the Will They Hatch? thread

[SteveH]

Quote:
Yep , that's what I see alright .............................................. an egg glowing in the dark .

Actually , a simple and neat candler . Thanks .

 

[BHep]

I candle mine right in the incubator....


ETA : picture

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Quote:
No one killed your birds .... a predator got in so start looking for a small hole.

Thanks for the input but believe me we've certainly searched high and low....it's not our first rodeo on raising chickens (just incubating them

). We've had chickens on and off on this property for over 30 years. We've lost some to predetors over those years, just never have seen anything like this. I'm not saying it wasn't a predator but there is no breach in the fencing, prints, only a couple drops of blood for 18 dead birds, all accounted for. And an empty trap....and we all know that the one thing that is a constant is that predators return. Yet this one hasn't even so much as touched the trail of bait to the trap in over a week.

But I hope you're right!

 

[Livinwright Farm]

Quote:
No one killed your birds .... a predator got in so start looking for a small hole.

Thanks for the input but believe me we've certainly searched high and low....it's not our first rodeo on raising chickens (just incubating them

). We've had chickens on and off on this property for over 30 years. We've lost some to predetors over those years, just never have seen anything like this. I'm not saying it wasn't a predator but there is no breach in the fencing, prints, only a couple drops of blood for 18 dead birds, all accounted for. And an empty trap....and we all know that the one thing that is a constant is that predators return. Yet this one hasn't even so much as touched the trail of bait to the trap in over a week.

But I hope you're right!

With heads missing and bodies in a pile I can only think of 4 things:
weasel: might not see tracks from, but they usually stock pile food underground.
skunk: will rip the heads off and leave the bodies, not sure if they pile them though.
raccoon: same as skunk, although sometimes they will eat more than just the heads.
fisher: relentless sport killer. They will rip chickens part just for fun, or for food. They are excellent jumpers & climbers, so you might not see any tracks from them either. Fisher don't typically go for bait in traps, as they are primarily hunters and will only scavenge if they have to. if this is your issue, then I suggest keeping any small pets secured until spring.

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Thanks for the input but believe me we've certainly searched high and low....it's not our first rodeo on raising chickens (just incubating them

). We've had chickens on and off on this property for over 30 years. We've lost some to predetors over those years, just never have seen anything like this. I'm not saying it wasn't a predator but there is no breach in the fencing, prints, only a couple drops of blood for 18 dead birds, all accounted for. And an empty trap....and we all know that the one thing that is a constant is that predators return. Yet this one hasn't even so much as touched the trail of bait to the trap in over a week.

But I hope you're right!

With heads missing and bodies in a pile I can only think of 4 things:
weasel: might not see tracks from, but they usually stock pile food underground.
skunk: will rip the heads off and leave the bodies, not sure if they pile them though.
raccoon: same as skunk, although sometimes they will eat more than just the heads.
fisher: relentless sport killer. They will rip chickens part just for fun, or for food. They are excellent jumpers & climbers, so you might not see any tracks from them either. Fisher don't typically go for bait in traps, as they are primarily hunters and will only scavenge if they have to. if this is your issue, then I suggest keeping any small pets secured until spring.

A friend of mine lost a bunch of chickens like this. They were neatly piled (or in a neat line, I forget). Come to find out, it was a mink that did it.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

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What the heck is a fisher?

 

[HighNDryFarm]

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Thank you Tricia. I was following the directions on the incubator for the 99.5. I have the thermometer that came with it and then bought another one, as recommended here, but I don't think it's any better but at least I have two opinions! Went to the feed store today to get the humidity gage and get a better thermometer but they didn't have a better one. I'll look for the accucheck digital. Thanks again, I just turned up the temp. Dang this is so much more stressful then when my girls did it!

 

[knjinnm]

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We will trade you some cold weather

My sister-in-law and family live in Williamstown, just sent us pictures of their neighborhood flood by a sudden downpour.

 

[Gypsy07]

So one of my ten eggs on day 8 has got a massive crack all the way round. I have NO idea how it happened. Obviously I must have knocked it when I was hand turning, but I didn't notice I'd done it at the time. How does something like that happen? D'oh! Anyway, I've waxed it all round the crack and put it back in the bator. There was a bit of blood at the edge of the worst bit. I REALLY don't think this one is going to hatch now...

 

[RareBreedFancier]

Quote:
I think the problem may be that my glasses are around 10 years old

Don't want to hurry you any bit it might be time for a new pair.