To hatch or not to hatch....

[Ontario Chick]

Congratulations on your "instant" chicks! How many hatched successfully from the eggs you took?

I should have mentioned, send 36 Columbian and 36 Blue Columbian x Blue
Got back 25 Columbian and 24 Col x Blue
75 % fertility is pretty good for Wyandottes, bit surprised they were so even.

Thanks to OC and her DH for arranging the transport. I have 12 more of Chunky's offspring now over Kibbles and Bits. Lovely clean vigorous chicks. DH has bets going on how much I sleep tonight (or not)!

I am pretty sure these chicks hatched yesterday, they spent 3 hours running from water to food and back, before they started to slow down and get some rest. :)
I liked Vian's comment, "I guess we will be lucky to get a sandwich for supper tonight", DH wasn't even that lucky, had to get his own supper:)
between one batch in the basement and the other in the barn brooder nobody accept the chicks are getting regular meals for a while

[Killerbunny]

I sent 28 eggs and got 12 chicks, not a problem because a lot of the eggs were up to a month old. I think the other thing is it takes away the nasty decision of when to stop the hatch because of late hatchers. When I hatch turkeys all the good ones pop out fast in <24 hr time window. Then there are the stragglers which always seem to be less vigorous and often don't survive. If they do survive they are marked for the freezer down the line and not breeding. This takes the angst away to some extent.

[Killerbunny]

OK as per the rules here is one of the chicks.

[Ontario Chick]

Yeyyyy for Baby Chunky!!!!!!

here is my Black sheep err.. chick

[Shnookie]

How do custom hatchers make sure you get the right chicks? I assume they are using a large incubator so there could be eggs from several customers in it.

[Ontario Chick]

I guess that question can only be answered by the hatchery, but I must say I am impressed.
I delivered 3 distinctly marked boxes, one for KB marked with her name, and two for me marked batch #1 and Batch #2 and my name, and was told they can be kept separate.
What I got back was 25 chicks in a box marked #1 and 24 in a box marked #2 and the "realist" I am, I thought likely story....
they just put half of chicks in one box and the other in the second box.
Not only did the keep the varieties separate, they even hat the batch number right, considering that it's a pretty laid back outfit they obviously know what they are about. :)

[windwalkingwolf]

Yay, congratulations to OC and KB! Oh, how exciting, you must feel like a kid at Xmas there hasn't been a good 'what am I' game on here in a while, when do we start?
When some little feathers come in? Yay!!!

[Killerbunny]

I think what we have to do next time is to make sure we have many more hatching eggs to take. This will reduce the cost per egg when transportation is factored in! Are you listening @JimW ?

[windwalkingwolf]

I am in for next year, if we can get a load together between us. I am tired of doing the summer humidity dance, and tired of chicks in the house in fall/winter/spring because it's the only good times to hatch. Climate controlled professional hatchery has a very definite appeal, so I'm not wasting so much time, effort and $$ hydro trying to get good hatches. I'm not willing to spend $$ on a dehumidifier, and more $$ for the 1500 watts to run one. Millpond seems like a better option!

[Ontario Chick]

We might run it as a "relay"
There is something else at play too, I have noticed in the past that fast hatches produce happy active outgoing chicks, but draggy hatches that take two days to complete, not that great.
These chicks were lively and obviously rearing to go, very hungry, ate and drunk and ate again and slept a bit and back to food and drink.
Apparently it does make a difference if you have great incubator and knowledgeable operator :)