April Hatch Along

[WVduckchick]

It was rocking pretty good last night in the egg turner, today is day 17! Humidity is at 40% with no water. Air cels are bigger than the last attempt, I am going to candle again tomorrow before I lockdown and hopefully they will all be a good size!? Getting humidity up here (North coast BC Canada) in our temperate rain forest is not a problem, its keeping it down thats really hard. Trying to think positive and hope for the best!! I read on the hatching section on BYC that it is important to have the eggs at the same height as they were in the egg turner for lockdown to avoid a temp. drop? It said you can do this by hatching in cartons or raising the bottom wire up? anyone have experience with this? I am using a LG with a fan and the temp. seems to be the same at the bottom so wondering if it only applies to still air?

I've never read that. Usually I read sources recommending lowering temps. Honestly, I don't think a half a degree is going to change anything by that point.

But I apologize -- After seeing the way broodies handle eggs, it has totally changed my incubating! I know we aren't broody hens, but they way they flop eggs around, leave them exposed to cold temps in the dead of winter, step all over them, expose pips and zips, etc, etc.... I've become much less stressed over a little temp drop, humidity change, yada, yada....

I don't mean to sound like that stuff isn't important. We try to keep optimal conditions as much as possible. I'm just saying slight variations can be forgiving. You'll read stuff on all sides of the coin. Pick what you want to believe and go with it. If you think it will make a difference, then it probably will.

 

[spruce creek]

I've never read that. Usually I read sources recommending lowering temps. Honestly, I don't think a half a degree is going to change anything by that point.

But I apologize -- After seeing the way broodies handle eggs, it has totally changed my incubating! I know we aren't broody hens, but they way they flop eggs around, leave them exposed to cold temps in the dead of winter, step all over them, expose pips and zips, etc, etc.... I've become much less stressed over a little temp drop, humidity change, yada, yada....

I don't mean to sound like that stuff isn't important. We try to keep optimal conditions as much as possible. I'm just saying slight variations can be forgiving. You'll read stuff on all sides of the coin. Pick what you want to believe and go with it. If you think it will make a difference, then it probably will.

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'm a bit nervous because of our last utter failure of a hatch, or lack of hatching. It was so sad to have them make it to peeping, watching them rock and respond to our chirps and whistles(I have a 5 and 6 year old so they were really excited too) and then not even make an external pip. :-( I've read too much info at this point, the humidity and the air cel check made the most sense, I am sure that is where we went wrong last time. I incubated at 55% humidity according to instructions and info online. then upped to 75% at lock down. Still not clear what the optimal humidity will be for us here for hatching.

 

[WVduckchick]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'm a bit nervous because of our last utter failure of a hatch, or lack of hatching. It was so sad to have them make it to peeping, watching them rock and respond to our chirps and whistles(I have a 5 and 6 year old so they were really excited too) and then not even make an external pip. :-( I've read too much info at this point, the humidity and the air cel check made the most sense, I am sure that is where we went wrong last time. I incubated at 55% humidity according to instructions and info online. then upped to 75% at lock down. Still not clear what the optimal humidity will be for us here for hatching.

Humidity is always the wildcard. Different areas of the world require different percentages, so its not possible to tell you the best number. Sadly, we usually have to learn this by trial and error, and I'm sorry that your kids didn't have the best first experience with that trial and error phase.

55% is almost always too humid. It works for some, but I'd say a very small percentage can manage with 55%. My best recommendation is if you live in a humid climate, start with your incubator totally dry. It will still likely run around 25-35% without any water at all added. If you live in a very dry climate, start with just a little water, or even just a damp sponge.

Then on day 7, candle and check your air cells. Compare to one of the many charts that can be found online. If the air cells are too large, then add a little water. Humidity goes by surface area of the water, not the actual amount/depth. So keep that in mind also.

Its much easier to start low and increase the humidity to slow the air cell growth later, than vice versa.

** And just in case you are at a higher elevation, that throws a whole nother wrench in the mix!

 

[hensareus]

Ducky #1 at 3days

Ducky#2 at 1 day
This was the first chance I'd had to get pics up. They are so cute and so rotten.

 

[RoseViewFarm]

Ok, I asked because I always incubate upright, but when I did my call ducks last month, it was recommended that laying down worked better for them, so I tried it.  I was amazed at the difference in candling!  They seemed to develop on one side, and not the other!  I thought something was wrong, but learned it happens that way when they are on their sides.  They fill the whole thing eventually though.  So I thought maybe that was what you were seeing.

But I did go back and look at your pics.  I understand wanting the air cells to reattach, but personally, I think 7 days is too long... depending on your definition of "minimal" turning.  It could have gotten stuck to one side.  Even so, I think the chick looks developed enough.  It may be a little smaller when it hatches, and may be a bit gooey and sticky.  Hatching those in cartons does apparently help, (just from my reading, I've never tried it)   Maybe I should have done that with this last hatch of mine, because I had a few late DIS that had too much clear area too.

Good luck!  Keep us posted. 

I will have to keep that in mind. I have both an upright turner and a horizontal turner, so maybe next time I'll experiment. I probably wouldn't do 7 days again, but I can't turn back the clock.
I will absolutely keep posting updates!

 

[DPWPDX]

Day 8!

Out of 18 eggs set, I can only see through about 10 of them. 9 out of 10 have spiderwebbing! YIPPEE!

Here's what I got:

18 eggs shipped from Idaho (8h drive away, shipped on a Monday am, arrived early Wed AM). Let them rest at room temp (65F) overnight. Set them around 8 am Thursday morning at 99.6F and 45% RH (In the future I'll set at 99.4F), no turning. Saturday night around 8 pm I started the turner and lowered the temp to 99.4F, and 40%F (they are marans eggs). Spot-candled a few eggs on Tuesday, looked like they were losing a lot of water so I upped the RH back up to 45%. And did a full candle today! YAY!

My dogs wondered why I kept going back and forth between the corner and the closet ^_^

So an earlier batch of shipped eggs (from Sebastopol, CA) only had 7 develop, 6 make it to lockdown, and 5 out of 6 hatch of 12 eggs shipped, but I think with that batch it was earlier in the season so they probably experienced more cold during shipping, and I incubated at 99.6F. 4 out of those 5 are roos! :-(

 

[spruce creek]

Humidity is always the wildcard. Different areas of the world require different percentages, so its not possible to tell you the best number. Sadly, we usually have to learn this by trial and error, and I'm sorry that your kids didn't have the best first experience with that trial and error phase.

55% is almost always too humid. It works for some, but I'd say a very small percentage can manage with 55%. My best recommendation is if you live in a humid climate, start with your incubator totally dry. It will still likely run around 25-35% without any water at all added. If you live in a very dry climate, start with just a little water, or even just a damp sponge.

Then on day 7, candle and check your air cells. Compare to one of the many charts that can be found online. If the air cells are too large, then add a little water. Humidity goes by surface area of the water, not the actual amount/depth. So keep that in mind also.

Its much easier to start low and increase the humidity to slow the air cell growth later, than vice versa.

** And just in case you are at a higher elevation, that throws a whole nother wrench in the mix!

We're at sea level. This is my trial dry incubation and it is still at 40% with no water. Air cels looked ok at day 14, a little small but better than last time. I am hoping when I candle tomorrow(with my make shift homemade candler because mine decided to stop working on the last candling) they will be a decent size for the little chicks to hatch!

I marked my air cels this time so I can at least see how much they have grown.

 

[MontainBourbons]

I am having problems with my chicks. 4 of my baby turkeys have died and 2 of my chickens so far more coming I fear. The chicks become lethargic sometimes loose their appetite then die on the ground. I have them on straw and they have been on the stuff for a couple weeks. The 2 chicks were from a younger batch and all of my turkeys are from the same hatch. The brooders are 50 feet away from each other in separate rooms. This exact thing happened last year and killed nearly 1/2 of my chicks. I need some help and quick. I already have them on medicated water mix of tetracycline.
Any Ideas please.

 

[feedman77]

I am having problems with my chicks. 4 of my baby turkeys have died and 2 of my chickens so far more coming I fear. The chicks become lethargic sometimes loose their appetite then die on the ground. I have them on straw and they have been on the stuff for a couple weeks. The 2 chicks were from a younger batch and all of my turkeys are from the same hatch. The brooders are 50 feet away from each other in separate rooms. This exact thing happened last year and killed nearly 1/2 of my chicks. I need some help and quick. I already have them on medicated water mix of tetracycline.
Any Ideas please. 

Only thing I can think of is take them off the straw. If they eat it it can wreak havoc with their insides.

I put mine on wood chips but others have had issues with those.

If they fluff up head hanging, sleepy and wings drooped I would say possibly cocci.

 

[WVduckchick]

I am having problems with my chicks. 4 of my baby turkeys have died and 2 of my chickens so far more coming I fear. The chicks become lethargic sometimes loose their appetite then die on the ground. I have them on straw and they have been on the stuff for a couple weeks. The 2 chicks were from a younger batch and all of my turkeys are from the same hatch. The brooders are 50 feet away from each other in separate rooms. This exact thing happened last year and killed nearly 1/2 of my chicks. I need some help and quick. I already have them on medicated water mix of tetracycline.
Any Ideas please. 

Maybe try this symptom checker, and evaluate some possibilities?
It's like WebMD for poultry.

http://www.poultrydvm.com/symptoms