April Hatch Thread--Come Join Us!

[ronott1]

Quote:
Where you are in England is humid?

I live in CA and have a dry climate. If I do not add some water, humidity goes down to 15%. They will not hatch at that low of humidity so a Dry hatch is really an add a bit of water hatch. 35% for the first 18 days works best for me.

 

[tommysgirl]

Sorry this has been a rough day for so many of you. Hope things still turn out well...I snuck another egg in my bator making it 36 in there, Figured it was OK since it was just a day late and I am a sucker for even numbers

 

[PaintedFeathers]

W
Why have you set them on staggered days? I have one that I added 12 hours after they all went in. But that should be fine as its a small bantam egg and usually hatch early? Have you ever hatched before?

No I haven't. I set the 3, and didn't think she was going to lay any more but she did so I put them in. I plan on using a second incubator for hatching. I didn't see any development in two of the 7 day eggs that is why I opened them, and as I suspected there was nothing going on. But one looks better.

 

[MissBroodyHen]

Where you are in England is humid?

I live in CA and have a dry climate. If I do not add some water, humidity goes down to 15%. They will not hatch at that low of humidity so a Dry hatch is really an add a bit of water hatch. 35% for the first 18 days works best for me.

Oh god. I never realised I said anything about it being humid here! I said damp! But yes it does get very humid in the summer it's horrible. It brings out my asthma really bad! The air is a little more so because we had a warmer day today. But I would not leave my eggs dry when the first pip came round! I'm planning on hiking that right up to 65% 70%. As far as air cells go my flock eggs are right on track. It's just the shipped eggs I'm worried about. That's why I asked the other person that had said he left his eggs dry during hatching and he's lost most.

 

[MissBroodyHen]

No I haven't. I set the 3, and didn't think she was going to lay any more but she did so I put them in. I plan on using a second incubator for hatching. I didn't see any development in two of the 7 day eggs that is why I opened them, and as I suspected there was nothing going on. But one looks better.

Sounds frustrating. Maybe try storing for a few days to see if she lays anymore. If you have a second bator. Then maybe make a hatcher out of some boxes to use this time. Just an idea. Hope it turns out for ya.

 

[ronott1]

Quote:
Yes, Dry hatch means low humidity for the first 18 days but then it has to be raised to 65% or so. My last hatch had now sticky chicks or shrink wrap.

Happy Hatching!

 

[LBKS]

You poor thing, this stuff happens to everyone i actualy dropped a fertile egg on day 5 of my first ever hatch, i felt sooooo stupid lol

the turner should definitly come of, what type of bator do you have?

I can imagine dropping an egg like that, how terrible! I was kind of unnerved how the yolk left sort of a skin on the hardware cloth 'floor' of the incubator - I imagine with veins it'd be extra sad and gross.

I have a Farm Innovators forced air incubator, I thought it looked like the turner row might snap upwards and off but it wouldn't budge and I was afraid of risking breaking/jostling the other eggs by forcing it. Thankfully the temperature is holding at 100 degrees now and the humidity is at 60% and falling (I guess from the extra moisture in the vinegar).

The odd thing (to me anyway) is that incubator #1 keeps its own moisture under control without any added water for the last 3-4 days or so - it was holding a steady 40% and finally bumped up to 45% today so I pulled out one of the plugs to let it drop some. I guess it's just the eggs expelling water as they develop? It's pretty interesting, whatever the cause.

For those with low humidity and small air cell growth - did you do the salt-water calibration test on your hygrometers? I found that for incubator #1 the meter reads a constant 12% too high (so if I trusted it I'd be running 18% if it said 30%) while the inside one I put in for temp/humidity reads true on both counts after calibrating it. It's possible yours might have the opposite problem and read too low (saying 30% when it's much higher).

 

[hokankai]

12 chicks out and a LOT of pips going on! Day 21 will be starting in a few hours

I'd post pics but I'm so tired right now. I'll do it later....zzzzz

 

[LBKS]

12 chicks out and a LOT of pips going on! Day 21 will be starting in a few hours

I'd post pics but I'm so tired right now. I'll do it later....zzzzz

I love your hatch cam, it made my bad day into a good one to watch the babies sleep like that

 

[hokankai]

Oh good! I'm giving my computer a break so it's off, but we're not even halfway done with our hatch yet!