Firing Up The Incubators

[airedale]

Well my poultry flock has become quite depleted and it is time to get some new stock. It has been a few years since hatching my last batches of chicks so I am looking forward to a good spring hatch on a wide variety of fowl.

Turkeys, Geese, and some exotic chickens and maybe some gamebirds are on the agenda this year. Hatching eggs are always a risk but I have plenty of experience doing it for a lot of years with pretty decent hatch rates. 

So things will be getting lively here at green acres over the next few weeks., it will be fun.

Al

[airedale]

So I get my hatching eggs on ebay and I am looking to try different fowl and one that I am especially interested in is the very rare Belgium Leige Fighter. I am a big admirer of gamefowl and these newly imported Leige Fighters have caught my interest. So I won an auction of a dozen eggs from a good breeder and I am happy as Hell, hopefully I can get half of them to hatch some healthy chicks.

Below is a description of the Leige Fighter Gamefowl.

If you’re looking for a stunning and fearless flock protector, look no further than the Liege Fighter. The Chuck Norris of chickens. It’s no surprise why the Liege Fighter is dubbed the “hawk killer” - this giant game bird is nearly 30 inches tall and can weight up to 12lbs with feet the size of a turkeys and huge spurs. They stand tall, upright, and with an imposing gait. Their fierce gaze, detailed eyes, and prominent brow give a sense of their personality. From day one, they act different than any other chicken we have raised. Confident. Calm. Like caring for baby raptors. And if you thought it couldn’t get any better, this chicken is surprisingly easy to handle, friendly towards humans, and gentle with kids. 

 

[airedale]

Egg auctions are all over, I got beat out on one selling Royal Palm Turkey eggs, but won on 7 others for a total of a little over 60 eggs, they should be delivered over the next few days. If I get 50 to 60 percent hatched out of this batch I would consider that good for hatching eggs that go through the US postal delivery system.

Got some pretty neat rare stuff coming, the 30 plus inch tall Indio Gigante chickens and Pilgrim Geese eggs are some new birds I am looking forward to get hatched.

Al

[First-light]

Definitely want to try this. Can I do it later in the summer or is it just a spring hatching season? If I'll shoot for next year. 

[airedale]

20 hours ago, First-light said:

Can I do it later in the summer or is it just a spring hatching season? If I'll shoot for next year. 

As long as you have fertile eggs you can hatch any time of the year. Dead of winter months when real cold you have to provide heat, the warmer months of Spring and Summer make keeping the chicks warm until they get feathered much easier. Also there are seasonal breeders so fertile eggs can only be obtained during those times, Geese, Turkeys and other gamebirds fall into that category, usually Spring and early Summer. Chicken eggs can be fertile most of the year.

I have been hatching eggs since I was a kid and as an old man now I still get a big kick out of it, one of the more fun things I have done during my lifetime.

Al

[airedale]

All the eggs I have purchased arrived and have been put into the incubators and they are holding good even temperatures, so now it is just a waiting game to see what hatches.

Chickens hatch in about 21 days, the Turkey eggs in about 28 days and the Goose eggs can take up to 38 days so if things go half way decent the first two weeks of May will be interesting. I am hoping for a 50% hatch rate which is par for the course with postal shipped eggs.

Al

[fasteddie]

Those are some interesting looking birds .

[First-light]

7 hours ago, airedale said:

All the eggs I have purchased arrived and have been put into the incubators and they are holding good even temperatures, so now it is just a waiting game to see what hatches.

Chickens hatch in about 21 days, the Turkey eggs in about 28 days and the Goose eggs can take up to 38 days so if things go half way decent the first two weeks of May will be interesting. I am hoping for a 50% hatch rate which is par for the course with postal shipped eggs.

Al

OMG I have to do this. I did have ducks and chickens as a kid on Long Island. My Mom grew up on a farm in Connecticut so it was in her blood! 

[First-light]

On 4/10/2023 at 8:57 AM, airedale said:

Egg auctions are all over, I got beat out on one selling Royal Palm Turkey eggs, but won on 7 others for a total of a little over 60 eggs, they should be delivered over the next few days. If I get 50 to 60 percent hatched out of this batch I would consider that good for hatching eggs that go through the US postal delivery system.

Got some pretty neat rare stuff coming, the 30 plus inch tall Indio Gigante chickens and Pilgrim Geese eggs are some new birds I am looking forward to get hatched.

Al

Ok so I'm full of questions! Are any of the birds for meat? I raised ducks and loved the eggs but never butchered them. Is butchering in the plans or just eggs? 

 

[New York Hillbilly]

On 4/8/2023 at 7:59 AM, airedale said:

Well my poultry flock has become quite depleted and it is time to get some new stock. It has been a few years since hatching my last batches of chicks so I am looking forward to a good spring hatch on a wide variety of fowl.

We have never had chickens , ducks, turkeys, etc., but it has our next planed step here on our homestead. We are within a couple days of being ready to purchase a small flock of laying hens, now that the coop is finished and their yard now fenced in to keep them safe. 

I may need to pick your brain from time to time as we take this next exciting step. 

Good luck on your spring hatch! 

[airedale]

14 hours ago, First-light said:

Ok so I'm full of questions! Are any of the birds for meat? I raised ducks and loved the eggs but never butchered them. Is butchering in the plans or just eggs? 

 

To my way of thinking a farm has to have a few hens scratching around in the barnyard and roosters crowing in the morning, I just like having them around and enjoy watching them. I do utilize their eggs and will butcher some on occasion. The chickens I have for the most part are gamefowl of some kind, they are the best by far for free ranging because of their toughness and ability to evade predators for the most part, their physical beauty can be stunning.

Gamefowl are much like a pheasant for eating, because of their physical activity and their ability to fly they are hard. They are almost self sufficient, a little grain thrown out to them is all they need the rest of their food is basically obtained living off the land like a pheasant. They are not big time egg layers like a White Leghorn but if you have a flock of a dozen game hens there are plenty of eggs to eat.

There are chicken breeds bred for every purpose, egg layers that will lay an egg almost every day, broilers that grow to butchering size in a few weeks and dual purpose breeds that cover both eggs and meat.

1 hour ago, New York Hillbilly said:

I may need to pick your brain from time to time as we take this next exciting step. 

I would be happy to help you out the best I can.

Al

Edited April 18, 2023 by airedale

[dmandoes]

How much the eggs go for at auction?

[airedale]

13 hours ago, dmandoes said:

How much the eggs go for at auction?

The price range for hatching eggs is determined for the most part by rarity, common Chicken's eggs can be purchased very reasonable, start getting into birds that are rare I have seen asking prices of $100 for one egg.

Shipping will add to the cost as the eggs have to be protected very well from the rough handling they get from the postal service, the sellers go through some very elaborate ways of packing and protecting the eggs. Most sellers add an egg or two to cover possible breakage. Out of the 80 plus eggs I received I had three that were broken but was covered by extras sent.

Purchasing hatching eggs is sometimes the only way to obtain certain breeds of fowl.

You can get an idea on prices by going over on ebay and searching hatching egg auctions by breed or types.

Al

[First-light]

1 hour ago, airedale said:

The price range for hatching eggs is determined for the most part by rarity, common Chicken's eggs can be purchased very reasonable, start getting into birds that are rare I have seen asking prices of $100 for one egg.

Shipping will add to the cost as the eggs have to be protected very well from the rough handling they get from the postal service, the sellers go through some very elaborate ways of packing and protecting the eggs. Most sellers add an egg or two to cover possible breakage. Out of the 80 plus eggs I received I had three that were broken but was covered by extras sent.

Purchasing hatching eggs is sometimes the only way to obtain certain breeds of fowl.

You can get an idea on prices by going over on ebay and searching hatching egg auctions by breed or types.

Al

Is an auction the best way or can you just buy from an breeder egg company?

[airedale]

21 hours ago, First-light said:

Is an auction the best way or can you just buy from an breeder egg company?

The auctions are the best place to find hard to get fowl, if one is just looking to get some hatching eggs from fairly common birds I would say Craigslist can be a good source. There are some good deals to be found there and if the seller is local that is an advantage as you can pick them up yourself foregoing the rough postal service handling, your hatch percentage will rise significantly.

Al

[airedale]

A disaster was averted, my power was out for 10 hours and had I not had a generator for electrical power I would have lost all the eggs. I am a huge believer in the Boy Scout saying of being prepared, I have a second generator to backup my main generator in case that happens to fail. Seems like every time I am incubating eggs I have a power outage.

I will be candling the eggs later this week to see what is going on as far as development, a bright light shined through the shell will reveal what is going on inside and the eggs that are doing nothing will be removed from the incubators, I have my fingers crossed.

Edited April 24, 2023 by airedale

[airedale]

A tip on incubators for anyone looking to give this a try. As always you will get what you pay for, a top notch incubator will regulate temperatures and humidity and will give much better hatching percentages with all else being equal.

A good incubator will have a small fan to circulate the air keeping the temperatures even throughout with no cool spots. You also want an automatic egg turner that turns the eggs on regular intervals. An accurate thermometer and also an accurate way to keep track of humidity which is important especially in the last three day lock down period.

I use the little incu-therm models shown below, they have worked well for me so far.

Size is also something to consider, large eggs from Geese, Ducks and Turkeys require a bit more room inside and headspace for the little ones when they hatch. The big white Hova-Bator pictured above is great for large eggs. 

Al

[airedale]

Man the power has gone out here three times in the last two weeks having to get out the generator for power and making me paranoid to go anywhere.

In the home stretch now, the eggs will be going into what is called the lockdown stage. The automatic egg turners are shut off and the humidity cranked up to 70% and the incubator is not opened until the hatching is over. The first batch are Asil eggs, they are pipping now and should be all hatched out on Tuesday by the end of the day. On day 20, the chick pierces the membrane into the air chamber. The chick breathes air for the first time, and you may hear the chick peeping inside the egg. This is called pipping. On the 21st day, the chick begins to break out of the shell.

Indian Asils are probably the toughest chickens alive pound for pound.

The next large hatch of eggs in a different incubator will start sometime toward the end of the week. They are all gamefowl of some type except for 6 Jersy Giant eggs.

It will not be until the middle of next week the Turkey eggs and Goose eggs start hatching.

Al

[airedale]

Just a couple of more eggs to hatch, real good percentage on these Asils, 11 out of 12.

The adult Rooster is an example of how these guys will look when full grown.

Al

[First-light]

23 hours ago, airedale said:

Just a couple of more eggs to hatch, real good percentage on these Asils, 11 out of 12.

The adult Rooster is an example of how these guys will look when full grown.

Al

That is so cool. Can't wait to follow next steps!

[SportsmanNH]

Sorry AL    I just had to do this   LOL

The chicks are ready for their ne wardrobe LOL

 

[fasteddie]

Topless chicks ? Hmmmm !

[airedale]

The Chicken hatching is over, I am a bit disappointed and was hoping for a higher percentage hatch rate but things turned out pretty much with the expected 50%. Shipped hatching eggs just have a high rate of failure and especially so with any that are shipped long distances, the postal service does not treat them with kid gloves, it is a wonder that any hatch. So I ended up with 29 assorted chicks.

I am using  mother hen brooding plates instead of a heat lamp, it is much safer and uses only 25 watts, I have it up high on one end and low on the other, the chicks can move anywhere underneath and find their own comfort zone. They are coming along good and they will be moving down to the barn shortly.

Next up about mid week are the Turkeys, they take about a week longer than chickens to incubate, an assortment of wild stuff, supposed to be some Osceolas, Rio Grands and Easterns, will be interesting to see what happens, they came from Ohio so if fertile there might be a good hatch percentage as they did not travel real far.

Al

Edited May 8, 2023 by airedale

[airedale]

Had terrible luck with both the Goose and Turkey eggs, fertilization was nil and nothing hatched, such is the gamble of buying hatching eggs.

Just finished up with the last small batch of Guinea Fowl and Mystic Onyx chicks. The early hatched birds are doing great, really have not positively identified what I actually hatched as they are all running together, but as they have got some size and feathers growing in they are beginning to show what breed they are.

Back to the Geese and Turkeys I decided not to gamble on eggs again and just get some stock from a Hatchery. The Murray McMurray hatchery is where I went as I have had real good luck doing business with them previously.

Got 9 assorted Goslings and I have 15 Royal Palm turkey poults coming mid week. Plenty of birds to keep me busy.

Al

Edited June 12, 2023 by airedale

[Farflung]

Wife currently has 6 silky eggs that she has put under a broody hen, figures they wlll hatch around June. She is thinking about puttins some guinea fowl  eggs under another broody hen (she has successfully done this b4.