What do you wish you had known before incubating?

[ChickenCanoe]

Just ordered one...they are on sale!
My food thermometer is my most accurate too...
....but it is not instant read, nor can it be calibrated.
I hope it really will read in the 5-6 seconds they claim,
will be of much help in the kitchen as well as the incubator.

They have a lot of stuff on sale right now but this one seems to perpetually be on sale. It is everything they claim. I've been recommending it for years since I bought my first one. I threw away most of my other thermometers except the Brinsea Spot Check.
Thermoworks has another version of this that is 24 inches long I use for composting and scalding chickens.
One drawback I've found with the instant read feature is you see the dramatic temperature swings as the heat element kicks on and off with a stc1000 thermostat controller attached to a multi-directional fan/heater.
The fan blowing across the thermometer in a big cabinet will run it up quickly.
In a steadier incubator like a good table top model or a Sportsman it is more useful.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

We just purchased 5 French copper Maran birds to start a flock of them. We have 1 roo and 1 hen that made it to adulthood. Predators got the others. It’ll be interesting to see how broody they are, but I can’t imagine any breed being broodier than a bantam Cochin, they’ll hatch a golf ball in the winter - pal.

What's nice about the Marans is they are generally less broody than the bantam Cochin and Silkies being happy with one or two broods per year. But while the my bantams can only comfortably raise about 4 large fowl chicks or 6 bantam... The Marans (and one of my Rocks) have easily raised 9 or more large fowl chicks easily... only problem being with more chicks they get comfortable hanging out with each other and a small group may stay behind instead of following mum closely. It becomes a lot like the tail wagging the dog.

Only a few of the Marans ladies have been as obsessively broody as my Silkies were... I sell/rehome those gals. And not EVERY single Marans hen has become broody. But it's enough of them that I know it's one breed I can count on to keep a good dual purpose, semi self sustaining flock of.

The winter lack of fertility mentioned is VERY dependent upon your flock management... and not an issue for me.

@cmom You're obviously an adventurer. Please tell us what is "more protein"? These loose terms make me crazy! Mossy2003 started another thread on breeder nutrition which I will be making my way to soon, and hope to see some wonderful conversation.

it's probably best to cull these early/often, as it's much easier to cull a very small bird than a very angry teenage rooster you know you can't keep.

While I do agree that culling early and often is key to keeping good stock... And that emotionally it may be easier to cull certain issues earlier... I could NOT justify dispatching a young male without his life having gone to SOME use (though I do struggle here cuz some I know will be poor carcass and not useful for breeding... I do want to make the hard decisions but don't want to become callous)... the most appropriate use for my family is the dinner table. That means they will all be teenagers before it is worth my effort... and to ME that's more responsible hatching than simply dispatching and tossing one that won't work JUST because of gender... Hatching ALWAYS includes cockerels. If that's how it is, I don't consider it... well, I guess it's still responsible, just not quite more ethical as the atrocities I'm looking to avoid by not supporting big chicken. But I know this is a slippery slope of discussion and we all have different situations. This is just a discussion and no judgement or rudeness intended.. for example, My first bent toes due to outage weren't culled at hatch... I knew I could eat any males anyways and they would be processed before their weight added any serious discomfort to them. One was female though... had I dispatched early I wouldn't have had to decide what to do next. She went to be companion to another disabled bird. But I knew I would not be comfortable in the future with any disabled birds going to fill the community. It's still a learning journey for me!
Bantams are just as edible as large fowl.

 

[Mosey2003]

The broodiness is a sticky issue for me. On the one hand, I know it's important to preserve it to some degree in our heritage birds. On the other hand, personally, I hate it

I had an 8 month old Rock pullet go broody on me this year!!! And then she snagged another in there with her before I could get her broken of it, so both of them ended up in the cage. I foolishly thought that since she was so young I could just boot her out of the nest a few times a day and that would do it - nope! And she was vicious!

I'm just going to pray none of my chosen trio try it before I get my eggs in the incubator this spring/summer

 

[ChocolateMouse]

While I do agree that culling early and often is key to keeping good stock... And that emotionally it may be easier to cull certain issues earlier... I could NOT justify dispatching a young male without his life having gone to SOME use (though I do struggle here cuz some I know will be poor carcass and not useful for breeding... I do want to make the hard decisions but don't want to become callous)... the most appropriate use for my family is the dinner table. That means they will all be teenagers before it is worth my effort... and to ME that's more responsible hatching than simply dispatching and tossing one that won't work JUST because of gender... Hatching ALWAYS includes cockerels. If that's how it is, I don't consider it... well, I guess it's still responsible, just not quite more ethical as the atrocities I'm looking to avoid by not supporting big chicken. But I know this is a slippery slope of discussion and we all have different situations. This is just a discussion and no judgement or rudeness intended.. for example, My first bent toes due to outage weren't culled at hatch... I knew I could eat any males anyways and they would be processed before their weight added any serious discomfort to them. One was female though... had I dispatched early I wouldn't have had to decide what to do next. She went to be companion to another disabled bird. But I knew I would not be comfortable in the future with any disabled birds going to fill the community. It's still a learning journey for me!
Bantams are just as edible as large fowl.

In my house, when a chicken dies or is culled too young to eat it gets composted in a hot compost pile. Honestly, this is probably in some ways better and more "useful" than eating it since the nutrients go on to grow plants that feed us again, and then I don't have the MASSIVE fuss of trying to keep a chicken I know I can't keep around longer.

Even if you just bury the body instead of composting, it's hardly a waste. It still breaks down, just slower. The nutrients live on in countless insects and plants.

Human waste, however, often goes on to be buried in landfills where there is a liner to keep toxic waste from seeping out. The earth won't see those nutrients again for 400 years or more, and also often those places become superfund sites. So if you eat the chicken, the nutrients may be locked away in a vat of toxic sludge forever. Is that still "useful"?

Is it useful to acknowledge that culls are just the cost of having the chickens we DO keep alive? Is there use in allowing some death to promote life?

"Use" has many different facets in its definition. So while I agree there should be a use, it's more likely a well-devised plan will include some sort of use and deliberate purpose. But it's such a broad, personal and philosophical definition that I leave it up to the individual how much and what kind of "use" they feel they need to get out of their animals.

But a PLAN is a must! Or you will be overwhelmed with male chickens and nothing to do with them.

 

[Mosey2003]

One option for young culls could be if you could network with some snake folks, the bigger snakes eat chicks of various sizes. Sounds a bit distasteful, but it wouldn't be a waste.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

One option for young culls could be if you could network with some snake folks, the bigger snakes eat chicks of various sizes. Sounds a bit distasteful, but it wouldn't be a waste.

I have done this too... they even take my eggs that don't hatch.

@ChocolateMouse Thank you, that is something I have been considering as well.

We have our own septic here.. so our waste isn't locked up. But I DO understand that everything comes from and returns ton the Earth. And appreciate being able to chat with peeps who have thought about it.

 

[Mosey2003]

I think it's a balancing act, at least for me. Between breeding the numbers it will take to get a handful of good keepers and keep moving along with the breed, and not having more than I can afford to feed to 12+ weeks to butcher. So far, I haven't hatched in large enough numbers to really worry about it, but I plan to try to get ~50 chicks hatched this spring. I can't really feed that many all the way through. If the hatching goes well, my tentative plan is to cull hard and early for any true defects, failure to thrive, etc. And then keep a really close eye as they grow. On one hand, it seems a bit cold to cull young, on the other, I do take them out to "the back 40" and I know they're being eaten, so not technically wasted. I had a rare death of a grown pullet a few weeks ago, and I took her out to be eaten too, rather than bin her.

I may feel differently by the end of next season. We shall see.

 

[cmom]

@cmom You're obviously an adventurer. Please tell us what is "more protein"? These loose terms make me crazy! Mossy2003 started another thread on breeder nutrition which I will be making my way to soon, and hope to see some wonderful conversation.

Currently I'm using Game Bird Breeder feed 20% protein since it is all I can find. Not too long ago my birds started to go through their yearly molt so I put them on the higher protein 20% feed because their feathers are made up of primarily protein. Regular layer feed is around 15/16% protein. I show my birds at poultry show so I want the healthiest chicks, so for awhile prior to breeding season I feed all of my breeders the higher protein feed.
These are some chicks I hatched out for a friend.

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

^^ You're outta control, lady..... someone call Dr. Phil!!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Currently I'm using Game Bird Breeder feed 20% protein since it is all I can find. Not too long ago my birds started to go through their yearly molt so I put them on the higher protein 20% feed because their feathers are made up of primarily protein. Regular layer feed is around 15/16% protein. I show my birds at poultry show so I want the healthiest chicks, so for awhile prior to breeding season I feed all of my breeders the higher protein feed.
These are some chicks I hatched out for a friend.
View attachment 1625638

Gotcha.

Since I breed... and constantly have birds in different phases... growing, molting, hatching, laying and so on... I always feed 20% protein minimum (flock raiser)...

That's why I like to ask what "more" is... or try to state that I mean more than standard layer *usually* is.