Barnevelder breeders lets work together and improve the breed

[tls_ranch]

Woke up to a bunch of chicks in the bator this morning One more set after this and I will be done until fall

Trisha

 

[bumpershoot]

Wow Trish! I have never seen so many babies come out of a hovabator! Congrats!

 

[pysankigirl]

Nice!!! Jealous!!!

 

[tls_ranch]

Wow Trish!  I have never seen so many babies come out of a hovabator!  Congrats!

Thanks the Genesis bator I have has been quite good to me and I usually get good hatches with it. I had 3 power outages during this incubation of about 2-4 hours each time. I also didn't add any water until the last 5 days. It sits in the corner of our dining room on its old shipping box. I pretty much set it and forget it

Trisha

Some more pics. I cleaned out all the eggs shells. 5 eggs left to go with of those pipped.

 

[sherpagirl]

Thanks the Genesis bator I have has been quite good to me and I usually get good hatches with it. I had 3 power outages during this incubation of about 2-4 hours each time. I also didn't add any water until the last 5 days. It sits in the corner of our dining room on its old shipping box. I pretty much set it and forget it

Trisha

Some more pics. I cleaned out all the eggs shells. 5 eggs left to go with of those pipped.

When you run it without water, what % humidity is it at? (approx)

 

[Piet]

When you run it without water, what % humidity is it at? (approx)

That will really depend on where you live and the weather it is. Here in Alberta I could not do this, but on the west coast Vancouver you could do it. The humidistat at my folks house in Holland said 65% last week and that is normal there. Here were looking at 15 most the time.
Piet

 

[sherpagirl]

That will really depend on where you live and the weather it is. Here in Alberta I could not do this, but on the west coast Vancouver you could do it. The humidistat at my folks house in Holland said 65% last week and that is normal there. Here were looking at 15 most the time.
Piet

That's what I was wondering because if I didn't use water the humidity would be about 20-30%.
I was wondering how low the humidity can be. Even with one tray full of water, I struggle to get to 40% which is what the manufacturer recommends. But I worry that 35% is too low?
And wow, how do they incubate eggs at 65%, it seems like the chicks would be soup?

 

[Piet]

I run at 45 to 50 percent and keep the same at hatching, just because i use a cabinet and hatch in there also. So I set every week and hatch every week also. It works good for me and when fertile, they usually come pretty easy. Some nice hatching there for Thrisha, must be strong and healthy parent stock. Good looking bunch of real Barnevelder chicks. I ran hovabators before and never had much luck with them.
Piet

 

[tls_ranch]

I run at 45 to 50 percent and keep the same at hatching, just because i use a cabinet and hatch in there also. So I set every week and hatch every week also. It works good for me and when fertile, they usually come pretty easy. Some nice hatching there for Thrisha, must be strong and healthy parent stock. Good looking bunch of real Barnevelder chicks. I ran hovabators before and never had much luck with them.
Piet

 
That will really depend on where you live and the weather it is. Here in Alberta I could not do this, but on the west coast Vancouver you could do it. The humidistat  at my folks house in Holland said 65% last week and that is normal there. Here were looking at 15 most the time.
Piet

That's what I was wondering because if I didn't use water the humidity would be about 20-30%. 
I was wondering how low the humidity can be. Even with one tray full of water, I struggle to get to 40% which is what the manufacturer recommends. But I worry that 35% is too low?
And wow, how do they incubate eggs at 65%, it seems like the chicks would be soup?

I just have the one GQF genesis and it works well in my situation. I do wish I had a second to use as a hatcher. I have had the humidity as low as 20% without noticing any problems. Usually it ranges between 25-30%. I up the humidity to around 45+ for hatching and the wet chicks will raise it up more. This works for me and might not be best for other types of eggs, incubators or climates.

Thanks Piet on the compliments on the chicks I hope the weather has been more kind to you and your flock. I am all most done hatching for the spring and need to start preparing for our " nasty" weather. The summer heat will be here soon Next week it might get as hot as 94 Fahrenheit. I might do one more hatch in the bator. I also have 2 broodies that I might let hatch out chicks ( one 2 year old blue hen and one 5 year old Barnevelder hen). So far I've had a lot less broodies this year. I have started selecting against too much broodiness to improve egg production overall. I will still keep some broody hens in my flock as long as they prove to be excellent mothers and don't go broody too early in their egg laying cycle.

Trisha

 

[memphis]

Aghh! I have the most STUBBORN broody! Cool baths, wire crate with a fan and after 4 days she still wants to sit....on nothing mind you! This is my first experience with a broody Barnevelder. Of eight & this is the first one to ever go broody. Any ideas are welcome....can't think of what else I can do. Just need to rant a bit!:/