6th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2015 Hatch-A-Long

[ChickyChickens]

Hey...if I (by any chance...) win...I love in South AFRICA!! How would you get them to me??

 

[ronott1]

Hey...if I (by any chance...) win...I love in South AFRICA!! How would you get them to me??

We would have to come up with an alternate prize--Last year @bantambury donated a drawing of a picture of your choice for example.

She may donate again...

Or a golden feather for first prize. The Admins are letting be give some of those out as prizes again this year.

 

[tommysgirl]

It is day 2 for my "test batch" here, can I candle now??

NO!!! Sit on your hands or take up knitting or something

The way it was explained to me is that the embryo is much more susceptable to damage in the first 5 or so days. I candle on day 7 because there is something to see and less chance of damaging the embryo. 5 days is OK but until then I would leave them alone. At 2 days there is not much if anything to see. Not worth the risk to the fluffs.

Probably someone will disagree...I tend to be a worry wart

but I think it was Ron who said wait until at least day 5.

 

[Amberjem]

morning welp bator is holding at 60 humidity and 102

 

[Canadianislupus]

Pullets are up to a year old. Hens are a year old or older. A 7.5 month old is still a pullet.

The difference is age not when they start laying eggs.

Ok, done with the lesson for tonight.

ahhhhh I see. For some reason I thought it was when they started regularly laying eggs. I should have figured because its that way with cockerels/roosters too. You mentioned that she should lay a speckled egg every time, but she has been laying a large cream coloured egg almost everyday for about 4 months now. I haven't gotten any eggs yet today So I'm not sure if it was a just one time thing. Is this normal because she is so young and her body is still maturing? or could it be caused by a deitary change or some other external factor?

 

[ronott1]

NO!!! Sit on your hands or take up knitting or something

The way it was explained to me is that the embryo is much more susceptable to damage in the first 5 or so days. I candle on day 7 because there is something to see and less chance of damaging the embryo. 5 days is OK but until then I would leave them alone. At 2 days there is not much if anything to see. Not worth the risk to the fluffs.

Probably someone will disagree...I tend to be a worry wart

but I think it was Ron who said wait until at least day 5.

It is all very true!

Nothing is visible until day three--veining does not start until then and you need a very good candler and a very light shell to see it. It is best to wait until day 7; better hatch rates and etc.

 

[Amberjem]

ron what temp n humidity levels would be good to test for this bator to make sure can get the humidity n temps just trying to test out this see if I can maintain and keep the right temps proper i this project I have together

 

[ronott1]

ron what temp n humidity levels would be good to test for this bator to make sure can get the humidity n temps just trying to test out this see if I can maintain and keep the right temps proper i this project I have together

Do you have a fan in the incubator?

for incubation(first 18 days) 30 to 40% humidity.

For a still air, read this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chookschicks-incubation-cheat-sheet

Fan forced is 99.5 but I set mine for 99.9.

 

[Amberjem]

yes have a fan in there ohh good the humidity was running bout 30 before I added water I have a sponge in a tiny bowl with a lid partly covering it and it brought the humidity to a steady 60 it had run like 30ish 34 before I think anyways just trying to see that it keeps a steady humidity n heat other then the double paned window I havent cutt into the cooler yet I will do that when I rewire n set up the light n thermostat and fan I am going to the dollar store today and will grab a couple appliance light bulbs I saw there n try it with that bulb as well...when I opened it last night to clear out the humidity it took about 20 minutes to raise the humidity back to a stable 60 the temp rises and maintains in about 10ish minutes...that should be ok for when need to turn eggs and verything yes?

 

[Canadianislupus]

I think we may have posted at almost the exact same time earlier ron so you might have missed mine