Incubator

[Tybee]

I am thinking of getting an incubator and hatching chicken eggs and maybe duck eggs this year. Does anyone have a good inexpensive incubator to recommend for 1-2 dozen eggs?

When would I start them in my cold climate of Western Maine, White Mountains?

I remember when we bought chicks it took them about 8 weeks to feather out, and they can't be outdoors until probably Memorial Day?

[Chicken lady]

We use a Hova-Bator with egg turner in my classroom and have had good results.

[Tybee]

We use a Hova-Bator with egg turner in my classroom and have had good results.

Thank you!!!

[razz]

if you decide to do this, Tybee, please share so that we can see how it is done.

[Tybee]

I will. Right now I am looking at hatching eggs and freaking out about the idea of the roosters' combs freezing in the winter. We had Wyandottes before and I loved them, but I also subscribe to the Livestock Conservancy and figure if I can have a closed flock of a rare breed, that is a great opportunity to work towards breed preservation.

But I kind of freaked out reading about Dorkings and combs freezing.

[razz]

Trying to preserve heritage farm animals is a fascinating and valuable activity. I explored [URL="https://rarebreedscanada.wordpress.com [/URL] at one time even visiting Prince Edward Island to see some examples of the Canadian Horse https://horse-canada.com/breeds/canadian-horse/which I considered for our farm. But my time and commitments didn't allow for that so decided to work on saving heritage seeds instead. Think my late DH was relieved about my decision as animals in general do take a lot of time and effort.
Would enjoy hearing about your activities as you work through saving some of these fowl.

[Tybee]

Razz, I tried to go to your link because I love horse preservation--like you, that would be my first love--and it said Blocked? I am really interested in what Canadian breeds are threatened.

If I could work on any breed preservation it would be Marsh Tackies but I don't know how they would do up here, and they are hard to get up here. I turned one down when I was in SC and I'm still mad at myself.

[razz]

Will this link work better for you?
https://canadianhorse.ca/

I looked up the history of the Marsh Tackies as I had not heard of them before. Loved learning about them. https://www.grit.com/animals/meet-the-marsh-tacky-zm0z19mazhoe/
Interesting how different these two breeds in adaptation to their communities and yet how similar due to their ability to adapt.