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

[Happy Chooks]

i finally wrote out brooder plans! itll be awesome to have some of yall's opinions on the design, size, and what not

Looks great!

Hi there, My very first post. I have set and hatched already this year. My first batch with my new rooster and hens have hatched with 12 out 13 success rate. I was very happy. I am preparing for my second batch and saw this thread and want to join. I have many different breeds that are not separated yet because I saved them from a family who were no longer able to keep them. I am however; looking to separate them by breed soon. So, for now; I am hatching mixed breeds. How does everyone find mixed breeds do for egg laying? Are they better if I separate them? Thank you for the information

Mixed breeds are better layers than pure.

I'm afraid I will be pulling out of the hatch along. I've been collecting eggs but a hen of mine just went broody so I'm going to let her take care of the job. She will do it so much better. I will have chicks for Easter, but a week older.

You can hold her off for a bit and still hatch for Easter.

You could always let her stay broody until next week and then set the eggs under her on thurs, fri or sat. Then you would still be a hatch a long paricipant.

Exactly!

 

[jbkirk]

Mixed breeds are better layers than pure.

And what prof is there of this?

 

[RedIII]

Yay! My duck started laying again! Can't wait to hatch me some ducklings!

Woohoo!

@kbarnes, those are some cute babies! I really like the Orp

 

[JoyfulPromise]

ONE WEEK UNTIL SET DAY (for Chickens)!!!!!!! I can't wait!!!

I think I have run into a snag on wiring my LG to the digital controller though...

I am afraid I misunderstood some of the suggestions on here, and so I thought it would work to cut the cord of the incubator, wire the short end (from the thermostat in the incubator) directly into the "heating" ports on the digital thermostat, and then use the long end of the cord with the plug on it to power the digital controller. Well, it powered up the controller just fine... but it doesn't seem to be turning on the incubator!

After going back over the diagrams, I am still a bit confused, but I suspect that I may have to somehow wire the incubator directly into a power source, but routed THROUGH the heating ports on the digital controller...? Does this sound correct and how exactly can I do this?

I think what confused me was the suggestion to cut an extension cord and wire the female end into the controller, and then plug the incubator into that. I figured that was the same as just wiring the incubator directly into the controller, but so far it doesn't seem to be working!? What did I do wrong?

 

[Nomibear]

I realize that I'm quoting from 4 pgs back, but I just can't seem to keep up with you guys!

82 percent hatch rate so far....just hatched another my male dog listening and protecting the newly hatched loud peeps....hes such a good dog

Congrats! Love the pics and Drooling over those baters!

A few people have mentioned shrink wrapping. I remember reading on BYC a few years back that it is good to keep a warm water spray bottle on hand if I need to dip into the bator (take day olds out whilst others are still pipping/ zipping). I give the eggs a quick mist spray when I have finished messing and close the door. My 'shrink wrapping incidents' have been greatly reduced after using this method

Good to know I lost at least 3 to that during my test hatch.

My sportsman will be here Monday according to FEDEX! I'll be able to set in it for easter!

So excited for you!

 

[tntchix]

Love the overprotective doggies that take such good care of our lil fluffbutts.

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

ONE WEEK UNTIL SET DAY (for Chickens)!!!!!!! I can't wait!!!

I think I have run into a snag on wiring my LG to the digital controller though...

I am afraid I misunderstood some of the suggestions on here, and so I thought it would work to cut the cord of the incubator, wire the short end (from the thermostat in the incubator) directly into the "heating" ports on the digital thermostat, and then use the long end of the cord with the plug on it to power the digital controller. Well, it powered up the controller just fine... but it doesn't seem to be turning on the incubator!

After going back over the diagrams, I am still a bit confused, but I suspect that I may have to somehow wire the incubator directly into a power source, but routed THROUGH the heating ports on the digital controller...? Does this sound correct and how exactly can I do this?

I think what confused me was the suggestion to cut an extension cord and wire the female end into the controller, and then plug the incubator into that. I figured that was the same as just wiring the incubator directly into the controller, but so far it doesn't seem to be working!? What did I do wrong?

The wiring is a bit tricky - I started off doing it wrong because I incorrectly assumed it was wired up like my original thermocouple. It is wired in groups of three wires. One set of three is the live line, and the other set is neutral. Do each set one at a time. I put a little bit of electrical tape on my live lines in order to make sure I grabbed the right one. For the live line, you should have the ribbed live line in from the extension cord, a short line from bank #5, and a short line from bank #1 all wired together with a wire nut. By the looks of your unit, you may have to add a length of wire to each of the wires coming off of your heater in order to for all the wires to reach each other when you wire everything together. The live wires will be the ones without any markings (no side stripe, and on the extension cord, the side without the ribbed edge. For the neutral lines, you want to connect the ribbed neutral line from the extension cord, the striped wire leading into the heater, and a short length of wire from bank #2 all together with a wire nut. The unmarked live wire off of the heater connects directly to bank #6. Take a separate cord and wire it to the hot and neutral wires of your fan to plug in separately.
Once everything is hooked up, the unit automatically starts in cooling mode. When you set your incubation temperature to 37.5 and save the value, the unit will automatically switch to heating mode without any additional programming. It took me a few tries here to realize that you had to save each value after you changed it! Once your temperature is set, the unit should turn the heater on automatically.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Mixed breeds are better layers than pure.

And what prof is there of this?

Experience and look at what the hatcheries sell - all the sex links, comets, etc are mixed breeds and the highest layers.

 

[nate1the1great1]

Im getting reday to put my duck eggs in


Remember set mallard derived duck eggs today!!!!

 

[draye]

This last hatch didn't turn out so well. I set 18 eggs. 6 hatched, 5 died early in developing. 7 not fertile. Same roosters as I had in previous hatch. So I don't know what was wrong thus time.

Here are the 6 that did hatch.

. So next setting will be for the Hatch-A-Long.