Finally

[Russ]

It is finally looking/sounding like spring here. Came home to hear a bunch of little peeps. I was hoping to already have 3 or 4 hatches on the ground. Old man winter just would not let it happen. Funny how hearing some new chicks chirping can turn ones outlook around. Not sure if the fertility was low or just the eggs were too cold this go around, only 30% made it to lock down  next hatch is due in 9 days and has great fertility so far  bring on the little Blues  oh and Large Blues, Silvers and little silvers too 

[DeWayne Edgin]

Same here Russ. I am only getting 50% of mine to hatch and i blame it on the eggs getting to cold by the time i get home from work. It is going to get a lot warmer here starting today though.

[John]

Not sure if the fertility was low or just the eggs were too cold

My guess would be the fertility.  With some matings it seems to increase as the season progresses.
I was rotating the same LF silver cock over 3 coops with 2 or 3 hens in each.  Two hens were silver/buff cross, two were silver/black cross and 3 were silvers.  The first couple weeks only the silver/buff eggs were fertile.  Now I'm getting fertile eggs from all three coops, but the best hatches are still from the silver/buff girls.  Hybrid vigor may account for those great hatches.   

[Debbie]

I'm in the same boat as Russ and Dwayne. I've been setting eggs non stop since December, but just had my first chicks hatch a couple weeks ago. I've add additional/new roosters to each pen, and tried to collect eggs more often. I'm also battling incubator issues and finally resorted to my trusyt old Hovabators. I had 95% of my eggs with fully formed chicks, but only a handful hatched. Im incubating in my tack room this year to keep the bator safe from my toddlers. I used to do it in the house. Now I think I've got it narrowed down to a humidity issue. The tack room is in my bsrn and uses a space heater. Im guessing its sucking the humidity out of the air and bators.

On a positive note, I'm now a licensed PA poultry technition! Something I've wanted to do for years, and finally all the stars aligned

Hoping for better luck for all of us in the coming weeks!

[Russ]

I think you are right John, my issue I believe was mainly due to fertility. Apparently my chickens require positive temperatures instead of the negative temperatures to spark the romance. Half of the eggs from the first hatch obviously had no embryo growth after I candled them on day 7. Luckily the temps have came up and so has the fertility. My second hatch only had 3 duds, so far, with excellent development in the remainder of the eggs. It is now time to get my hatch on