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

[Wunjo]

I like to wait so will lockdown late Sunday or Monday morning.

So do chickens go into lockdown on the 18th day? Just wondering why when hatching in an incubator it goes into lockdown. I also wonder about humidity. Chickens can't adjust humidity right? The rules for incubating just doesn't make since to me lol. Even though I do follow the guidelines.

 

[JLaw]

Esti, I have never heard of the 6 Hour cool down....would you mind explaining it?

I'm no expert on it but what I read earlier in the thread is that it helps them from over heating. After they are so old and close to hatching the are making they're own heat so cooling down the bator lets some of the heat ease off them and keep from over heating.

 

[JLaw]

So do chickens go into lockdown on the 18th day? Just wondering why when hatching in an incubator it goes into lockdown. I also wonder about humidity. Chickens can't adjust humidity right? The rules for incubating just doesn't make since to me lol. Even though I do follow the guidelines.

If you mean adjust humidity as in will it go up or down when they hatch? Then yes they do adjust it. Your humidity will spike and should even back out. If you get too many hatching at once or notice it not going down you may have to open bator for a sec to vent it out. I've had to do that before when I had like 8 hatch within a few min and more chain hatching couldn't get it under 80%

 

[ronott1]

So do chickens go into lockdown on the 18th day? Just wondering why when hatching in an incubator it goes into lockdown. I also wonder about humidity. Chickens can't adjust humidity right? The rules for incubating just doesn't make since to me lol. Even though I do follow the guidelines.

Lockdown is when you raise the humidity. Some think the humidity for the last three days will soften the shells. It is important to have humidity up when the chick externally pips the shell. That can happen on the 19th day so most pick the 18th to start lockdown.

I often have to add water after two days though so I like to wait.

 

[BoereMeisie]

Esti, I have never heard of the 6 Hour cool down....would you mind explaining it?

X2 I have heard of doing cool down peroids though never read up on it. I never heard of a 6hour cool down, Id love to hear more.

Someone posted a study on here about dipping the eggs in Vitamin C prior to incubation, and then cooling down for 6 hours on day 16. I don't read these things through, I read up to "improved hatch rate" and then went OKAY I'M SOLD! lol

 

[carriebain]

Today is my Chickmas! Dd20 came home from college last night and got the best Christmas gift of all...she got a job working for the same airline as dh, with good benefits! It was so sweet watching them sleep on the couches by the Christmas tree.

I woke up at 3 or 4a.m. and put more water in the bator to get us from 45 to 60%. Then I went back to sleep and had a dream than every one of them hatched and I didn't know who was who because I woke up to 29 chicks (after missing the ENTIRE hatch) with eggshell dust everywhere. A chicken newbie nightmare! It bothered me so much that I went to draw a map of who is in which egg lol! Now I feel better though. Oh, and I dreamed that someone dropped off 100 seagull babies, insisting that I had ordered them.

As I was topping off their water just now, I heard peeping!!!e And two of our smaller CCL eggs are externally pipped! A few others might be, but the darn maxi pad is in the way.

Well...off to do my morning chicken chores and spend time with the family. We are opening prezzies tonite! I will be back later with updates on the pipsqueaks!

This post made me laugh! My husband hates it when I talk about my eggs, but I told him about the seagulls and even he laughed! They would probably be some ugly bald babies!!!!

 

[ronott1]

Someone posted a study on here about dipping the eggs in Vitamin C prior to incubation, and then cooling down for 6 hours on day 16. I don't read these things through, I read up to "improved hatch rate" and then went OKAY I'M SOLD! lol

The cool down will not hurt them on day 16. They are very close to fully formed. I can't wait to see how your hatch goes!

 

[ShayBaby]

I haven't checked in for a few days due to holiday chaos, and missed over 2,000 posts.

So I'm definitely out of the running for best hatch rate. I'm down to only 1 egg out of the original 15. Ironically, the one that I was hoping would make it..my lemon barred Cochin. And neither of the two from my own BR hen that I set later for funsies were fertile. Lockdown Sunday, right? C'mon little egger! Poor little thing will be an only child if it makes it. I do have a disabled 4 week old bantam chick that could peaceably keep it company, and another pullet of it's own kind if and when it grows.

ETA: Ooh! Just saw a new contest for worst hatch rate! There is hope yet. LOL...oh dear.

 

[BoereMeisie]

The cool down will not hurt them on day 16. They are very close to fully formed. I can't wait to see how your hatch goes!

Also can't wait!

This is my 2nd hatching attempt in my homemade coolerbator. The first time I set 22 eggs and most developed bloodrings between day 10 and 18. 8 went into lockdown and 1 hatched (totally my fault - I kept opening it and interfering... Total NOOB mistake...) This time around I set 12, 4 were clear on day 12 so I tossed them and one had a bloodring. 7 eggies going strong so I'll say this time around they are doing much better! I will candle on day 18 as I don't want them cooling down again today after cooling down for 6 hours (6 long, long hours...)

 

[SoManyHats]

Then I went back to sleep and had a dream than every one of them hatched and I didn't know who was who because I woke up to 29 chicks (after missing the ENTIRE hatch) with eggshell dust everywhere. A chicken newbie nightmare! It bothered me so much that I went to draw a map of who is in which egg lol! Now I feel better though. Oh, and I dreamed that someone dropped off 100 seagull babies, insisting that I had ordered them.

I had a dream last night that I dropped one of my eggs on top of two others and broke all three. Sheesh, it's like crazy pregnancy dreams!