Setting 41 on 6-15, 7-8, 7-31, and 8-23 feel free to join in at any time

[NTBugtraq]

Hi all, I am starting my 3 setting of 41 on June 15, with a goal of getting 34/41 fertile eggs, and hatching 100% of the fertile. This will give me 100 1st generation layers of my project breed this year...part of my project goal. My first setting resulted in 50% hatch rate, I did things according to the instructions that came with the Styrofoam incubator (Hovabator 1588 with automatic turner). Then I read Sally Sunshine's Hatching Eggs 101...that is a must read if you have never hatched...and even if you have, its worth a rescan.

My 2nd setting has so far resulted in 22/34 fertile hatches as of mid Day 21, so my hopes are up for a 100% hatch. For this 2nd hatch I paid a lot of attention to Pete55's thread A Guide to Humidity, Weighing and Lockdown. Again, full of lots of great information and well worth the read. Between the 1st and 2nd sets, I bought two things I think are worth the expense, a Brinsea High Intensity Ova Scope, and a $10.00 jeweler's scale that measure weight between 0.01g and 200.00g. Your goal should be 13% weight loss between setting date and Day 21. The formula is:

Ideal Weight on Day X = Start Weight - (Start Weight * 0.13 / 21 * Current Day Number)

So, if Start Weight was 58.44g:

Ideal Weight on Day 10 = 58.44g - (58.44g x 0.13 / 21 * 10)
Ideal Weight on Day 10 = 58.44g - (7.5972g / 21 * 10)
Ideal Weight on Day 10 = 58.44g - (0.361771g * 10)
Ideal Weight on Day 10 = 58.44g - 3.61771g
Ideal Weight on Day 10 = 54.82g

If you find your actual weights are above the ideal weight, then your humidity is too high (typical)...take the cover off for a while and stop adding water.

Another good tip is before you actually set any eggs, run your bator for a couple of days with no water and see what the humidity is in it. Your ambient air is going to have some humidity. I ran my last set as dry and couldn't get below 25% humidity...but 25% kept me almost entire on target. The other thing to remember is to take the average of all your eggs weight loss and work with that till at least day 18. In an ideal world, you'd have 2 bators on Day 18, one you put the eggs that are on target, and the other you put the ones off target.

Well, that's a lot of info in the first post, but I was hoping this stuff could be all brought together so everyone who participates get's the benefits I have had here.

Tell us what you are putting in your bator, what kind of bator (or broody) you are using, your expected lockdown date, and your reason for hatching (pets, food, show, project, etc...) and of course give us lots of pictures and videos. Videos of eggs chirping are the most awesome for me...

 

[WalnutHill]

As every rule is made to be broken, I'll run down my rules and what I find when I break them:

Don't set eggs more than 10 days old...set eggs as old as you want, but be aware that fertility decreases, incident of sticky chick increases, and chicks will hatch late.
Turn eggs while awaiting setting...if you are not diligent, they will probably still incubate without issue.
Keep eggs cool and temperature controlled awaiting setting...keeping at room temperature accelerates aging and air cell growth. 55-60F in a ziplock is ideal for longer storage.
Turn eggs at least 3 times a day...turn eggs.
Don't set double yolk...if you do expect either a fail when one embryo dies, or to do a totally assisted hatch.
Don't set pullet eggs...only drawback is small chicks, but they should catch up in a couple of weeks. This is the best way to test genetics early.
Store and set eggs fat end up...storage is not essential, but always set eggs fat end up if not on their side.

When setting genetics with line breeding. mate daughters to fathers and sons to mothers. This is true...but be sure to select parent stock and offspring stock with ONLY ideal characteristics,, whether color or conformation or production. Flaws will be magnified and set as well as positive qualities.

In the first generation of offspring, hatch a lot and select only the best for breeders. Whatever the goal you are breeding for, don't compromise. If selecting for multiple characteristics, develop lines that most closely approach the ideal for that characteristic, then cross those to get a better bird.

Culling is your friend. Don't breed inferior birds or sick birds, even for egg production.

 

[scflock]

I assume its in the top as there are no wires going elsewhere.


Actually, I just discovered the calibration menu in the brinsea, so I can make a change myself and re-check it. I have no eggs in that bator now.

Ok, sorry for the huge multi quote, but I'm late to the party. The heater is the red wires wrapped under the fan

I called Brinsea about the fact the "factory calibrated" temperature sensor was off by nearly 2F, and they told me if it came in contact with magnets during shipping that could throw it off. Sounds a bit lame to me, but the stupider thing is what I did...

I bought the Brinsea spot checker at the same time as the bator...but I bought it to check the Styrofoam bator and completely did not even think to check the Brinsea bator. So clearly running an entire hatch at 2F higher temp than I thought I was could clearly cause the poor results.

You have to double check any incubator. I didn't do that at first, either. Factory calibrated still includes human error. Once you get it right, it is rock solid

At my last check, the spot check at egg level was 2F lower than the readout. There was water in most of the wells at that point, and the manual says to do calibration with no water in the wells. So I have been waiting for the cleaned bator to dry out, I should be able to take a more accurate measurement tomorrow.

I recommend leaving the Spot Check outside of the bator and checking as many different spots as you can through the vent. I measure temps from 98.9-100.5, but my average is 99.5, and this works. Rotate your egg trays every 4 or 5 days and that will help offset hot and cold spots

Yes and no. Its not instant, but it is faster than some others I have seen. I wish it had some sort of holder for the probe so I could place it in different places in the bator. We're supposed to take the temperature at the top of egg...I put it on a box and hope it doesn't move when I replace the lid as there's no really good way to move it around a bator through the lid...that makes every measure take at least an hour.

Not just temps, but relative humidity also.

I agree. It should measure humidity for that price

Setting 80 project eggs today.

Both bators were sterilized with Virkon for 24 hours, then rinsed well. Filled them both to get the humidity as high as possible. I have been loading eggs all day and will be until 8:00pm tonight...using the 30 minutes between hatch days idea. My oldest eggs are 21 days so its taking 10.5 hours to get them all in. Running these hatches @ 36.9C/98.5F and 60%RH through to Day 18. The temperature is calculated for my area (elevation). The 60%RH comes from the Janoel's settings, and reaffirmed by my friend who incubates tons. All eggs are being laid on their side, which means the Brinsea can only hold 40 chicken eggs.

The only thing that will change on Day 19 for the Janoel is the humidity, I will try to keep it above 65%.

On Day 19 I will drop the Brinsea temperature by 0.5F, day 20 I will drop by another 11F, and Day 21 I will raise it 1F. I will keep the humidity there > 65% also.

Those are some old eggs, so I would take them out of the hatch rate equasion. That's using eggs that are severely handicapped. I don't recommend laying them on their side. I have had two eggs slip under the rails and incubate on their sides, and neither developed. Could be coincidence. Just sayin...

My friend, listen to me. You have a phenomenal incubator, but it has to be tweaked. Get an average of as many temps as you can, and adjust your display to that. It makes a world of difference. Set your humidity for 42% the first 18 days. If you tell me again that you need a humidity alarm, I am going to

the crap out of you. It's a clear container! For Pete's sake, just fill it back up once a week. If you are going through that much water, are you running with the wells dry? If so, fill half of them and you won't work the pump so hard. If you set your disply for a 99.5 average, don't mess with the temps after lockdown, there's no need. Broodies don't drop their body temperature half a degree a day.
I really want to see you do well with this. You are a cranky old man, set in his ways, so of course I like you

 

[WalnutHill]

I'm an overanalyzer too. I am sure a hen doesn't give much thought to what she does during incubation. She just does it. It may rain, it may be hot, it may be cold...she just works at keeping things consistent and nudging the eggs once in a while.

 

[scflock]

Well, enough dramatics for a little while...let's get back to having some fun. One thing that is neat this time is that I get to chew gum and smoke at the same time. With 2 more-or-less automatic bators running more or less the same eggs, I get a side-by-side comparison. They are running identically (temperature and humidity) during the first 18 days, and even day 19 will only be 0.5F difference in temperature. So day 1-19 has been where I have had almost all of my deaths (excepting the hatch I kept the chicks in the bator for 3 days, but even that hatch had late deaths in the eggs).

Now if the problem is with the nutrients my layers have had, then both should have something like 50% late deaths. If I get somewhat better than that, then it wasn't necessarily all nutrient oriented...and that will be good to hear. Regardless, I have put my layer flock back on layer mash with just a little scratch thrown in. One thing I was told at a feed mill yesterday is that if I had them on too low a nutrient food the hens should've started to molt. They haven't...

I had been feeding my 10 week olds layer mash, but have switched them to a grower/finisher.

My 34 1 and 2 week olds are doing great in the brooder, and seem very happy together. I hope to have the 1 week olds still in the brooders when I introduce whatever comes out of these 2 latest sets. I think introducing older birds to younger birds might help them accept more younger birds in the future.

Meanwhile, in other news...one of my 10 week old roosters managed to make his way into the layer flock pen. He looked identical to the red sexlink layers, and while he was in the young chicken pen his comb made it clear he was a roo, when mixed in with the 3 yr-old hens he looked just like another hen. He must of got in yesterday, as this morning I discovered him frantically trying to find a way back into the young chicken run, so I grabbed him up and threw him back in. There he instantly got picked on, and I discovered he had been wounded around his anus and was bleeding. I decided I would cull him and use him to try caponizing. Well, that didn't go well as the sun was too bright and I could not get a good view inside the cavity after the initial incision. Not having a place prepared inside to do the caponizing, I decided I would try dressing him (he was dead all the while I was fumbling around, fwiw). So I managed to skin him, dress him out, wash, and bag him. He's now in the fridge resting for 3 days. Dogs all got treats in the process of course.

So after a week of many failures (including caponizing attempt today), it ends with 1 definitely positive thing. I can dress a chicken for myself!!

Meanwhile, hanging 10,000 garlic is no small task...;-] I am finding more salvageable garlic amongst what I have already picked and have decided much of the small stuff will become seed for next year. Not ideal, but the genetics are there and there's no reason a small clove won't produce a big bulb next year if I get the soil dynamics fixed.

I am on day 4 of my 2 sets of 40, 3 more days and I will draw air sacs, candle, and weigh. I am really hoping this time I see lots of distinct veining so as to cull the clears. Everyone else who are hatching give us an update, what day are you on, what are you hatching, fertility rates...Let's get back to having fun.

Deal. I'll lay off the drama (mostly)

I did my first processing this year, too. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. You should have seen the other thread this weekend. I know how that rooster in a pen full of hens felt. I was almost caponized, too

 

[WalnutHill]

Here is an Australian FAQ that answers many questions. http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html

If I had a fenced yard that my dog could access at will, I would probably continue to try as I have a lot of venison, chicken and turkey available as well as beef trim. But you can't just replace the diet overnight, it's hard to find pet care who can/will follow the program (if I asked my mother in law to kill a chicken and feed it to my dog, rather than fill his bowl with kibble, it would not go over well), and if you raise chickens, it may not be good to teach your dog to eat them.

And the dog will learn to associate animals with food sources, so kittens, squirrels, rabbits, birds become food as well. My dad had a Brittany Spaniel that was a pound dog, he had been raised on raw food and was worthless as a hunting dog as he'd eat the bird after it was shot.

 

[scflock]

Lolz, that looks like your humor...;-]

Good luck with your hatch, why not describe it anew on the new thread?

I will.
Jeez, this crow is going to taste horrible

 

[bantam brood 17]

Well, my 2nd hatch ended up in ruins. I've got 6/41 thriving... Anyway, enough about past hatches.

I set 41 yesterday, the oldest being 7 days from lay date. I've also ordered a Brinsea Octo 40 ADV EX, so I will be setting another 40 later this week. I'm running a dry hatch, ala AmyLynn2345's approach.

So, I'm talking to myself so far so I keep my updates short...

Hi I,m not lucky enough to have any eggs to set ,but I have read your other posts on other threads I,m so sorry about your previous hatch and hope the remaining chicks survive I would just like to wish you all the best for this set and will be following your hatch

 

[NTBugtraq]

Day 11 Update: Culled 1 more clear (making 4 so far, which is a great fertility rate for my 1 rooster and 21 hens), found 2 red rings, both of which I suspected on Day 7. I have 6 that I still question, 3 of them the shell is so dark its making it hard to see inside. I found 2 that I had set upside-down...lolz, both ends look so much alike its weird.

Ideal average egg weight at this point should be 6.81% on this day...my average is 7.62% because I was letting the humidity run @27%...I put a bit more water in a couple of days ago so its helped, but I need the average weight to slow down a bit more. I am @55% today...but I have to wait till this afternoon to see where it settles out. All-in-all, I'm happy. The temperatures have become steadier with it in the ground floor cooler rooms.

I hope you are all having success with your hatches...

 

[holm25]

As far as I know, a fertile egg won't become infertile...certainly the older the egg the more the chances of them dying during the hatch...but 3 weeks old isn't terribly old. You're roo is obviously just not getting to all the girls on a regular basis. Mine slowed down after a dog attack, and I hear that thunderstorms can have an effect too. Are your eggs brown? It can be harder to tell with brown eggs.

What did you do with the clears you found this time?

I opend them up after 1 and a half weeks of incubation and found undeveloped eggs. My roo definetly doesn't miss hens. If anything he over breeds them. BTW I am not being sassy when I say this. Its hard to tell gow a person says something in a text or paragraph when u cant hear their emotions.