Tis Time for a March 2020 Hatch-a-long!

[LilyD]

One of the bantam chicks passed away last night

Oh no I'm so very sorry

 

[FortCluck]

Oh no I'm so very sorry

I'm going to go check on the other two now and take pics. Losses happen... I have plenty more eggs to hatch.

 

[julskinka]

One of the bantam chicks passed away last night

Oh no!!!!

 

[beth1004]

I realize that I'm jumping in much later than all of you. We got our first incubator 3 weeks ago and in a frenzy of excitement my husband put 9 mixed eggs in. I struggled with humidity due to having to remove the top to add water. 6 eggs didn't make it. At lock down, we had 3 left. We woke up this morning to 2 hatched chicks and 1 that doesn't appear to have pipped yet. I haven't opened the incubator this morning because I don't want to upset the temp and humidity. How long do I wait before checking that egg? After getting that first incubator and realizing how much of a pain it is to have to open to add water, I spoke with the person that I was going to buy silkie eggs from and purchased one that you can add water without opening it up. Incubating is stressful and exciting. We've only ever had a couple hens hatch eggs. They took care of the work and the stress.

 

[julskinka]

I realize that I'm jumping in much later than all of you. We got our first incubator 3 weeks ago and in a frenzy of excitement my husband put 9 mixed eggs in. I struggled with humidity due to having to remove the top to add water. 6 eggs didn't make it. At lock down, we had 3 left. We woke up this morning to 2 hatched chicks and 1 that doesn't appear to have pipped yet. I haven't opened the incubator this morning because I don't want to upset the temp and humidity. How long do I wait before checking that egg? After getting that first incubator and realizing how much of a pain it is to have to open to add water, I spoke with the person that I was going to buy silkie eggs from and purchased one that you can add water with our opening it up. Incubating is stressful and exciting. We've only ever had a couple hens hatch eggs. They took care of the work and the stress.

If you've got only got one egg left and it hasn't pipped, you're not going to hurt anything by tapping it with your ear on it to see if it cheeps, or candling it.

 

[FortCluck]

Oh no!!!!

Yeah and now their dad is lifeless... Ughhhh my day is a mess.

 

[gmjarvi]

So sorry to hear about your losses @hysop and @FortCluck

 

[jolenesdad]

I hope things turn around for you @FortCluck!

here’s what I do for resting birds...

Cornish or meat birds under 9 weeks - 24 hours
Birds under 16 weeks - 48 hours
Birds over 16 weeks - 72+ hours

A FRESH chicken stored under 40 degrees is safe for something like 15 days. So for what I’m not immediately eating, I rest for 5-7 days and then freeze.

if you have the setup to scald, or if you’re just doing one or two birds, pluck!!!! That skin is so valuable. Both in cooking and broth making.

cooking helps roasting flavors, but, most important to me is that the skin is one part with very high levels of collagen. I canNOT eat one of my chickens without saving everything for a broth, and the more collagen rich areas you can include (neck, feet, wings), the more gelatinous the broth will be. For that reason, I’m not even too concerned about pin feathers. (They used to gross me out, now, if any are left I just pick them out before cooking) any left it doesn’t matter, after cookingI pull of the skin and immediately dump into the pot for broth. It all gets skimmed at the end, so sloppy is JUST fine.

bone broth is literally liquid gold.

 

[gmjarvi]

I hope things turn around for you @FortCluck!

here’s what I do for resting birds...

Cornish or meat birds under 9 weeks - 24 hours
Birds under 16 weeks - 48 hours
Birds over 16 weeks - 72+ hours

A FRESH chicken stored under 40 degrees is safe for something like 15 days. So for what I’m not immediately eating, I rest for 5-7 days and then freeze.

if you have the setup to scald, or if you’re just doing one or two birds, pluck!!!! That skin is so valuable. Both in cooking and broth making.

cooking helps roasting flavors, but, most important to me is that the skin is one part with very high levels of collagen. I canNOT eat one of my chickens without saving everything for a broth, and the more collagen rich areas you can include (neck, feet, wings), the more gelatinous the broth will be. For that reason, I’m not even too concerned about pin feathers. (They used to gross me out, now, if any are left I just pick them out before cooking) any left it doesn’t matter, after cookingI pull of the skin and immediately dump into the pot for broth. It all gets skimmed at the end, so sloppy is JUST fine.

bone broth is literally liquid gold.

LOVE bone broth. I pretty much turn my nose up at store bought broth now, even the store bought "bone broth." Nothing compares to making it at home, simmered or in the crock pot for at least 24 hrs.

 

[FortCluck]

I hope things turn around for you @FortCluck!

here’s what I do for resting birds...

Cornish or meat birds under 9 weeks - 24 hours
Birds under 16 weeks - 48 hours
Birds over 16 weeks - 72+ hours

A FRESH chicken stored under 40 degrees is safe for something like 15 days. So for what I’m not immediately eating, I rest for 5-7 days and then freeze.

if you have the setup to scald, or if you’re just doing one or two birds, pluck!!!! That skin is so valuable. Both in cooking and broth making.

cooking helps roasting flavors, but, most important to me is that the skin is one part with very high levels of collagen. I canNOT eat one of my chickens without saving everything for a broth, and the more collagen rich areas you can include (neck, feet, wings), the more gelatinous the broth will be. For that reason, I’m not even too concerned about pin feathers. (They used to gross me out, now, if any are left I just pick them out before cooking) any left it doesn’t matter, after cookingI pull of the skin and immediately dump into the pot for broth. It all gets skimmed at the end, so sloppy is JUST fine.

bone broth is literally liquid gold.

I actually made bone broth yesterday because we had saved bones for a while.

I made bone broth and then I froze some of it and containers. The rest of it made an awesome chicken noodle soup for my husband who is sick.