The 5th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[PAchickenlover]

[COLOR=0000FF]Good Morning! Please keep the number set counts coming.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000FF]Not real amused this morning:[/COLOR]

Oh boy, lucky you..... April fools joke? Sorry I couldn't resist.... Luckily it shouldn't last long this time.

 

[abmaddox1981]

The last of my eggs will get set tomorrow. A fellow byc'er is loaning me an incubator since all of mine are FULL! So I'll set the dorking eggs and a few others tomorrow, and post pics with a total count.

 

[mairead]

i set 7 eggs yesterday morning at 7:30am! would have set them at noon if i was home but i was at a pack basket making class.

 

[uphilljill]

Getting caught up... Congrats to all the setters! :yiipchick Aww.. Kittens and kits. Post pics of the babies bunnies (when they're presentable) please. We're overrun with babies this weekend, so here's some more baby goat pics:

And chicks in the brooder:

 

[MontannaC]

I only had space to set 25. I already had over 200 in incubation.

 

[PAchickenlover]

Here are some new pics of my chicks as promised.

And the newest additions..

OK one last pic. Some of you might remember our hurt chick well it is all healed.. Here is a pic of my daughter with it.

Hope you enjoyed the chick flick!

 

[coopsbyty]

Morning all! We set 50 eggs yesterday at noon central time.

14 serama (thank you Sally and daughter)
20 appenzeller
2 surprise
8 silkie
The rest barnyard mix

Here are picture of two of the incubators, some are in the new coolerbator I will try to remover to get a picture (crosses fingers it behaves) the rest under a broody silkie.

 

[Hayduke27]

Unfortunately I have no room for cups in my bator :-( Under that mesh part is the water trough system. It's about 1" high at most... the tray that holds the eggs will move all the way to the right and left (as pictured) when it's turning.

I just put mine in right on top of the eggs, like this pic shows. Just make sure to keep the plastic away from the heating element.

 

[Caitlin_VT]

I set a little late yesterday (around 9pm?). 7 Partridge Silkies and 9 Bantam Chocolate Orpingtons from my own birds (16 total). I couldn't set anymore because the incubators are full!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote:

This is not just for you misschkenlittle,

but its a good time to place a reminder, in attempt to save some chicks and some sanity

later on with this hatching.....

Humidity is only used as a tool, you need to adjust it for air cell growth/weight loss in the egg. Humidity is NOT a set number, everyones conditions will vary with what climate, incubator model, size fans, the eggs themselves and so forth. You should weigh eggs and./or watch air cell grown to determine if you are on track or not. Its always best to have REMOVABLE small containers in the bators, there are tons of small rubbermaid containers that WILL fit inside the incubators even with an egg tray. Filling the channels and not having a way to reduce humidity is bad.

We have more people frantically asking for help in the ending of hatch because of the following......


#1 LOW TEMPS hatch prolonged, ill chicks, chicks too big and stuck in shell, unhached chicks etc. We even run into STILL AIR incubator users running at 99.5 instead of 102! A still air NEEDS HIGHER HEAT vs FAN MODELS, ALSO MOVE eggs around in the bator everyonce in a while, as there CAN be hot and cold spots! CALIBRATE EVERY SINGLE THERMOMETER! see HERE

Never trust the thermometer that comes with the incubator, always check it.
The thermometer that came with my incubator was off by 5 degrees.
That could mean life or death for your babies.​

#2 Humidity is The second Biggest issue we see most in asking for help, high humidity has ill effects all around, these can also provide the most terrible hatches. And some people are told to DRY HATCH! Dry hatching doesnt mean no water at all necessarily! Its all about the air cells/weight loss! And you ALWAYS need humidity for final HATCHING!
CALIBRATE HYGROS! see HERE

Humidity is NOT A SET NUMBER, you need it YES!
However, you use it as a tool to "adjust" egg weight loss during incubation. We candle on days 7,10,14,18 To WATCH WEIGHT LOSS IN EVERY EGG! An EGG MUST lose approximately 13-14% of its weight during the incubation process. THIS IS YOUR GOAL!! You can monitor this by marking Air cells and also by weighing. ​

WHY to MEASURE WEIGHT LOSS IN EGGS, ​

MEASURING PROCEDURES (HOW TO), HOW TO CALCULATE, and HOW to interpret RESULTS
http://www.aviagen.com/assets/Tech_Center/BB_Resources_Tools/AA_How_Tos/AAHowto1WaterLossEN13.pdf​

#3 Position, Turning & Ventilation- Yes, some people do set eggs air cell down Like my DH

A good turning schedule is always best! Ventilation is important, see the hatching 101 article sections for all of the above, in the end after lockdown some will close vents to adjust humidity, this is BAD those embryos need oxygen during this important time, never use vents as a way to adjust humidity, see article for suggestions!


Yes there are tons of other things, like the hens age, health and so forth,
but in general the items listed above are what we get asked for help with when its too late!