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

[ChickenCanoe]

I would wait. Perhaps as the temperature of the wriggler rises, the controller will quit trying to add heat. After about 24 hours, all calibrated thermometers should agree.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

.
..

what? Ascorbic Acid….is that like Vitamin 'C' ? oh, well, I may be getting my vitamins messed up here..

Yes it is vitamin C. Vitamin C can be in an acidic form (ascorbic acid) or an alkaline form (sodium ascorbate)
You're not messed up.

As they explain it, the acidity of the vitamin C bath for 2 minutes, breaks down some of the cuticle on the egg, helping evaporation from the egg but also increased oxygen intake.
Vitamin C also alleviates stress and that seems to help the embryos grow faster and have greater survivability.

 

[ronott1]

Originally Posted by ChickenCanoe

Another interesting study conducted in Egypt.
Some improved hatching results by dipping the eggs in an ascorbic acid solution for 2 minutes and cooling the eggs to 75 degrees for 6 hours on day 16.

http://www.epsaegypt.com/pdf/2011_june/15- 1271.pdf

what? Ascorbic Acid….is that like Vitamin 'C' ? oh, well, I may be getting my vitamins messed up here..

Manna Pro makes an egg cleaner that has enzymes--It has instructions for cleaning hatching eggs. I would use it to clean shipped eggs that get broken egg on them.

Cooling from day 7 to 14 for two hours a day has increased the hatch rate for chicken eggs in studies. The newer Brinsea Octagons have a cool down cycle that can be turned on. I am going to use it this time for sure!

Ascorbic acid is a vitamin and food additive. It is what is used in fruit fresh and is what makes a lot of candy sour.

 

[BoereMeisie]

All first time hatchers signed up for this hatch a long, please send me a pm so that I can make a list.

We are very happy to have you hatching with us!

Though I am not a first-timer, I do still consider myself very much a novice at the hatching game... This will be my 3rd attempt, the first one was in a cardboard box with a heat lamp and a thermometer... I managed to hatch 3 out of 9 eggs in that one. Then I made a more advanced one with a cooler box, fan and STC1000 digital thermostat, and 1 egg hatched out of 22... Go figure. This time around I have made some improvements to that cooler box, added a hygrometer and purchasing some additional thermometers tomorrow... Someone here mentioned a baby thermometer, it should be accurate since you will need to know a baby's exact temperature, right? I spotted one of those "point and shoot" baby ear thermometers for R80 (around $8) today.

 

[itsbob]

Getting ready to start a new hatch. Eggs should be in on Friday, 8 Khaki Campbell, and 4 Pekin ducks.

I have a Brinsea Mini ADV coming today or tomorrow, and from what I understand, short of refilling the water reservoir they are fill them up and forget until the hatch..

That being said I know the ADV Mini will only hold 7 or 8 eggs, SOOOo I started my Little Giant still air incubator up too..I've already got it running so I can be sure of the temp being stable, but last time I had more of an issue with the humidity than the temp. I did notice with both vent holes covered up I have condensation inside where I had none last time, but the directions say to remove both caps.. Which is better? I've added an automatic egg turner for this effort as my last was a total disaster. With the auto egg turner is there anything else I have to do as far as rotating the eggs? Also debating (already ordered, so haven't installed it yet) the internal air circulating fan. Any plusses of minuses to using it?

Last time I only had 2 ducks survive out of 12 in the incubator, trying to increase my survivability rate.

 

[Penny Hen]

Awesome report on the cooling and dipping eggs

 

[ronott1]

Though I am not a first-timer, I do still consider myself very much a novice at the hatching game... This will be my 3rd attempt, the first one was in a cardboard box with a heat lamp and a thermometer... I managed to hatch 3 out of 9 eggs in that one. Then I made a more advanced one with a cooler box, fan and STC1000 digital thermostat, and 1 egg hatched out of 22... Go figure. This time around I have made some improvements to that cooler box, added a hygrometer and purchasing some additional thermometers tomorrow... Someone here mentioned a baby thermometer, it should be accurate since you will need to know a baby's exact temperature, right? I spotted one of those "point and shoot" baby ear thermometers for R80 (around $8) today.

totally Awesome!

Make sure you have good ventilation.

Great tip on the ear thermometer.

 

[Cynthia12]

So, eggs came yesterday. Should I go ahead and set them, or wait until noon tomorrow? I could set them today at noon. Not used to waiting this long. It's been over 24 hrs. sitting. No dates on the eggs as to how old they are. hmmmm......

 

[chicken pickin]

You did NOT build that coop! Seriously??? yer hired!! my vote is…if you care for the chooks, and build their space on your own….you may have as many as you wish.

Thanks! This first one I had help on but with each coop I did more of it on my own until I didn't need help anymore(minus a helping hand to hold stuff occasionally). My dad is a contractor and he teaches me everything. I work with him remodling houses and even doing some commercial jobs also. So I consider myself pretty handy and I know my way around power tools.

 

[ronott1]

So, eggs came yesterday. Should I go ahead and set them, or wait until noon tomorrow? I could set them today at noon. Not used to waiting this long. It's been over 24 hrs. sitting. No dates on the eggs as to how old they are. hmmmm......

Set them!

Take a picture and let me know how many you set.