Ameraucana Breeders Club
The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club => Housing, Health & Hatching => Topic started by: bantamhill on December 08, 2012, 07:09:25 AM
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I cleaned the incubator and turned it on today. I set seven dozen eggs tonight. They are mostly bantam silver and blue wheaten/wheaten. It will be interesting to see how fertility is. I have had lights on since early November.
Anyone else have anything in the incubator?
Michael
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Anyone else have anything in the incubator?
I generally don't start until the end of February, but plan to fire up the incubators after the first of the year. I've sold the old incubators (still one for sale (http://saginaw.craigslist.org/grd/3463977705.html)) and am building some new ones. The two setters will hold 792 LF eggs each and the 2 hatchers will have enough capacity to handle what comes from the setters. I'll post some photos as I go.
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I am gathering right now and am planning to set early next week. I only have two girls laying right now, so the hatch will be small. Not 100% sure about fertility. I've checked a couple of eggs and they looked good, then kicked myself for wasting/killing those two potential chicks. Will know more when I candle.
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Just call me the hesitant dog, but I will wait until March to start setting eggs. It's fun enough to take care of the adult birds in zero and sub zero weather and not worry about keeping chicks warm while growing out. It can still be nasty weather here until mid April!
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I normally have mine running by now, but I'm way behind this year. I probably won't start setting anything until January. Which leaves me a short season, since I try not to hatch past March because it gets so hot so early here. But then, I've had to scale back a lot for financial reasons, so that might not be a bad thing. ;)
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Ive often quipped that we keep chickens so we can build things. John, i think you fall in that vein too. Custom incubators, sounds interesting. Where are the first pics?
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Finally got my eggs set this week. A couple more of my girls started laying so I ended up with 19 total. They were in with a cockerel, just not real sure how well they got to know each other. QUESTION: if after 6-7 days I find that several of these eggs aren't fertile, would they be too old or ??yucked?? to feed them back to the birds? My first thought would be NOT to because of possible bacteria starting since the eggs have been warmed up. Just curious as to whether or not anyone else thinks of such things and/or have read about it or tried it.
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Sharon, unless they have dead embryos already after 6 - 7 days, I boil them, mash them up fairly fine, shells and all, and feed them back to the laying flock. They love it. Be careful to break them slowly, as sometimes a little liquid will tend to squirt. The mixture smells fine, and apparently tastes great to the chickens.
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So, once opened, as long as the egg looks like a normal store bought, (unfertilized) egg, and it doesn't smell bad, it should be okay? Well that's good to know. At least they won't go to waste. I have always just thrown them out. Huh!
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The eggs that don't hatch are opened. If they don't have a chick in them, they are put into a styrofoam coffee cup and frozen.
When it comes show pig feeding time, the eggs are fed to Matthew's show pigs-one cup a day to three hogs on their feed.
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That is a good way not to waste them, too. I usually candle at 6-7 days, and if I think there's nothing in some of them, I put them back in and candle again at 10 days. If I still don't see anything, I take those out. I figure there's no sense in keeping them in there. It's good to hear of ways to use them.
I'm really getting chick fever and am collecting for another batch to go in around the 1st of the year. I may think differently later this winter, trying to keep them all warm...then getting them adjusted to going outside.
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I microwave them, let them cool & stir them up so there aren't any hot spots (no burned crops), and feed them back to the chickens. And I save the plastic trays from TV dinners so I can cook serve & toss!
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The shells are a good source of calcium and whatever other nutrients are needed for the chickens to make new eggshells. Do you break and microwave the whole egg or just the "innards?" It's a good idea to crush those shells into small pieces before feeding them, so they don't get the idea to start pecking ungathered fresh eggs.
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I save and dry all of the egg shells from the eggs I eat, then after they are dried out, I crush them up into real small pieces and feed it back to them in their feed and/or sometimes I sprinkle the pieces on the ground and let them scratch for it. I rarely buy oyster shell. I heard their egg shells were basically the same stuff...source of calcium. I just make sure they don't associate the little pieces with their eggs to prevent them from pecking at their own. The pieces were kind of pretty when I had brown egg layers, too.
And so far, I've candled 12 out of the 20 eggs I set and all but one is doing something. I was a little worried about fertility since those 12 were from the babies who had just started laying (and some just 3 days before I set eggs) and were in with young cockerels who didn't act as though they knew what they were doing. I guess they had been sneaking around the corner where I couldn't see them.
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Do you break and microwave the whole egg or just the "innards?"
Yes, I mix shell & all with a potato masher. I also feed the shells from my hatches, but they're usually brittle and crumble easily.
young cockerels who didn't act as though they knew what they were doing.
I've noticed the young cockerels aren't too obvious. I've gotten fertile eggs from birds that never showed the slightest interest.
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We should have a batch of chicks on Christmas day, and another batch on the 4th of Jan. Eggs that are fertile are the black, blue, buff, white, large fowl, blue, black, white bantams. We also have RI red bantams and SC white leghorn lf hatching.
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and another batch on the 4th of Jan. Eggs that are fertile are the black, blue, buff, white, large fowl, blue, black, white bantams.
Okay, so Little Jerry (seen in avitar) would be very interested in the black and blue bantams. I have chicks hatching on the 1st and 8th, so I could raise them and yours together. Now, how do I get my hands on some???
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I have about...160? eggs in the incbator. i set black, blue, and splash ameraucanas. Also put in LF New hampshires, light brown leghorn, buckeys.....and ONE butercup bantam. should be a fun hatch, first gounp is hatching on the 22nd, then i have a group on the 30th, and the youngest on the 7th of jan. I will be selling nd siping out chicks march through end of may is anyones intereted. Working on geting my website up and running, should be workable soon ;D
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Collecting eggs from my LF W/BW to go in incubator next week.
Storey's Guide says not to feed back egg shells from a hatch because they are full of bacteria which may be passed on to your flock.
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Collecting eggs from my LF W/BW to go in incubator next week.
Storey's Guide says not to feed back egg shells from a hatch because they are full of bacteria which may be passed on to your flock.
Duane, I always figured the hard boiling took care of any bacteria. Never had a problem and been doing for many years. Maybe Storey's is referring to shells from eggs that hatched?
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Yes, Storey's book is referring to shells from eggs that had hatched, but a previous poster said she feeds shells from her hatches.
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I save and dry all of the egg shells from the eggs I eat, then after they are dried out, I crush them up into real small pieces and feed it back to them in their feed
No, what I meant was, the eggs that I collect, wash, and put into the refrigerator to eat myself...those are the egg shells I save and feed to my chickens.
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Duane, thanks for the heads up. I mix them in with the stuff that gets thoroughly nuked and I've never had any problems, but no point taking a chance.
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moved my first batch of eggs into the hatcher last night. i keep hearing cheeping. ;D hopefuly this will be a good group to kick of my hatching season. il post pics when they hatch out.
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Yay! Btw, haven't forgotten pics, friends coming in tonight but I'll take some soon. :)
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moved my first batch of eggs into the hatcher last night. i keep hearing cheeping. ;D hopefuly this will be a good group to kick of my hatching season. il post pics when they hatch out.
How is your hatch going, Jensen?
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sorry i havent goten back sooner, hatched out about 12 Ameraucanas, 10 leghorns, 12 dorkings, and about 20 buckeyes and new hamps. all together i have roughtly 70...........im surounded by fuzzballs!! lol
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Did your buttercup bantam hatch? What's a buttercup, anyway? I mean, how do you come up with that and what does it look like? For some reason my mind thinks of a butterscotch color...or wait a minute. Is Buttercup a name of one of your birds. I'm confused!
I have a small batch in the hatcher now and am on day 19. I'm getting very antsy and am eager to have some fuzzballs of my own. I love having baby chicks in my office. I especially like it when they are a week or so old. Then, after they've gotten a chance to know me, I open the lid to their pen to see who runs away and who comes to greet me.
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Jensen, I have some fertile Buttercup bantam eggs in the incubator. Fertility on them was not great by any means, but I got 5 that are developing emryos. All the other breeds and varieties look like close to 100% fertility after 6 days of incubation. Definitely 100% on the large fowl and bantam brown red Ameraucanas.
Update: January 8th I set another 90 eggs. These were saved from the 2nd to the 8th, plus had plenty for the refrigerator. I only have 41 pullets and hens, so am pretty satisfied with production for this time of year.
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I finally broke down and set some eggs today. Only one of my Black Ameraucana pullets is laying and it is quite a large egg for a pullet so in they go. Also set a few Light Brahma bantams and LF Black Cochins.
Our local fair is in August and it seems like everything is either too young or scruffy from the breeding pen for my son to show. Hopefully we'll have something this year. Easier to be ready for our November APA show.
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I set 135 eggs on the 10th. Mostly Blue Laced Red Wyandottes and Blue and Black Marans. Can't set eggs from my best pen of BBS Ameraucanas until after the Ft. Worth Stock Show. Im getting anxious...
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I put the first setting of the year in yesterday. I always collect eggs for 2 weeks for the first setting and there were 334 eggs. About half are Ameraucanas.
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Sharon, unless they have dead embryos already after 6 - 7 days, I boil them, mash them up fairly fine, shells and all, and feed them back to the laying flock. They love it. Be careful to break them slowly, as sometimes a little liquid will tend to squirt. The mixture smells fine, and apparently tastes great to the chickens.
I do much the same except I've done it for eggs as old as 14 days or more. I crack all the undeveloped and/or partially developed eggs into a glass bowl. Then I nuke all the shells for about 3 minutes or so on high. This cooks all the stuff on the shells and makes them really easy to crush up into very small pieces. While the shells are nuking, I scramble all the eggs together, add a little Rooster Booster, and a LOT of Cayenne Pepper. Then I take the eggs shells, wrap them in a paper towell, mash the dickens out of them, and sprinkle them over the top of the eggs. Then nuke the whole things for about 30 minutes on low. And Voila! Egg soufle for the hens. And as Mike says, they love it.
God Bless,
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Cayenne Pepper? Why? What does that do?
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BRRRR much too cold for me to consider hatching.We [like most of the US] are having the coldest days of winter to date.Come on april!Frozen water but my hydrant is still working.I do have tape from the top to underground that I use if it freezes up.It does sometimes but not yet.Stay warm and be careful doing those chores.
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Cayenne Pepper? Why? What does that do?
Honestly, I don't know that it does anything. I've read in some very old books and on some recent things that it's good for the birds. They evidently aren't bothered by the heat and it's supposed to be good for something. Don't remember what now. I do know it hasn't hurt them though! A quick Google would probably tell you more. LOL
God Bless,