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

[Math]

i set the eggs at 9:30 am on the dot christmas day which would make today day 18. and thank you for the response. how can i tell if i have an internal pip?

I am glad you got the answer to your internal pip question.

I just wanted to ask "What will you have hatching?"

 

[Gardeningmama]

Quote:

Last years New Years Hatch-A-Long Serama chicks!!

 

[rochelle1021]

[COLOR=800080]Last years New Years Hatch-A-Long Serama chicks!![/COLOR]

beautiful!

 

[Pozees]

I finally have some pics to share of the Silkies I hatched NYD and the following Saturday. The LF chicks all went to a new home today before I was able to get pics of them, which is fine, I picked up 36 eggs today to set and even though I managed to put my back out today, with a bit of luck we will complete moving and setup of the new incubator tomorrow and set them. Anyway, here are the babies:

 

[Wisher1000]

Ponzees, they were precious!

For those of you discussing "lock down" remember - "lock down" is an artificial incubation phenomenon. It is mostly a product of the Internet and if you try to talk to some of the "Old Heads" (serious breeders that have been doing it for decades) they won't have a clue what you are babbling about. Hens don't stop turning their eggs and they hatch just fine. With that said, under artificial condition, it has been found that if you stop turning them a few days before hatch, it seems to help the chicks with getting into the correct position to pip, so does setting them upright in cartons. Don't get too hung up on the time and such, it is not that critical. I set on Friday nights whenever I get the chance, sometimes it's Saturday morning. I start "lock down" on Tuesday night late, or Wednesday morning early, or after work on Wednesday, and occasionally, it is early on Thursday morning. It doesn't make a difference. I have heard that people have had chicks hatch in the turner while it was on!

Frankie says 'RELAX!"

 

[Frankie Ruiz]

Ponzees, they were precious!

For those of you discussing "lock down" remember - "lock down" is an artificial incubation phenomenon. It is mostly a product of the Internet and if you try to talk to some of the "Old Heads" (serious breeders that have been doing it for decades) they won't have a clue what you are babbling about. Hens don't stop turning their eggs and they hatch just fine. With that said, under artificial condition, it has been found that if you stop turning them a few days before hatch, it seems to help the chicks with getting into the correct position to pip, so does setting them upright in cartons. Don't get too hung up on the time and such, it is not that critical. I set on Friday nights whenever I get the chance, sometimes it's Saturday morning. I start "lock down" on Tuesday night late, or Wednesday morning early, or after work on Wednesday, and occasionally, it is early on Thursday morning. It doesn't make a difference. I have heard that people have had chicks hatch in the turner while it was on!

Frankie says 'RELAX!"

that pretty much cleared up everything for me! thanks for everything Wisher

 

[Wisher1000]

Glad to help.....

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Ponzees, they were precious!

For those of you discussing "lock down" remember - "lock down" is an artificial incubation phenomenon. It is mostly a product of the Internet and if you try to talk to some of the "Old Heads" (serious breeders that have been doing it for decades) they won't have a clue what you are babbling about. Hens don't stop turning their eggs and they hatch just fine. With that said, under artificial condition, it has been found that if you stop turning them a few days before hatch, it seems to help the chicks with getting into the correct position to pip, so does setting them upright in cartons. Don't get too hung up on the time and such, it is not that critical. I set on Friday nights whenever I get the chance, sometimes it's Saturday morning. I start "lock down" on Tuesday night late, or Wednesday morning early, or after work on Wednesday, and occasionally, it is early on Thursday morning. It doesn't make a difference. I have heard that people have had chicks hatch in the turner while it was on!

Frankie says 'RELAX!"

Good information. I just try to move the eggs and up the humidity before I have any pips.
I'm not that precise all the time and have a lot going on. With the incubator in the cellar, it isn't always foremost on my mind. I usually set an alert on my cell phone but I have already gone down to move the eggs only to find a couple chicks running around the incubator. I know, that sounds bad.
As you said, it just isn't that critical, other than having sufficient humidity at the end.

 

[Gardeningmama]

Quote:
Totally agree, but in the case of the Serama's I would still do a planned lockdown. In nature they come from the tropics and would have been incubated at higher humidity. People talk about how hard they are to hatch, and I haven't found them to be fragile birds at all, so I believe it's more than likely humidity issues throughout incubation.

 

[SilkieSensation]

I finally have some pics to share of the Silkies I hatched NYD and the following Saturday. The LF chicks all went to a new home today before I was able to get pics of them, which is fine, I picked up 36 eggs today to set and even though I managed to put my back out today, with a bit of luck we will complete moving and setup of the new incubator tomorrow and set them. Anyway, here are the babies:

Looks like you may have a blue partridge in pic #5. Love blue partridge!