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

[Nonyah Biz]

cant wait for NYD

 

[Nonyah Biz]

Ha! I wish he would show interest! He rolls his eyes when I talk bird and says what are you going to do with all these chicks? I don't want them crappin all over the house! He is such a downer!

so is mine...he said no to bator but he bought me 1 he said no to chickens but he built me my coop but if i talk about my chickens he rolls his eyes ....he told me because im hatching my chicks will have 2 butts no head and 4 leggs lol....

 

[Nicky-the-witch]

My Christmas chickies

 

[Math]

My Christmas chickies

Your video says it is private and won't let me view it.

 

[Pozees]

Your video says it is private and won't let me view it.

Same here

 

[Pozees]

roostereggs, your husband is a sweetheart, and I'm so glad to read about how your dd finally understands why you are "out in the boonies" LOL.

I don't recall where you got your CCL eggs, but you might want to check back there and find out what else there lays blue eggs. The yellow chicks may just be sports, but it seems like an awfully high percentage of sports hatching. The rest should be chipmunk marked or barred. The way I remember it, and my memory may have dropped some details, the breed was developed using a blue egg layer from South America, combined with Brown Leghorns and Barred Rocks, and probably a few others thrown in for good measure along the way. The chipmunk marked chicks are almost always pullets, unless they have a head spot, then they're cockerels. The barred chicks are cockerels, and they have head spots as well. The white/yellow chicks are white sports. They usually hatch at a very low percentage of total hatch - like, maybe 10%. They are adorable regardless, and you will surely enjoy them.

I wonder if the yellow chicks are "Super Blue Egg Layers?" They are made by a few people, some use Araucana/Ameraucana over White Leghorns, some use CCL over White Leghorns. I have not seen or hatched any, but that's a possibility.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I think the humidity really depends on the incubation method. Some use a dry incubation with lower humidity while others like me add water. I aim for an average of 45-55% during the first part and 65-70% during lockdown. I think the important thing is to watch air cells as the egg are incubating. too much air cell and you need to add humidity. To small of an air cell and the humidity needs to go down.

I'd say not all eggs are created equal. Some shells are much more porous and thinner. All incubators aren't created equal either. I think it's best to follow the directions initially and adjust from there based on candling or weight loss. IMO weight loss will be greater in a white egg than a Marans or Penedesenca set under the same conditions.

I have a chick and two pips Silkies from my own flock. These are from the eggs set the 7th. Crazy to be excited about only 3 hatching so far, but compared to the last few hatches where my temps had gotten too high and I was getting 1 or none, this is good.

I have been using dry incubation the last several months. If I fill the incubator, the humidity stays between 25% and 35% without any water added. When I move to the hatcher I try to get it up to 60-65%, which here means filling both 1 and 2 in the tray plus a bowl of water with a small towel in it in the center-top. I let it run about 12 hours or so before moving the eggs into it. It takes a lot to get the humidity here boosted, it is very arid. The last two weeks I've been running a humidifier in the room and it does help, the humidity in the room is up to around 40%, which for here is unheard of. Ambient humidity is typically in the teens at best.

I've kept water in the small trough I keep in the incubator and humidity has been between 25 and 40%. If there's no water it will drop to 10%. The basement is about 50% humidity.
I weighed the eggs on day 8 and they were on target. I'm going to weigh again today.

Pozees you are not kidding about arid! When I moved to Boulder CO (1992) the 1st time I heard them say on the radio the humidity was "up to 7%" I thought it was a joke (I grew up in the humid SE) then I started getting nose bleeds due to dry air/ low humidity so I realized it was for real. Shortly thereafter I heard on the same radio a "high wind warning w/ small animal advisory" they weren't kidding about that either -- weird mtn wind burst so strong they would send small animals such as prarie dogs flying ...lets just say I moved back to a more humid location...As such even w/ the house heat running my indoor humidity this hatch has been running 30-50% in the closet w/the bator. I'm doing a dry incubation, the air cells that aren't too wonky from shipping appear ok in size so far. You & I have opposite humidity issues for certain! Part of why "one size does not fit all" as far as incubation advice, I know that is difficult for the new hatchers to understand but I think you (Pozees) & I are a great example of how our specific situations require complete opposite actions to get the correct same final result, great hatching chicks

I used to go skiing in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming up to 3 times a year. I had a terrible time with nose bleeds and dry throat. I finally started bringing a humidifier with me to set next to my bed.
That was BC. before chickens

Now the important question...CCLs are autosexing right?...but why are some yellow and some brown? The darker brown was the first to hatch, and he is showing the others how to drink water and eat!!!

So we have a darker brown one with a yellow undercarriage and spot on his head, a lighter brown, and 4 yellows. Some of the yellows have tiny black spots on their backs so we can tell them apart nicely! Next post will hopefully have the video...

I think the darker ones are pullets. The pullets will also have a dark stripe on the head and down the back. The cocks have a pale dot on the head and should be lighter.
The second last pair of chicks on the feathersite page are Cream Legbars.
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/Auto/BRKAutosex.html

Ha! I wish he would show interest! He rolls his eyes when I talk bird and says what are you going to do with all these chicks? I don't want them crappin all over the house! He is such a downer!

Downer for sure. I don't even bother talking about them. The incubator is in the basement and once dry, they go right out to the brooder house.
She always wonders why we need more. She doesn't seem to understand predators, molting and winter production.

 

[Pozees]

I'd say not all eggs are created equal. Some shells are much more porous and thinner. All incubators aren't created equal either. I think it's best to follow the directions initially and adjust from there based on candling or weight loss. IMO weight loss will be greater in a white egg than a Marans or Penedesenca set under the same conditions.

I agree with this. I've also noted there are differences within breed between different hens - some of my Silkies lay eggs with thicker, shinier shells than the others.

I've kept water in the small trough I keep in the incubator and humidity has been between 25 and 40%. If there's no water it will drop to 10%. The basement is about 50% humidity.

Wow, it gets down to 10% even in a room with 50% humidity? Amazing. Another example of how things vary from one place to the next.

I weighed the eggs on day 8 and they were on target. I'm going to weigh again today.

We will be waiting for your report! This late, will there be much you can adjust if the weights are off?

I used to go skiing in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming up to 3 times a year. I had a terrible time with nose bleeds and dry throat. I finally started bringing a humidifier with me to set next to my bed.
That was BC. before chickens

I was laughing to myself the other day about DH complaining we can never leave again because of the chickens. He wasn't going to leave anyway - we have 8 cats. There are not enough litter boxes in the county to keep 8 cats clean any length of time.


Downer for sure. I don't even bother talking about them. The incubator is in the basement and once dry, they go right out to the brooder house.
She always wonders why we need more. She doesn't seem to understand predators, molting and winter production.

This is what we all have one another for! While DH has taken a decidedly greater interest this year, last year I was on my own. His participation was limited to poking fun when I could not get the heated waterer flipped correctly and dumped it all over myself twice in a row in 20-degree weather. This year he did it himself and told me how terrible the design was

 

[bantambury]

Ok, so i just looked at all my eggs and drew my air cells! I found my cells were doing pretty good! The three tiny silkie eggs are doing pretty well too! I finally found a way to candle my olive eggs and found i only have 2 clears of my 7 eggs, which is pretty good! I took another clear out earlier this week, so ended up with 14 eggs...now finding the two clears, i have 12 eggs! 12 chickies...come soon!!!



So excited now! Lockdown sunday!

chicken pickin and gardening mama,

do these air cells look pretty good for me? lockdown is TOMORROW!!! AAAHHHHHH!!!!

 

[MontanaDolphin]

Exactly - when I moved here from upstate NY it took me years, literally, to re-learn how to cook and garden. Also took me years to realize why the skin on my fingers would just split for no apparent reason during winter.

So, all of us will offer advice, share our own experiences, but ultimately, each house, in each county, in each state will have a unique set of requirements for pulling off a decent hatch. It will change with seasons, with weather fronts, etc. Some places are a lot more stable in terms of temp and humidity, but here it's just plain whacko. Tomorrow we are supposed to wake to temps in the 30s, warm to 60s, then plummet late afternoon into possibly the 20s with high winds. In 12 hours. I love living where the sun is out 300+ days a year, but there are days I'd trade it for more stable and pleasant weather

LOL, sounds like my weather here in Virginia for the day! Dropped down to 23 overnight (currently 29), high temp today of 61, then drop down to 37, with a high of 42 tomorrow. Weather needs to make up its mind