4th Annual BYC NYD Hatch-a-long

[missydcpc]

I locked down at 12:01...and the humidity FINALLY got up to 60 just now...I locked down with 50% and a new sponge added....

 

[karimw]

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

No shipped eggs in that bunch, they are all home grown Iowa Blues. I'm starting to worry my brooder will be overloaded by the first week.

 

[cochins1088]

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.

The embryos do generate heat, especially later in incubation when they are more developed. It's not enough for them to incubate themselves, but it is enough to raise the temperatures a degree or so late in incubation.

This is a quote from GQF, "About half way through incubation process, you will note that the temperature will be increasing and you will have to adjust thermostat down nearly one full turn. This is normal and is caused by the embryo forming into a chick and generating heat."

I've seen this in many sources and I believe I read that you can tell fertile from infertile eggs using thermal imaging because the infertile eggs will be cooler than the fertile eggs which are generating small amounts of heat.


I don't mean to start an argument, I just thought I'd share my side of the topic.

 

[Cynthia12]

I locked down at 12:01...and the humidity FINALLY got up to 60 just now...I locked down with 50% and a new sponge added....

Good luck missy...ahem, BTW...I just got a new pup..a Golden, and we named her Missy. Little Miss, Little girl, but mostly comes out Missy. Love her already.

 

[chiqita]

Ok here it is for real now!!!

LOCKDOWN!

For those of you that are new, lockdown is when you close the
incubator lid turn off the turner and DO NOT TOUCH YOUR EGGS! Its
the 3 days of crazy up and down excitement and worry when your eggs
start to hatch. Why do you do this? Well for a couple of reasons.
You stop turning so the baby chicks can get into position in the egg.
You don't open the incubator so the humidity ( turned up) stays
stable and no one get stuck in he egg. Once an egg is pipped it
relies on the humidity of the air outside it to keep it moist enough
to not get stuck in the membranes while they are zipping and
escaping the egg.

Once the chicks are out of the egg they will start peeping like mad
and "fluff" out over several hours. The question that will be asked
several times over the next few days is " should I take this chick out
of the incubator?" The answer will depend on many things including
how well your incubator holds humidity. If there are pips on the
other eggs, leave the chick if you can. If there are no pips then
its a different story. If you want more advice on individual chicks,
ask, that's what a hatch a long is for!

Once your chicks are out you will be sticking them in a brooder where
they will be nice and toasty. You need a heat source that will give
your chicks around 95 degrees and a place they can be safe from
drafts and get air ( don't want it tightly closed) and something on
the bottom that can be changed and is stable for them to walk on (
paper towels, old pillow case, newspaper that is NOT slick) so you
can remove poop once they start . Keep an eye out for wobbly feet and
pasty butt in your new chicks those are the 2 most common problems.
Also, remember baby birds LOVE to drown themselves, so its not a bad
idea to put rocks or marbles in their waterer so they don't fall
asleep IN it and drown.

If you have a single chick hatch with no friends, you might want to
put in a small mirror for them to look in and a stuffed friend for
them to cuddle with. Also might want to find a friend for them if
you can. Check craigslist ( can also ask on cl sometimes people who
do not intend to sell chicks will feel compassion for your lonely
baby) your friends, and local feed stores.

I'm sure there will be a lot of advice from our vets thats better
then what I'm giving, so keep an eye on the thread.

 

[crazypetlady]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/732471/contest15


Ok everyone see you here tonight!!


Ok everybody let's get busy and see if we can get 2000 posts by 11pm EST tonight. I will be hosting a crazypetlady free for all there at 6pm EST until 11pm EST we will have games, trivia, prizes and general all out fun.

The prizes will be for a random poster again so post often. You can post your life story or nothing at all, pictures of your chickens, baby pictures, pictures of your family, pets, what Santa brought you for x-mas, what you wish Santa would have brought you for x-mas. Pretty much anything goes. Remember this is a family friendly forum. Countrypunk watch your smilles

Ok prizes will be less than 2000 posts Hatching eggs from all GFF stock if we make it to over 2000 posts some lucky person will get 6+ mystery chicks from me next week, weather and hatch allowing.

We also have some other prizes including a BYC hoodie, cookbook and GFM we will be awarding during the night. and I'll see if I can dig up a few more!!

 

[Cynthia12]

The embryos do generate heat, especially later in incubation when they are more developed. It's not enough for them to incubate themselves, but it is enough to raise the temperatures a degree or so late in incubation.

This is a quote from GQF, "About half way through incubation process, you will note that the temperature will be increasing and you will have to adjust thermostat down nearly one full turn. This is normal and is caused by the embryo forming into a chick and generating heat."

I've seen this in many sources and I believe I read that you can tell fertile from infertile eggs using thermal imaging because the infertile eggs will be cooler than the fertile eggs which are generating small amounts of heat.


I don't mean to start an argument, I just thought I'd share my side of the topic.

I see this as a great addition to what happens during hatches! Thanks. Makes sense.

 

[crazypetlady]

Hi Chiqita chickie babie GREAT lock down advice!!

 

[SleepyOwl]

Quote: Thank you! I did think of that and stuck a glass thermometer in there yesterday. It says 99.5 while my digital says 99. (The digital only gives me whole numbers, and it has said 99-100 steady since the first couple days, except dropping a couple degrees when I would candle, but it goes up fairly quickly.) Next time I will try your idea, too.
The other thing I thought of the last couple days, is that I lined the bottom of my bator with aluminum foil. Could that cause a problem? I wouldn't have thought so at such low temps. It is just plain old foil.

So, next time I am only going to candle 2x. I am glad I did watch them so much this time, though, as I learned a lot, and feel a lot more confident about when they are doing well, if they didn't develop, if they died, ect.
No foil in the bator.
use 2 thermometers.
I think I will also get myself a turner, so they get turned more often, and so I won't be opening the incubator so much


Here is my lone egg going into lockdown. (Thank you Sally for posting the basket idea! It solved that issue for me.)



I found someone who has chicks that are less than a week old. I am trying to decide if I should pick them up now, or wait and see if it hatches. It will have to be alone a couple days anyway, until it is old enough to be put in with the older chicks. The place is an hour away though, and I am going through there today.

 

[gabrielle1976]

I have two button pips. I will try to set up the camera in a little while