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

[SunnySkies]

I hope the temp stays down for you. The eggs may not have gotten to 104. It depends on how long it was that hot.

Are you using a still air?

I'm hoping the eggs themselves were ok, as it couldn't have been that hot for too long. We returned briefly after some errands, I checked it, then we left again to meet SoManyHats by 3, then we departed for swim team. The heater kicks on at 6, and we get back at 8:30.

I am trying a still air this time. My last few hatches have been dismal -- 2 chicks each -- and I'm looking to switch things up and see if I can make a difference. They were great last year, so I'm working out what has gone wrong. Hubby hasn't been too keen in buying yet another incubator...especially since I want an expensive one, lol. But if this hatch fails, I'm building or buying a new one.

 

[chicken pickin]

CHICKEN PICKIN, your chicken village and property are beautiful! Do they stay outside all day and then go into their coops at night? And do they know which coop they belong to?

I have what I call their coop, but it is more like a run...a 3 horse covered/enclosed stall (here in AZ it is warm enough for that)...and their tiny coop inside is where they lay. Except for my lowest of the pecking order who sleeps in there and hides out to not get pecked. Then I have what I call their run where I let them out while doing chicken chores...it is basically the horse paddock but I just got aviary netting to put over it and will be planting pasture in Feb.

Wish I had your big trees!!! The tallest thing around here is the oleander and saguaro.

Thank You! We live on a small lot and have close neighbors so I make do with what I have. I was lucky enough when I was house hunting to find this property. My house is tucked up to the very back left corner of the property Dogs get the tiny backyard, kids get the large front yard and the farm animals get the entire side yard(the side yard was just thick trees when we moved in, mostly pine). I cleared it so we could have the farm and gardens.

Each coop has its own separate run(minus the newest coop in the chicken yard, I haven't made a run for that one yet. Then a fence competely surrounds all the coops together and has 2 gates a back and a front. So all the chickens stay separate so I can monitor breeding and reduse rooster fights. I rotate letting each coop into the chicken yard and also rotate who gets to free range outside the chicken yard. It will be easier to do the rotations once the last coop has a run. Even when they free range together in groups they all know their houses, they will investigate each others pens and house and eat and drink the other chickens food/water. But not one chicken has laid an egg in a different house or went to bed in a different house. They know which is theirs.

 

[SoManyHats]

Winchester VA?!   I used to live there..back in the 60's!   I loved VA.  Also lived in Stephen City, back when it was the boonies.  Really loved it there..that's where my love for chickens started..my grandmother had them.      Bet Winchester has grown too!

I'm sure it has grown- it seems everything has. We just moved here from a city in MD, and we're actually about 15 min. West of Winchester, almost to the WV border. Getting chickens was one of the first things we did after moving into the house. We have 5 acres now, so it's awesome!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Total of 38 eggs set. 15 Marans from Chiqita and 21 of my mutts

On a sad note, I failed to shut one of the coops last night and this morning found my head roo dead in the doorway. I think an owl must have attempted entry and Good King Henry fought him off but was killed in the fight. Thankfully everyone else was OK, but it feels terrible that it was all my fault. King Henry was the very first egg I ever hatched in the 2011 NYD hatch.

That's devastating. I did the same thing during the summer. Lost my best Penedesenca rooster, a White Minorca hen, an Ancona hen, a Penedesenca hen and a Jaerhon hen and 2 hens chewed up but survived. A family of raccoons culprits. I still had 6 birds survive. It was a full moon so they probably could see well enough to escape.

And the city had the nerve to ask why I needed so many roosters.

I've been returning the favor though. Now when I catch a raccoon, I grill it up and feed it to the chickens. Payback.

I set my eggs today around 1pm. When the eggs started to warm up in the incubator, I noticed 2 eggs started seeping egg whites (not condensation). And one cracked. This has happened before when I had goose eggs shipped to me a year ago. Is this from pressure building up inside the eggs from rough shipping? Or could this be because they may have froze during their trip? They did not smell whatsoever so I don't think they were bad. They were both SLW eggs. I was hoping to get some SLW

I do have one SLW egg left. My BLRW and chocolates look okay. Here's a picture of one of the eggs that started to ooze and cracked, seemingly under pressure.



And here's the rest of the eggs in the incubator. They seem okay so far. Also, are wyandotte eggs suppose to be this light? I thought they were more brown? These are bantam wyandottes.

It could have frozen in transit but I hope not as it could affect the others.
Optimistically it could just as easily have had an imperceptible hairline crack initially. I've had a few of those with my own eggs.

so on the 3 days of lockdown you DO NOT open the bator for any reason....correct? there is no need for turning?


if the chick's pip hole is accidentally facing downward, will it just move the egg around a bit its self? or is there a certain way to place the egg?

I don't think it matters if the hole is up or down as long as they can breathe through it. They are going to zip all the way around anyway.

So, the temp reader DH has that he keeps pointing at eggs and telling me they are too warm, does not measure air temp, but object temp. It consistently reads 3-6 degrees higher, when pointed at an egg, than any of the other thermometers I have in the incubators which I guess are intended to measure air temp. Does that means something I need to pay attention to?

Also, would love to see plans for homemade cabinet units

I'll try to upload pics of my cabinet. It's a behemoth (probably too big) , but I wanted the option of hatching all types of eggs. It is a prototype anyway.
It is a combination incubator/hatcher. The incubator is pretty straight forward with 3 shelves but it slides into a larger cabinet that surrounds the incubator on top, bottom, left and right. The hatching compartment is in the bottom of the larger cabinet. A bank of fans on the left side pulls air across the eggs in the hatcher and up across the primary heat element and then across the water pan above the incubator to pick up humidity, then down the right side past the secondary heat element and back across the eggs.
2 different thermostats run the 2 heat elements for safety. The larger heat element is set at about 98. The smaller element takes it the rest of the way. The two heat elements are overkill but it can come up to temp and stabilize in less than 10 minutes. The floor of both units are thick 18" ceramic tiles. The theory is that as they heat they'll stabilize temps and serve as a heat sink in case of a short power outage. I was going to tile the whole inside until I realized how much weight they added.
The incubator door has 2 tall, narrow, double pane windows so I can check on them. The whole hatcher door is a window. I have a basket that acts as a drawer I can slide into the hatcher.
The incubator currently only has one thermostat and one heat element built into the fan but after this hatch, I'm going to make a redundant one.

1 of my eggs is a double yolker does that count as 2 lol

On a serious note, it may not be a good idea to try and incubate it. I've only heard of one that had both hatch. Sometimes one will, but most often neither. Supposedly there isn't enough nutrition for two embryos.

Will my eggs be okay? I set yesterday at 1.15pm and sometime during the night the light bulb (brand new one) went out. The temperature when I woke up at 6am was 23 degr. Celcius, which is about 60 degr Fahrenheit. I changed the light bulb immediately and the temps stabilized quickly, turned eggs at 7am and all running again. Hope they didn't die?

That's not necessarily terrible this early in the hatch.
The following link should set your mind at ease and give advice if it happens again.
http://www.brinsea.com/customerservice/poweroff.html

Big icestorm tomorrow night. Might lose power!

Meaning i might lose 27 eggs!!! Generator isnt working, so what can I do if it does go out for awhile?

Friday night into Saturday we're getting freezing rain, sleet turning to snow, possibly significant. Another ice/snow event next Friday too. It is 6 degrees F here now.
I'm getting my generator worked on today. I think it needs a new carburetor.

What other power do you have? If you have a gas or wood stove, maybe you can boil water put in a big pan and put the eggs in a smaller container set in the water.
Just a thought.
Before electric they used a candle to heat a compartment above it.

 

[chicken pickin]

Friday night into Saturday we're getting freezing rain, sleet turning to snow, possibly significant. Another ice/snow event next Friday too. It is 6 degrees F here now.
I'm getting my generator worked on today. I think it needs a new carburetor.

What other power do you have? If you have a gas or wood stove, maybe you can boil water put in a big pan and put the eggs in a smaller container set in the water.
Just a thought.
Before electric they used a candle to heat a compartment above it.

This weekend we are supposed to get hit also. The weather is not gonna be good from what I hear. Im nervous because DH and I are taking the kids to NYC this weekend on a little trip to see DHs parents. I hope the roads stay clear and the power doesn't go out back here at home. My sister will be checking in to take care of the animals. But she laughs at me when I get concerned over eggs "OMG there just EGGS" attitude lol. So Im not sure she will go to lengths to make sure the incubator stays warm if needed. Ill have to sit her down and have a talk with her to let her know the drill.

 

[msladyhawke]

Well....if it hatches successfully, u could theoretically hatch over 100%, which would make you a ringer for 'Best Hatch Rate'...hope it does!

Good thinkin' Blarney!!!

 

[itsbob]

Quote:Ditto!
P.S. Oh my gosh i am over 10 pages behind on reading this thread!

Is there a way to change the number of posts displayed per page?? If we could change say from 10 posts a page to 50 posts a page, you'd only be TWO pages behind, and won't be so overwhelmed!

 

[chickengirl1193]

This weekend we are supposed to get hit also. The weather is not gonna be good from what I hear. Im nervous because DH and I are taking the kids to NYC this weekend on a little trip to see DHs parents. I hope the roads stay clear and the power doesn't go out back here at home. My sister will be checking in to take care of the animals. But she laughs at me when I get concerned over eggs "OMG there just EGGS" attitude lol. So Im not sure she will go to lengths to make sure the incubator stays warm if needed. Ill have to sit her down and have a talk with her to let her know the drill.

thats how my family is too, my parents are going somewhere this weekend and they want me to come but i keep telling them i cant leave my animals and they say why not? cant you just fill the feeders and they will be fine? they dont get that i have to lock my girls up and i have to give them a hand full of scratch before bed to stay warm. Not to mention that my goats also need a meal twice a day.. they just dont get it lol plus we are also getting a huge storm and if the power goes out i have to be there to get the generator going for my animals water heater as well as my incubator. Priorities

 

[chickengirl1193]

Yes I did. I did it for my last hatch and they were fine. It really helped me to see the water.

okay thats good to know! i added some food coloring to my water. thanks

 

[itsbob]

Quote:
Sounds like a business opportuniy.. At home pet and animal care. Nobody needs to be there 24 hours a day, but somebody to come by on schedule to feed and water, and close up shop for the night. There are dog and cat sitters (and walkers), but nobody (that I'm aware of) that would take care of poultry or livestock.