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

[NotAFarm]

Quote: ace, My Icelandic hens are not large and have covered a dozen eggs and hatched 10 and 11 of them. They were sitting in the late spring/early summer and the temperatures were moderate so keeping the "outer" ones warm enough wasn't a problem. If your hen is sitting is an unheated coop and the temps are cold, I would limit her to 8 or so just to be safe.

 

[NotAFarm]

Kelly, you were posting as I was typing! Great minds think alike!

 

[acemario]

ace, My Icelandic hens are not large and have covered a dozen eggs and hatched 10 and 11 of them.  They were sitting in the late spring/early summer and the temperatures were moderate so keeping the "outer" ones warm enough wasn't a problem.  If your hen is sitting is an unheated coop and the temps are cold, I would limit her to 8 or so just to be safe.

Yeah, it cooled down here about a week ago, right after I gave her eggs (of course). I'm just a bit worried about those on the edge. I'll candle tonight and see how well she's done.

 

[jrfadfarm]

Are you still getting eggs from his seed? Are you going to be able to hatch some of his chicks?

Oh. I think you answered this already. Good luck.

He died last night, the eggs i got from him last night are in the fridge already. and any i get today are out in the freezing cold (but well lit with a red and white heat lamp), are they even viable? He seemed sick for a few days, would he have even seeded the ladies?

 

[Sambi89]

This thread gets a good bit of traffic.. I think I've dealt with this once before but just can't remember how it went. Is there any chance of this self-correcting or do I need to intervene? I don't want to open the hatcher as others are zipping.

Keeping it dark in there so others don't take notice.

I'm not sure what the issue is?

 

[Sambi89]

We are OUT. Ricky - our barred rock Rooster died last night. SO, unless i go buy an adult rooster, we cannot set any eggs. Im bummed. I wanna hatch more eggs.

A hen will lay fertile eggs for 2-3 weeks after a rooster is gone. I was just thinking you may be able to hatch out some of his babies still.

 

[jrfadfarm]

So sorry you lost him. But your hens will be fertile from him for 2-3weeks. You can start collecting today all the way up to set day and you should be good to go. Good luck!

youre, kidding me...this info is NEW to me! So if they are cold in the hen house, they are still potentially fertile?

 

[jrfadfarm]

I agree, this would be great to watch and see how they work out..and like Happy Said, they will last a while. Save what you are getting, then you will hopefully get another boy like you had. Set date is only a couple of weeks away, you should be getting some fertile ones still!
So sorry you lost your boy.

So sorry for your loss.

jrfadfarm could you try to store some of the eggs? It's not to horribly long of a wait to set them. I'm sorry for your loss

So sorry you lost him. But your hens will be fertile from him for 2-3weeks. You can start collecting today all the way up to set day and you should be good to go. Good luck!

Like others have said, your eggs should still be fertile all the way up until set date.

Sorry about your loss. I too lost a rooster this week. Sad because I don't have a full blooded NN son of his to replace him. I do however have two more NN roosters in service.

I'm so sorry you lost him.

Yep, they will be fertile for weeks.

Thank you all - i'll get myself back in the race and start collecting those eggs. We are planning on getting another rooster, but i'll be gathering those eggs.

Will they be ok even though they are cold? We've had and ice and snow here (south central oklahoma)

 

[chicken pickin]

youre, kidding me...this info is NEW to me! So if they are cold in the hen house, they are still potentially fertile?

If he was doing his job they should be fertile. Though they are cold some should still be viable to hatch, as long as they aren't completely froze. Just do your best to collect them as often as you can or have a friend or neighbor gather them up for you if you aren't home. Store them in an egg carton pointy side down in a cool(not cold) place like a basement or a storage room and tilt the carton 2-3 times a day or when you can. You can collect starting tomorrow all the way to set day and you should be good to go.

 

[jrfadfarm]

Will his death affect their laying for a day or two?