Candling Eggs - temperature

[Mosey2003]

This one does have a fan. I have a digital thermometer/humidity meter(?) at egg level. Maybe I should get a 2nd one just to be sure? I’m very interested in knowing how you can tell the humidity level by weight. I have an accurate food scale that I could use.

You weigh them when you start, and you weigh them as you go, and then you determine the percentage of weight lost. There is a certain percentage they should lose by lockdown. I don't do this (although I should) so I don't know the numbers offhand.

 

[Merci BeauCoop]

You weigh them when you start, and you weigh them as you go, and then you determine the percentage of weight lost. There is a certain percentage they should lose by lockdown. I don't do this (although I should) so I don't know the numbers offhand.

Thanks! Too late for this batch but I will probably try it next time. Look at me - already talking about “next time” -haha! This is my first introduction to chickens!

 

[Mosey2003]

Thanks! Too late for this batch but I will probably try it next time. Look at me - already talking about “next time” -haha! This is my first introduction to chickens!

Brace yourself, it's all downhill from here

I wanted just some big pretty Buff Orpingtons, which I managed to procure almost by chance. That was all.

By the time they were laying, I'd learned about sexlinks and wanted some Barred Rocks just to make a few of those to sell. Got some Rocks, hatched some sexlinks, and decided I wanted all Rocks. Sold the Orps, got more Rocks. Then I decided I wanted NICE Rocks if I was going to keep them. Now I've got showbird hens and had a male shipped to me from Ohio and I'm planning a staggered hatch for this month and another in the fall and have butchered chickens and oh it never stops!

 

[rjohns39]

Hi again Wow, you're up to 19 posts already

You've been given good advice. I'm not familiar with that bator but sounds like the egg carton approach would be your best bet. Mine's a cabinet, so I open the door and pull out tray one close and candle, then pull out tray two and put tray one back in. With the dark eggs you're gonna need a really bright light. I'm personally a fan of the Brinsea line, but they are pricey and their instructions are horrible. But mine works great and my hatch rates are solid. Mine also has a programmable cool down feature to replicate the hen getting off the nest. I try to candle when it's in that cycle.

 

[wleigh1021]

The eggs are supposed to lose about 11% weight over the 21 days so roughly .5% of their total weight every day. So since I candle on days 7, 12, & 18 they should weigh 96.4%, 93.8%, & 91% respectively of their original weight. I use a digital food scale and just put a mason jar ring on it to hold the egg in place. I really like this method because it also lets you know if you need to move the eggs around within the incubator due to hot/dry spots. I # ea egg with a pencil and write down the weight of every egg but its usually very uniform so when you do the calculations you don't really have to calculate every egg. This time at 7 days my eggs should have lost about 2g weight and they did! My hygrometers keep breaking on me, so this time I just bought this cheap 4 pack. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GNMKYCZ/?tag=backy-20

hatching is super addictive! good luck!

 

[aart]

You weigh them when you start, and you weigh them as you go, and then you determine the percentage of weight lost. There is a certain percentage they should lose by lockdown. I don't do this (although I should) so I don't know the numbers offhand.

How often do you weigh them.....do you candle at that time too?


@Chickenchick33 Welcome to BYC!
I like to candle on days 7-10-14-18 and trace the air cells,
especially when I first started hatching, now I just do all on day 10 and 18 and few earlier and in between.
I put 8-12 at a time in a foam carton and carry them to the nearby windowless room that's best for candling at any time of the day.

Oh, and....wait a few hours for temp to stabilize again after candling.
Don't start adjusting.
Testing your therms and hygros is always a good thing to do before every hatch:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/

 

[wleigh1021]

@aart yup I candle and weigh at the same time. I put them in the carton, candle to remove any quitters if needed, then weigh and write it down. Put them back in the Bator then grab the next bunch. Calculate the weight after they're all back in the bator. I can go back in and move them around if needed.

 

[Merci BeauCoop]

Brace yourself, it's all downhill from here

I wanted just some big pretty Buff Orpingtons, which I managed to procure almost by chance. That was all.

By the time they were laying, I'd learned about sexlinks and wanted some Barred Rocks just to make a few of those to sell. Got some Rocks, hatched some sexlinks, and decided I wanted all Rocks. Sold the Orps, got more Rocks. Then I decided I wanted NICE Rocks if I was going to keep them. Now I've got showbird hens and had a male shipped to me from Ohio and I'm planning a staggered hatch for this month and another in the fall and have butchered chickens and oh it never stops!

So I guess it is safe to share what my original goal was/is? I would like to end up with 6 hens and 1 rooster. I have waited a long time to have chickens and really want the full experience so I am trying to hatch my babies. I thought if I ordered 3 eggs each of 6 different varieties that would give me options. Thinking that statistically 1 wouldn’t hatch, 1 would be male and 1 would be female. 18 eggs to get 6 females and 1 male. I ended up getting 29 eggs! So we will see what happens.

 

[wleigh1021]

Haha welcome to chicken math!