CALIFORNIA The Whole State thread

[SunnyDawn]

Well good luck with your hatches! I hope I get up to hatching that many some day. Sounds exciting.

 

[wolftracks]

I cleaned out another LG that I got at the auction. Haven't tested it yet, but as soon as it's all dry, I'll check it out. I have almost everything to build a cabinet the size of my Sportsman and really wish I had the ambition to get it made. I think all I need is the plexi door and a fan.

 

[farmhand]

I pulled this off the internet and was wondering what some of you fellow California chicken farmers think of this???

"About humidity...you'll find two schools of thought on what humidity should be. Some folks recommend wet hatch--meaning 50-60% humidity until day 18--while others swear that will end with "drowning" chicks during the hatch. "Dry hatch" means keeping humidity at or below 40% until lockdown, and only adding water to the bator when it goes below about 25%. You'll find equally expert old-timers who are ADAMANT that their way is the way to go, because they've had hundreds of thousands of successful hatches that method. Yet they've used opposite methods to reach their success. After a ton of research into this puzzling phenomenon, I realized that the link between humidity and hatch rate is affected by a third variable--altitude. Folks in Colorado and Northern California and Montana have the greatest success with wet hatch, while people where I live--in Arkansas, near the Missouri and Kansas and Oklahoma borders--at much lower altitudes, do better while using lower humidity levels during incubation."

 

[ronott1]

I pulled this off the internet and was wondering what some of you fellow California chicken farmers think of this???

"About humidity...you'll find two schools of thought on what humidity should be. Some folks recommend wet hatch--meaning 50-60% humidity until day 18--while others swear that will end with "drowning" chicks during the hatch. "Dry hatch" means keeping humidity at or below 40% until lockdown, and only adding water to the bator when it goes below about 25%. You'll find equally expert old-timers who are ADAMANT that their way is the way to go, because they've had hundreds of thousands of successful hatches that method. Yet they've used opposite methods to reach their success. After a ton of research into this puzzling phenomenon, I realized that the link between humidity and hatch rate is affected by a third variable--altitude. Folks in Colorado and Northern California and Montana have the greatest success with wet hatch, while people where I live--in Arkansas, near the Missouri and Kansas and Oklahoma borders--at much lower altitudes, do better while using lower humidity levels during incubation."

I live in California and am at 70 ft. elevation. In the Sacramento Valley, Elevation goes up slowly until about Redding. Redding is in the 300 ft. range. I think it has more to do with the type of egg being hatched and the Humidity where you are. California is a fairly dry state.

40% works very well for me.

 

[farmhand]

I live in California and am at 70 ft. elevation. In the Sacramento Valley...
40% works very well for me.

So do you keep your humidity at 40% all the way through lock down?

 

[ronott1]

Quote: I incubate In a Brinsea Octagon and hatch in a Genesis 1588. At lockdown, I raise the humidity to 72% on one hygrometer. The Genesis has a built in control on the top(new style) and it says 65%. I have been having great hatches so far this way. I just hatched 12 out of 14 shipped Bresse chicks that way.

 

[SunnyDawn]

I also use the "dry" hatch method but here in the high desert that means adding water constantly to keep humidity between 25-30%. At lockdown I up that to 55% but I have to close the vents more than halfway to keep the humidity up. IMO it's better to keep the vents as open as possible. That being said, I have had awesome hatches in my Brinsea. Between 80-100% hatch rates but most of those were not shipped. There's only so much a good incubator can do... Lol

 

[SunnyDawn]

And who cares which method you use? If it's working for you stick with it. If you want to know what works best in your area, start polling the neighbors. Hopefully you can find enough that hatch to draw some relevant data from. Whatever you decide, good luck! Hatching does take some trial and error for most folks.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

81 eggs!?  Wow that seems like a lot to me.  I'm setting a few this week for Easter but I want them to hatch before Easter.  I'll set about 3 dozen.

I set 25 in my new Brinsea Octagon 20, on Saturday! I'm so glad I went ahead and spent the money on the humidity pump. Every time I hear that thing go off I think how I would have had to be adding water! I hope I get a decent hatch, I sent out invites to my grandkids for a chickie sleepover for the night they should start hatching. I hope the incubator pops chicks right along with the popcorn popper!

I'm already thinking I should have considered the Brinsea 40, I have so many people on my waiting list. Now that the Marans are laying several of the customers are adding to their original number of chicks. Those of you who sell chicks, how do you handle that? Well, you guys probably don't have that issue...most of you have bigger and multiple incubators! But if you did run into that issue would you make them get to the end of the line and have different aged chicks or ask the next in line if they can wait for the next hatch? I guess it depends on how the number of chicks fall. Most people are ordering six or eight at a time, so unless I get a really good hatch I most likely will only be able to fill 3 orders of 6 per hatch anyway right? I know, I know, don't count your chicks before they hatch!!!!!

Whew, I'm chatty tonight! Sorry!

Kim....81...wowzie! Oh, and on the humidity...when I asked for input and searched the web recently on that, I got the 40% upped to 65% for lockdown (or around those numbers) the most common. Funny, I can't even remember what I did 2 years ago, the last time I hatched eggs. Ok, I'm done! LOL

 

[wolftracks]

I get orders for chicks and then cancellations so can't help ya. This might be may last year. I can't make enough back for one bag of feed let alone enough to feed all these mouths.

That being said. I haven't set them yet, Writing on them right now and putting them in when I finsh. Lavern laid her first egg this year and I got 2 grey ones which means tose will be turning lavender soon,

Just took this. My couch is the only spot I could get one pic of all of them.