No Turning for 8 Days?! Please give me strength. :(

BurkeFarm

Hatching
Apr 1, 2016
6
0
7
Cash, Northeast Texas
Hi, Noob Hatcher here. I have two table-top styrofoam incubators going, one with eggs and one without (turned on to establish temp regulation for eggs that arrived this week).

I had some shipped eggs that I set on 4/2/16. The air cells were a hot mess so I purposely unplugged the turner so they could be in the bator for 3 days, upright with no turner. The goal was to plug in the turner on the morning of 4/5 unless the air cells were still terrible, in which case, I would plug in on the morning 4/6. Of course, on 4/5 the air cells were still not great so I gave it one more day. On 4/6, I plugged in the turner and decided that it is what it is with these air cells. IT WAS THE WRONG TURNER! I plugged in the turner for the EMPTY bator! WOE IS ME!! I JUST noticed this morning that my set eggs were always facing me in the turner and so I grabbed the cord and lo and behold UNPLUGGED! AAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!! ((*dies))

Please tell me that I didn't kill my viable CCLs, my BCMs, my BMs, and my BLRWs. I already knew that with this shipment and the horrid state of the air cells that I was going to be lucky to hatch 25-40% of them. Did I just seal their fate?! How do I deal with this?! ((*Goes to cry in the corner....))

Thanks!
-Val at Burke Farm
 
Hi, Noob Hatcher here. I have two table-top styrofoam incubators going, one with eggs and one without (turned on to establish temp regulation for eggs that arrived this week).

I had some shipped eggs that I set on 4/2/16. The air cells were a hot mess so I purposely unplugged the turner so they could be in the bator for 3 days, upright with no turner. The goal was to plug in the turner on the morning of 4/5 unless the air cells were still terrible, in which case, I would plug in on the morning 4/6. Of course, on 4/5 the air cells were still not great so I gave it one more day. On 4/6, I plugged in the turner and decided that it is what it is with these air cells. IT WAS THE WRONG TURNER! I plugged in the turner for the EMPTY bator! WOE IS ME!! I JUST noticed this morning that my set eggs were always facing me in the turner and so I grabbed the cord and lo and behold UNPLUGGED! AAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!! ((*dies))

Please tell me that I didn't kill my viable CCLs, my BCMs, my BMs, and my BLRWs. I already knew that with this shipment and the horrid state of the air cells that I was going to be lucky to hatch 25-40% of them. Did I just seal their fate?! How do I deal with this?! ((*Goes to cry in the corner....))

Thanks!
-Val at Burke Farm
Don't cry, stuff happens.
hugs.gif


All you can do now is optimize the time they have left and hope for the best. How's your temp and humidity?
 
Don't cry, stuff happens.
hugs.gif


All you can do now is optimize the time they have left and hope for the best. How's your temp and humidity?
Thanks for the comfort. I still feel like a dolt. LOL. My temp and RH is perfect (I think). I have a dry bulb 100*F and 50-54%RH (84*-85*F Wet Bulb). That sound good?
 
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Your humidity seems a bit high, I like to run about 35-40% in my incubator, with a temp of 99.5. Did you check the temp with a different thermometer? I like to monitor the air cells to fine-tune the humidity, according to this chart:


Too high, and the air cells don't get big enough and the chicks can drown at hatch. The "sweet spot" can be different depending on altitude, thickness of eggshells and gloss. So you shoot for the average size.

Shipped eggs are such a gamble. I've tried many things, and my hatch rate is about 20%. I am at 5,000 feet though, so the altitude plays a factor.
 
Well, I just candled them all.... and the good news is that the air cells seem to be right in line with the reference photo above and I only have two that are still mildly like "carpenter's levels" but MUCH more stable than before (before settling I had over half of the two dozen that were moving about like a bubble level)... and only one saddle-shaped air cell. I don't appear to have any quitters so far! Bad news is that I have two that had basically non-existent air cells upon arrival and after settling at room temp for two days and even after 8 days motionless in the bator... still no air cells...so they appear to have been non-starters or not fertile, not sure.

I have to ask though, the old timer who de-horns my goat kids and who fixes our cabinet incubators, he hatched chicken and quail for many years. He's he one who told me about the dry/wet bulb temps and RH for incubating vs. hatching. Why such low humidity so I can learn? Thanks!
 
Many people find the higher humidity doesn't allow for enough water loss by hatch time, causing the chicks to drown when they try to pip. That's why you hear about the "dry incubation" method where you don't put any water in the incubator at all for the first 18 days.

The dry method works best where there is some humidity in the air though, and since I live in a high desert, wouldn't work for me. Others use 25-35%, just depends on the air cells.

Some breeds take more or less, depending on the porosity of the eggshells. Marans and other dark or really glossy eggs seem to do better with low humidity, white eggs, especially small ones like silkies or bantams often do better with the higher humidity.

It's all a big experiment your first few hatches.
 
Many people find the higher humidity doesn't allow for enough water loss by hatch time, causing the chicks to drown when they try to pip. That's why you hear about the "dry incubation" method where you don't put any water in the incubator at all for the first 18 days.

The dry method works best where there is some humidity in the air though, and since I live in a high desert, wouldn't work for me. Others use 25-35%, just depends on the air cells.

Some breeds take more or less, depending on the porosity of the eggshells. Marans and other dark or really glossy eggs seem to do better with low humidity, white eggs, especially small ones like silkies or bantams often do better with the higher humidity.

It's all a big experiment your first few hatches.
I guess when my humidity goes down again, I'll leave the wet bulb temp around 75*-80*F. That should give me a 31-42% RH. I have some Marans, Bielefelder, CCL and SFH eggs that could benefit from lower humidity, if that's the case. My house is pretty dry. Thanks!
-Val at Burke Farm
 
Just watch your air cells. If they are on track now, I wouldn't adjust too much.

Here's hoping you have some hatch after such a rough start! Sounds like they were quite shaken in shipping.
 

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