The 7th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-A-Long!

[OneMountainAcres]

Wow that's a lot of birds! We have i think 2.7 acres but only part of it is actual yard, like half is woods. But we have 8 chickens and i thought that was a lot!

Only 8? Wow, you have self control lol. I have alot 25 chickens out there now and 7 turkeys. There's nothing but state game lands behind our property and the cabin next door is a part time neighbor who likes seeing the chickens and turkeys in the yard. The neighbor of the other side of us doesn't mind the chickens at all (though they rarely venture into their yard) but I work hard to make sure the turkeys stay away from their yard. Only because they've tried to invade their garage to visit a couple times and I don't want them flying up on their roof lol. My flock mainly stays in our yard though with plenty of room.

You will be setting chicken eggs--The turkeys need tutors to help them out because Turkeys to not have as many instincts as chickens. Turkey poults can find the most amazing ways to die without help. They will even forget to eat LOL.
8? I will not even tell you how many I have at my place...in the city....

I know all about that. Since I've been hatching poults every week, I usually have 1 or two from the hatch before that teach them the way of things. Right now, the last of my poults from last week are supposed to go to their new home tomorrow and my next set probably won't hatch until Sunday BUT I have a couple chicks in the brooder that will be with them. The ones I just set will hatch with all the hatch a long chicks that I set next week. Oh yes, I already have alot 40 eggs dabbed up towards next week's set date lol.

It looks like a mosaic! You could make art out of hatching eggs.

I never thought about that! But you just hands me a great idea.....

 

[Penny Hen]

You will be setting chicken eggs--The turkeys need tutors to help them out because Turkeys to not have as many instincts as chickens. Turkey poults can find the most amazing ways to die without help. They will even forget to eat LOL.
8? I will not even tell you how many I have at my place...in the city....

Putting flashy marbles in the water and food help. Was once told it is because their instincts are more keyed on motion like moving insects and the light reflections off the marbles imitates motion.

 

[Penny Hen]

So I was told that my chicken math had to hold at the present mark which is 12. So since I had 4 Olive Egger roos and two of them decided to tag team my senior roo 2 weeks ago I put them up for sale. Well a lady asked if I had any hens. as well. And I realized that I could rotate stock. Very important since I have 6 Orust eggs growing in the bator. Well she picked them up today and she told me that she and her husband had just moved back her from France. They had had to sell their French flock and now were rebuilding one here. I told her I had popped some eggs in the bator (some of the Olive eggs) and she said when they hatched give her a call that she would like them.

Vindication! I told DH i could sell the chicks! Now depending on how well the hatch turns out I may switch some more out.

 

[NotAFarm]

Has anyone had any experience with the warming mats sold at TS? They were marked down from $49 to $39 today. So I decided to try one. At check out it rang up $19 so I grabbed 2 figured what the heck.

The warming mats, intended to put under a seed tray, will warm about 10 degrees above whatever the temp is where you have them. They are meant to go inside and give the soil extra warmth so the seeds with sprout better. I have used one and believe it makes a difference.

Also, Im in the process of building a brooding pen inside my coop for when I move my broody this weekend. If the move is successful, how many eggs can I safely give her to sit on for the last 6-7 days til hatch. She is a large Australorp hen almost a year old. I want to give her as many as possible as Im pretty sure she will do a better job with them than I can.

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[Razadia]

So, I put my bator together Monday and set it up. I've been fighting with the temps all week... I forgot to put something under the bator to keep the cold glass table from messing with the temp. The temp shot up as soon as it was off the glass.

 

[LocalYokel]

Thanks to everyone who Congratulated me!

 

[mlm Mike]

Hey everyone! I'd love to join in on this Hatch-A-Long! I've never participated in something like this before but it sounds so much fun. I haven't had any luck finding EE's locally, my TSC rarely ever gets them, and most online hatcheries are either already backordered or require a minimum that I just don't want.... and I REALLY want some, so I'm caving and ordering some eggs on Ebay. I hatched some SLW/GLW that I ordered on Ebay back in the fall and sadly my hatch rate really wasn't all that great. 38 eggs, 9 hatched, 7 survived, 4 are roos (Anyone want a GLW roo?) -_- So here's to hoping that I might be a bit more successful with EE chicks! And just in time for Easter!

My main question is... I believe the person I'm ordering from will ship me two dozen eggs either monday or tuesday. So if I receive the eggs thursday or friday, will it be extra bad if I wait until saturday to incubate them for the hatch-a-long? I know there's already some risk of them being damaged in shipping, and the fresher the egg the better, I'm just wondering if the extra day or two of settling before incubating would cause any extra problems. If not, I'm totally in!

Welcome to the 2016 Easter Hatch A Long!

I want to join!

Welcome to the 2016 Easter Hatch A Long!

Tomorrow is set day to get mallard, turkey, guinea and peafowl eggs! It's also the last day for goose eggs.


mallard (derived) duck,goose, turkey, guinea, peafowl: 28 days to hatch; set February 27th
goose: 28 to 32 days to hatch; set February 23rd - February 27th​

I want to hatch-a-long this year! Time to dust off the 'ol incubator!!

Welcome to the 2016 Easter Hatch A Long!

I'm in

If I have some eggs to set.

Welcome to the 2016 Easter Hatch A Long!

I set my turkey eggs today, along with a bunch of chicken eggs. This is the first time I've ever had a full tray lol.



PS: no spoiler here, that's not ALL the eggs set. I had to spill over into another tray, just a little

Very nice! Good Luck!

Hatching Participant List is Current to Post 5587

 

[Loc20chick]

[COLOR=008080]Congrats on the new chicks![/COLOR]  [COLOR=008080]The answer to your question depends on how long it is from beginning to end of the hatch. If it is spread out and the hatched chicks are all dry and fluffy and are getting spunky and playing football with the rest of the eggs, then I will open up the bator and quickly grab the hatched chicks and put them in the brooder. I have a sprayer filled with warm water handy so I can give a mist into the bator to raise the humidity back up before I close it up again. But my bators quickly recover from brief openings. If yours is touchy, be careful about opening. Good luck with the rest of the eggs. I'm hatching with you this weekend. [/COLOR]


[COLOR=008000]I have 2 pips!!!   e                   Can you tell I'm excited?     [/COLOR][COLOR=008000]6 of the shipped eggs made it to lockdown. They are 1st import Isbars unrelated to my own.[/COLOR][COLOR=008080] [/COLOR][COLOR=008080] [/COLOR]   e                

Congrats!!!

One more has hatched I'll leave them there till morning, they are resting most of the time.

I passed by the feed store to get another brooder lamp and they had buff Orpington chicks I got two since I've been wanting some pure ones.

 

[JoyfulPromise]

Set my first tray full of eggs in my new Ova-Easy 190 incubator!

I guess this is officially a "test hatch" before the Easter Hatch-along...

these chicks will hatch one week before the Easter chicks. I am truly curious to see how fertility is on these eggs, since they are all from my own flocks and this is the first hatch of the year for me. On this tray are Buff Orpingtons, Black & Blue French Copper Marans, Wheaten Ameraucanas, Wheaten AM x White Leghorn, Marans x EE for Olive Eggers, Partridge Silkies, and a few misc. Marans crosses. So excited to get the hatching season started for our little farm!!!

 

[Loc20chick]

[COLOR=008080]Set my first tray full of eggs in my new Ova-Easy 190 incubator![/COLOR] [COLOR=008080] I guess this is officially a "test hatch" before the Easter Hatch-along...[/COLOR] [COLOR=008080]these chicks will hatch one week before the Easter chicks. I am truly curious to see how fertility is on these eggs, since they are all from my own flocks and this is the first hatch of the year for me. On this tray are Buff Orpingtons, Black & Blue French Copper Marans, Wheaten Ameraucanas, Wheaten AM x White Leghorn, Marans x EE for Olive Eggers, Partridge Silkies, and a few misc. Marans crosses. So excited to get the hatching season started for our little farm!!![/COLOR]e

All the best. Nice assortment of eggs there and beautiful colors too.