First Annual Cinco de Mayo Turkey Hatchathon- Join us! Set Day: Easter - Page 136

Always something more to learn and tweak with the homemade incubators.  Sounds like you can find a solution now that you defined the problem. I have high air flow at 2 locations and try to reduce direct air flow; I move the eggs around a lot so they have equal opportunity to get a blast of air. ANd just now, eureka! I hit a solution to try in my Henny PEnny.

LOL I have a cat named Squeeker!  He never touches a bird, chick or otherwise. He backs up a little and spits and spats when the adult chickens try to terrorize him.  I'm getting anxious about lockdown, too. 

My kids have enjoyed seeing the beautiful egg pip and hatch into the coolest bird ever!! ANd so have I.

Whenever I have broodies sharing a nest half of the eggs end up broken from them trying to steal each others.

most are that color.. but I have also seen some that were a pale blue .. sometimes when the emu lays the egg it gets an additional coating which will change the colors.

as it is they have three basic layers, the outer layer can be anything from a deep hunter or emerald green to almost black.. the middle layer is a turquoise/blue color and the inside layer is a bright .. so they are nice for carving.. and depending on how deeply you carve the middle layer it has about 7 different shades of turquoise/blue

Didn't get here yesterday........hoping it's here today!! 

I'm upping my humidity now.  It's up to 65%....I'll be adding another pan of water later if it levels off there.  I have the chicken eggs on a tray near the top of the cabinet and I put the turkey eggs in the bottom tray.  I turned the temp down a bit, will check it later to see if I need to lower it any more....am I the only one "chicken" to lower the temp below 99.5? 

I've been saying for a while now that the fan can cause problems in hatching chicks.. I just wish the incubator manufacturers would pay attention and fix their darn bators (an on/off switch for that fan which blows directly on the eggs would be a major plus and they could still have a circulating air fan in the bator.. just not have it blowing directly on the eggs)

I'll have to post some more pics later when he's got his (her?) legs under him

I'm hoping it's another female.. a little too young to vent sex so in a week or so I'll send in the DNA test just to be sure

lol. we have a barn cat who THINKS he can take down any bird alive.. he caught a duck one day..  didn't bite it.. just pounced and wrapped his paws around it.. then stopped.. like he was wondering what he was supposed to do with it now that he had caught it.. then the duck beat him with a wing causing him to let go.. so he sat back and stared at the duck like "how dare he do that to me!".. washed his face and strutted away like it had all been planned to work out as it had... he's such a wussy boy.. never kills a bird but likes to chase them.. (and has only ever caught the one.. lol)

My Iowa Blue girls won't share chicks, but apparently they will share a nest box. The Cochins are the worst. If they get out of their nest box for a potty break and another hen steals it to lay, they'll climb right in on top of them. I've had to rescue squashed hens from them before. And yes, there are broken eggs sometimes.

 Really really REALLY want to see some pictures!

 I am chicken to mess with the settings on my 1588. I've never done it before and don't know what the results would be. 

Is this why "they" say to use a still air LG for a hatcher? That makes sense.

I've got a couple cats that enjoy terrorizing the chickens. The flock all know which ones they are and know to steer clear. It's harmless fun, though I do yell at them if I see it. I worry about the young chicks a bit, but I never lost one to them that I know of.

 I candled my last turkey egg and it was a quitter.  I originally had 7 and 6 were clear.  I was really hopeful for this one.  I was really good about leaving the incubator alone this whole time and only candled a couple of times.  I checked the temperature every day and it was always between 99 and 101 (which is about as good as this incubator seems to get).  Even all but 2 of my Turkey Tutors seem to have given up on me and those 2 are questionable.  I just don't know what happened.

I think I am going to put the incubator up for a good long while before I attempt again.  My DH keeps tallying up the costs of shipped eggs ect. and asking how much these chicks (or lack of) are costing.  I think that is more discouraging than failed hatches.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnnisLakeFarm 

 I candled my last turkey egg and it was a quitter.  I originally had 7 and 6 were clear.  I was really hopeful for this one.  I was really good about leaving the incubator alone this whole time and only candled a couple of times.  I checked the temperature every day and it was always between 99 and 101 (which is about as good as this incubator seems to get).  Even all but 2 of my Turkey Tutors seem to have given up on me and those 2 are questionable.  I just don't know what happened.

 

I think I am going to put the incubator up for a good long while before I attempt again.  My DH keeps tallying up the costs of shipped eggs ect. and asking how much these chicks (or lack of) are costing.  I think that is more discouraging than failed hatches.

Any idea what your humidity was? No not really. the room humidity is about 50% and i filled one of the trays with water a while back.

Also.. when was the last time you really disinfected the bator? Right before this hatch

were the vents/plugs left open? one was open

Were they all shipped eggs? The 7 turkey eggs were, the chicken eggs were from my own girls

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arielle 

This is my understanding too. And I remember, not sure of source now, that because of the higher humidity, 80%+,  the temps need to drop more. ANyone one know? 

 

Yinepu, do you follow this? I seem to remember you had a different method?

when I raise the humidity I drop the temps by a 1 to 1.5 degrees.. seems to me the reasoning behind it is that at warmer temps the air can hold more moisture.. but it also starts to restrict the amount of oxygen that it can hold.. (which is another reason why the plugs and vents on a bator need to be OPEN at lockdown) so dropping the temps allows more oxygen 

to break it all down

humid air = less oxygen

hot air = less oxygen

hatching chicks need more oxygen

hatching chicks need more humidity

hatching chicks in hot humid air = chance of carbon dioxide poisoning

so by dropping the temp a smidge allows for more oxygen for the chicks.. however vents being open allows for better air exchange than them being blocked

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arielle 

Always something more to learn and tweak with the homemade incubators.  Sounds like you can find a solution now that you defined the problem. I have high air flow at 2 locations and try to reduce direct air flow; I move the eggs around a lot so they have equal opportunity to get a blast of air. ANd just now, eureka! I hit a solution to try in my Henny PEnny.

I've been saying for a while now that the fan can cause problems in hatching chicks.. I just wish the incubator manufacturers would pay attention and fix their darn bators (an on/off switch for that fan which blows directly on the eggs would be a major plus and they could still have a circulating air fan in the bator.. just not have it blowing directly on the eggs)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arielle 

LOL I have a cat named Squeeker!  He never touches a bird, chick or otherwise. He backs up a little and spits and spats when the adult chickens try to terrorize him.  I'm getting anxious about lockdown, too. 

 

 

My kids have enjoyed seeing the beautiful egg pip and hatch into the coolest bird ever!! ANd so have I.

I'll have to post some more pics later when he's got his (her?) legs under him

I'm hoping it's another female.. a little too young to vent sex so in a week or so I'll send in the DNA test just to be sure

lol. we have a barn cat who THINKS he can take down any bird alive.. he caught a duck one day..  didn't bite it.. just pounced and wrapped his paws around it.. then stopped.. like he was wondering what he was supposed to do with it now that he had caught it.. then the duck beat him with a wing causing him to let go.. so he sat back and stared at the duck like "how dare he do that to me!".. washed his face and strutted away like it had all been planned to work out as it had... he's such a wussy boy.. never kills a bird but likes to chase them.. (and has only ever caught the one.. lol)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arielle 

This is my understanding too. And I remember, not sure of source now, that because of the higher humidity, 80%+,  the temps need to drop more. ANyone one know? 

 

Yinepu, do you follow this? I seem to remember you had a different method?

when I raise the humidity I drop the temps by a 1 to 1.5 degrees.. seems to me the reasoning behind it is that at warmer temps the air can hold more moisture.. but it also starts to restrict the amount of oxygen that it can hold.. (which is another reason why the plugs and vents on a bator need to be OPEN at lockdown) so dropping the temps allows more oxygen 

to break it all down

humid air = less oxygen

hot air = less oxygen

hatching chicks need more oxygen

hatching chicks need more humidity

hatching chicks in hot humid air = chance of carbon dioxide poisoning

so by dropping the temp a smidge allows for more oxygen for the chicks.. however vents being open allows for better air exchange than them being blocked