The Old Folks Home

[ChickenCanoe]

Have any of u ever watched a broody hen? She dont lockdown

I feel your pain. She does tend to hunker down when hatching starts though.

Sally has many solid points. her research and reference articles are second to none. She is not spouting myths out of her cloaca

it does not matter where you live, unless the eggs lose 11-13% of weight , you are going ti have a crappy hatch.how you get there is up to you. If you get a 20% hatch on homw grown eggs and following principles of egg weight loss, I will eat one of your possums

what part do you find offensive?

I almost always weigh and keep track of weight loss. I don't even own a hygrometer now that I threw the crappy ones in the trash.

I haven't done that much incubating, but I'd say "lockdown" should be applied mainly at the point where the first eggs have pipped, since they will be affected by humidity changes a lot more at that point. And I think it's probably okay to stop turning after day 18 or 19. I don't really see a point in always boosting the humidity at day 18, especially if you have no idea what the weight loss has been. Tracking the weight is the best indicator of humidity requirements, in my opinion. But I'd see Sally's guide as more of a starting point, from there you have to figure out what works for you.

I'm lucky if I get the eggs moved to the hatcher by day 19, usually it's day 20.

I'm also not a fan of the term lockdown, but I will stop turning and raise humidity the day before or the day I suspect they will pip internally.

-Kathy

same here

I
What do you guys think? Anyone else dealt with this?
I posted this with the coffee gang but thought I would re-post here


I was just curious and thought I would ask my coffee buddies.

Has any of you ever had a she switch to a he?
I know it's rare but can happen. I ask because I think I have that happening to one of my definitely "she" Aussies.
She is behaving more and more like a "he" every day, attitude and all, and has stopped laying. She is otherwise perfectly healthy.

Of course I would get the "odd ball". I mean really. Who remembers the first time I bought 2 pullet Aussies from a breeder that turned out to be 2 very sick roos?
Then I try again, determined to get my Aussie girls and I buy 5 sexed Aussie chicks from Cackle Hatchery last spring, gladly paying A LOT for the special packing to make sure they arrived in good shape (which they did) only to find out that pretty soon that one was a roo anyway!

Did someone put a curse on me or is some poultry fairy determined that I am supposed to have an Aussie roo and making sure that comes to pass
one way or the other????

ETA-
Ok, for those who are curious, here is a good article on sex changing hens

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/spontaneous-sex-reversal-hen-just-become-rooster/

They usually change sex when the good ovary is damaged. That's when they start crowing and they won't lay any more eggs.

I welcome any helpful advice so please post the link.
Im ready to shoot this incubator.

Quote:

I should have went with the 1588. I bought the Little Giant 9300 and 10300. Huge mistakes. I get the temp set at 102 in one end 98 at the other. Come back 5 mins later and the temp is 108 in one end 95 in the other.
The 10300 has a fan type thing. It looks like a fan and turns; but does not move air.
I just took an old laptop apart for the fan.
Im gonna try to figure out a way to rig it up without burning down my house.

I feel that if anyone wants to feel true frustration, get a LG.
I had one that had been outdoors and needed lots of repairs. It miraculously hatched a couple batches but also cooked several. I built a cabinet and then the college bought a new LG for me. I figured since it was new, it would be better. It was but not by much.

It is real cold here and is going to stay that way for a few days. It snowed a little, just enough to cover the ground again. Chickens don't seem to mind. They were out in the yard and it' was 2 degrees. I'm hoping for warmer days pretty soon. I have a broody that is sitting on 9 eggs and they are due to hatch March 2. She never leaves the nest. I have a heat light in the coop which isn't doing anything but giving light. It's a red one I put in there. She gets company every day from one of the hens that goes and lays an egg in there. I got to witness that this morning when I went out to let them out. They have snow in the forecast for several days and unfortunately they are usually right about it. Why can't the weatherman flub up now. Lol! I hope it doesn't snow to much for you Super chemical girl.

It's going to be crappy for at least another week. We had a couple nice days but not enough to melt the snow and overnight we got close to an inch. It's getting near zero the next 2 nights and then 4 or 5 days of snow, ice and rain.
Spring is right around the corner though.

I'm interested! Take and post pics please. I am using two different types of bators now.

We bought the thermostat Oz now can you tell me how to hook it up please?

I have a few peking duck eggs going in the hatcher Sat. so wish me luck.

Is yours a STC-1000 (8 connection points) or a MH1210 (6 points)?

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I don't know if anyone remembers that close to a year ago I posted about one of my wife's best friends being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. A year earlier she had a rib and lung removed because of lung cancer. Her boyfriend is one of my best friends. . As of Monday, she was supposed to have 4 days left and they had already scheduled her funeral for a week from this Saturday. She died Monday night. She was a nurse and donated her body to science.

 

[ozexpat]

.
Is yours a STC-1000 (8 connection points) or a MH1210 (6 points)?

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I use the STC-1000 the MH1210 is slighty differnt ecen though it looks similar.

The stc 1000 has seperate heating and cooling circuits (we ignore the cooling) while the MH1210 has the choice of heating or cooling in the menu. The problem with it is that there is an inbuilt delay to protect the cooling circuit even when using it for heating.. This delay causes the temps in the bator to drop further and makes the average temp lower. I use a probe thermometer inside a water wiggler to set the temp when I use a MH1210. For a few bucks more the STC1000 iw a better thermostat for heating

 

[ozexpat]

the mess in this picture was my initial "proof of concept" experiment.

the digital thermostat has an extension cord I cut in half to wire it. the female end is the output on the thermostat.

I plugged the original black male plug of the lg into the female end from the stc1000. i then cranked the original thermostat way up so it was out f play.

the fan is a 12v computer fan. I fine them too strong in a styro so I use a 9v phone charger to run the 12 v fan

 

[Alaskan]

I don't know if anyone remembers that close to a year ago I posted about one of my wife's best friends being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. A year earlier she had a rib and lung removed because of lung cancer. Her boyfriend is one of my best friends. . As of Monday, she was supposed to have 4 days left and they had already scheduled her funeral for a week from this Saturday. She died Monday night. She was a nurse and donated her body to science.

 

[ozexpat]

@RobJones

i see you reading thread

welcome!!

 

[ozexpat]

I don't know if anyone remembers that close to a year ago I posted about one of my wife's best friends being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. A year earlier she had a rib and lung removed because of lung cancer. Her boyfriend is one of my best friends. . As of Monday, she was supposed to have 4 days left and they had already scheduled her funeral for a week from this Saturday. She died Monday night. She was a nurse and donated her body to science.

sorry mate

 

[chickisoup]

X2 so sorry for your friend's loss Chickencanoe.

 

[chickisoup]

CanuckBock quote "Nope, the changing gender is NOT rare...what is rare is people that keep poultry long enough to get old enough for the left ovary to quit and the female to revert to a male because the one ovary ceases to function. Very common, in OLD birds...sadly, not so many keeping birds alive for any length of time...thru choice or the inability to keep them safe from ending their lives prematurely. They want birds to be productive, so once they quit producing eggs...their life ends for many poultry birds, eh.

"

Yep. My girls have a "retirement home" waiting for them right here when they are done providing my breakfast.
The "rare" part with this one is this hen is barely a year old that appears to be going thru the change. It's ok, she (or he) still has a home. I have room for a freeloader

BTW - I would appreciate knowing what you think of the article I posted the link to.

 

[Cynthia12]

X2 so sorry for your friend's loss Chickencanoe.

X's 3

 

[vehve]

CC, my condolences.