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

[scflock]

I thought I heard that refrigerating eggs kills their fertility? Did I get that wrong?? Anyway, shame so many weren't viable, but it sure sounds like you're going to have fun with this hatch @WalnutHill
. What are your project eggs?

I sure like the sound of a sensor boom, that makes so much sense, shame they all don't have that. The Janoel turner is like your Polyhatch in that you can remove racks if you want to. The Brinsea 40 turner is, IMO, not so well designed. When I candled the eggs in the Brinsea yesterday I took the rest of the rails out as I found I had kinda "grabbed" the eggs between the rails. And so with removing the clears it means the eggs can move a lot more than they could before. Luckily there are no sharp movements with it (unlike the Janoel) but I still don't like the idea that the eggs will move one complete row during the turning. No breaks yet, but I keep worrying.


Thanks for the reminder @WVduckchick
, I have just turned that setting down to 30%, so no more being woke up at 4:00am. The instructions I read said that AS was the humidity setting, leaving me to believe the alarm would sound at some unknown values above and below that setting. Your instructions make more sense.

Seems my fertility rate is pretty good compared to you two.

I was doing some forecasting with my spreadsheet last night regarding when I can cull my original laying flock. I don't want to start hatching in 2016 until I have culled all 21 of my original layers. If I assume my project pullets will start laying after 20 weeks, and my first setting in 2016 is January 22nd (which gives me 16 week old cockerels on the first day my processor can process in 2016), I will have 32 laying project birds as of 12/30/15. So I am thinking now that I will have them processed on the last date I can get birds processed this year, 12/22/15. That let's me collect eggs for up to 22 days prior to my first setting...which of course isn't ideal but depending on how regularly they are laying...

BTW, I have 2 pure BCM cockerels to introduce to my main flock, including my existing 1yr-19 week Rooster Fred. I can keep them separated up to 12/22, at which point they will be 30 weeks old. I have to believe I can put them in the main flock before that. They can see and hear each other now, and have been for 9 weeks already. There are 9 other cockerels in with them at the moment who are 1 week older, but the BCM's really seem to crow more often. When I put them in the main flock I want to put them both in at the same time so they can be more assertive with the hens and pullets, while presumably standing off against Fred.

Right now my thinking is that the older cockerels go for processing on 9/3, leaving the 2 young BCM's as the oldest in their space. Leave them like that for a couple of weeks to build up their confidence, and then move them...at that point they will be 19 weeks or so. Thoughts??

Good lord, you talk a lot
I thought about you this morning. I posted a Silence of the Lambs pic in the forbidden thread, and realized that Buffalo Bill's dog was a bitchen frizzie
I love the Brinsea turner, and don't take out clears until lockdown, for the exact reason that you mentioned.
I started having a seizure when I started reading your projections, so I just decided to post on what interested me

 

[NTBugtraq]

Good lord, you talk a lot

I thought about you this morning. I posted a Silence of the Lambs pic in the forbidden thread, and realized that Buffalo Bill's dog was a bitchen frizzie

I love the Brinsea turner, and don't take out clears until lockdown, for the exact reason that you mentioned.
I started having a seizure when I started reading your projections, so I just decided to post on what interested me

You gotta read my undrunk posts in the morning, after your hangover is passed...;-]

 

[scflock]

You gotta read my undrunk posts in the morning, after your hangover is passed...;-]

Touche, my friend

 

[WalnutHill]

I thought I heard that refrigerating eggs kills their fertility? Did I get that wrong?? Anyway, shame so many weren't viable, but it sure sounds like you're going to have fun with this hatch @WalnutHill . What are your project eggs?

I sure like the sound of a sensor boom, that makes so much sense, shame they all don't have that. The Janoel turner is like your Polyhatch in that you can remove racks if you want to. The Brinsea 40 turner is, IMO, not so well designed. When I candled the eggs in the Brinsea yesterday I took the rest of the rails out as I found I had kinda "grabbed" the eggs between the rails. And so with removing the clears it means the eggs can move a lot more than they could before. Luckily there are no sharp movements with it (unlike the Janoel) but I still don't like the idea that the eggs will move one complete row during the turning. No breaks yet, but I keep worrying.




Seems my fertility rate is pretty good compared to you two.

I was doing some forecasting with my spreadsheet last night regarding when I can cull my original laying flock. I don't want to start hatching in 2016 until I have culled all 21 of my original layers. If I assume my project pullets will start laying after 20 weeks, and my first setting in 2016 is January 22nd (which gives me 16 week old cockerels on the first day my processor can process in 2016), I will have 32 laying project birds as of 12/30/15. So I am thinking now that I will have them processed on the last date I can get birds processed this year, 12/22/15. That let's me collect eggs for up to 22 days prior to my first setting...which of course isn't ideal but depending on how regularly they are laying...

BTW, I have 2 pure BCM cockerels to introduce to my main flock, including my existing 1yr-19 week Rooster Fred. I can keep them separated up to 12/22, at which point they will be 30 weeks old. I have to believe I can put them in the main flock before that. They can see and hear each other now, and have been for 9 weeks already. There are 9 other cockerels in with them at the moment who are 1 week older, but the BCM's really seem to crow more often. When I put them in the main flock I want to put them both in at the same time so they can be more assertive with the hens and pullets, while presumably standing off against Fred.

Right now my thinking is that the older cockerels go for processing on 9/3, leaving the 2 young BCM's as the oldest in their space. Leave them like that for a couple of weeks to build up their confidence, and then move them...at that point they will be 19 weeks or so. Thoughts??

Refrigeration, especially in a fridge set to food preservation temps (32-35F) definitely impacts viability. I intended to turn the eggs into pasta, so I am rather surprised any were viable with extended deep chilling and no turning and no humidity control. Some of the air cells were already 10% of the egg when setting. They've equalized in the incubator.

My project birds are a Golden Narragansett tom covering a Broad Breasted Bronze hen and a Broad Breasted White hen. I'm not sure if any of the BBW eggs were fertile, the tom was scared of her as she was about 35 pounds and he is half the weight and a good deal smaller.

And after all the juvenile toms started coming of age, the senior tom gave up his stud duty to simply keep the 30 or so jakes under control. There are no scuffles out there at all, it's blissful. I will always keep a senior tom in the grow out pen from now on.

My banty roos started crowing. You can hear them about 15 feet from the coop, that's it.

Young roos will do fine, and pairing them up is a good idea. I put one noisy young cockerel in with my layers and two senior roos, and he is quiet now.

 

[WVduckchick]

Glad the chart helped you NT, hope you got a nights sleep without a humidity alarm.

I weighed a sampling few tonight. Beginning Day 10. I weighed 3 sebrights and they are good, between 7.34-8.81% loss. The 1 silver duckwing OEGB I sampled is at 8.78% but the one BTBJ is at 11.45%! That's a bit high for day 10, but the air cells look good. Maybe I should weigh that one again. I could have written it down wrong.

 

[NTBugtraq]

Young roos will do fine, and pairing them up is a good idea. I put one noisy young cockerel in with my layers and two senior roos, and he is quiet now.

Cool, good to know.

Glad the chart helped you NT, hope you got a nights sleep without a humidity alarm.

I weighed a sampling few tonight. Beginning Day 10. I weighed 3 sebrights and they are good, between 7.34-8.81% loss. The 1 silver duckwing OEGB I sampled is at 8.78% but the one BTBJ is at 11.45%! That's a bit high for day 10, but the air cells look good. Maybe I should weigh that one again. I could have written it down wrong.

I certainly did get a good nights sleep!!

Whenever I weigh an egg and find a larger or tiny number I always double-check. it. When I checked yesterday my little 23g egg was clear, but I weighed it anyway. It had lost 48% of its original weight...

...so I weighed it again and the number was the same. I re-candled it, and sure enough there was a crack in it.

Best of luck everyone.

 

[WVduckchick]

Cool, good to know.


I certainly did get a good nights sleep!!

Whenever I weigh an egg and find a larger or tiny number I always double-check. it. When I checked yesterday my little 23g egg was clear, but I weighed it anyway. It had lost 48% of its original weight... ...so I weighed it again and the number was the same. I re-candled it, and sure enough there was a crack in it.

Best of luck everyone.

I reweighed that one, and got the same weight. The air cell looks fine though, and an active little booger inside! so I'm leaving them alone. Will pull a few more of those to weigh in a few days.

 

[scflock]

So far, I think 10 or 11 of 20 are out. There were 8 before I went to bed last night, and a few new faces this morning

 

[RubyNala97]

Who will be setting this up coming week? I just had more worst hatch ever and the only way to make up for it was to order more eggs!

 

[rossfam06]

Who will be setting this up coming week? I just had more worst hatch ever and the only way to make up for it was to order more eggs!

Darn Skippy. I am don't until sometime in November.