7th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2016 Hatch-A-Long

[darkbluespace]

Quote:


I said temp is the likely cause but the majority of those things are also very possible.
Improper handling or failure to fumigate an incubator can cause contamination that will seep into the pores. Could make every egg quit.
Unless one stores properly or keeps eggs over a week, eggs stored too long is a likely cause.
Flock diseases can go undiagnosed. Could make every egg quit.
Flock nutrition can be deficient. It takes better nutrition for breeders than that for general egg laying. Could make every egg quit.
Many people are too quick to medicate and pesticide exposure is always possible. Could make every egg quit.
People with small flocks without keeping breeding lines in separate quarters can easily have inbreeding issues. Could cause many quitters.
Unless one has a reliable turner, turning can be an issue.
Poor ventilation, unless addressed can also be a problem. Forgetting to remove air plugs, etc.. I've had eggs with sealed pores. After the first few days CO2 above 1% is a problem.
Hygrometers are notorious for inaccuracy so humidity can easily be a problem.
Embryologic development accidents can happen in any species at any time.

I'm just saying that there are so many things that can go wrong, telling someone it is always temperature may mislead them and lead to multiple failed hatches until all possibilities are considered.

Well, I feel I just made an innocent suggestion and usually the simple solutions are more likely. I do hope they figure it out, but I am in too good a mood to argue with you about someone else's eggs.

 

[S5apiotrowski]

So sorry to hear about so many early quitters... I am waiting to check until day 18 to check again... unless something starts to smell before then.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Well, I feel I just made an innocent suggestion and usually the simple solutions are more likely. I do hope they figure it out, but I am in too good a mood to argue with you about someone else's eggs.

It was a good suggestion. I've had a lot of bad thermometers.
I'm glad you're in a good mood.

You must have eggs developing.

Part of my point is that they are someone else's eggs. We have no idea what they're feeding, if they're inbreeding, what their egg handling entails or any of a dozen other management possibilities. That's why I listed all the things that could be the cause so they can examine their techniques and make adjustments.

 

[Pensmaster]

High temp is likely but there are many other things that can cause early quitters:

High temp
Low temp
egg or incubator contamination
Eggs stored too long
breeder flock disease
breeder nutritional deficiencies
breeder medication or pesticide exposure
inbreeding
embryological development accidents
improper turning or turning angle
poor ventilation or sealed shells
low humidity
lethal genes

Pretty well proves that life is a miracle even a chickens.

 

[Penny Hen]

High temp is likely but there are many other things that can cause early quitters:

High temp
Low temp
egg or incubator contamination
Eggs stored too long
breeder flock disease
breeder nutritional deficiencies
breeder medication or pesticide exposure
inbreeding
embryological development accidents
improper turning or turning angle
poor ventilation or sealed shells
low humidity
lethal genes

Last year I read about using a vitamin C dip for the eggs prior to going into the incubator. I didn't have an vitamin C tablets I could crush up so I substituted apple cider vinegar instead. I even added a splash (teaspoon approx.) of it in the water for the humidity. For the first time I didn't get nasty green goo eggs. I had some that never developed but they didn't become green and gooey. I also found that by rubbing a dark brown egg with a qtip with the vinegar that I could create a "viewing window" by washing off some of the brown. They were much easier to candle then. I had a much better hatch than before using the vinegar.

 

[Cynthia12]

Pretty well proves that life is a miracle even a chickens.

I was just going to say, it's a miracle we get any! That list is depressing to think about. I won't, I won't think about it! Nice list CC..but I won't think about it. There is always tomorrow...

Ok, enough drama. I have some of MY very own eggs going in again in a few days..and do have 4 in right now to see how they do. So far so good on day 5. I am excited to get some from my RIR boy. He has been a good boy not to crow too much. I think it must be too cold out there for him to want to take that deep breath of air in! It got way down close to 0 last night. :/ Got up and checked by 9:30, it was only 9 degrees. My poor leghorn, I forgot the vaseline! Dang..wish she would have tucked her head, poor girl. A 4th of her comb is greyish.

 

[ronott1]

I was just going to say, it's a miracle we get any! That list is depressing to think about. I won't, I won't think about it! Nice list CC..but I won't think about it. There is always tomorrow...

Ok, enough drama. I have some of MY very own eggs going in again in a few days..and do have 4 in right now to see how they do. So far so good on day 5. I am excited to get some from my RIR boy. He has been a good boy not to crow too much. I think it must be too cold out there for him to want to take that deep breath of air in! It got way down close to 0 last night. :/ Got up and checked by 9:30, it was only 9 degrees. My poor leghorn, I forgot the vaseline! Dang..wish she would have tucked her head, poor girl. A 4th of her comb is greyish.

Woodland has a weather alert--There is a possibility of snow here today. The snow level is going down to a couple hundred feet and Woodland is about 69ft. above sea level...We have not seen snow in a good ten years here.

 

[silly4buttons]

The weather has been very strange lately

 

[silly4buttons]

I thought it would be fun to show 2 of my Christmas gifts I got this year that has to do with chickens

 

[ronott1]

I thought it would be fun to show 2 of my Christmas gifts I got this year that has to do with chickens

Very Nice!