# Time to incubate....



## Maryellen

The madness has begun....

Water -check..... 
temperature test -check...... 
Practice run started now.... check..

Brooder box -working on it.....

Warming up the bator for a hopeful March hatch. ....eggs to hopefully be set Thursday or Friday if all goes well......


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## seminole wind

Really nice big window on that one! Watcha hatchin?


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## Maryellen

Gonna try some breda eggs from my breeder and my barnyard mix .


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## Maryellen

My bredas aren't laying so I'm getting eggs from my breeder. And this year instead of a heat lamp I'm trying a premier heat plate,it got more reviews then the brinsea brooder one.both raise up so I'm trying one. I hate heat lamps they are too scary


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## Maryellen

And my one silkie mix is now broody... this might work out better maybe


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## chickenqueen

Nice digital incubator!!!It makes mine look like it's from the stone ages.If I were into incubating,that's the one I want.I wish you success!!!


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## Maryellen

Thank you, I have a magic eye one that I love, holds 12 eggs and is great for small hatches but it's a opaque plastic so you really can't see the eggs well. This one I sold some stuff and eggs to get took me 6 months to save up


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## chickenqueen

Wow!!!What's an incubator like that cost?I know mine was $50 years ago and the only thing it does is heat up.No fan,thermometer or turner but I can buy them separately LOL I did buy an egg turner and of course the thermometer and humidity thingy.I just don't incubate much,may be a dozen or so eggs every 3-4 years.This year is a no new chickens year though I'm planning on getting some goslings in May....


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## Maryellen

This one was $185, it has an automatic turner as well. I used it last year with my magic eye and it worked good.
This one is from incubator warehouse on amazon


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## Maryellen

This one I got first, it was dirt cheap on amazon, like $30 2 years ago. Now the price has skyrocketed .
It holds 12 regular eggs. If you have larger eggs it can hold 8


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## chickenqueen

Not bad,between the incubator and accessories like multiple thermometers,I spent at least that much.An incubator isn't on my wish list right now but the thought is planted.My next investment is going to be 1 or 2 trail cameras.I want to see what's happening out there and learn the deer's routine.


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## Maryellen

And due to snow for thurs I'm not getting breda eggs...bill was going to meet her but with the impending storm plans are cancelled


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## Maryellen

So instead I'm going to see how fertile my rir langshan roo is and hatch some barnyard mixes instead.


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## chickenqueen

How old are your Bredas now?Shouldn't they be laying soon?At least you have something to do while recuperating.It gives you something to think about other than your knee.


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## Maryellen

They stopped laying once winter hit. 

I am going to see if they started up again and if so I'll try to add some of those.i only saw rocky mount 2 of them so it'd going to be a crap shoot


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## Maryellen

My husband does my chores since my knee surgery so he just puts all eggs from both coops together in the fridge so I don't know if they started again


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## Maryellen

And we got one breda egg!!


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## Maryellen

Another breda egg. So far 2 breda eggs and 4 silkie mix eggs. I gave the rest of the eggs to the feedstore,I promised the guy eggs and he had eggs from another customer ready to go so I gave him my doz . I told him I don't know if they are fertile as I'm not sure


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## Maryellen

And they are in.... expected hatch date march 3rd.. all pullets are already sold I have 2 previous buyers who just told me they want all these so they will be split. If any bredas hatch those are staying here. Any roos that hatch except breda roos will go to a woman who takes all my roos. Any breda roos will be sold. I am returning my Breda roo to the breeder due to him crowing 24/7 so I'm hoping for one breda mottled roo to keep.


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## Maryellen




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## Maryellen

(When husband collects eggs and says he doesn't remember where they are from you figure it out lol)


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## chickenqueen

ME,you got a good hubby!!!When I'm incapacitated,Dale takes care of mine and I get the same nonchalant answers.He doesn't care for them like I do but they survive....He always helps when worming or spraying for bugs or simple medical procedures and winterizing/maintaining the coop,etc.I'm sure he'd prefer no chickens but he knows they make me happy so he tolerates them.Besides,the chickens were here first.


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## Maryellen

Thank you, he is a good guy,puts up with my chickens birds dogs and cats lol. He wanted chickens to but only 6.... I sorta went a bit over 6 ..... once I'm back to full use of my knee I'll be doing all my chores again and he won't have to


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## Maryellen

Both heat plates are plugged in and being tested.


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## chickenqueen

I'm going to miss not having chicks this spring but I have enough chickens unless something special becomes available.Instead,I'm going to get a few goslings.I've decided to get 5 Tufted Romans and 5 Buff geese.They are straight run and are 3x the price of a chicken but they can lay into their 40's and the oldest known goose was 101 y o.They may outlive me and I will have to make arrangements for them and the African Gray parrot when I draw out my final plans.


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## Maryellen

I heard geese live 40 years, that's crazy I never knew that. .I've got all the chicks spoken for if they hatch, except the Breda eggs if they hatch they will stay here if hens. The roos if there are any you can have one if you want, and I'm keeping one here since rocky is going back to his breeder once this dam snow stops so we can get him to her


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## chickenqueen

Yeah,keep me in mind.How much snow do you have so far?I am sooo jealous!!!All we have are puddles.


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## Maryellen

12 inches from the other day and so far almost 3 inches on top of that. ..

Heaters in brooder in living room, testing out in brooder now. They worked good on the stove lol..
I set a total of 22 eggs on friday.. Wednesday I candle to get rid of the duds.

Yes I'll let you know what hatches


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## Maryellen

Out of 22 eggs so far 6 are fertile , 2 were duds, the rest I can't see in the shells as they are dark eggs


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## chickenqueen

Have you ever set eggs according to the moon cycle?Chicks hatching under a waxing moon are suppose to be healthier and mature faster.My last 2 hatches were set according to the moon and they were all very healthy.Plus,both batches were easier to train to go back to the coop.It took a few days instead of 2-3 weeks.I don't know if it was because of the timing of hatching or,after 16 years of chasing juveniles,we have gotten really good at it.I even have a calendar w/ the dates to set eggs every month.Today and tomorrow are good days to set eggs and next month it's the 12th-14th.


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## Maryellen

Oh crap I forgot about that! !! Noooooo.


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## seminole wind

ME, You can use the weight method if you can't see what's going on.


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## Maryellen

What is the weight method?


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## chickenqueen

I'm sorry I didn't mention it earlier.You can set eggs next month on those days.I think Sem is pulling your leg and trying to say weight(wait) and see.


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## Maryellen

Ah haaha... weight and see if it hatches lol!!!


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## seminole wind

I'm not joking. I'll for the article. All incubated eggs lose a percentage of fluid per day (low humidity/osmosis.


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## seminole wind

Hi, here's the link. Good stuff on pgs 12,13,14,15
A lot of times I candle and go by the vein size and the embryo size and match it up with development pictures. https://www.brinsea.com/Brochures/BrinseaHandbook.pdf


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## seminole wind

Hi, here's the link. Good stuff on pgs 12,13,14,15
A lot of times I candle and go by the vein size and the embryo size and match it up with development pictures.


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## Maryellen

Oh my thank you!! Lol I thought you were joking hahahaha!!


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## Maryellen

As of tonight I have 9 fertile out of 23. I'm candling saturday to see how far along the others are, and remove any duds. All the dark egfs I'll leave until I read the link on weight


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## Maryellen

One dark brown egg is growing, I think it's a cuckoo maran egg


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## chickenqueen

I thought it was a joke,too.Never thought about weighing incubating eggs,especially since I'm bad at candling eggs.I'll have to keep this in mind for the next time I incubate eggs.


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## Maryellen

10 so far fertile, I tossed 3 more duds


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## Maryellen

12 fertile as of tonight. 5 waiting on . Threw out the duds.


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## Maryellen

I set eggs on the 10th, but collected from the 11th to 15th. Those eggs are growing too. I'm putting the 12-15 eggs in a 2nd incubator since they were put in 2 days after the 10th, so the lockdown dates for them are later.


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## Maryellen

13 fertile. I have 4 that I doubt will do anything. I'll check them Sunday and if nothing then I'll toss them.


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## Maryellen

14 fertile


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## Maryellen

14 definitely growing, 1 I can't tell as the egg shell is to dark, so it's 15 total . I have a 2nd brooder set up now since I put the 3 ee's outside, and seperated the eggs , the feb 7 to 11 are in one incubator, and the feb 12 - 15 are in the small incubator. Hatch dates are march 3-5. Hopefuly I get a good hatch from these 15 eggs. Out of a total of 25 I have a definite 14 growing, 1 maybe, and the rest were all duds from my rir langshan roo. . The one maybe is from him, the rest of the 14 are from my Breda roo..


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## Maryellen




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## chickenqueen

Every day I read your posts and every day I'm tempted to get my incubator out and throw some eggs in there.I love those babies but I 've got 30 chickens as it is and I don't want any more,unless something special comes along.I did get a rebate check from the electric company and it's just about enough to buy 10 goslings and I'm seriously considering ordering them.The more I think about it,the better it sounds but I'm going to make myself wait 1 or 2 months,until it gets warm.


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## Maryellen

Lol I have 34 ....plus whatever bredas hatch out that are pullets I'm keeping. The silkies and rest of chicks are going to 2 friends.then once these are done and outside I'm putting another batch in.


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## Maryellen

So I was using my little coffee blender this morning,it's me t to the big incubator. As I was blending my coffee I hear chirp chirp chirp. I stop and the chirps stop.. I start again and the chirp starts... apparently one of the incubating eggs started chirping when I turned my blender on. So I moved it so it won't disturb the eggs. Is it normal on day 13 to hear chirps? Normally I hear them at lockdown, but that's not till next tuesday


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## Shaneb99

I don't think a chick would be capable of chirping at day 13. It must be something else.


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## Maryellen

One of the eggs was chirping , as soon as I turned my blender on it started. I had the blender on the same table as the incubator,did it a few times and every time I did the chirping started. I removed the blender to the counter away from the incubator and no more chirping. Now the eggs were gathered from 2/7 to 2/12 and put in the incubator on 2/10, 2/11, 2/12.


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## Maryellen

So both brooders are now the rabbit cages, easier and safer access, plus more light. Hatch day is next Tues thru friday..
The small cage has a Brinsea Eco Warmer that right now I use to keep 13 day old parakeet babies warm when I change the nest box bedding, once Tuesday rolls around it will go in this brooder


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## chickenqueen

Can't wait to see them....


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## Maryellen

Me either. I'm hoping for a healthy hatch


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## Maryellen

Lockdown has begun for batch #1


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## seminole wind

If I think I hear peeping, I stand at the incubator and peep and wait for a reply. I think peeping is good for the rest because it helps them get excited about hatching. It sounds like some of your eggs are on day 17-18?


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## seminole wind

So you have Bredas coming?


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## Maryellen

Yep day 18, I peep and whistle too at them. I have bredas and silkie mixes in the incubator


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## Maryellen

I'm hoping for bredas, I got lucky and got some eggs before I returned the roo ,so hopefully these all hatch. The silkie mix eggs will be silke mix/breda as the silkie mixes were with the bredas . So those mixes should be interesting lol


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## Valentine

I take my hat off to you all I don't think I'd have the patience to do this.


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## Maryellen

It's so easy valentine, you should try it .


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## seminole wind

Yea, Valentine. It's some patience but lots of enjoyable anticipation. Hubby and I end up just staring at the eggs a week ahead. It's just strange and I can't give a reason.


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## Maryellen

So far since lockdown today I've checked on the eggs 19 times lol..


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## chickenqueen

I always enjoy hatching eggs.Most are mixed breeds and I always get extra special mutts.I hover over the incubator like an expectant mother.But when you incubate I guess we are expectant mothers/fathers...Too bad I'm at my limit I can't wait to see your new babies.How are the parakeet babies?


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## Maryellen

The babies are good, I'll be changing the nest box today so will take more pics and post them. .
I keep looking at the incubator, I'm hoping they hatch ok. I'm so nervous at hatch time lol.. I just want them to hatch ok and be fine


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## Maryellen

Nothing yet. I know my luck they will hatch while I'm at PT tomorrow


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## Valentine

I bought an incubator last year but haven't even unpacked it. Maybe in the spring.


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## Maryellen

Nothing yet. This is nerve wracking. I candled all the 10 eggs right before lockdown. All were moving inside. No pips at all still.

I just locked down the last 4 in the other incubator. I'm hoping for some hatches from these










If nothing hatches out of the 14 I'm going to be so upset


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## Maryellen

Just looked again , one is trying to pip. Silkie mix


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## Maryellen

Mt humidity is to high at 85%. I can't open the bator or I'll shrink wrap the chick.


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## Maryellen

Grrrrr nooooo. I hope they hatch and not drown


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## chickenqueen

ME,nooooo!!!!Everything is fine.You are worrying too much.If they were ok before lock down,they are probably still fine.By this time next week you will be up to your armpits in babies.I know those last few days are the worse-looking every 2 minutes and peeping to the eggs,looking for the 1st pips,checking temps and humidity.I feel for you...


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## Maryellen

It's the humidity I'm worried about, it's to high. But I can't do anything now. I'm just going to wait and hope none of them drown in the egg. I had that happen last year, and I had some hatch that were like so wet it was like glue on them. Took longer to dry


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## Maryellen

2nd one pipped. #1 pipped more


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## chickenqueen

You're on your way to chick heaven....


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## seminole wind

Hi. Lucky you! On pics 2,3,and 4 are they pipping at the wrong end? (pointy end)


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## Maryellen

Yep.. lucky me...pipping on the pointy end.... #3 pipped, now. 
Why are they pipping on the wrong end?


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## Maryellen

The #2 pipped on the round end, which is a silkie mix.


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## Maryellen

And this #3 is pipping on the wrong end too wtf


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## Maryellen

Two more pipping. #5 and #6










This one it's hard to get a pic as it pipped on the side


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## seminole wind

With that one, make sure the pip is on the side. I can't tell you when to help. But the chick may pass stool in the egg and have some super fast breathing. If so, leave her in the incubator until she's breathing normally. 

At some point you may want to pip a window for air at some point. It's good your humidity is so high. That's great..


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## Maryellen

If I open it they will shrink wrap, so I'm stuck. Last year I opened it to help a chick and shrink wrapped a few that pipped a good size hole


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## Maryellen

2 silkie mix chicks hatched,one who pipped the wrong end and one who pipped correctly


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## Maryellen

7 are pipping now. One isn't doing anything that I can see. The other 4 eggs in the 2nd incubator are not doing anything yet


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## chickenqueen

Congratulations!!!You are now the proud mama of baby chicks.They are precious.Now you're gonna be busy w/ all those babies.How's your knee?It's going to get a good work out,running around taking care of all your babies.


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## Maryellen

2 out and 12 more to go!. Their brooder is in the living room so I don't have to go far,I'm still using my cane to walk ,so I can sit in the living room and watch them.


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## Maryellen

4 hatched so far. 10 more to go.


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## chickenqueen

All that worrying for nothing.Are you up to your kneecaps in babies yet?Jumping up to look at them every 2 minutes is a good workout for your knee.Now a friend wants some fertile eggs.I totally suck at determining fertile eggs.Yesterdays batch is still in the basket,waiting to be washed and I'm sure there are more in the coop.He only wanted 3 LOL.I told him to take what I got and I will let him borrow the incubator and egg turner and instruct him.I told him if he got more than he wanted,he could sell the extras.I hope I don't regret lending him the bator but if something happens to it,I have an excuse to get a new and improved model.


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## seminole wind

It's always fun to shop for new chicken stuff!

Maryellen, it's a good thing that your breech baby didn't need help. They are so cute!


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## Maryellen

6 now. I'm at PT and bill has chick duty. Good thing little breech hatched . 
Chicken queen no way to tell if fertile unless you crack them open, so just give him a bunch to hatch and tell him it's a test batch


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## hildar

I want to get back into incubating eggs again Iloved doing it so much. My old bator though got trashed. It ruined 45 eggs the last time I had it going so I decided to wait until I can get a bigger incubator.


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## Maryellen

7 now, we are on a roll


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## Maryellen

7 in the brooder. 3 more eggs to go, one is pipping now


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## Maryellen

#8

They are all hatching today lol. 2 more to go hopefully from this incubator


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## Maryellen

Omg . 5 total left to hatch. The 4 from the other bator and 1 from the original 10


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## Maryellen

The remaining 5 eggs are 5 breda eggs


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## Maryellen

Total today that hatched starting at 4am to 4pm :

4 breda
4 silkie mix/breda
1 cuckoo maran /rir langshan (who is sporting a very noticeable comb already who loves to climb in my hand)


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## seminole wind

Glad you did Bredas. Breda/silkie crosses.? Can't wait to see those!


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## Maryellen

#10 hatched 430 this morning. 
Now there are 5 pure bredas, 4 silkie breda crosses and 1 cuckoo maran rir/lanshan cross


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## Maryellen

I can't wait to see how the silkie breda mixes grow, they are all black with feathered feet


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## Maryellen

2 chicks have splayed legs I have the splints and bands ready but need another set of hands to hold the chicks so I can splint them , 2 of the Breda chicks can't walk


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## chickenqueen

If I lived closer,I'd hold them.You weren't suppose to have any problems.What is splayed legs and what do the splints/bands do?Yesterday a friend came and borrowed the incubator/egg turner and I gave him 40 eggs to go w/ it.He only wanted 2 but I convinced him to keep 3 in case he looses 1.I told him I don't know if an egg is fertile or not and throw them all in there and give the extras away.He claims if you put "free" on Craig's List,they will come and take them away.


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## Maryellen

They can't stand on their feet and legs, they are bowed a bit. If I splint them they will heal normal and the chicks can walk. 
Yeah free on craigslist gets everyone calling lol..

I would crack up if all 40 hatched.
The splayed chicks pipped on the wrong end, so I'm thinking they grew on the wrong end which caused the leg issue, or it was too much humidity at 85%


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## chickenqueen

If all 40 hatch I'm gonna look bad.There are 2 roosters for 26 hens.Last year I put a bunch of eggs in,don't remember how many,but only 6 hatched.They will all be mixed as both roosters,father and son,are EE/Cochin mixes.


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## Maryellen

Lol don't worry ,I'm sure if all 40 do he will find homes for them


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## Maryellen

10 chickies....


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## Maryellen




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## chickenqueen

Awwww!!!They are precious!!!How many do you have now?I want some chicks,too.We went to the hardware/feedstore yesterday and they had chicks.Dale made me stay in the car........At least he has accepted the fact I'm going to get goslings.........


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## Maryellen

10 so far, 4 more eggs are due to hatch in a few days.


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## seminole wind

Yippee! Can't wait to see the development of the Breda chicks.


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## Maryellen

The silkie mix breda mix are all black with a touch of white and feathered legs. . I can't wait to see how the pure bredas feather out


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## Maryellen




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## jewelslette

Where are you getting your goslings?


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## chickenqueen

I ordered 10 from Murray McMurray yesterday.I scheduled delivery for the 1st week of May.I bought 5 Tufted Romans(I love hair-do's) and 5 Buff geese.Gives me 3 months to fix their pen.I plan on having them in the living room for a month.I'm stocking up on pine shavings,I got the feeling they will need to be cleaned a lot more often than chicks.


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## Maryellen

Ooh I can't wait to see the goslings!!!!
Yeah goose poop is sooooo much worse then chick poop


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## seminole wind

I found the worst thing with the geese was that their bucket of water smelled so bad daily I had to dig holes to dump the water in. If I ran it on the ground, the stink would stay for days. And to me it was gag bad.

Good luck with the geese. They're very cute babies.


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## Maryellen

One chick died, she had a problem with her leg and wasn't eating , she hatched the wrong way
Now I have 9. 
My 2/13 egg just hatched, one more to hopefuly hatch then I have 2 eggs from 2/15 to hopefully hatch


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## Maryellen

#11


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## chickenqueen

They just keep popping out.How many have hatched so far?How many more are left to hatch?How are the parakeet babies?I told you you would be up to your knees in babies.Is your knee a getting a good workout?


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## Maryellen

11 so far, 1 died so I'm at 10. 3 more eggs to go this week . I have everyone in the living room so I can sit on the couches and care for everyone lol


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## Maryellen

One egg died at day 8,just removed it now. 2 eggs left to hatch between today and Wednesday hopefully. One egg chirped when I was candling it just now


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## chickenqueen

Are you still putting eggs in the bator?Do you have a magic number?How many pure bred Bredas do you have?With all those babies you must be busy.And proud....


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## Maryellen

The last eggs were Feb 15. No more lol. I got 10 chicks and 2 more eggs to hopefully hatch that's it. So far 5 pure bredas and 5 silkie breda mixes. If the last eggs hatch then I'll have another 2 pure bredas.


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## chickenqueen

Alright!!!You're doing your part for the Breda breed.If not for people like you,a lot of breeds would die out.Keep up the good work.Did you ever get another Breda roo?


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## Maryellen

I wouldn't go that far lol. I'm just getting started in them. Nope no new roo yet. I'm going to see if any of the chicks are a roo, and if so I'll keep one to use for breeding, and then either get my money back for the one I returned or get another hen from the breeder. I'm hoping the chicks are at least mostly hens and 1 be a roo, but we all know that never happens. I already know one chick is a roo,but it's a cuckoo maran /rir/lanshan mix . It was the only brown egg that hatched and the little chick is sporting a very prominent comb when he hatched lol.... he will have to go once he gets older and I confirm it's definitely a roo which I am.pretty sure it is, as the only chicks I've had born with a comb at a day old were roos lol


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## Maryellen

Last 2 eggs I candled and I think both chicks are not alive. I see no movement in one and the other I can't see inside. I'm leaving them in as tomorrow is day 21 so we Wil see . On day 25 I'll candle and if no movement or chirps I'll toss them.


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## Maryellen

And then there was 9. 
One of my Breda chicks died during the night, one of the first few to hatch.


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## chickenqueen

Sorry to hear that.When are you getting the new Breda Rooster?


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## Maryellen

I wasn't going to if I hatched out a breda roo, I figured if I hatched one I wouldn't need the one she had. I was just going to get another hen from her instead.


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## Maryellen

I hope the other 4 survive. All I read said this breed is hard to get to pullet age .


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## Maryellen

The breeder also said Son on mother is much better than brother on sister..


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## seminole wind

Sorry a chick died.


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## chickenqueen

Why is it difficult for a chick to mature?Is there a reason or theory?


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## Maryellen

Apparently the more rare breeds are harder to grow out, that's what a breda breeder in CA told me. I never had a chick die at 10 days old so it's very odd.


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## chickenqueen

Not only odd but also sad.I wonder if there is some genetic deficiencies in the breed....Hopefully you can raise some to adulthood and they will have the survival gene.Then you can breed them successfully to pass on that gene.How many Bredas do you have now?


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## Maryellen

I have 4 chicks left, plus 4 hens outside. . 
I'm hoping the remaining chicks are stronger and mature.


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## seminole wind

What I do to "pump up" my chicks is every afternoon they would get a dish of chick feed mush. And they would be like vultures once they tasted it. They thought it was the best. I'd do it for a few months.


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## Maryellen

Warm water and chick feed?like fermented or like oatmeal consistency?


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