Things I've learned on the incubating thread! A funny/personal observation.

[scflock]

Well that just sounds boring! No drama at all!

I have enough invested in my turkeys to try to get every one of those buggers on the ground.

I was being a little minimalist, but I really don't do much more than that. I candle at day 8, and again at lockdown. I check my temp and humidity on the display every day, and will check with the Spot Check 24 hrs after setting eggs, and once or twice after that, but my incubator has been so consistent that I pretty much just leave it alone. I even started intentionally setting my eggs so that the hatch would begin while I am at work during the week. It seems like the three weeks go by faster if I am not hovering over them every day.
I'm not saying there is a right or a wrong. The biggest thing I have learned on this site is that everyone has different methods, and you go with what works for you

 

[AmyLynn2374]

1. Turn it on
2. Add water
3. Set eggs
4. Lockdown
5. Take out chicks on day 23

And yes, I'm a Republican

see...I told you egg hatching is like politics...lol BUT..you have a BRINSEA!!!!!! The rest of us did that we could probably have breakfast with our fried eggs!!! lol

 

[scflock]

see...I told you egg hatching is like politics...lol BUT..you have a BRINSEA!!!!!! The rest of us did that we could probably have breakfast with our fried eggs!!! lol

That's why I laughed so hard at your post in the other thread. When did I turn into an old man?

 

[WalnutHill]

That's why I laughed so hard at your post in the other thread. When did I turn into an old man?

It's called "experience".

I thought about getting a Brinsea, but I couldn't afford 5 or 10 of them. So I have to work a little harder, I have 70 turkey eggs set and 16 chicken eggs on lockdown. All my eggs are in one "basket".

 

[AmyLynn2374]

It's called "experience".

I thought about getting a Brinsea, but I couldn't afford 5 or 10 of them. So I have to work a little harder, I have 70 turkey eggs set and 16 chicken eggs on lockdown. All my eggs are in one "basket".

I can't afford one!! lol

And the more chicks I hatch the more $$$ I need for feed....lol

 

[scflock]

It's called "experience".

I thought about getting a Brinsea, but I couldn't afford 5 or 10 of them. So I have to work a little harder, I have 70 turkey eggs set and 16 chicken eggs on lockdown. All my eggs are in one "basket".

That's where I suffer is capacity. This was my first year incubating. It was a test run to see how quickly I could sell. I'm selling out in a week, so now I'm wasting fertile eggs for two weeks. With the amount of chickens I have, and the fertile eggs I can collect in 4 days, I'm seriously debating getting another Octagon. They are expensive, but perfect for me because I'm not home much. I've sold enough this year to cover the cost of the first incubator, so if sales keep up like this through the summer, I will probably buy another. The plan is to put all money from chicks and eggs into the "chicken bowl". When there is enough in the bowl to cover the cost of another incubator (after buying feed, scratch, supplies, etc...) I will buy one then

 

[WalnutHill]

That's where I suffer is capacity. This was my first year incubating. It was a test run to see how quickly I could sell. I'm selling out in a week, so now I'm wasting fertile eggs for two weeks. With the amount of chickens I have, and the fertile eggs I can collect in 4 days, I'm seriously debating getting another Octagon. They are expensive, but perfect for me because I'm not home much. I've sold enough this year to cover the cost of the first incubator, so if sales keep up like this through the summer, I will probably buy another. The plan is to put all money from chicks and eggs into the "chicken bowl". When there is enough in the bowl to cover the cost of another incubator (after buying feed, scratch, supplies, etc...) I will buy one then

That's how it is for me.

I started raising chickens in 1997 for our family. We had an assorted backyard layer flock. They weren't real productive, but they were pretty. We experimented with Jersey Giants, Brown Leghorns, RIR, Buff Orps, Light Brahma, Barred Rock, Ancona, and many more. Large fowl take up more space and are less productive, and when we needed to pay huge legal bills to protect our farm, we switched to red sex links and black sex links.

We raise the red sex link layers for the core of our business. They produce a steady income and we treat them as a "unit". We sell the laid out hens as well and recoup over half of the initial cost of the started pullets. Egg production pays for feed costs, farm expenses, and a small income.

Then we started raising turkeys for us, then for family, now for market. We went from raising one a year to raising 50 a year. Like eggs, if we raised more we could sell more, but we are space constrained. Turkeys are a challenge, but they are profitable, especially the BBB an BBW. And if I ever have surplus poults I can easily sell them.

But for me, it's not all about profit. I've always kept a few Ameraucanas or EE just to add color to the cartons. I've decided to give up raising the BB turkeys entirely. This year I am even hatching out all my poults instead of buying them (I hope, anyhow...I sunk a lot of money into eggs). And I am establishing a small "backyard flock" which I hope will be self sustaining in a few years so we always have young birds and old birds, and a nice variety of colors in the cartons. Whether we can produce these and hold the price, I don't know. Whether they will lay through the winter like the RSL, I don't know. But I'd love to get to a large scale "backyard farm". I have a hard time telling one RSL from another, I want birds with individuality.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

That's how it is for me.

I started raising chickens in 1997 for our family. We had an assorted backyard layer flock. They weren't real productive, but they were pretty. We experimented with Jersey Giants, Brown Leghorns, RIR, Buff Orps, Light Brahma, Barred Rock, Ancona, and many more. Large fowl take up more space and are less productive, and when we needed to pay huge legal bills to protect our farm, we switched to red sex links and black sex links.

We raise the red sex link layers for the core of our business. They produce a steady income and we treat them as a "unit". We sell the laid out hens as well and recoup over half of the initial cost of the started pullets. Egg production pays for feed costs, farm expenses, and a small income.

Then we started raising turkeys for us, then for family, now for market. We went from raising one a year to raising 50 a year. Like eggs, if we raised more we could sell more, but we are space constrained. Turkeys are a challenge, but they are profitable, especially the BBB an BBW. And if I ever have surplus poults I can easily sell them.

But for me, it's not all about profit. I've always kept a few Ameraucanas or EE just to add color to the cartons. I've decided to give up raising the BB turkeys entirely. This year I am even hatching out all my poults instead of buying them (I hope, anyhow...I sunk a lot of money into eggs). And I am establishing a small "backyard flock" which I hope will be self sustaining in a few years so we always have young birds and old birds, and a nice variety of colors in the cartons. Whether we can produce these and hold the price, I don't know. Whether they will lay through the winter like the RSL, I don't know. But I'd love to get to a large scale "backyard farm". I have a hard time telling one RSL from another, I want birds with individuality.

I just want to make enough to pay for the feed...lol

 

[WalnutHill]

That's where economy of scale comes into play. Like today, I went to the feed store and bought a ton (13 80# layer mash and 12 80# scratch) of feed, plus turkey starter for the turkeys and broilers and chicks. I buy an 80# sack of layer mash for what it costs for a little bag at TSC. Plus as we are a commercial farm, we get a state sales tax exemption for agricultural production.

I couldn't afford to raise chickens at retail...or more accurately, would have to raise the price of eggs considerably.

 

[scflock]

That's where economy of scale comes into play. Like today, I went to the feed store and bought a ton (13 80# layer mash and 12 80# scratch) of feed, plus turkey starter for the turkeys and broilers and chicks. I buy an 80# sack of layer mash for what it costs for a little bag at TSC. Plus as we are a commercial farm, we get a state sales tax exemption for agricultural production.

I couldn't afford to raise chickens at retail...or more accurately, would have to raise the price of eggs considerably.

That is what keeps me from actively pursuing this as something profitable. I have a large backyard flock, but it's still a backyard flock. I work full time, and this is a hobby. I still buy my supplies retail, but this year I have sold enough to break even. Now, understand, this is breaking even from this point forward. I'm thousands of dollars in the hole if you go back to 2009. I do this for fun, and would still do it if I weren't selling anything. Still, this is the only hobby I have ever had that has a decent shot of breaking even.
Sorry about hijacking the thread. Incubating is hard