My first successful incubator hatch

Hatching chickens in a incubator. 

    This is my first successful attempt at hatching chicken eggs in a incubator. In the above photo you can see the chicks starting to peck their way out of their eggs at day 20. (chickens take 21 days to hatch.)

    In my first attempt, I mistakenly tried to hatch turkey eggs, which I later learned that the broad breasted and hybrid turkeys require artificial insemination in order for the eggs to be fertile. The tom turkeys are simply too heavy to perform their required duties. In the end, I realized I should have tried to hatch chicken eggs first, just to get a little experience. 

    Prior to this, I was allowing hens to set on their eggs and hatch them out. The advantage to this is I do not have to keep a constant eye on a incubator's temperature and humidity. I don't have to worry about power outages or other problems. And afterward, the hens do a fair job of looking after the baby chicks by keeping them warm and feed. 

    The disadvantage is that some hens are inexperienced and would only hatch out one or two eggs out of a clutch of 12. In addition, by allowing the hens to do the work it also takes that particular hen out of production for several months. This means that if she was laying an egg a day, I might be out 200 eggs during that time. 

    My father told me that they use to keep a few Bantam chickens on the homestead for the sole purpose of hatching out eggs. The bantams eggs were too small to have much commercial value, but they made the best mothers and would hatch out just about anything, including goose eggs. In addition to that, the bantams being so small, were pretty much self-sufficient, and if allowed to free range would fend for themselves.

   Here to the right you see the wet, less than a day old chicks. It takes about a day for the chicks to dry out in the incubator before I can move them to the brooder. Baby chicks can survive for several days on their internal food stores. This is why baby chicks can be shipped across country with little ill effect. 

    In this first successful attempt, I was actually surprised that I got any of them to hatch. I had three power outages and on several occasions the temperature or humidity drop below what was recommended. 

    I also had to collect eggs for 10 to 12 days before I had enough eggs to put in the incubator. I put the eggs in an egg carton and in a room that stayed around 55 to 65° and turned them twice a day by hand. Too cold the eggs would've died, and too warm the eggs would've began to incubate.

    The best advice that I can give you is make sure you read all the instructions that comes with your incubator. Then go to your local extension office for any of your farming or homesteading information. They are a great resource for many topics and directly connected with your local agricultural university. And of course don't forget to look for additional information on the Internet.

Turkey jerky dog treats

broad breasted White turkeys

    On many occasions we find ourselves with older breeding stock and wondering what to do with them. Poultry that is more than 6 to 9 months is usually pretty tough to eat.  One of the simplest solutions is simply turn them into dog treats such as turkey or chicken jerky. 

Ronco non-forced air dehydrator

   Start with lean meat and trim all fat, skin and bone off of meat. Slice the meat into thin strips, usually 1/4 inch or less. Thinner meat strips take less drying time. (Do not add seasoning, salts or sugars as this is for dog treats and is not needed.) It is also one of the big advantages over store-bought jerky that usually has preservatives added to it.  From here there are two different ways to dehydrate meat. One is in the oven at 200° for several hours. Place the thin strips of meat you wish to dehydrate over wire racks sitting in baking pans. The wire racks allow any remaining fat to drain off into the pan. Periodically check the meat for dryness every 30 min. or so. The strips should be leathery to brittle in consistency.  Any pieces that are spongy or not dry will require additional drying time. 

         The second method uses a dehydrator. The Nesco-american Harvest Snackma (Google Affiliate Ad)  is a good one to start with and cost less than $70. It uses forced air which reduces drying time and cuts down on the electric bill.
 The advantage to a dehydrator is that it's more cost-effective and in hot weather doesn't heat the whole house.

    Meat that is greasy or oily may require freezing or refrigeration to prevent spoilage. If you intend to freeze your jerky be sure and add a silica gel pack to the bag to prevent moisture. Usually I will create my jerky in small batches. I freeze the meat sliced until I need to make jerky. During the summer months I sometimes give the dogs slices of frozen meat sickles instead of jerky. Always smell the jerky for spoilage before you give it to your pet. Unpleasant odors are an indication of spoilage and jerky should be thrown away.

In the end you will save more money and give your dogs healthier treats if you make your own jerky.