5th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2014 Hatch-A-Long

[Pozees]

I think a lower tech solution would work instead of an expensive (I haven't researched it by the way) industrial one. If you constructed a small room with an ante chamber, i.e. a double door entry, and put a rubber seal on the door frames and had a force fan continually blowing air into the chamber from the outside (for cold weather you may want to heat this air a bit) it should by definition (squeezing more air in a small space) raise the amount of oxygen in the room. If the oxygen levels still aren't where you want them (there are tools to measure this) then do what the high altitude mountain climbers do and buy a can of oxygen that you release periodically in the room. The double door seals will slow it from escaping if you have built you room tight. Of course follow the warnings that are in the PDF link I gave and never go above 25% oxygen because you can risk an explosion. You have to have a way of measuring the oxygen if you are going to use it.

I have been researching this for a friend who is buying land in Colorado and wants chickens.

Makes sense, I just don't have the means to do anything that elaborate right now - the room I have to use is a small bedroom so it is in no way, shape, or form airtight. I looked at oxygen generators and it is possible to buy one for a few to several hundred dollars, but I will have to do a bit more research to know whether that would actually improve hatch rates (and then start saving). I suppose I could try to rent one for a month and see if it helped.

I think I will still try adding a humidifier in that room to see whether a notable improvement is to be had that way, which should allow me to keep the vent plugs out and improve air exchange. I feel like such a fool for not even thinking of that. I have battled altitude challenges since moving here in 1997 - cooking and gardening were adventures, to be sure, but this hatching business has been tough. One of my worries is that the only effective solution to the hatching situation will be the most expensive blinking incubator I can find LOL.

 

[bantambury]

They were in the fridge? Does that work? Hmm, maybe this cold weather won't be too hard on our eggs after all. :/

if you refrigerate eggs for a day or two, you end up with girls, and all male embryos die. that's why I think its good cold here!

 

[Chase Family]

I want to join.

 

[bantambury]

Thank you..It will be nice to have a better hatch rate,,As my flock all were ebay eggs.. Should have a better hatch rate this spring...So Fredge eggs can still hatch ,,i thought temps would need to be above 40?

any fridge eggs which hatch will be females. this is because the male embryos cannot take a temperature that low, so end up dying. the only problem with this is that the eggs which were male embryos do not change into girls.....so realy, any egg that doesn't hatch is a male embryo which had died.

its sort of sad for me....11 of my eggs were refrigerated....but I think it will be fine....I just wont get any males out of those!!

 

[Myfourladies]

if you refrigerate eggs for a day or two, you end up with girls, and all male embryos die. that's why I think its good cold here!

Is that true!? What is the science behind that? That would be cool.

 

[bantambury]

Is that true!? What is the science behind that? That would be cool.

I added a bit more info at the response above yours I just gave

my breeder had old me this a while back. I didn't believe it, but that's how he said he gets all of his layers!!! the bad part also is that the male embryos that die will not end up hatching because the male cell was killed, and the egg could not turn into a female.

 

[ronott1]

I added a bit more info at the response above yours I just gave

my breeder had old me this a while back. I didn't believe it, but that's how he said he gets all of his layers!!! the bad part also is that the male embryos that die will not end up hatching because the male cell was killed, and the egg could not turn into a female.

On the Store hatch thread they have plenty of cockerels hatch. Sometimes only Cockerels and not pullets.

That is a great thread!

 

[carriebain]

That's what I was thinking, you would have to test that theory and record how long the egg was refrigerated for. Those cockerels may have survived if the eggs were purchased before they were refrigerated for any length of time

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I found this study that shows no temperature impact on sex.

http://ps.fass.org/content/92/12/3096.abstract

 

[carriebain]

I am going to put some trader joes and whole foods eggs in the bators as a science experiment. I bought a dozen yesterday and will purchase one more Tuesday