4th Annual BYC NYD Hatch-a-long

[TMNfarm]

102.4 in a still air incubator most likely won't kill them. The temperatures probably increased because the chicks are creating larger amounts of body heat as they develop. I usually have to turn mine down a bit later in incubation because of this, but I don't know why yours would spike that high unless the room temperature increased.

I have them in the basement bathroom and the temp in there has been a steady 62* the whole time. That's the reason I have the incubator down there. It is a small room pretty separate from the rest of the house and I was able to limit traffic to just checking on the bator. I thought of that too, so I checked right away... Still 62*... Must be the chicks generating heat... Thankfully, I'm home almost all weekend. I can keep a close eye on it.

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

Unless I'm hatching ducks I leave my humidity between 50-60% if I raise it at all. Quail hatch best around 40%, chickens 40-50% & waterfowl 55-65%. When the 1st egg pips the humidity jumps up a good bit on it's own so I typically don't add any water at all unless I see chicks struggling. When I add water I end up with soaking wet babies that never dry & have to be plopped into the brooder still wet 24 hrs later. If I leave the humidity as it has been throughout incubation, the hatching chicks do the job of raising humidity on their own & it ends up perfect nearly every time. My typical humidity through out incubation usually runs 30-40% without adding any water at all. If there are a LOT of babies hatching at once, humidity often gets 70-90%. If it gets more than about 5-10% above the top of my goal range I will briefly lift the lid to allow some moisture to escape to bring it back in range. If it drops below my goal range I take a bottle of hot water & mist the inside of the lid lightly to quickly raise humidity.

I wet incubate at 50% and raise to 65% at lockdown. 90%+ hatch rates continuously. They will fully dry even in 90% humidity, if you have enough air flow. Also depends on the size of your hatcher. When you're hatching 100+ eggs at a time things that work on small scale dont always work so well

 

[chiqita]

so what do I do with all the dud eggs i have?

If you want to know what happened, eggtopsy them . when the chick dies and what is going on in there can let you know what to improve. eggtopsy = opening up the egg and having a look.

After that you can bury, toss, or feed to your animals the chicks that didn't make it. Assuming they are not erm.. too old to be fresh. Or just toss them if looking at the chicks that didn't make it is too distressing. I always look at it as saving the life of future chicks.

 

[janelle18]

ok just candled and took the turner out, all my eggs look great except i had two welsummer, one icelandic and two dorking duds...YAY! 3 days to gooo!! so cool seeing them move around a little bit!

 

[karimw]

Not sure if/where we are supposed to post lock down picture, but here are the 38 out of 40 I set.

 

[mrheinz77]

Contest 26 now has the information needed for entry. Its on the contest page

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/4th-annual-byc-nyd-hatch-along-contests

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

I've had to increase ventilation to the incubator as the eggs are causing temps to go up where they have been steady for 2 weeks. Temps settled out nicely.

I need to find out how to get a thermal image off the camera. Eggs don't generate heat themselves. If they did they would self incubate Chicks cant generate their own body temps for a while after they hatch hence why we have to give them heat or a hen keeps them warm. Out of 35+ thermal shots I've taken, I have never had eggs glowing hotter then anything else in the bator or hatcher. More then likely if your temps have gone up, you're a) most likely using a Styrofoam incubator, and b) your room temperature has increased. Best way to solve the problem is to go digital on the controller.

 

[TMNfarm]

I need to find out how to get a thermal image off the camera. Eggs don't generate heat themselves. If they did they would self incubate Chicks cant generate their own body temps for a while after they hatch hence why we have to give them heat or a hen keeps them warm. Out of 35+ thermal shots I've taken, I have never had eggs glowing hotter then anything else in the bator or hatcher. More then likely if your temps have gone up, you're a) most likely using a Styrofoam incubator, and b) your room temperature has increased. Best way to solve the problem is to go digital on the controller.

I AM using a styrofoam incubator, but my room temp has stayed exactly the same throughout the whole incubation... I had a temp spike each time I removed eggs, but this time I hadn't done anything... I wish I was techno-savvy enough to know how to convert to a digital controller, but I have a LOT to learn about hatching...

 

[Cynthia12]

Not sure if/where we are supposed to post lock down picture, but here are the 38 out of 40 I set.

38 out of 40 go into lock down? Good job! Are they from your own flock...or by chance...shipped?!

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

I AM using a styrofoam incubator, but my room temp has stayed exactly the same throughout the whole incubation... I had a temp spike each time I removed eggs, but this time I hadn't done anything... I wish I was techno-savvy enough to know how to convert to a digital controller, but I have a LOT to learn about hatching...

For about $80 bucks its really easy. The cheaper routes are a bit more complicated tho. If you'd like any help on converting to digital feel free to shoot me a pm