Classroom hatching gone downhill

[007Sean]

Sounds like they may as well have played football with those shipped eggs.

Granted, shipped eggs are a big gamble any of us who order them take, but still, it's unheard of to get a 0% hatch rate when all conditions are nearly perfect.

You're going to be able to prove it to them to just not bother getting those eggs again, wherever they came from. I'd suggest they also give lessons to those in charge of receipt and redistribution or let an experienced chicken tender such as yourself be in charge of it. That may have helped a little bit.

Not necessarily so....I've had 0% hatch rate when everything was at optimum levels for development and hatching...sometimes the shipping is just too great of an ordeal to overcome!

 

[007Sean]

Alas, the last two of the school's shipped chicken eggs that I candled that were viable yesterday were dead today. Blood rings in each and every one of them. So sad when you can see the little embryo and know it didnt make it.
But, at least we still have our own eggs in there going strong, so at least something will come out of this hatch for the students. Would have been a real bummer if there were two failed hatches.

But, now having discovered more about how they were shipped, it really doesn't surprise me at all... the fact any of them started developing at all is a miracle . Still no idea where they came from, but the final bit of their journey involves getting shipped to a distribution facility well over an hour away, before getting bagged up in a paper bag in an egg carton with shreaded paper under it, and then taking a ride throughout the whole school district as they deliver to each of the schools that had ordered eggs.
Oh well Better knowledge for next year.


I looked at the incubator while I was there this morning and discovered it to be a Little Giant.

LG incubators are the worse. Hard to regulate temperature and humidity with them....lot's of things you can do to improve the odds but still not really worth it, better to get a better quality incubator.

 

[Debbie292d]

Not necessarily so....I've had 0% hatch rate when everything was at optimum levels for development and hatching...sometimes the shipping is just too great of an ordeal to overcome!

My absolute worst was 25%, 3 hatching of 12, about a month ago x2. Two different breeders, around $90 dozen. Do not do the math as I try pretend it's not there lol.

By Friday, I'll have 8 arriving from one person, 12 from another, both highly rated on eBay, and 2 dozen very expensive rarer silkies from a breeder that someone on BYC recommended. https://indigoegg.us/

I just keep trying to get a better ratio as I used to always get around 70% on an average of a few batches. So hoping I don't kick myself in the head again!

I will only keep a matched pair of each variety, then sell off matched pairs for probably $75 so slowly but surely will make that back. They'd be 5 months old before I'd know sexes for sure. I've got 7 that are 4 months, one rooster identified.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Most post office employees know very little about hatching eggs, like most of the general population. Also like most of the population they have some employees that don't like to follow rules but the majority at least try. Sometimes the problem can be with the person shipping the hatching eggs, they are not packaged very well or they are not stored in a good way before they are shipped. Another one is that many shipped eggs are flown by major airlines. Nothing to do with the shipper or the post office, airlines can mess up.

Lots of reasons shipped eggs may be a problem hatching. With that, I've had a 100% hatch rate with shipped eggs. I've had a 20% hatch rate from the same shipper. I keep reading that you get a 50% hatch rate with shipped eggs but to me that is an average. All of mine have been either much better or much worse. It has more to do with luck than anything else.

 

[UrbanHomesteadTX]

Sounds like they may as well have played football with those shipped eggs.

Granted, shipped eggs are a big gamble any of us who order them take, but still, it's nearly unheard of to get a 0% hatch rate when all conditions are nearly perfect.

You're going to be able to prove it to them to just not bother getting those eggs again, wherever they came from. I'd suggest they also give lessons to those in charge of receipt and redistribution or let an experienced chicken tender such as yourself be in charge of it. That may have helped a little bit.

Lol, honestly.

Again I give a huge shout out to the entire DISD purchasing and distributing department for being the absolute worst at their job when it comes to anything related to critters Honestly, it seems the whole system is a toss-up. They never tell you what you're gonna get, and never fail to not send all the right equipment needed. Ma tried to ask them what kind of chicken eggs they were getting, the response was to the effect of 'No clue, a chicken is a chicken.' Lol.
Our school systems everyone.

 

[UrbanHomesteadTX]

LG incubators are the worse. Hard to regulate temperature and humidity with them....lot's of things you can do to improve the odds but still not really worth it, better to get a better quality incubator.

Got ya. I knew I heard something about Little Giant, but couldn't remember what. My own incubator is a second hand Brinsea.
Lol, I remember walking into Ma's classroom after that incubator came in... took me a minute to realize that styrofoam box was the incubator! I'm not a big fan of it, and wouldn't use it for my own hatching. But, for a classroom hatch it's doing it's job decently. My only suspicion is the built in Hygrometer, I don't trust it at all.

 

[UrbanHomesteadTX]

Most post office employees know very little about hatching eggs, like most of the general population. Also like most of the population they have some employees that don't like to follow rules but the majority at least try. Sometimes the problem can be with the person shipping the hatching eggs, they are not packaged very well or they are not stored in a good way before they are shipped. Another one is that many shipped eggs are flown by major airlines. Nothing to do with the shipper or the post office, airlines can mess up.

Lots of reasons shipped eggs may be a problem hatching. With that, I've had a 100% hatch rate with shipped eggs. I've had a 20% hatch rate from the same shipper. I keep reading that you get a 50% hatch rate with shipped eggs but to me that is an average. All of mine have been either much better or much worse. It has more to do with luck than anything else.

I definitely believe the shipping, handling, and packaging were all major factors in our 0% hatch rate.

This entire experience, even though I'm not that directly involved with this hatch, has givin me lots to think about if/when I ever decide to buy shipped eggs myself.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My only suspicion is the built in Hygrometer, I don't trust it at all.

I've done very well with my Genesis 1588 once I learned how to use it. It is more hand-on than some others.

I don't trust any built-in thermometer or hygrometer until they have been calibrated, even the ones for the high end makes and models. I don't trust the instruments from the store either until they are calibrated. Calibration was part of learning how to use my 1588.

 

[Debbie292d]

I've done very well with my Genesis 1588 once I learned how to use it. It is more hand-on than some others.

I don't trust any built-in thermometer or hygrometer until they have been calibrated, even the ones for the high end makes and models. I don't trust the instruments from the store either until they are calibrated. Calibration was part of learning how to use my 1588.

I have an NR360, a 2nd hand Brinsea 56EX, and a new Brinsea 56EX, and not one of them is right on temperature. I don't pay attention to their hygrometer as I have about 6 different Govee thermometer/hygrometers and put at least one in each incubator. I set the humidity settings on there at whatever it takes to see 40-45% on the Govees. Both of the Brinseas are way off.

For temps, the NR360 runs at 101.5F, one Brinsea 100F, and the brand new one 100.3F, all the equivalent of 99.5F. I trust the Govees and just check their calibration every month or so.

 

[007Sean]

When I 'salt test' calibrate my Accurite Hygrometers, I will calibrate them 3 times and take the average for determining the true %Rh....very rarely will any hygrometer read exactly the same % every time it's calibrated....I only have one that is that reliable, out of 12.