!

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Do you think you are funny? Want some Bragging Rights?
Your creativity, wit and humor could win you bragging rights AND some AWESOME Prizes!
Enter the BYC Photo Caption Contest and your entries will be judged on the basis of wit, creativity, humor and originality! Our BYC Judges will choose 10 finalists, and then YOU vote for your favorites!

3 “short and comical” entries per contestant

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1st Prize

6+ Swedish Flower Hen hatching eggs - donated by minihorse927


2nd Prize

donated by Cynthia12

3rd Prize

6 month GFM - donated by misfitmorgan


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Contest Rules:

Open to ALL BYC members in the Continental U.S. ONLY (No Alaska or Hawaii)
Contestants may submit no more than 3 CAPTIONS
Your submission must be an original idea.
Keep it short and funny.
No foul language or crude humor, remember this is a family website!
To submit your entries, simply post your caption ideas in this thread.
BYC Judges will choose 10 finalists, and then YOU vote for your Favorites!
BYC Administration reserves the right to disqualify posts not following the rules
.

Here are a few links that help in creating captions!
http://www.superlame.com/
http://builder.cheezburger.com/builder/
Remember to save images to your computer before uploading to this Thread as those sites do not SAVE your work!
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Deadline for entry is March18th, 2015 at midnight PST
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[Mr MKK FARMS]

Quote:
Bielefelders are fairly rare, right?

 

[ShelbyCoral]

What if you put a heating pad on very low in the nestbox?

I like that idea! But wont it catch fire?

 

[jbkirk]

Bielefelders are fairly rare, right?

YES I so wish that they weren't....