2015 August hatch-a-long!!

[Frankie Ruiz]

I live in patchogue!! Your not far from me at all. I set the new bator in a room that doesn't have ac but I leave the door open to a room that does. The temp stays around 78 during the day. It is still getting warmer. Right now it's at 90 but the red light is still on. How is your hatch rate with it and where do you get your eggs

Oh were literally minutes away. we should meet up one day. I used to live in Medford. and My hatch rate with it is really good when I'm able to keep the temps stable in the room. whenever I havn't been able to keep the room temps stable I've had horrible hatches. Also, I usually buy my eggs and get them shipped or buy them from a breeder. I used to hatch out a bunch of mutt eggs but I don't have any girls laying at the moment. i have about a month and a half wait. luckily with me i have an acre of land so me having a rooster isnt a problem with my neighbors. next spring I'll be setting up breeder pens for black copper marans, blue and black ameraucanas, rhodebars and welsummers and sell the chicks and hatching eggs locally. i might do a blue copper marans pen too.

 

[Frankie Ruiz]

I was pleased with the results. My largest hatch I set 93 eggs, with 78 making it to lockdown, and 54 hatching. The eggs were gathered in Feb, and I had several bantams/silkie eggs. Fertility was a problem with most of the eggs that I removed...or lack of fertility I should say. 
I have since gone to dry hatches (where I don't add in water to the incubator until lockdown). That has greatly helped the health and ease with which the chicks are able to get out of their shells...no sticky chicks!   

I have wanted to try again, but using the dry method...but I keep running out of places to put more chickens as it is....I can not imagine what I would do if I did hatch out that many at one time. I'm really trying to be "good" and not hatch out more than I can handle at a time....but it's so hard.  

I use the dry incubation method too I try to keep my humidity at 30-35% though. with large fowl less then that i havnt had the best hatches. how do you set up the eggs to fit that many in there?! stack them on top of eachother??

 

[Gloryjasmine]

@Gloryjasmine
Where are you located? I have some that I hatched twelve weeks ago I might be willing to sell one or two. But I'm not sure on sex for all of them. Can you have roos?

Sorry I've been so busy on my farm! I'm in Sc. Do you have Silkies? Yes I can have whatever I want! Praise the Lord my husband and I have 24 acres.

 

[HerbGir1972]

Sorry I've been so busy on my farm! I'm in Sc. Do you have Silkies? Yes I can have whatever I want! Praise the Lord my husband and I have 24 acres.

@Gloryjasmine
Where in sc r u??
I have silkies, and hatching eggs. Looking to give aww the eggs for a blue or 2 in return.
Look here http://facebook.com/baileysbirdssc7
PM me maybe

 

[Hatching Addict]

I use the dry incubation method too

I try to keep my humidity at 30-35% though. with large fowl less then that i havnt had the best hatches. how do you set up the eggs to fit that many in there?! stack them on top of eachother??

I set all I could in egg cartons, which was about 50 eggs. Then I set the bantam eggs in between and larger eggs in the gaps between the egg cartoons, so they really weren't stack on top of each other...just touching each other. I was a little concerned about lockdown, but it turned out that after I pulled out all the ones that were not fertilized, I had everybody in a carton. So it worked out alright in the end. If I were to do it again, I would make sure that I had my other incubator on stand by to hold extras so there would be plenty of room for hatching.

My humidity stays in the 30's on its own...except for one hatch it was up in the mid-40's. We were having a lot of rain and the humidity was really high. I tried putting rice in the incubator, but it didn't seem to help a lot. I still ended up with sticky chicks on that hatch.

 

[Cynthia12]

Just had my first one hatch! I'm surprised, I just looked in on the eggs about a half an hr. ago, it was still pipped the same, then I heard screaming. It's all black. It came from my girl that I thought was going to lay me an Olive Egg..she laid a dark egg..this baby has green legs! I just may have myself an OEgger. Dad was the EE. Will see, also, going by the feathering already, looks good to be a girl. No pea comb, straight, and small.
I have her in the brooder, will get photo of her when she fluffs up.

 

[Cynthia12]

I was pleased with the results. My largest hatch I set 93 eggs, with 78 making it to lockdown, and 54 hatching. The eggs were gathered in Feb, and I had several bantams/silkie eggs. Fertility was a problem with most of the eggs that I removed...or lack of fertility I should say.
I have since gone to dry hatches (where I don't add in water to the incubator until lockdown). That has greatly helped the health and ease with which the chicks are able to get out of their shells...no sticky chicks!

I have wanted to try again, but using the dry method...but I keep running out of places to put more chickens as it is....I can not imagine what I would do if I did hatch out that many at one time. I'm really trying to be "good" and not hatch out more than I can handle at a time....but it's so hard.

I use what they call the dry method also, but not sure like you do. I go with one channel filled with water, which keeps my humidity during incubation around 25 to 30. Quite a span in numbers? lol..it's because it's 30 ish.. when I first fill the channel, then I let it go when I see it's down to almost empty and the humidity is reading lower. So, thinking that humidity is not that important during incubation...lock down is the time to keep it steady and up. I still don't go over 62 if I can help it.

 

[Hatching Addict]

Yeah!

 

[Hatching Addict]

Quote:

I use what they call the dry method also, but not sure like you do. I go with one channel filled with water, which keeps my humidity during incubation around 25 to 30. Quite a span in numbers? lol..it's because it's 30 ish.. when I first fill the channel, then I let it go when I see it's down to almost empty and the humidity is reading lower. So, thinking that humidity is not that important during incubation...lock down is the time to keep it steady and up. I still don't go over 62 if I can help it.

I agree...lockdown is when you need the humidity. While the eggs are "in the oven" I am able to keep my humidity 30ish without adding any water.

 

[smithychick]

I'm in Florida & it's rainy season. I ran a dry hatch also but my humidity stayed around 50%. I'm in lockdown now & they are pipping. We are sitting at 75% note. I'm super nervous about sticky chicks or really any hatching problems. It's my second hatch. My first went smoothly with a 65% hatch but every chick that pipped, hatched out healthy. Losing one would be tough :-( hope my higher humidity works out okay for these babies!