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

[ronott1]

I received one box today..some EE eggs..waiting on two more boxes. Hopefully they will be here tomorrow, and then I can set them all later tomorrow night. One box is a silkie..silkie/frizzle mix, another is some muttskies. But, those little mutts will have Barred Rock in them big time, because one of the roos is a BR, and a couple of hens are also. I want a BR. Or two.
They all decide to either hatch on time, or early, or later. So, an on going hatch is on it's way. Will be great if I get some to hatch right on New Years Day.

The Arkansas blues often hatch over a two to three day period of time. It is very frustrating and the incubator can get quite smelly....

 

[chickkrakidd]

Hrrrm.  Are you sure your thermometer is correct?  If it got hot enough to melt the glue, then I'd think it should be getting more than warm enough inside the box, unless there is WAY too much airflow or way too big of a space to heat.  What kind of a container did you use?

A large plastic tote. Probly too large to have only one bulb to create heat

Hey!!!  I'm in WV too.  I am hopefully hatching 24 eggs.  I'm trying to get the money to order some Australorps though so I can sell you all the chicks that I hatch from the HAL. I also have 4 chicks that hatched out just before Thanksgiving and 26 adults and 10 sub-adults if you're interested.    They're RIR, BPR, Ameraucana, RIR/Ameraucana and BPR/Ameraucana. 

Okay, so I think I'll wash them with Dawn then.  Thanks for the advice!

where r u located at in WV?? What kind of chicks r u hatching? (Planning to hatch lol) the ones u stated? I might be interested in some Ameraucanas or RIR/ Ameraucanas?

 

[tommysgirl]

We are expecting severe rain storms here and my eggs look to be at the processing center 2 hours away. They got there at 10:00 something this morning so

that they will be here today. I don't want my future babies on a mail truck in the predicted 50+ mph winds.


I am thinking if the arrive today that I will give any with good air cells to my broody tonight and then slip the rest of them to her tomorrow morning. I too hope for a close to midnight hatch.

 

[MrsBrooke]

Well! It's time to fire up the 'bator when I get home!

It circulates air with a fan, and has a digital display, so you can dial in the temperature and read any fluctuations, but it doesn't have a humidity gauge. The instructions say to add and keep a certain amount of water in the bottom of the incubator, and when I did that I successfully hatched 11/16 quail eggs (first time hatching, they'd received sporadic turning on my counter for seven days). I suppose guess work worked!

Will the same work for my chicken eggs? I'm taking more precautions with storing them in a carton with the air sac up and turning them morning and night. I've seen some people musing on dry-hatch versus humidity versus still-air versus circulation... Just looking for input from those with experience.

MrsB

 

[Cynthia12]

The Arkansas blues often hatch over a two to three day period of time. It is very frustrating and the incubator can get quite smelly....

Don't you snatch them out once they've hatched? Well, I guess you still have a bit of a mess in there once they do hatch.

 

[FuzzyHens]

This is getting so exciting!! It's fun hearing what everyone will be hatching. My eggs are due here tomorrow am, so hopefully I will get them in the incubator tomorrow early evening.

Quick question though...I got a Brinsea Mini-Advanced which has the cool down capability...ie: once a day, it can turn the heat off to simulate the hen leaving the nest. During my test runs, the temp dropped from 99.5 to room temperature during that hour (70 degrees). Do other people use this feature? Is it recommended? Even if they get down to 70 degrees? I love to hear input from others. This is my first hatch!

Thanks!!

 

[ronott1]

Don't you snatch them out once they've hatched? Well, I guess you still have a bit of a mess in there once they do hatch.

Yes, I do but wait until they are fluffed up. The dander, poo stuff from the egg shells start getting going off after three days.

It is also a test in patience since there is a tendency to think they may need help.

 

[ronott1]

Well! It's time to fire up the 'bator when I get home!

It circulates air with a fan, and has a digital display, so you can dial in the temperature and read any fluctuations, but it doesn't have a humidity gauge. The instructions say to add and keep a certain amount of water in the bottom of the incubator, and when I did that I successfully hatched 11/16 quail eggs (first time hatching, they'd received sporadic turning on my counter for seven days). I suppose guess work worked!

Will the same work for my chicken eggs? I'm taking more precautions with storing them in a carton with the air sac up and turning them morning and night. I've seen some people musing on dry-hatch versus humidity versus still-air versus circulation... Just looking for input from those with experience.

MrsB

Humidity less than 50%ish is considered a dry hatch. That is the traditional humidity level.

It is not recommended to hatch at less than 25% so depending on where one lives and the humidity level, water would need to be added. I incubat at 35% for the first 18 days and then 60 to 70% for hatching.

 

[blackgoat]

I got my eggs today! This is what one of the boxes looked like:

Sheesh! The eggs were all okay thanks to some excellent packaging, but still sheesh.

 

[Roan]

A large plastic tote. Probly too large to have only one bulb to create heat

where r u located at in WV?? What kind of chicks r u hatching? (Planning to hatch lol) the ones u stated? I might be interested in some Ameraucanas or RIR/ Ameraucanas?

I'm in Mon county outside of Morgantown. How about you? Yeah, the breeds I've listed will be the ones hatching with one exception. They all have a Black Australorp daddy. We call him Big Daddy Crow

because of all the roosters we've had, his is definitely the biggest, deepest crow I've heard.

I got my eggs today! This is what one of the boxes looked like:



Sheesh! The eggs were all okay thanks to some excellent packaging, but still sheesh.

That's disgusting! It just goes to show there is no such thing as "pride in one's job" anymore...well in most places. I'm glad the eggs survived! Hope you get a good hatch out of them!