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

[Cynthia12]

3 tablespoons Pickling spice 2 cups vinigar, 1 cup water. Bring mix to a boil cool and pour over peeled eggs covering them. Add fresh chopped garlic and dill. Add hot peppers if you want a little kick. Let set in fridge for a week then enjoy. Just that simple.

Thanks! Simple, the best way I like it.

Ok, don't laugh, I've never done this..but..but..but..did you boil the eggs first..or do you let the boiling water do whatever..lol..then the setting..oh I don't know...

I am thinking, yes boil eggs first.

So going to do this next week.

 

[farmhand]

Quote: So I'm doing things in the opposite order that you took. But I'm stuck. I have the wine cooler. But I'm a bit unsure of what I should order for parts. And I really am unsure of where to even start now. I know I don't want to rely on a light bulb for heat so I'm leaning towards the incubator warehouse XL kit. But I also think I would need a fan to run all of the time. Then a humidity setup for the hatching days. I plan to use mine only for hatching so the humidity setup is key but I'm not sure I want to pay for a fogger pump or just a 5 gallon bucket.
I have read a couple of the "make your own incubator from a wine cooler" postings in the learning section but I'm just not getting it. It is really making me understand how a few English majors felt when they took a college calculus class on a dare.

Do you have any recommendations for what to do first?
I bought the incukit from incubator warehouse and retrofitted an old incubator. It's been rook solid in holding temps.

 

[Sueg4332]

LOOK WHAT CAME TODAY! The Rcom pro 10! I have a 50 and a 20 already and just HAD to get the 10 since it is brand new and you gotta collect the whole set right? I am putting some modern game bantam eggs in it later today when it has stabilized. I am probably also going to do some sort of "follow along" thread so people can see how it works as the eggs develop and hatch. So far I am impressed though I wish the instruction manual was a little more thorough and the automatic watering system looks chaotic. As long at it works I will be happy though.
(yes I know this will not count for the easter hatch a long, just wanted to share)

 

[Junibutt]

Candled the eggs end of Day 7

Out of 78- Tossed out 17. So left with 61

Breakdown - 46 shipped eggs- 9 questionable (left in incubator), 6 blood rings, 8 clears. So 14 thrown out. Fertility rate so far 82%
32 home grown eggs- 1 questionable, 2 clears, 1 blood ring. Fertility rate = 94% Actually the 2 clears and 1 questionable are from a hen that was with the rooster for only 1 day when I started collecting the eggs, In fact, he was only able to mate once before I had to separate them again. So that was my test that failed, unless the questionable one still develops.

So far I am happy, even if all the questionables are bad, I will still have 51 left over.

Need to start planning for the brooder(s)

 

[down-home Dave]

I candled my eggs today. All 6 seem to be developing. 3 are pretty much impossible to make anything out in because they are dark Welsummer eggs, but they have a cloud in them that they didn't have when they were set. I can see what I think is the air pocket in 2 of those, too. One of my EE's is a thick shell, too and hard to see through. But, definitely development happening. One of my EE eggs and my JG egg are both definitely doing great. I think I have 6 out of 6 developing. I'm not counting them before they hatch though. However, I do tend to put all of my eggs in one basket everyday, it's easier to carry that way. Lol.

I have a question. What is a detached air pocket or air cell? If an egg doesn't have the air pocket in the right place, does that affect the hatch or the development? Or both? Or neither? The main reason I ask is one of my Welsummer eggs I can't see an air pocket. It might be detached or more likely it might be just super hard to see. Just want to know what to maybe expect in the off chance it's a detached air pocket.

I'm excited because this is my first hatch, but I'm going to try to curb my enthusiasm and resist the urge to candle anymore until maybe right before lockdown. Just observe for leaking or smelly eggs past this point. Don't want to over handle them.

Happy incubating everyone.

 

[Cynthia12]

 

[seminolewind]

Quoteat is kool . Love to watch the eggs hatch....Do they work good too? I'll be having my first hatch out of it on Wednesday. It's a fun toy. I am really mad about not having decent instructions and can't find any anywhere. So far the temp has been right on and recovers quickly. The built in candler works great. The humidity is a big question mark to me. I've had it set at 30 but it seems to stay around 40. Maybe my house is 40%, who knows. Tomorrow I'll put it up to 60 and see how accurate it is. I don't know how to turn off the turner, or maybe I did. I can't seem to find out where to set the day counter to zero.

It's a nice little incubator for 10 eggs , I started with 14, and now have 11 in there . The 3 others were no growth.
I'd like to see how others like it.

 

[Cynthia12]

I candled my eggs today. All 6 seem to be developing. 3 are pretty much impossible to make anything out in because they are dark Welsummer eggs, but they have a cloud in them that they didn't have when they were set. I can see what I think is the air pocket in 2 of those, too. One of my EE's is a thick shell, too and hard to see through. But, definitely development happening. One of my EE eggs and my JG egg are both definitely doing great. I think I have 6 out of 6 developing. I'm not counting them before they hatch though. However, I do tend to put all of my eggs in one basket everyday, it's easier to carry that way. Lol.

I have a question. What is a detached air pocket or air cell? If an egg doesn't have the air pocket in the right place, does that affect the hatch or the development? Or both? Or neither? The main reason I ask is one of my Welsummer eggs I can't see an air pocket. It might be detached or more likely it might be just super hard to see. Just want to know what to maybe expect in the off chance it's a detached air pocket.

I'm excited because this is my first hatch, but I'm going to try to curb my enthusiasm and resist the urge to candle anymore until maybe right before lockdown. Just observe for leaking or smelly eggs past this point. Don't want to over handle them.

Happy incubating everyone.

I'm looking forward for day 10 to see if I can see any movement in my Marans' eggs. And, to see how those air sacs are looking. Growing I hope! I also have some nice Olive eggs that are pretty dark. I can already see nice air sacs coming along in those. The marans, are just too dark to tell yet.
On your question..I've had air sacs be pretty high up, and still have a chick hatch just fine. Not a good thing though, as most have problems turning when they go pretty far up the side. I also have a couple of those in my smaller eggs. :/

 

[Cynthia12]

I'll be having my first hatch out of it on Wednesday. It's a fun toy. I am really mad about not having decent instructions and can't find any anywhere. So far the temp has been right on and recovers quickly. The built in candler works great. The humidity is a big question mark to me. I've had it set at 30 but it seems to stay around 40. Maybe my house is 40%, who knows. Tomorrow I'll put it up to 60 and see how accurate it is. I don't know how to turn off the turner, or maybe I did. I can't seem to find out where to set the day counter to zero.

It's a nice little incubator for 10 eggs , I started with 14, and now have 11 in there . The 3 others were no growth.
I'd like to see how others like it.

Built in candler?!

 

[Sueg4332]

Question for the veterans... I have 12 couple day old chicks coming on Friday and 29 eggs in the incubator due on 4/4. Hopefully I will get some out of this hatch (fingers crossed it's my first time

) Can I brood them together even though they'll be about a week apart?