Broody on strike!

[Godiva]

Little scallywag has been broody just about all summer and so I gave in eventually because we really need to up our flock numbers (we are down to 2!!) So the eggs arrive, they're on the desk settling after their trip, and everything looks hunky-dory until this morning when she decides to get off the nest and get back to everyday life

SOOOO here I am trying to figure out what on earth to do! I think I am just going to wait a few more days and then get the eggs into the 'bator. I am going to feed her extra treats and even a little scratch and then duct tape her onto the nest - kidding! She is such a persistent broody usually that I have quite a time of it trying to break her (silkie cross) and now Cleopatra decides to exercise her freedom of will.... brat

got to love my birds.

And now I am trying to get the 'bator up to speed and my temps are still way low so have to figure out all the little steps to adjusting the incubators temp upwards.... at least the humidity is looking good for now

How long is it ok for the eggs to wait to be put into the 'bator? THey arrived on Thursday morning and have been resting on my desk since...

 

[yinepu]

i try to set shipped eggs within a day of receiving them.. any idea when they were collected by the seller?

if you're not sure.. consider this:.
if it was an auction figure in the date it was won..
check the listing.. does it say they will start collection the eggs at the end of the auction?.. does it mention flock size?

if they say they only have a few birds you have to remember most hens won't lay an egg every day.. mine usually take one or two days off during a week


even though you CAN set eggs several weeks after collecting them (you will have much lower fertility).. the proteins in the eggs start to degrade within a few days.. so it's USUALLY recommended that they are set within a week of the date they were laid (personally at 10 days I know I will have less chicks hatch) and that is IF they were stored at 50 - 60 degrees and around 70% humidity or better


the best thing to do is check the air cell size by candling.. large air cells indicate older eggs or eggs that weren't stored properly which would tell you they are have already begun to degrade so your fertility has already begun to drop... plus large air cells at setting also means you will have smaller chicks IF any hatch at all.. if the air cells are good and you know it will be a day or two before you can set them.. do you have any way to store the eggs (pointy end down) where it would be between 50 - 60* and at 70% humidity?



shipped eggs generally have lower fertility anyway due to the rough handling they receive during transit.. so please get them into an incubator or under a broody ASAP

 

[Godiva]

Thanks so much Yinepu, that is exactly the info I wanted. I have been holding back on putting the eggs in the 'bator because I could not get the temp above 96 F. BUt I did some adjusting last night and this morning the temp is sitting at 99.2 and the room temp is 65 F. So I think I may be ok now. I have been trying to do searches on all these details but there is so much extraneous information that comes up that one has to wade through.

My humidity is at just above 40% and I think I read that it should be at about that for the first 8 days? Is that right... or was it 10 days?
I am going to bite the bullet and get the eggs in now since everything seems to be stable and where I need it. Hold thumbs for us folks... 15 gorgeous little eggs going into the 'bator - they look like they travelled exceptionally well so here's hoping they do well for us!

 

[yinepu]

what kind of incubator is iut and how humid is it where you live?

i aim for 45% humidity through incubation then raise it up at hatch (lockdown).. but much of that depends on where you live and the relative humidity in the room where the incubator is located.. people with high relative humidity go drier than I do.. but as a general rule i would start at 40% and possibly adjust it down from there depending on if the room's humidity is really high

i suppose the easiest way for you to determine if your humidity is too high or low is to either weigh the eggs at the start of incubation (an average weight works).. or do as I do and monitor the air cells.. you want the (chicken) eggs to lose 13% of their weight through out the length incubation.. so if you weigh them periodically you can adjust the humidity to allow for more or less weight loss as time goes by

for ease of things I just keep an eye on the air cells and make sure they are growing larger as the chick incubates.. too large of an air cell means the chick will be too small and may not hatch.. too small of an air cell means the chick has absorbed too much fluid and probably wont have the room to turn and pip and zip properly..

also keep in mind that is the humidity is too high during incubation you risk the chicks drowning in fluid when they finally do internally pip

 

[Godiva]

I don't have a scale to weigh the eggs but that picture of the air sacs is a big help. I am not sure what the humidity is here but I do know that it is low (Colorado) I have the incubator humidity about 40 to 48% - it is fluctuating at the moment after adding the eggs. What do you keep the humidity at for the hatch.... I am going to assume that all going well these may hatch early as they are bantam eggs and in my limited experience they always hatch early. On which day do you raise the humidity? When is lockdown that I hear everyone talking about?

 

[yinepu]

I have my humidity during lockdown at least at 70%.. have had it as high as 90% for ducks and turkeys.. high lockdown humidity will keep the membrane soft and pliable for the chicks to break through.. it will NOT cause drownings like some people will try to tell you

for as to when to go into lockdown.. for ducks I go in 5 to 7 days now (muscovys) before hatch date.. for chickens you can go in anywhere from 3 to 5 days with no problems
I used to just do 3 days for everyone.. but I am finding that ducks in general seem to benefit from a few more days.. and with muscovys they can hatch anywhere from day 33 to 35 and still be considered "normal".. so 7 days before hatch date for them really helps

so figure day 18 for your chicks and you should be good

just remember high temps during incubation will cause the eggs to hatch early.. low incubation temps will cause the eggs to take a few more days .. so try to keep your temps steady and they should hatch out on or around day 21

 

[Godiva]

Thanks Yinepu, I have a hovabator genesis 1588. I put the eggs in at about 9:45 this morning. THe humidity is sitting at 48% on the one hygrometer and the other says 41 %. The air temp is 99.2 now and the water wiggler is 97.9 at the moment. Here's hoping all stays nice and stable and we have a successful hatch!

 

[yinepu]

once things stabilize keep an eye on the air cells and make your humidity adjustments from there.. you dont need to candle every egg every day.. just pick a random egg here and there and see how much the air cells change.. since you aren't sure what humidity you need and since you haven't used the incubator in a while checking every 3 or 4 days should be ok.. just so long as they look like they are progressing on schedule you should be fine