THE Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco Thread; Hatches, etc. (PICS)

[Toxic Chicken]

Hi. I'm new to hatching. I have a brinsea octogon 20 Eco.
My 7 orpington eggs just went into lock down today. My humidity
with both resiviours filled was only 41%. After reading a few posts here
I cut two pieces off a sham wow towl thing some one gave me
Put one in each and have them hanging out along the bottom under
the tray. I finally found a use for a sham wow. Lol. My humidity is at
51% and climbing ( I just put them in).

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hmm that's very strange... all of my last hatch was born with 3 toes and one stub thing that has no nail. Coincidence or...?

Actually, I know what that is! It is called brachydactyly (is the By gene, and which means the reduction in length of the fourth digit, either missing a toenail or missing knuckles). Ptilopody (which is the feather leg-- replacement of scales for feathers on the legs) --- well the shortened outside toe and the feather leg gene are linked together! It's very common in Silkies to miss the toenail or have a shortened toe on the outside. It is genetic! It's not usually caused by incubation, but it certainly can't be ruled out either. But there have been a lot of studies shown about this and so far, the consensus says genetics. This is common in other feather legged breeds as well. Your chick isn't Silkie BTW, silkies have black skin and 5 toes. I'm not sure what orange skinned chick you are showing there, but that is why the outer toe is missing-- because of the feather leg gene.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hi. I'm new to hatching. I have a brinsea octogon 20 Eco.
My 7 orpington eggs just went into lock down today. My humidity
with both resiviours filled was only 41%. After reading a few posts here
I cut two pieces off a sham wow towl thing some one gave me
Put one in each and have them hanging out along the bottom under
the tray. I finally found a use for a sham wow. Lol. My humidity is at
51% and climbing ( I just put them in).

I spike my humidity with sopping wet (warm) paper towels in the tray. I bet your towel will stay wet longer than my paper towels, though.

 

[Toxic Chicken]

My humidity is still only 58%
Guess I'll have to try a sponge or some wet paper towls as well

 

[Hawkeye95]

My humidity is still only 58%
Guess I'll have to try a sponge or some wet paper towls as well

I just put in a dripping wet (warm water) paper towel and it jumps it right up to 70-72% almost immediately! I put it right into the tray with the eggs.

 

[Squawkbox]

Cool! Okay, so it's not an obscure deformity then... thank you for that tidbit of knowledge . Lol nope not Silkies, Cochins .

Actually, I know what that is! It is called brachydactyly (is the By gene, and which means the reduction in length of the fourth digit, either missing a toenail or missing knuckles). Ptilopody (which is the feather leg-- replacement of scales for feathers on the legs) --- well the shortened outside toe and the feather leg gene are linked together! It's very common in Silkies to miss the toenail or have a shortened toe on the outside. It is genetic! It's not usually caused by incubation, but it certainly can't be ruled out either. But there have been a lot of studies shown about this and so far, the consensus says genetics. This is common in other feather legged breeds as well. Your chick isn't Silkie BTW, silkies have black skin and 5 toes. I'm not sure what orange skinned chick you are showing there, but that is why the outer toe is missing-- because of the feather leg gene.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Cool! Okay, so it's not an obscure deformity then... thank you for that tidbit of knowledge . Lol nope not Silkies, Cochins .

Ahhhh, a cochin!! Okay, and if you read up on this brachdactyly, you'll see that often the heavier feathered the leg and feet are, the higher the chances of having chicks hatch with missing toenails and the 4th digit. I know it is an often talked about subject with silkie breeders.... how to get heavier foot feathering and not loose that toe!

But yes, there is nothing wrong with your chick. I'm not sure about cochins... but with silkies, we are deducted only about -3 points per missing toe/ toenail (depending on how bad) and that is out of a grade of 100. So it is very minor. If you are showing, you'll need to check your own SOP for your breed. I would try not to breed this back into your lines, though... unless your bird is extremely typey and has everything else you are looking for. Or hey, if you are just a backyarder... then it's no biggie at all!!

 

[Squawkbox]

Definitely a backyarder! The daddy to these guys is perhaps a Brahma X something so definitely NOT for showing considering that they're mutts

. Seems a little awkward to walk without a toe on the outside though, good thing they've got the back one for balance!

How are your eggs doing? Did you candle to check for movement?

 

[Toxic Chicken]

When hatching in the Eco 20, is it ok to use egg cartons?
Should I lay them down, or prop them up against one of the bar things ?

 

[Hawkeye95]

Definitely a backyarder! The daddy to these guys is perhaps a Brahma X something so definitely NOT for showing considering that they're mutts

. Seems a little awkward to walk without a toe on the outside though, good thing they've got the back one for balance!

How are your eggs doing? Did you candle to check for movement?

Yeah, they'll be fine and get around great. I haven't candled my eggs-- I'm too scared now! LOL They are my shipped eggs and I figure the less I handle them, the better. Their air sacs are all loose. But I do want to check a few of them to see if they are okay thru that low temp the other day. I don't know how long the low temps were, so I should probably check them and be sure they are okay.

When hatching in the Eco 20, is it ok to use egg cartons?
Should I lay them down, or prop them up against one of the bar things ?

I incubate with my bars up and eggs stacked in there against them. I hatch with bars out and eggs laying down. That's just me, I'm sure you'll get a lot of different responses as to how people do it.