March 30, 2007 

  e started 80 chicken eggs and 5 turkey eggs last night. The temperature was staying fairly steady so we decided to go for it. These will all be crossbred chickens for meat.. IF they hatch out. "Never count your chickens before they hatch" and all that!! Later on when I have good barns all set up, I will be keeping the breeds separate to keep breeds pure, but these ones are just meant for the freezer. They will be mostly crossbreds. Amy has some pure Barred Rocks in there. I have noted that most of my chickens stay with the same breed for breeding. Even from day old chicks they KNEW the difference between the breeds, it was that noticeable. However, I will consider these crossbreds.

Picture Above: Amy setting a tray of eggs

Each day for the next 18 days, I need to turn the eggs 4x a day and check to make sure the temperature is between 99-100F as this is a forced air incubator. The last 3 days you are not supposed to turn them and I need to raise the humidity a bit more. This is the largest hatch I have set since 1977. So I am a little rusty and excited to have the opportunity to borrow this incubator to attempt to get some meat birds.

Picture Above: The interior of the incubator. There is actually another tray underneath and fully loaded it would hold close to 200 eggs.

Oops! Picture to the Left: OK I lied.. we TRIED to set 80 eggs, in reality, we only got 79 chicken eggs  into the incubator. This one hit the mudroom floor instead. Yes, I am the one who dropped it. See the "X" on it? That was MEANT to indicate up/down for when I am turning them. Not this one!