27th or 28th May hatch, looking for buddies

[GeoKan]

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Thanks for your confidence Natchlaly!

I've been a bundle of nerves today. I'm sitting here watching every little increment on the thermometers.

I was thinking about candling as I transfer the little boogers over to their hatching incubator that I just completed a couple of days ago. I've been monitoring the 2nd incubator for 3 days now and I think it's really better than the first one. The heat maintains a constant 99.5 to 99.9 degrees and the humidity is 65 to 70. I've got 30 eggs to put in there Wednesday. I hope they all make it to lockdown. I plan on doing this before I go to work around 2 p.m. I'm not entirely sure when I need to put them in there on Wednesday.

It's getting real close now. I'm really getting excited about next week. I hope we all have success stories we can share!

 

[natchlaly]

I dont know about what the others this thread do at lock down but personally I lock down at the end of day 18

I have read that on other posts that some lock down as early as day 17 so

but end of day 18 has always worked for me

so will be locking down just before I go t bed on Tuesday

 

[Lightfoote]

Well, I just tallied things up after taking a cautious look at my Ameraucana clutch (in my crude brood lamp/styro chest incubator) and placed a small "v" on each of the eggs that seem to be viable and developing...I'm basing this assessment on the appearance of a network of visible veins, or a sizeable mass inside the egg - one that in some cases seemed floating/moving about inside the shell almost - but not quite - freely.

It was rather funny - with one egg in particular, the moment I picked it up (in gingerly fashion, mind you) there was an immediate, pronounced, independent movement within the shell, and I laughed to myself, "Well, I know not to toss this one for sure..."

Overall, I estimate viability on 10 of 15 eggs at this point. Of the five which I scrawled a "?" upon, I think one is likely a no-go (though I am not 100% certain), while two others are simply too thick and opaque of shell to detect anything with my candling...But even those may prove themselves good. I would have expected at least the beginnings of a "rotten egg" smell by now, if there was one of them that had truly gone bad, but this is admittedly my first effort - so those with more experience are encouraged to weigh in.

I set this batch on Saturday, May 7, midmorning - so, is it reasonable to think that non-viable eggs should be emitting some notable smell by now, or not?

On another related subject, earlier today I completed "sealing" work on my homemade "mega-'bator", applying peel-and-stick weatherstripping everywhere I thought there to be a need in order to close any leaks that would affect the heat performance, I installed window sash style cam closures on the cabinet doors (they are now tight!), and I cut two pieces of reflectix (easily removed and replaced ) to fit exactly over the plexi viewing panels in the top, in order to further maximize the effect. It all seemed effective, and I could not find any points of perceptible heat loss, so I am satisfied for now. If it seems to need tweaking as I go along, I'll do it.

This afternoon, I set my second clutch of eggs: 10 Blk Australorps, 6 French BCMs, and 3 Delawares - so a second countdown has begun. Tomorrow, I start my next project - throwing together some parts and pieces for a quick DIY, transitional brooder (hoping, of course, that I will soon enough have need of it) and then it is right into my henhouse/run build. All this while balancing my labour to weed and put a garden in, now that we have finally had 3 days in a row of 70 degree weather for the first time since late last September...

No rest for the weary...LOL!

 

[GeoKan]

Quote:
Hmmm, That would make it around midnight for me if I were to do it before I went to bed. That would put it at day 19 technically. Darn work getting in the way.

I guess I really don't have much of a choice, but to do it at 2.

 

[natchlaly]

Quote:
Hmmm, That would make it around midnight for me if I were to do it before I went to bed. That would put it at day 19 technically. Darn work getting in the way.

I guess I really don't have much of a choice, but to do it at 2.

Know exactly what you mean

day 21 for me is on Friday and will be out of the house from 8:30 until 4:00

I can almost guarantee that the first of my chicks will hatch whilst I am at work

Note to self put next batch of eggs in the incubator so hatch day/time is Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning

I have found a chap that only lives 20 mins from where I live and am hoping to contact him next week to order my next batch of eggs( the ones I am hatching at the moment are from my own breeding stock). The bug has bitten yet again

 

[GeoKan]

Quote:
Holy cow Lightfoote! I think you and I have the same schedule. That's exactly what I'll be doing tomorrow. Except I have my garden in.

You mega-bator sounds great. You really put some thought into it. I just finished my second bator. I think it's much better than the first one I did. Smaller and more efficient.

I don't know about the bad-egg smell. This is my first time as well. Like you, I put my eggs in on Saturday, May 7 around 3 p.m. So, I figured I'd lockdown around the same time Wednesday. I'm going to do a final candling just to make sure there isn't any clear ones. Some I just can't tell, because of the density of the shell. It's like trying to see through mud.

I'd like to know what you're thinking on brooder plans. If it turns out anything close to your mega-bator, then I know it will be awesomer.

 

[GeoKan]

Quote:
Ack, that stinks! That's the best part of the whole deal. I hope you'll at least see a few hatch out.

 

[Lightfoote]

Quote:
Holy cow Lightfoote! I think you and I have the same schedule. That's exactly what I'll be doing tomorrow. Except I have my garden in.

You mega-bator sounds great. You really put some thought into it. I just finished my second bator. I think it's much better than the first one I did. Smaller and more efficient.

I don't know about the bad-egg smell. This is my first time as well. Like you, I put my eggs in on Saturday, May 7 around 3 p.m. So, I figured I'd lockdown around the same time Wednesday. I'm going to do a final candling just to make sure there isn't any clear ones. Some I just can't tell, because of the density of the shell. It's like trying to see through mud.

I'd like to know what you're thinking on brooder plans. If it turns out anything close to your mega-bator, then I know it will be awesomer.

I'll take/upload a couple more pics of the "finished product" - even though it is already in use, and I expect I will be making modifications as I go along. I put a small sized pyrex-type casserole dish in the bottom of the cabinet, half across the heating pad, and filled it with water to provide humidity for start-up, but I have no reliable hygrometer yet, so come Monday, I'll have to check the local radio shack and maybe a tobacco shop (as suggested in the incubating info section of BYC) for one.

Walmart here in town doesn't have crap...just the same cheap chinese-made 'Acu-rite' junk that Home Depot sells. I bought one of those for $10, and it was dead/useless inside ten days. I'd really like to find a decent one before I "lockdown" on Wednesday, so I know that a higher humidity level is accurately maintained.

Heck - I don't think I have fared too badly so far - all things considered. The brood lamp/styro cooler box, and a misting spray bottle used regularly have gotten it this far. I have had a couple of brief temperature spikes up to 101, but nothing of the 103 that the incubating tutorial notes as dangerous and damage causing... it has consistently stayed between 97.5 and 99, and I have been turning 3x daily since about day 5 or 6...

I really don't quite know how to go about my brooder..by that I mean, how "far" to go. That is because I have no idea how many chicks will hatch successfully (though I know I will likely need a fair amount of space by the time my second clutch - 19 eggs - is hatched. Especially if I get anything above a 65% hatch rate...that would be at least 22 fuzzy butts in all...although hatch 1 and hatch 2 would effectively be 2+ weeks apart...

 

[Lightfoote]

Quote:
Ack, that stinks! That's the best part of the whole deal. I hope you'll at least see a few hatch out.

Natch - chicks hatch on their own timing - rather like babies are born at a time (sans Caesarian or other induced means) not of our choosing, so there is just as good a chance that you'll be there to see the first pipping and zipping as not...and of course they won't all be hatching at the same time - the first and last could be several hours or even half a day apart. There are natural variables we can't begin to account for in the whole process, so chin up and "stiff upper lip" as you, our Brit cousins are prone to saying!

Lightfoote

"Thy word, O Lord, is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

 

[natchlaly]

Quote:
Ack, that stinks! That's the best part of the whole deal. I hope you'll at least see a few hatch out.

Natch - chicks hatch on their own timing - rather like babies are born at a time (sans Caesarian or other induced means) not of our choosing, so there is just as good a chance that you'll be there to see the first pipping and zipping as not...and of course they won't all be hatching at the same time - the first and last could be several hours or even half a day apart. There are natural variables we can't begin to account for in the whole process, so chin up and "stiff upper lip" as you, our Brit cousins are prone to saying!

Lightfoote

"Thy word, O Lord, is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Know what you are saying Lightfoote, this is my third hatch and have seen the first chick hatch during the other two. I just have a feeling about this one

this hatch has caused me more stress than the other two put together

I know that I will see some of them hatch but it is not the same as seeing the first one pop out

Thanks for the kind words and am

that i will be lucky enough to see it but