August Hatch-A-Long

[jolenesdad]

I’ve been reading a lot in my local FB group that lots of Broody hens are cooking the eggs in this heat. :-/

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I’ve been reading a lot in my local FB group that lots of Broody hens are cooking the eggs in this heat. :-/

That’s interesting. So the eggs are getting too hot on the nest? Makes me want to stick a probe in there... have you seen hens crouching over the eggs when it’s hot? Here’s a pic of Naruto with her ice bottle, fan, and crouching over her eggs in the heat... We’ve cooled off a little, 95F instead of 100+. But when we were at our hottest, I was seeing a lot of posts on our local FB group about chickens dying from heat exhaustion. Sitting and laying hens seemed to be hit hard, which isn’t surprising since I could see how hot our broody hens were at lower temperatures... I was surprised at how many locals reported their teen chickens dying in the heat. I would think that their smaller size and lighter feathering would make them less heat sensitive...

 

[jolenesdad]

That’s interesting. So the eggs are getting too hot on the nest? Makes me want to stick a probe in there... have you seen hens crouching over the eggs when it’s hot? Here’s a pic of Naruto with her ice bottle, fan, and crouching over her eggs in the heat... We’ve cooled off a little, 95F instead of 100+. But when we were at our hottest, I was seeing a lot of posts on our local FB group about chickens dying from heat exhaustion. Sitting and laying hens seemed to be hit hard, which isn’t surprising since I could see how hot our broody hens were at lower temperatures... I was surprised at how many locals reported their teen chickens dying in the heat. I would think that their smaller size and lighter feathering would make them less heat sensitive...

I always see younger birds from people die from heat, the year old plus are already sort of heat hardy maybe? It’s reasons like this why the best breeders use 2 year old plus hens to breed. Vigor is so multi-faceted, and you have to make sure you get through every season with a chicken to see if it’s actually a strong bird.

My broody did not hover. She DID take at least three breaks a day. But we also had two explosions and six DIS eggs. I wouldn’t be shocked if that was heat. Plus, I started hatch three days early, they were all three out and dry well over 24 hours before hatch date.

I’m curious about a probe too. Temperature is temperature in the shade right? A few days with a few hours over 100, could theoretically cook the egg? Maybe? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I always see younger birds from people die from heat, the year old plus are already sort of heat hardy maybe? It’s reasons like this why the best breeders use 2 year old plus hens to breed. Vigor is so multi-faceted, and you have to make sure you get through every season with a chicken to see if it’s actually a strong bird.

My broody did not hover. She DID take at least three breaks a day. But we also had two explosions and six DIS eggs. I wouldn’t be shocked if that was heat. Plus, I started hatch three days early, they were all three out and dry well over 24 hours before hatch date.

I’m curious about a probe too. Temperature is temperature in the shade right? A few days with a few hours over 100, could theoretically cook the egg? Maybe? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Naruto was great at taking care of herself, which included breaks in the heat. 9 Ball is the only one of mine who incubated her eggs all the way through, and hers hatched early on Day 20 - 12/12! This was in spring so it wasn’t hot yet. Multiple people say that broodies tend to hatch a day early, I don’t know why... You may recall that we had a terrible hatch of our shipped BCM eggs/home bred OE eggs, where they were transferred from the incubator to the broody on day 18... So many DIS eggs there... I blamed the incubator, and I’ve turned it down 0.5 F and am having great hatch rates of guinea eggs... Would 0.5F make such a difference? My incubator is really running cool now - see attached for yesterday’s temperatures... Or maybe our eggs were DIS because it was hot outside and they were cooked under the broody?? I wish I knew....

Interestingly, both Naruto and Susan the silkie (who is back in the broody breaker cage as of last night!) were given what appeared to be viable eggs on day 18, but only Naruto hatched any. Naruto was the one who crouched above the eggs, panted, got off a lot, and got a fan; Susan never even panted or showed any other signs of heat stress and stayed stuck tight and flat as a pancake over them. Maybe she cooked hers more than Naruto did? Something to think about... However, this whole experience has validated my hunch that our girls should be incubating in spring while brooding should be avoided in summer due to our scorching heat! I’m not as sure about the guineas, which seem more summer oriented in broodiness, but not sure I have it in me to try another broody guinea hatch anyway...

 

[jolenesdad]

Naruto was great at taking care of herself, which included breaks in the heat. 9 Ball is the only one of mine who incubated her eggs all the way through, and hers hatched early on Day 20 - 12/12! This was in spring so it wasn’t hot yet. Multiple people say that broodies tend to hatch a day early, I don’t know why... You may recall that we had a terrible hatch of our shipped BCM eggs/home bred OE eggs, where they were transferred from the incubator to the broody on day 18... So many DIS eggs there... I blamed the incubator, and I’ve turned it down 0.5 F and am having great hatch rates of guinea eggs... Would 0.5F make such a difference? My incubator is really running cool now - see attached for yesterday’s temperatures... Or maybe our eggs were DIS because it was hot outside and they were cooked under the broody?? I wish I knew....

Interestingly, both Naruto and Susan the silkie (who is back in the broody breaker cage as of last night!) were given what appeared to be viable eggs on day 18, but only Naruto hatched any. Naruto was the one who crouched above the eggs, panted, got off a lot, and got a fan; Susan never even panted or showed any other signs of heat stress and stayed stuck tight and flat as a pancake over them. Maybe she cooked hers more than Naruto did? Something to think about... However, this whole experience has validated my hunch that our girls should be incubating in spring while brooding should be avoided in summer due to our scorching heat! I’m not as sure about the guineas, which seem more summer oriented in broodiness, but not sure I have it in me to try another broody guinea hatch anyway...

SO interesting!!! Yes, I think spring brooding is probably the best.... and probably what nature tells us!!!

Thats really, really interesting about your incubator temperatures. I LOVE attempting to track and think about this stuff. What program/app do you use again on your charts?

 

[jolenesdad]

@CluckNDoodle shouting TURN TURN TURN at my TV for you. Im sure Dorian can hear me. ;-)

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

SO interesting!!! Yes, I think spring brooding is probably the best.... and probably what nature tells us!!!

Thats really, really interesting about your incubator temperatures. I LOVE attempting to track and think about this stuff. What program/app do you use again on your charts?

It’s a SensorPush, plus I have the Gateway for remote data access. I used a dog house heater in the winter, and put the probe in there to make sure my Doberman baby (ha ha) is warm enough while I’m gone. I’m at work now, but just got a screen shot of last week’s worth of temperatures and humidity (big drop in temp was where I candled all and discarded duds and quitters; prolonged humidity drop was where I just wasn’t paying enough attention! I think that guineas incubate best at about 50% humidity).

 

[CluckNDoodle]

@CluckNDoodle shouting TURN TURN TURN at my TV for you. Im sure Dorian can hear me. ;-)

Lol! Thanks! It's already raining here but it's not supposed to be bad until later. It's a very slow system. It was originally supposed to be here Monday! I repurchased hurricane snacks like 3 times.
This video says it all, lol.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2955584504458636&id=100000213469797

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I’ve been reading a lot in my local FB group that lots of Broody hens are cooking the eggs in this heat. :-/

I hose an area of open sand here and the broody hens especially seem to go for the moist sand to dust bathe in. I think it actually helps them to lower temps on the eggs.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Lol! Thanks! It's already raining here but it's not supposed to be bad until later. It's a very slow system. It was originally supposed to be here Monday! I repurchased hurricane snacks like 3 times.
This video says it all, lol.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2955584504458636&id=100000213469797

Great video!!!