Dark Egg Breeds Thread

[Arielle]

Oh my gosh, what kind of eggs are in your profile pic Arielle???

Robin eggs.

 

[Arielle]

I forgot to post mine here Ron,
Here are some Crele penedesenca eggs I got last week. They have been in the bator 7 days and I need to candle them.
I set 15 of the crele plus 5 white empordanesa .
Here are the darkest crele ones I set

ON my screen these look almost black. Certainly the darkest eggs I"ve ever seen.

 

[Hangtown Farms]

ON my screen these look almost black. Certainly the darkest eggs I"ve ever seen.

some of it may be the picture burr they are the darkest eggs I have ever incubated.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

 

[dudleyspinner]

Hello from a newbie BCM hopeful owner. I am going to be setting some eggs soon and need some advice on how to handle them. I have been doing some reading and I see that the humidity levels are something that not every one agrees upon. Do any of you fine folks have some experience that may help me to a successful hatch? TIA

 

[Arielle]

HEre is my 2 cents.

Have a VERY good very strong light for candling, if only to see the air cells.

Humidity can vary, moisture loss from the eggs is the vital factor. Find a diagram of the air cells at the 7th, 14th and 18th days of incubation to compare to. Usually eggs are not dry enough and the chicks are too swollen with fluid to zip. Or even externally pip.

In humid areas, too often the eggs need extra help via AC or rice to hatch well.

 

[dudleyspinner]

When you are setting up the incubator do you put water in the reservoirs at the bottom then? My humidity in the room is 44% today it is raining outside, the AC is on. What humidity should I aim for for the first set up? Then during the lockdown phase? My only experience hatching has been with a mixed breed batch of eggs, the darkest were the greens. I did have a good hatch rate with those.

 

[ronott1]

When you are setting up the incubator do you put water in the reservoirs at the bottom then? My humidity in the room is 44% today it is raining outside, the AC is on. What humidity should I aim for for the first set up? Then during the lockdown phase? My only experience hatching has been with a mixed breed batch of eggs, the darkest were the greens. I did have a good hatch rate with those.

Humidity goes down as the temperature goes up. Humididy in your incubator will be int the 20s if starting at 44.

Try to keep the humidity between 35 and 40%.

This is the chart Arielle was talking about:



I use a Brinsea High Intensity candler.

 

[Arielle]

When you are setting up the incubator do you put water in the reservoirs at the bottom then? My humidity in the room is 44% today it is raining outside, the AC is on. What humidity should I aim for for the first set up? Then during the lockdown phase? My only experience hatching has been with a mixed breed batch of eggs, the darkest were the greens. I did have a good hatch rate with those.

Honestly I don't put in water at all. I use an LG and a homemade incubator. Only sometimes in the winter will I add water when very dry conditions.

I learned that the outside weather effects conditions in the house which effects the incubators. Right now My incubator is trying for 104-- because it is 95 outside for the 5th day in a row and inside is 80-85. When the temps drop, the incubator will drop back to normal. The optimal operating conditions for the LG is 70-75 degrees as I remember.

I use the hydrometer to track humidity but THe real test is the eggs themselves. I know I didn't really answer your question. I let mine run between 19-35%, with my better hatches with lower RH. It is the eggs air cell that is the indicator. With the AC you might need to add water; however with the 44% you might not.

Is this making sense at all-- I don't think I am explaining this very well. RON, are you out there?? Can you phrase this better??

 

[ronott1]

Honestly I don't put in water at all. I use an LG and a homemade incubator. Only sometimes in the winter will I add water when very dry conditions.

I learned that the outside weather effects conditions in the house which effects the incubators. Right now My incubator is trying for 104-- because it is 95 outside for the 5th day in a row and inside is 80-85. When the temps drop, the incubator will drop back to normal. The optimal operating conditions for the LG is 70-75 degrees as I remember.

I use the hydrometer to track humidity but THe real test is the eggs themselves. I know I didn't really answer your question. I let mine run between 19-35%, with my better hatches with lower RH. It is the eggs air cell that is the indicator. With the AC you might need to add water; however with the 44% you might not.

Is this making sense at all-- I don't think I am explaining this very well. RON, are you out there?? Can you phrase this better??

1. Humidity is different in other places.
2. Dry incubation is really low humidity incubation. Here in CA I always have to add water to get to 35% humidity. On the East coast and the South you may never need to add water. As an example, humidity here today was 29%.
3. Styrofoam incubators are not stable if the temperature in the room goes up and down a bunch from Day to Night. Try to keep the room temperature stable.

Honestly humidity is not as important as temperature. Focus on the air cell development chart on the days of incubation. If the air cell is getting too large or small, then increase or decrease humidity.

For the first hatch or two you should experiment with cheap eggs. If possible, get local sourced eggs that do not need to be shipped.

Check my signature line for a link to incubating tips. It is an amazing resource put together by Sally Sunshine.

Hope your hatch goes well!

Marans are a challenge to hatch sometimes.