August Hatch-A-Long!

[chickydee64]

Oh such a sad sad day at the Parmer farm. We came home from my mother's, weren't gone an hour and a half. As we were pulling in the driveway, we saw a hawk carrying off one of my bantams. He dropped it at the fence line. Walked out to see who it was and it was my favorite little rooster, Ninja. And we can't find the beautiful little bantam pullet.

My son is a wreck. Says that life's not fair and why did God have to make creatures that kill others?

Can't express how sorry I am this happened, especially since you have children....................

It is part of the life cycle.but knowing that does not make it feel better...................
I hope you have more chickens.

 

[Heidisgran]

Quote: well there is more than one tutorial....I still don't see much difference in what you wrote and what I wrote...how you achieve your desired humidity is dependent on individual environments...my statement is in generalities....not below 25% and between 45 or so and 65% for hatching...that is the bare bones of it!
I am glad to read any material and I study up all the time...but note the referenced article is from someones

personal experience...as is with much of the advice given on this thread!

 

[Heidisgran]

Sorry if I sound argumentative - I am actually not trying to be

Just that I am following the same article and I did what they said. Room humidity is around 42 because of the A/C and the bator humidity is reading 32. So if I am supposed to force it to 25 there is no easy way to do that short of dumping dry rice in the bator. But according to the article I should be fine since they actually want my room humidity at 50 - 75% (meaning my bator would be at 40 - 65% or so). And for hatch I am upping to 65% - 70% to help soften the shells as recommended. And I still have had issues with dry membranes.

I didn't say it should be 25% I said not lower than 25%....

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

Oh such a sad sad day at the Parmer farm. We came home from my mother's, weren't gone an hour and a half. As we were pulling in the driveway, we saw a hawk carrying off one of my bantams. He dropped it at the fence line. Walked out to see who it was and it was my favorite little rooster, Ninja. And we can't find the beautiful little bantam pullet. My son is a wreck. Says that life's not fair and why did God have to make creatures that kill others?

That is very sad, especially for your son. Life lessons can be so traumatic for kids.

We have buzzards and hawks that fly over our place multiple times each day. I was aware that we live in a buzzard habitat area so when we built out coop and enclosed run I installed hawk netting over the top. I've had those suckers land on the roof of the house and peer down into my run trying to figure out how they can get to my chickens...thankfully they haven't been able to find a way. It is illegal to,shoot them, but if one breaks its way through the netting, it isn't getting out, that's for sure.

Hugs to your son.

 

[Heidisgran]

From the Hatching 101 Article https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101
Quote: I see where your coming from! your worried about your egglets! you do have to figure out what works for you and your environment....that's why I suggested that they check with someone in their area for the best recipe....

I know how you feel we have this exciting fulfilling hobby but then...I...go out of my mind and buy expensive shipped eggs in the dead heat of summer....lol then worry about the hatch!

I put 8 lavender frizzles in the incubator and I'm down to 3 viable....the others just never started...now that is disappointing!! I hope I get those 3 but not likely I be real luck if I get 1

the eggs I bought from Roxannemc are hatched and healthy and I'm expecting my silkies any second! wish me luck

 

[ggladd]

That is very sad, especially for your son. Life lessons can be so traumatic for kids.

We have buzzards and hawks that fly over our place multiple times each day. I was aware that we live in a buzzard habitat area so when we built out coop and enclosed run I installed hawk netting over the top. I've had those suckers land on the roof of the house and peer down into my run trying to figure out how they can get to my chickens...thankfully they haven't been able to find a way. It is illegal to,shoot them, but if one breaks its way through the netting, it isn't getting out, that's for sure.

Hugs to your son.

We have hawks and buzzards here as well. And plenty of em. So far we have been very lucky as to not have the preds invade. Our coops are build very sturdy and mostly pred proof but we still let our guys out during the day to free range. (One breed at a time of course) So we still have to watch and i think it is inevitable for it to eventually happen. Saying that... I know its illegal to shoot hawks but i call it justifiable homicide.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

From the Hatching 101 Article https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

Throwing my 2 cents in...I think that there are too many variables so even if two people followed EXACTLY the same instructions you are going to get two different results. Examples of variables that will result differently:

Dry hatching in a dry time of year vs a humid time of year.

Different elevations of two different people.

The temperature that each person keeps their thermostat in the house set to.

The weather on different days during the 21 day incubation cycle.

Where the eggs came from, how far or short, smooth or rough they were handled.

The health, age, and genetics of the rooster and hen.

So, what I'm trying to say is the instructions will be different, even if only mildly different, for each and every person incubating eggs. So even for an article siting specific temps, humidity, water added, etc, those instructions will need to be tweaked by each individual person. I could write a book on what "I" found as the PERFECT method of hatching here in AZ at 5000 ft elevation during monsoon season, but they won't be Perfect instructions for either of you.

Personally, I tweaked the instructions that came with my incubator (I have two, both with different instructions) until I found what what worked for me. Next summer, they may need to be tweaked again due to climate changes and the fact that I will be hatching different eggs.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

We have hawks and buzzards here as well. And plenty of em. So far we have been very lucky as to not have the preds invade. Our coops are build very sturdy and mostly pred proof but we still let our guys out during the day to free range. (One breed at a time of course) So we still have to watch and i think it is inevitable for it to eventually happen. Saying that... I know its illegal to shoot hawks but i call it justifiable homicide.

Only in Florida! (Ok, sad joke) :/

 

[familypendragon]

I see where your coming from! your worried about your egglets! you do have to figure out what works for you and your environment....that's why I suggested that they check with someone in their area for the best recipe.... I know how you feel we have this exciting fulfilling hobby but then...I...go out of my mind and buy expensive shipped eggs in the dead heat of summer....lol then worry about the hatch! I put 8 lavender frizzles in the incubator and I'm down to 3 viable....the others just never started...now that is disappointing!! I hope I get those 3 but not likely I be real luck if I get 1 the eggs I bought from Roxannemc are hatched and healthy and I'm expecting my silkies any second! wish me luck

Yeah, it is BAD... I had the entire bator full in cartons and there was ONE EMPTY HOLE.... I couldn't help myself - I put in one of my Blue Copper Marans x ???probably Lavender Ameraucana eggs today. It will have a hatch day all its own :/ Seriously out of control here

 

[Heidisgran]

Quote: