The 6th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[Math]

What are the "things" you needed to work out? I thought I had mine under control, but after last night with the good thermometer the temp went down again. I tried to cover the holes to keep heat in, but it kept the humidity in. Now I am nervous with my hova still air. I don't know if it is the room. I did have it in our main living area and we heat with a wood stove. We let the stove go out over night to conserve wood since no one is in the main living area to sleep and it gets closed off. I moved the bater to a room where the heat doesn't fluxuate as much...a bedroom. It is still cold here in New Hampshire with 3 feet of snow where I am. The temp is up to the max to keep it at the needed temp for the eggs. I can't make it go any higher. Yet, it failed to keep it warm enough inside the bator. I loose most of my eggs over night, especially ready to hatch ones. Before I go to bed they are alive and when I wake up they are dead. I have now placed a small electric heater in the room in hopes to keep the room warmer at a steady temp instead. What other things might I need to do?

Sorry to respond so late. But, I worked today and when I came home, I planted watermelons, green beans and corn in my garden.

I have a Little Giant still air incubator. As you well know, temperature swings in a room where this incubator is located would be disastrous. I had to make adjustments to make my LG still air incubator more productive. I had to seal the seams around the incubator lid, control the temperature around the incubator, and control the room temperature. To seal the seam, I use masking tape to seal off the air leaking out all around the lid seam. This is a simple fix-it to prevent warm air leaking out all around the lid. Next, I have the incubator sitting inside a large box with flaps. I can use the flaps to cover the top when it is cold outside. (hint: more draft likely to occur in room.) This helps to minimize temperature swings around the LG incubator. I make sure air flow is not hampered under the incubator. Then, I also use a small electric heater to keep the room temperature moderated. I keep the room door closed. I did not have to go out and buy anything to make these adjustments for my Little Giant still air incubator. I hope these pointers help.

 

[Aprildeesunshin]

I just steam mine. I tested it with an egg a hen laid as I was walking into the coop. Works ridiculously well.

AWESOME! I will have to try that. How long does it take to steam? ...and the shells come off easier?

 

[acemario]

Ok, here are 2 images of the blood ring I mentioned....well I think it is a blood ring. BUT the chick is VERY much alive! I took a pic of where one could see it the best. It took 3 tries of taking the pic to actually get its dark spot because it is moving around so much. I turned the egg so you could see it is all around the egg. Is this really the ring of death or am I not seeing something? Well, besides the chick bouncing everywhere.

That just looks like a big vein from that angle. Good luck!

 

[Razadia]

Quote: I steam them for 20 mins and they almost always peel out like store bought eggs. I think I got the idea from either The Chicken Chick or Fresh Eggs Daily.

 

[Aprildeesunshin]

Sorry to respond so late. But, I worked today and when I came home, I planted watermelons, green beans and corn in my garden.

I have a Little Giant still air incubator. As you well know, temperature swings in a room where this incubator is located would be disastrous. I had to make adjustments to make my LG still air incubator more productive. I had to seal the seams around the incubator lid, control the temperature around the incubator, and control the room temperature. To seal the seam, I use masking tape to seal off the air leaking out all around the lid seam. This is a simple fix-it to prevent warm air leaking out all around the lid. Next, I have the incubator sitting inside a large box with flaps. I can use the flaps to cover the top when it is cold outside. (hint: more draft likely to occur in room.) This helps to minimize temperature swings around the LG incubator. I make sure air flow is not hampered under the incubator. Then, I also use a small electric heater to keep the room temperature moderated. I keep the room door closed. I did not have to go out and buy anything to make these adjustments for my Little Giant still air incubator. I hope these pointers help.

THANK YOU soooo much!

 

[Math]

THANK YOU soooo much!

You are welcome. Happy hatching.

 

[CherMoz]

I....have had a bit of a shock today...I had planned on doing some spot candling this afternoon to show my daughter but around noon I started feeling nauseous and dizzy...I have had a mild headache for a few days and a cold so I just thought my blood sugar was low or something. I ate lunch and was annoyed that the bacon I heated up tasted off...then I remembered my eggs tasted off last night...and I polished off a bag of sourcream and onion rings which I normally never eat...I keep DollarStore pregnancy tests in the bathroom because I get anxious if I am late and yesterday one said clearly that I wasn't pregnant...I keep one pair of expensive tests as a backup if I need it and so I took one of those....mother of fluffy baby chickens....

I AM PREGNANT!!!!

Congratulations!!

 

[Bantambird]

I am usually more of a forum dweller, but i am set to hatch some cream legbar chicks on april 4th, so i will be hatching along with everyone... So exciting! My hatch rates had been lower than i wanted, and I tried many things before, i have a sportsman incubator with a separate hatcher with a plexiglass door... So i started supplementing my breeders with sea kelp. the first week there wasn't a huge difference in viability, as that batch (due next week) only had 4 viable fetuses out of 20 eggs, but the second week saw 16 out of 21 viable cream legbar chicks! WOO! so far my april 4th hatch is looking a heck of a lot better, and the biggest variable seems to be the sea kelp supplements! Here's keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[birdman55]

Nice! Have to ask, are those pink eggs from some EE's? Who lays those? Very pretty. Have a friend that is wanting a pink egg really bad, and I'm loving those Olive eggs!

im not sure...where the pink ones came from....they dont look pink in real light...and the only birds i have are leghorns, dominiques, isa brown, ee...so i will pay more attention when collecting...i shall find out who is laying that color egg tomorrow...been getting close to 30 eggs a day now

I have wondered about sharpie vs pencil hatch rates myself. just curious really

i know people that use markers and they hatch fine...also about washing the eggs before incubation...i washed 30 just to experiment with the hatch...so well see how that goes...

How to peel fresh eggs....

DONT try this method for fresh eggs. It will turn into an EPIC fail. One of my eggs fell completely apart and the other ones just got "cracked" up.

After the eggs are boiled, immediately put them in a nice bath and wait 5 minutes. For some reason this helps separate the membrane from the white. HOWEVER, we are dealing with FRESH eggs (these were ones I collected today....yes, I did say that right. They don't come more fresh than this! Store bought eggs peel easier because they are older. I personally did 2 ice baths. If you look closely, you will see big and small ice cubes

Next is a VERY important step. You really need to crack the shell very good without splitting the egg. Then go to the wider end where the air sack is and open it. A spoon is a wonderful tool when dealing with fresh eggs. I like to use my grapefruit spoon. It works well for me. Insert the spoon under the shell and membrane. Then start to peel. Now, my first couple eggs looked hand peeled and were a choppy mess but then I got the hang of it. I learned this trick from my 70 year old friend that cooks up fresh boiled every week for her husband without fail! She likes to use week old eggs because they peel better, but as you can see, it is easy only at 2 (?) hours old. Well, let me rephrase that...PEELING fresh eggs is hard!

But, when you learn these tricks

and practice them, it can be easy and you don't feel like you want to pull out your hair when you are done.
SEE? This is the egg....yes, I know, it has a little imperfection but it is something to be proud of conquering.

you dont have to do all that...boil water....add tablespoon of baking soda and when the eggs are done....run bowl under cold water to cool the eggs off....and peel....works great as i had the same problem with fresh eggs...its midnight....and well...now i shall make some boiled eggs...hahahha

 

[NikkiCole5]

Hmm, it's only day 5 but I tried to look inside my brown chicken eggs and every single one looks clear... I'm going to wait until day 10 to check again but I was wondering if anyone can suggest ways to see inside the dark eggs? I am using a plain LED flashlight and also what do I look for in dark eggs? My duck eggs are white and easy to see inside and this is barely my second hatch so I don't understand what to do for dark eggs?