Anyone up for a Hatchalong?

[msheets]

Wow Mitch that's so exciting! I'm only on day 2 so I'm pretty envious of you being on day 49 lol! J/K, I just can't wait for some more chick pics . Just to do it I weighed mine yesterday & they've already lost weight & if they keep losing like they are then all 5 will lose 2.3-2.7% their weight the first week, but yes I'm getting way ahead of myself lol, I'm not going to weigh daily, just over excited. The last emu chicks I had I was 15 in high school, I just loved them & they were so much fun...so it's even more exciting now to hatch them then to just order chicks...well before the chicks I did try hatching 2 eggs with an LG, no fan, no size extentions & a crappy thermo so they probably had no chance, then they were shipped also, neither even developed.

If anyone is close to Cumberland, Ohio that wants to pick up some eggs or just have them shipped I highly recommend who I got mine from, she was great! Just PM me & I'll give you her info, she sells on ebay sometimes but not too often. Also she only has 3 breeding pairs so in a week I got 5 eggs but she said she can get up to 7 on a good weather week...

So I want my eggs to lose around 2% of weight a week, right? I can't really find any detailed info on the internet that covers close to everything, or even most of the basics. I've learned everything I know from you all, I had no idea about weighing them...or anything else lol. Yinepu, that ratite book looks pretty helpful/informational, will you please let me know if it's as good as it looks & I think I'll get it.

Ok guys & girls, one last question, promise...is 96°F too low or lower than you'd want? One shelf is 98°F so I'm assuming that's ok? If my eggs hatch it'll be more from y'alls advice then my knowledge, that's for sure!

 

[Yoda]

Another week has gone by and here are the weights.

Let me know if the weight loss is good or not. I am trying to keep the eggs at 97.5 with humidity between 30-33%. Thanks guys!!

Egg #2 -
Jan 17 - 652 grams (Replacement egg)
Jan 22 - 645 grams = 7 grams lost or 1.074% loss
Jan 29 - 636 grams = 9 grams lost or 1.395% loss
Feb 5 - 624 grams = 12 grams lost or 1.887% loss
Egg #3 -
Jan 11 - 641 grams
Jan 15 - 632 grams = 9 grams lost or 1.404% loss
Jan 22 - 623 grams = 9 grams lost or 1.424% loss
Jan 29 - 611 grams = 12 grams lost or 1.926% loss
Feb 5 - 598 grams = 13 grams lost or 2.128% loss
Egg #4 -
Jan 11 - 699 grams
Jan 15 - 690 grams = 9 grams lost or 1.29% loss
Jan 22 - 683 grams = 7 grams lost or 1.014% loss
Jan 29 - 672 grams = 11 grams lost or 1.611% loss
Feb 5 - 661 grams = 11 grams lost or 1.637% loss
Egg #5 -
Jan 22 - 636 grams
Jan 29 - 618 grams = 18 grams lost or 2.83% loss
Feb 5 - 601 grams = 17 grams lost or 2.751% loss
Egg #6 -
Jan 22 - 619 grams
Jan 29 - 603 grams = 16 grams lost or 2.585% loss
Feb 5 - 589 grams = 14 grams lost or 2.322% loss
Egg # 7 -
Jan 22 - 660 grams
Jan 29 - 649 grams = 11 grams lost or 1.667% loss
Feb 5 - 637 grams = 12 grams lost or 1.849% loss​

 

[Pollitollito]

i THINK NOW IM ON THE RIGHT TRACK,,,

jAN 24 FEB 6

579 569
612 586
717 682
544 521
694 669
537 513
686 668

hOPE TO HATCH AT LEAST ONEEEEE!!

 

[birdbrain5]

hey, i just got my emu eggs from hidden view farm too! im here in nc, she was the closest i could find. super nice people with loads of info to share! this is my first time with emu eggs, im hoping to set them today. i really want to use my hovabator 1588 but i got to dig it out and see if the eggs will even fit in there, ive got 4 so they might. has anyone ever used a small incubator like a hovabator?
if they dont fit ive already got my mini fridge incubator set up and temp steady at 97, just trying to calibrate my hygrometer but it seems wayyy off.

Well tomorrow is the big day! I'm meeting the lady tomorrow at noon to pick up my emu eggs, as of yesterday she only had 4 but with 3 pairs & she already had 3 last Sunday, hopefully all 3 pairs lay another egg by tomorrow...oh my do I hope! I have 2 people waiting for them to hatch & buy them but if I have an extra female you can get her, I'll buy the shipping box to help out. I'm really thinking of getting another reptipro so I can incubate 18 eggs but if not I'm still doing 9 in my one. Hidden View Farm said they couldn't send eggs by anything other than the USPS but the gentleman in Maryland will ship FedEx/UPS overnight for me & so will another breeder, that's a relief since I'm going to have to have some shipped. For nursing school my awesome mom got me a state of the art stethoscope so I'm going to try listening for the heartbeat every weigh in.

What kind of scales do you all use? I got an "American Weigh Scale" aka AWS that's 1000g X 0.1 & it's pretty small but I put a nickel on it & it read 5g so it's accurate. I am beyond excited for tomorrow, please wish me luck that I'll get 3 more eggs by tomorrow so 7 total!

 

[birdbrain5]

how can i get humidity to lower in my incubator? i dont have any water in there..

 

[yinepu]

hey, i just got my emu eggs from hidden view farm too! im here in nc, she was the closest i could find. super nice people with loads of info to share! this is my first time with emu eggs, im hoping to set them today. i really want to use my hovabator 1588 but i got to dig it out and see if the eggs will even fit in there, ive got 4 so they might. has anyone ever used a small incubator like a hovabator?
if they dont fit ive already got my mini fridge incubator set up and temp steady at 97, just trying to calibrate my hygrometer but it seems wayyy off.

I have eggs in a modified LG, a mini fridge type (Reptipro 5000) and a Brinsea eco 20

 

[msheets]

Hey
I replied to your other post a little bit ago, I'm glad you joined this thread. I learned a lot from just reading the posts & by asking others questions, it makes a big difference when people don't care to help you learn or solve your issues...if you trust your hovabator more than the other one, you can make a couple adjustments & use it for emu eggs. Yinepu & I'm pretty sure atleast another member are using Little Giants to incubate them, the Hova 1588 & LG are I think similar enough to work the same. If you go a few pages back I believe yinepu posted a pic of the LG with modifications & said what was done, it could be on the Reptipro Hatch-A-Long thread in the hatching eggs sec:/tion? I can't remember but if you can't find it I'll find it for ya.

It will be a lot funner knowing a member on here with almost the same hatch date will be close to where I am. I set all 5 on the 3rd so mine are on day 3 & then I guess due March 27-28? Do I go 52 days later to figure the approximate hatch date or do you all determine it differently?

BirdBrain, if you don't mind could you post what your 4 weighed initially, I like reading how everyone's eggs lose weight & how much...is around 2% lost a week what you want & how much total loss, 13%? I can't find where I thought I read that :/ow

That's good you got to pick yours up, with all the scrambled chicken eggs I've been getting lately I wanted at least some of them unshipped, gives me a little more confidence that they could hatch. I don't understand the USPS, some eggs come in perfect shape-great hatches, then the next week from the same breeder/packaging they bring me 48 out of 51 eggs scrambled or cracked...some mysteries will never be solved

 

[msheets]

Putting some rice in I heard lowers humidity but I haven't tryed it yet

 

[yinepu]

Yinepu, that ratite book looks pretty helpful/informational, will you please let me know if it's as good as it looks & I think I'll get it.
Ok guys & girls, one last question, promise...is 96°F too low or lower than you'd want? One shelf is 98°F so I'm assuming that's ok? If my eggs hatch it'll be more from y'alls advice then my knowledge, that's for sure!

Best hatch rates seem to be around 97.5 degrees.. however people have reported that they have had eggs hatch at temps anywhere between 95 and 99

Both of the books I have are really good .. all depends on if you want incubation info only or a bit of everything..

"Ratite Egg Incubation a practical guide"~ D.C. Deeming: is purely incubation info.. but the book is hard to find.. printed in the UK, 1997

"The Emu Farmer's Handbook" ~ Minnaar (1997 is the newest edition that I am aware of): covers a bit of everything.. the table of contents lists farm management, handling and moving emus, anatomy, sexing, nutrition, breeding season, path of the egg, care of eggs, pre-incubation, incubation and hatching, chick care, artificial insemination, problems in the laying hen, treatment of diseases and injuries and a bit of info on processing.. basically a good "all around" sort of book with lots of info.. check eBay or Amazon .. you can find good used copies fairly cheap

There is also an "Emu Farmers Handbook vol. 2" ~ Minnaar (1998).. which covers more of the processing and management of an emu farm for commercial purposes rather than general incubation and care (though it does cover that too).. it's more valuable for people who are looking at emus as a commercial venture for the meat, oil, leather and byproducts.. was going for around $ 150 to 160 on Amazon and eBay the last time I was checking around for emu books

 

[yinepu]

Hey

I replied to your other post a little bit ago, I'm glad you joined this thread. I learned a lot from just reading the posts & by asking others questions, it makes a big difference when people don't care to help you learn or solve your issues...if you trust your hovabator more than the other one, you can make a couple adjustments & use it for emu eggs. Yinepu & I'm pretty sure atleast another member are using Little Giants to incubate them, the Hova 1588 & LG are I think similar enough to work the same. If you go a few pages back I believe yinepu posted a pic of the LG with modifications & said what was done, it could be on the Reptipro Hatch-A-Long thread in the hatching eggs sec:/tion? I can't remember but if you can't find it I'll find it for ya.
It will be a lot funner knowing a member on here with almost the same hatch date will be close to where I am. I set all 5 on the 3rd so mine are on day 3 & then I guess due March 27-28? Do I go 52 days later to figure the approximate hatch date or do you all determine it differently?
BirdBrain, if you don't mind could you post what your 4 weighed initially, I like reading how everyone's eggs lose weight & how much...is around 2% lost a week what you want & how much total loss, 13%? I can't find where I thought I read that :/ow
That's good you got to pick yours up, with all the scrambled chicken eggs I've been getting lately I wanted at least some of them unshipped, gives me a little more confidence that they could hatch. I don't understand the USPS, some eggs come in perfect shape-great hatches, then the next week from the same breeder/packaging they bring me 48 out of 51 eggs scrambled or cracked...some mysteries will never be solved

lol.. pics of my incubators and info are also in my emu hatch page (link in my signature)