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

[Kalalyn21]

Today is lockdown for me, I cant remember my final count, but I will post a pic later when I get home. Had to come into work for a few hours

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Here's the link to the summary of the studies.
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/poultrynews/28623/chinese-study-examines-rooster-sperm-competition
There is a link to see the entire report for a fee.

That is so cool to see the daily development...
but it makes me a little queasy...the only way I see that the person could have taken those pictures is to have cracked open 19 developing eggs, in essence killing each chick that was growing. No way would I have done that. That's 19 little chickies that didn't get to live.

Those pictures were done in a university experiment. A lot worse things happen in the world of poultry.
Not counting small holders and backyard chickens worldwide, there are about 60 billion metric tons of eggs produced a year and 45 billion slaughtered chickens each year including spent layers. Universities do a lot of research to help the commercial industry meet the demand of a growing human population that increasingly relies on eggs and chicken as the cheapest source of quality animal protein.
I find some of these studies interesting
The following one from Africa has a segment on superstition about eating certain parts of the bird or particular species by men, women and young girls.
http://www.worldpoultry.net/PageFiles/28895/001_boerderij-download-WP6331D01.pdf
Asian consumption
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/artic...trends-asia-leads-the-world-in-chicken-demand
Global importance of poultry
http://ps.fass.org/content/86/6/1057.full

 

[ronott1]

Today is lockdown for me, I cant remember my final count, but I will post a pic later when I get home. Had to come into work for a few hours

Good hatching!

 

[MontanaDolphin]

Today is lockdown for me, I cant remember my final count, but I will post a pic later when I get home. Had to come into work for a few hours

I don't lockdown until Monday

Time is going by so SLOW!!! I'm only on day 12...at least I am a little over halfway there! Still trying to get the air cells/humidity right...I still think the cells look too small, and I've been running 16% humidity for DAYS...I'm sure the humidity is lower, but my gauge doesn't go lower than 16%. I don't know when I should add water to the reservoir to avoid shrinkwrap...or drowning if I add water too soon! Ugh, I didn't realize how complicated incubating would be

 

[bantambury]

question about lockdown.....

I'm planning on going on it 3 days before the hatch.....so does this mean to go on lockdown on the 29th if today is my 13th day?


what exactly does lockdown do.....and what exactly are the eggs doing that they will need it?





so here is my plan.....

-my last candle will be on the 26th.
-lockdown 3 days before hatch, so on the 29th.
-hatch day I will candle around noon and draw air cell lines.

hopefully my babies will hatch out well and ill get about 6 hens? I have about 13 eggs that I know of. I don't want to throw any out in case of any growth I may miss.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

question about lockdown.....

I'm planning on going on it 3 days before the hatch.....so does this mean to go on lockdown on the 29th if today is my 13th day?


what exactly does lockdown do.....and what exactly are the eggs doing that they will need it?





so here is my plan.....

-my last candle will be on the 26th.
-lockdown 3 days before hatch, so on the 29th.
-hatch day I will candle around noon and draw air cell lines.

hopefully my babies will hatch out well and ill get about 6 hens? I have about 13 eggs that I know of. I don't want to throw any out in case of any growth I may miss.

IMO, lockdown is a newly generated term for tabletop incubators. It means that you raise humidity and don't open the incubator until all the chicks hatch.
They've moved into hatching position in the shell so don't need to be turned. When they break the inner membrane and shell, if the humidity is too low, the inner membrane will dry out and stick to the wet chick so that it is unable to move. (shrink wrap) It is akin to putting the embryo/chick in a straightjacket. That's usually a death sentence.
Yes, normally it is done on day 18 to prevent any early bloomers from being shrink wrapped.

No, do not candle on hatch day. Lock down means you don't open the incubator for any reason. It is too late to worry about the air cell. That should have been addressed the first 18+ days. On hatch day, they'll be cracking shells and dropping humidity below 65+ % is a bad thing.

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

I have 7 eggs in my 'bator right now from my Barred Rock and Commercial Black (hatchery BR cross...AWESOME, btw...one of them consistently gives me double yolkers!) girls, fertilized by my Barred Rock roo that went freezer camp a few days ago due to aggressive behavior. I know a lot of people don't allow eggs to hatch from an aggressive roo, but my girls are sweet, and I don't plan on keeping any roos that hatch permanently...only till they are old enough to eat. I don't see any problem keeping pullets that came from an aggressive roo.

That being said, what are your thoughts on hatching eggs fertilized by an aggressive roo?? Would you do it? Asking because your flock that was massacred (for lack of a better word) was a big one. I figure you have experience in this area to give me an honest opinion on whether you would do it or not.

Really I would do exactly what you're doing and see how the offspring come out temperament wise. We've had our fare share of idiot aggressive roos, and im not afraid to say many of them met my boot. Not trying to sound crule but I won't tolerate a human agressive bird, it will end up in the deep freeze too. Hope that helps. -MCF

 

[Pozees]

Perfect advice on lockdown. Raise the humidity, shut off the turner, if you are moving to a separate hatcher, candle the day you move, and leave the lid in place until the hatch is done.

Just got my plastic hatching trays (thanks for the tip, I believe it was Ron who posted the pic and directed us to eBay for those), will be trying them out for this weekend's hatch. 11 going into the hatcher on Thursday (hopefully). Fingers crossed I have some new little buddies to share the brooder with the one poor little soul who hatched last weekend - cute little blue Silkie chick needs some pals!

ChickenCanoe, I just want to second your soap box rant. We have avoided WalMart at all cost the last 7 or 8 years, for the very reasons you cite. Defending wages and schedules that force families into taxpayer-funded social support programs and paying out the derived profits to stockholders is madness.

 

[bantambury]

IMO, lockdown is a newly generated term for tabletop incubators. It means that you raise humidity and don't open the incubator until all the chicks hatch.
They've moved into hatching position in the shell so don't need to be turned. When they break the inner membrane and shell, if the humidity is too low, the inner membrane will dry out and stick to the wet chick so that it is unable to move. (shrink wrap) It is akin to putting the embryo/chick in a straightjacket. That's usually a death sentence.
Yes, normally it is done on day 18 to prevent any early bloomers from being shrink wrapped.

No, do not candle on hatch day. Lock down means you don't open the incubator for any reason. It is too late to worry about the air cell. That should have been addressed the first 18+ days. On hatch day, they'll be cracking shells and dropping humidity below 65+ % is a bad thing.

ok! thanks! I wont candle on hatch day then! don't want that to happen!


also, when I place my eggs on the metal grate, is there a certain face of the egg that should be left up? earlier in the week I had found only one certain side of my eggs you could see the growing chick on. should that side be placed upward, or does it not matter what side is where.....if the chick is facing down it could just move anyways and re position itself.....correct?

thank you chicken canoe for this help you have given me!

~Bantambury

 

[bantambury]

IMO, lockdown is a newly generated term for tabletop incubators. It means that you raise humidity and don't open the incubator until all the chicks hatch.
They've moved into hatching position in the shell so don't need to be turned. When they break the inner membrane and shell, if the humidity is too low, the inner membrane will dry out and stick to the wet chick so that it is unable to move. (shrink wrap) It is akin to putting the embryo/chick in a straightjacket. That's usually a death sentence.
Yes, normally it is done on day 18 to prevent any early bloomers from being shrink wrapped.

No, do not candle on hatch day. Lock down means you don't open the incubator for any reason. It is too late to worry about the air cell. That should have been addressed the first 18+ days. On hatch day, they'll be cracking shells and dropping humidity below 65+ % is a bad thing.

Perfect advice on lockdown. Raise the humidity, shut off the turner, if you are moving to a separate hatcher, candle the day you move, and leave the lid in place until the hatch is done.

Just got my plastic hatching trays (thanks for the tip, I believe it was Ron who posted the pic and directed us to eBay for those), will be trying them out for this weekend's hatch. 11 going into the hatcher on Thursday (hopefully). Fingers crossed I have some new little buddies to share the brooder with the one poor little soul who hatched last weekend - cute little blue Silkie chick needs some pals!

ChickenCanoe, I just want to second your soap box rant. We have avoided WalMart at all cost the last 7 or 8 years, for the very reasons you cite. Defending wages and schedules that force families into taxpayer-funded social support programs and paying out the derived profits to stockholders is madness.

so on lockdown them should be at 99.5, and humidity raised to 70%? this is what my incubator instructions is telling me.

also.....I don't need a hatch tray correct? I could just place my eggs on the metal grate?