Valentine's Day 1st Annual Hatch Along

[Ravynscroft]

Alaskan, did your chicks message mine somehow??? They are messing with me now!! lol

Peeping this morn, so I left for the day... Came home and heard peeping as soon as I walked in the door, coulda sworn there was a chick hatched, it was so loud! Looked in the bator and... NOTHING!!

No pips, no wiggles, nothing... :/

 

[Alaskan]

This is my first hatch using a new bator and my first hatch in this old farmhouse with wood stove heat. MUCH harder to keep temps stable in these conditions, especially with the VERY cold weather we have had. Down to 12* outside tonight here in the mountains of Western NC, and I'm having my husband check the bator temps when he gets up to tend fire at 2am. If it's 100* at bedtime it'll drop a degree or a bit more by then as the fire dies down. Not sure I will do this again in high Winter unless I am in a push button heat, temperature-managed, situation.

that is why I spent all the money on the Brinsea... though you could probably manage steady temps if you made your own incubator in something like a well insulated cooler.

Your other option would be to put the incubator you have in a spot with less or at least slower temp swings. The last year I used my horrid old incubator I wrapped it up with layers of blankets, and only kept enough of the incubator open for air flow. That helped the blasted thing keep the temps more steady.

Anyway, I heat with wood, and the Brinsea keeps a rock steady temperature. It is wild... the first year I ran it, I started to wonder if the digital readout was just painted on..... but nope, the thermometer that I put inside the Brinsea had the same readings too.



Anyway, giant hugs for the stress you must be going through. I just about had heart failure over my eggs the last year I incubated with 'old horrid'. However, even with crazy low temp drops, and a couple temp spikes, I still managed to hatch a few, and those sure were healthy chicks!

 

[HerbGir1972]

2 Earlybirds this a.m.
26 left to go

 

[paris_r]

very early birds! are they bantam?

 

[haTHOR]

I too have a Brinsea..my temps in the house are so cold or variable even it is struggling!

 

[HerbGir1972]

very early birds! are they bantam?

I have no bantams in my hatching eggs this time around.
We've got another pip

 

[minihorse927]

I'm sitting on my hands no. Nothing is going on in the incubator but the broody did have three internal pips last night so hopefully something will externally Pip and maybe hatch today.

 

[minihorse927]

I have a broody sitting on some dud eggs. I was thinking of slipping some of the chicks from this hatch under her after they are all fluffed out. However, she is very skittish and I am afraid she might abandon them. This would be her first brood, so she is untried as a mama hen. Should I go for  it and hope for the best, or should I give her some fertile eggs and let her do her thing? Some of the eggs in the incubator for this hatch are hers.

if you want to break her broody spell, this usually works. I would wait until dark and slip just one or two chicks underneath her and see how she handles it before I gave her a whole bunch if she's never had chicks before. I have done this before and as long as I do it while its good and dark outside and don't turn on any of the parking lights they have always accepted them. I have tried it with older chicks and they rarely will take them once they get some size to them. I have also noticed if you do it during the daylight hours it's very rare for them to accept them.

 

[wornoutmomto3]

Good morning everyone. Went to bed last night with two hatched and a few pipped. Woke up this morning to 5 hatched 2 zipping a a few more pipped. I had to rescue one of the ones still zipping. The membrane dried up and it got stuck half in the shell half out. All are doing good. We are up to seven chicks. I decided to move the already hatched ones into a separate incubator to dry off. They were knocking the unhatched eggs around quite a bit. I lost several eggs in a previous hatch (9/12) because of that.
I noticed several of the chicks are hatching quite sticky. I am going to have to make some changes with the next hatch. This is a new incubator and I am still toying with it to get everything just right.

 

[StephensonC]

Good morning! I just knew for sure I would wake up and atleast see some pips this morning. However, all I have is a few wobbles. 2 of my eggs are bantams and I've heard they sometimes hatch early.? I have a dr appt this morning so I hope nothing happens until I get back. My blood pressure will probably be so high!! Lol

On a good note, I am getting some Serama and Bantam Chocolate Orpington eggs tomorrow, to start a new hatch on Monday. Can't wait for those!!