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

[coopsbyty]

Total set 93
Pulled 16 clears at day 10
Pulled another 7 quitters day 17
Total hatched 31 but one pheonix passed after 24hours.

We set Marian's, silver pheonix, and Rhodes island white Roo over RIR, RIW, mixed breed hens (all of these chicks came out white, some have a slight red to some of their neck feathers. I can not wait to see what they look like as they feather)

Cooler bator these were the slow hatchers, there are 6 in there only managed to get 5 of them in one place for picture hehe.

Excuse the wires my cats will not let me photo them safely, I will try to get a better one later

This one was so tired he lay on his back resting like this for a while.

 

[Nomibear]

I set 8. I know one was infertile. The other 7 died during development ;(

 

[ronott1]

I set 8. I know one was infertile. The other 7 died during development ;(

I am so sorry!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I am working on a theory as to my dismal hatch rates:

1) Why only the mutts are hatching and not the purebreds?
a) Perhaps mutts are more hardy.
but, more importantly,
b) The extra color deposited on the eggs for the marans and welsummers inhibits oxygen into the egg.
The lighter colored brown and white eggs seem to develop and hatch just fine.

Just one of many theories....

I think you're onto something on both counts.
I have very dark eggs and I weigh them to get the proper weight loss. It's really easier for me than candling or checking a hygrometer that could be wrong. The scale doesn't lie.

 

[Roan]

I set 8. I know one was infertile. The other 7 died during development ;(

Aww, I'm so sorry to hear that. Did this come from your own flock? If so, have you checked for possible health issues with them?

Otherwise, have you analyzed why this happened as in, was the humidity right? the temp and so on?

 

[Nomibear]

Aww, I'm so sorry to hear that.  Did this come from your own flock?  If so, have you checked for possible health issues with them?

Otherwise, have you analyzed why this happened as in, was the humidity right? the temp and so on?

They came from a friends flock. I did have a couple of electricity losses, I believe that may have effected them. Not even one tried to pip.

I have hatched 3-4 other times, and never had them ALL die.

 

[LemonMeringue]

My husband bought us a fan kit for our Little Giant. So I have to get used to a whole new deal here. I know the humidity is low, but that should be good on temp, right? It goes up a bit too if it's warmer in the house. So the highest thermometer might say 100. I'm sure someone here knows way more about how to run this set up than me.

Confucius once said, "He who has two watches never knows the right time."

I wonder if it's the same for incubator thermometers and temps?

MrsB

I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't consult C about switching from a still air to a forced air incubator. Somehow I don't think that is his wheelhouse. And life has taught me not to put all of my eggs into one basket. So two thermometers isn't a bad idea at all. Batteries do fail.

A clarification of the question for those that are more experienced than I with forced air Styrofoam incubators.

In a forced air Styrofoam incubator. What would the temperature parameters be? Low, Optimum and High. I have previously been following instructions for quite some time now that just so happen to also be posted in the first post. The tips for still air Styrofoam incubation. But I think that running at 101 would not be ideal in a forced air.

 

[cree57i]

Here is a picture of my 12. The one in the front looks australorp to me, but it has blue on it. Could it be??? There were BA hens and a roo in the mix.There are 2 pure birchen marans, 1 BCM and the rest are mutts...unless I lucked into a BA! 50% hatch rate for me.

 

[LemonMeringue]

Here is a picture of my 12. The one in the front looks australorp to me, but it has blue on it. Could it be??? There were BA hens and a roo in the mix.There are 2 pure birchen marans, 1 BCM and the rest are mutts...unless I lucked into a BA! 50% hatch rate for me.

Cute bunch!

 

[blackgoat]

I am working on a theory as to my dismal hatch rates:

1) Why only the mutts are hatching and not the purebreds?
a) Perhaps mutts are more hardy.
but, more importantly,
b) The extra color deposited on the eggs for the marans and welsummers inhibits oxygen into the egg.
The lighter colored brown and white eggs seem to develop and hatch just fine.

Just one of many theories....

I read here that some people sand their dark eggs https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-dark-eggs just a little to remove a bit of the color.