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

[ronott1]

I stayed up late last night and put mine in lockdown. I have been lazy.....or confident.........but I have not even candled them since setting. I did candle before moving them to the hatcher from the Sportsman and tossed one clear. The others all have good air cells, although they may be a bit large. They were in the trays sitting with the large end up, but one is huge and more on the side. I would call it a saddle, but it is oval and the eggs are all from my own birds (not shipped.)

I set on the 8th instead of the 11th, so mine should be hatching Sunday. Wish me luck! Oh, and I will be setting more eggs in their place in the incubator tonight. I'm hooked...........

I hope the Sportsman did well for you!

 

[Pozees]

Brinsea question (again, sorry) - so now that we replaced the motor and clutch in the turning cradle, there seems to still be a problem - the incubator gets to furthest either side and even at dead level by flopping very suddenly the last 15-20 degrees - like it gets stuck or hung up, then all of a sudden moves a whole lot more than it should at once, and I'm worried I'm ruining any chance at a good hatch. Is this normal? Or should I call Brinsea again?

 

[Wisher1000]

Ponzees - put your DH on that, it sounds like an adjustment might fix it.

 

[ronott1]

Brinsea question (again, sorry) - so now that we replaced the motor and clutch in the turning cradle, there seems to still be a problem - the incubator gets to furthest either side and even at dead level by flopping very suddenly the last 15-20 degrees - like it gets stuck or hung up, then all of a sudden moves a whole lot more than it should at once, and I'm worried I'm ruining any chance at a good hatch. Is this normal? Or should I call Brinsea again?

Ponzees - put your DH on that, it sounds like an adjustment might fix it.

 

[Whoops]

Day 4

hoping for good hatches for everyone

C'mon chickies!

I am realizing that I don't have any large boxes for a brooder, so I will go brave The Evil Empire to find a big tote. I will make a lid for it with hardware cloth and wood, so that I can use it to store the baby chick stuff. Maybe I can bungee cord it to the tote, as watermelons are out of season . . .

I have the ecoglow, the baby chick feeder, waterer, medicated chick starter, and bags of sand.

I was pondering making a brooder out of wood, but I don't seem to be doing that. A tote will be so much easier to clean out and lift up over head to store in the garage.

Really hoping I hatch some

to put in my brooder.

 

[Gardeningmama]

She really does. You know what else? She is quite the artist. She heard that my dog died of a terrible freak accident..and she asked for a favorite photo of him, and drew it for me! Will go and look for it. Just beautiful! Sent her this photo of us in the canyon.
Drew this from the photo. Beautiful..and a very sweet thing to do for me!

Beautiful!!

Can anyone take a look at my air cells and tell me if they are large enough now that I can add some humidity, since I've been running dry for a week? I posted before and no one specifically said if the air cells looked like the right size. The smallest circle is at 7 days, the middle lines are at 10 days, the biggest circles are from yesterday...day 14. Thanks!

Montana..I know you haven't gotten a clear yes, add humidity, or no, do not add...but I have to admit I'm on the fence too. It seems at the rate you're going they look perfect, and still maybe a touch on the small side. So, if you add humidity they may stop growing. But lower than 16% towards the end of a hatch just feels unnatural like humidity should be upped. I can't tell you what to do either...tough call. But, to me they look fine!

Quote: Congrats on the OE!! I love my OE!

I have a question: For those who set on the 11th at noon, what is the exact date and time we should lockdown??

 

[ronott1]

Beautiful!!

Montana..I know you haven't gotten a clear yes, add humidity, or no, do not add...but I have to admit I'm on the fence too. It seems at the rate you're going they look perfect, and still maybe a touch on the small side. So, if you add humidity they may stop growing. But lower than 16% towards the end of a hatch just feels unnatural like humidity should be upped. I can't tell you what to do either...tough call. But, to me they look fine!

Congrats on the OE!! I love my OE!

I have a question: For those who set on the 11th at noon, what is the exact date and time we should lockdown??

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

 

[Bama1]

Did my lockdown today, only 3 went into lockdown.....ugh....

 

[Aphrael]

Ok now I have a picture in my head of showing up at your house with one of those HUGE packages of maxi pads from the 1970s that were the size of Costco toilet paper package and yelling HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I should tell your dd!

Thanks for the laugh! This really cracked me up.

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

I think I will do mine Monday morning.

 

[Cynthia12]

Gardeningmama, I pretty much always just go ahead and set the night before. I will have them set the way I want them, and then just work on getting the humidity up the next day, may have to put in another sponge or towel to get it right. I don't worry about opening and shutting the incubator the first part of the day while I am doing this, so, guess you could say that I am officially in lock down by the middle of the day, because that's about how long it takes me to get that humidity right where I want it. Good Luck! I am supposed to have New Year's Eve Babies..we'll see if I get any sooner. They are looking pretty full in there with those wacky air sacs. Except one. It has a lot more room. Will mark the eggs tonight. Air sacs.