2nd attempt with Marans Dec. 3 hatch anyone want to join? (oops dec.6)

[Germaine_11.20]

Is 60% really high enough? I get so torn on that one. I guess because if I don't stay right on top of it here, it drops way below in no time at all.

I try to keep mine at 75 and then I have some leeway. Like sleep! Last hatch I woke up and it had gone down to 56. I almost cried, but I got it back up and had a good hatch anyway.

Fingers crossed for you mstricer. I just went on lockdown with 10 of JanieMarie's BLRW 12 BCM's and 2 Javas.

 

[mstricer]

Getting ready to leave for work, 2 finally zipping and 2 more pipping. yes 60 % is okay I've got mine right about 68% right now woke up and it was 59 added water and went right back up. I dont like to have mine at 75%. too much can go wrong has been my experience last hatch i drowned 5 out of 6 eggs,I was happy to get one he is my 25$ roo

 

[frenchblackcopper]

rustyswoman,,I too was very concerned at first trying to decide the correct humiditity to hatch marans eggs.Given the fact if the eggs was under a hen,outside humiditity levels change all the time,,with weather fronts coming in,,rain,fog,ect! The hen cannot control this in nature,yet we look for the optimum setting to insure our mechanical device closely mimmicks a hen setting on the eggs.I weigh every egg before it goes in the tray,and write that weight on the egg,,(air sack side) and set the humidity level on 50%,,,and walk away. The scientists that makes a living doing this,says an egg should lose 10-12% of it's weight during the incubation process,,so at day 14 I will pull a few eggs out and weigh them,,many times with this humidity setting,my weight loss has been close to 9%,,which is close enough because I leave the 50% humidity setting the same,,,and another 4 days at this rate will lower the weight another 1-2%,,at day 18 I add 2 sponges to the water tray,,put enough water to almost fill the tray,set the rh level up to 55%,,,and then only open the door twice a day to add water to the tray,,
After I candle the eggs at 7-10 days,, I have a very high hatch rate with using these rh levels,,upwards of 90% with marans.I do pay very close attention with the time from when a chick pips,to when or if it zips,,12 hours and no progress is time to intervene.Seems if they pip a large hole and stop for a long time,is when I find the inner membrane has dried sometimes on their feathers,,and many times if there is a slow one,and a few other hatch,it seems this helps energize the slow one. Your only real way to know if settings are close is to weigh each egg before you start the incubating,,3-3.5% weight loss a week is perfect,,,but then again,a hen has no way to control her outside rh ,,,does she??

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Thank you both very much that was really helpful. I am going to try and weigh the next batch of eggs I get and watch the weight loss.

So am I correct that at lockdown you only raise the humidity to 55%? Do you live in a humid climate? Where I live is so dry that you can leave a bag of chips open and they don't get stale.

I have been thinking of putting up a humidifier in the room to balance out the lack of humidity. What are your thoughts on that?

 

[frenchblackcopper]

I live in Illinois and our summers can be "horridly humid",,but going to start the bator tomorrow for some unexpected eggs arriving a few weeks earlier than planned. Actually I have a Brinsea with the auto humidity control,,I set it on 55% and with the added sponges it is easy to keep this high a rh level. I have tried rh setting at 40-45% for the first 18 days,,this also worked well,,,but by weighing the eggs beforehand you are not guessing in the dark, A small digital scale that weighs up to 100 grams can be bought off e-bay for about $15.00,,,

 

[mstricer]

frenchblackcopper said, I do pay very close attention with the time from when a chick pips,to when or if it zips,,12 hours and no progress is time to intervene.Seems if they pip a large hole and stop for a long time,is when I find the inner membrane has dried sometimes on their feathers,,and many times if there is a slow one,and a few other hatch,it seems this helps energize the slow one.
Oh my gosh this just happened to me The first one pipped and 24 hrs later died. And as you said it pipped a big hole and I said it will okay came back 30min later and it was dead. 2nd one same thing so after 12 plus hrs I intervened. Its okak other then the membrane is stuck to its back I will fix that after a while giving time to rest. 3rd one I think I made a mistake and will see what happens. It too pipped a big hole and I could tell it was drying to his feathers so I helped it big mistatke I think. No blood but it hadn't got all its yolk. I still have 5 eggs in with it and no one has pipped I'm on day 22 and will leave them. will the membrane come off with warm water.

 

[mstricer]

What is Rh levels?

 

[mstricer]

Checked on little baby I made the mistake of helping , there is more yolk left then I thought can it still make it?

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Yes, you would be amazed at how much yolk they can absorb over a night. Just let it rest in the incubator. I will flip them over if they let me (sometimes they flip back) as to give each side a chance to relieve pressure.

Sometimes they make it and sometimes they don't. If you have opened the incubator, they may be stuck in the shell now and you may have to help each one out. Wait too late and they die.

But if the other one was really yokey then they may still be waiting to hatch. Good luck!

Thank you FrenchBlackCopper. I really appreciate your help. I grew up in Illinois. Yes it is terribly humid there. There you can leave the bread bag open but never a bag of chips. We are exact opposite out here!

 

[mstricer]

I had to open to get the yolk stuff out. Temp dropped to 95 I had to he was flopping in it and getting yucky. I am going to leave others in for a few more days