Well spring has sprung at Casa Mill House!
Today we collected our new lot of POL chicks. they are what used to be called Bovans Goldlines, but now that Hendrix Genetics have taken over the Joice & Hill Hatchery, they are being re-named Bovans Browns! We have only got 150 this time as we still have the meat chicks in the big brooder shed. Then we are probably getting just 50 Amberlinks at the end of the month.
As some of you know, the amberlinks are very good at suffocating each other at the drop of a hat at around 5-9 weeks old, so I told Brian that we don't want many, just enough to satisfy all those people who like amberlinks!
Also, my 2 white silkie girls keep going broody, so I put 6 Araucana eggs under Rosa, the one who goes broody most, and she laid a few of her own eggs and pinched a couple of eggs from Bella, so she had 10 eggs under her which have been there nearly 2 weeks.
The other day I moved them all out of their shed which was too big for them and put Rosa and her eggs in the smallest ark and Klaus, my Gold Silkie cockerel, Bella the other white hen and little Fluffy the cuckoo in the bigger ark that my friend Joy gave me and I made a temporary run for them out of stock fencing. However, Rosa missed her friends more than she wanted her eggs, so today I opened both arks and she left her eggs to go gallivanting with Klaus and the girls!
She had rejected 3 of the Araucana eggs early in the week, which I opened and they were addled, and today I opened a couple of the silkie eggs which were also off so I opened all of them. Only 2 would have turned into chicks, but they weren't very developed. The other 3 araucana eggs are in the incy where I put 50 pure breed eggs on Tuesday!
I don't know what they will come out like as the girls who laid them are only young themselves, but I'll let you know when the time comes!
We got our 2nd bit of beef today! A forequarter of Dexter from our Friend Neil. I must say, it is a beautiful bit of beef!! Can't wait! I may even bring myself to making some more sausages!! But plenty of mince and stewing steak I hope!
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Hi
This is another of my questions. I got myself an incubator – a Covatutto 16 from Ascott Smallholding Supplies and a heat lamp and bulb and also some chick crumbs while I was ordering the other things and paying carriage anyway. Spent £90. I got myself some eggs from somebody I know who has a couple of cockerels with their hens which are mostly particular breeds rather than hybrids. I know I bought a basic incubator so I had to turn the eggs by hand but I did spend £90 on this venture and that was enough spent for now… I read several books on incubation and rearing chicks and followed the instructions as closely as I could. I fitted 13 eggs rather than 16 into the incubator. I candled them at 7 days and again at 14 days and discarded the two which had nothing happening in them. The other 11 all looked hopeful although I knew not to count my chickens until they were hatched. However NONE hatched. Have you any ideas, please, as to what I might have got wrong so that I can avoid it if I can lay my hands on some fertile eggs again? I admit to being really disappointed. So is my husband. He cracked all the eggs last night and the chick had started to form but then stopped fairly early on so something untoward must have happened but I am at a loss as to what. You have had experience incubating eggs so I am pestering you with yet another question – sorry! But thanks too.
Hi Jo, thanks for the message. I've only used my incubator 3 times so far, and although I've had chicks dead in the shell at various stages of development, I don't really understand why.
I know there are many reasons, like too high a humidity can drown them, if its too low I think it suffocates them. But can I ask you to look on the allotment forum I belong to?
there are a lot of people on there who have more experience with incubators than me, and also I'll put your question on there and see what info we can get for you. I am sorry you lost all your chicks. I can understand how upsetting that must be. but chin up, better luck next time.
It may not even be a problem with you or the incubator, but perhaps with the parents. Let's see what we can find out for you!
Hi Jo, well I put a post onto the allotment forum and one of the members also has a covatutto 16. This is what she said!
"ok, this is what I do in my cov 16. Clean it thoroughly with dettox, then switch it on overnight (without water), and check the temp is 101/102 Then I fill the smaller, inner circle iin the base, with tap water, and put my mini humidity thingy in where the eggs will go. Checkin humidity is good…CONSISTENT is more important than actual number, around about 55% The incie needs to be away from window/radiator etc, in a fairly consistant room.
My eggs (if through the post, must settle at room temperature for 12-24hours) are selected. I do not wash eggs, I just select the clean ones, and keep the nestboxes as clean as i can). The eggs must be consistant for the breed standard, the right colour, size and SHAPE. When storing my hatching eggs, I keep them in my utility room, which is the coolest part of my house, and is temp and humidity consistent, and i turn them every 12 hours to prevent the yolk from sticking to the shell. Ideally, I use the eggs up to 7 days after lay, as viability decreases sharply after that, to close to zero at 21days old.
I choose the eggs i wish to set, and place them in my d.room (where I keep my incies). Once my eggs have reached room temperature, i mark each with a circle (and a cross on the oposite side) and lay them gently in the incubator. I turn all the eggs from the 'circle' to the 'cross', in a clockwise direction around 8am EVERY morning, then anticlockwise back again 12 hours later at around 8pm.
I have a high intensity candler, which I find can show up the telltale veins in an egg without me having to lift the eggs out. At 7 days, OH holds thlid up for me, while I hold the candler briefly(so as not to overheat them) over each egg. I remove clear eggs, recandling more thoroughly Roll Eyes just to make sure. At this 7 day point, I top up the water bowl in the base.
I dont open the lid at all then until day 18. Very swift recandle, if the egg appears black inside, good, if pale, clear or small dark blob, remove them (recandle if unsure). To raise the humidty to around 65%for hatching, the second/outer ring needs to have water in, and I put a hatching mat under the eggs (helps prevent spraddle legs). Then I call a "lockdown" no turning or lifting the lid AT ALL from day 18. I expect them to start signs of rocking, peeping and pipping day 20, and hatch day 21. if the hatch is early, incie running a bit warm, if hatch late, usually the opposite. Keep chicks in to fluffy up, for up to 24 hours."
I hope this helps!!?? Let us know how you get on!!