Diary & Notes ~ Air Cell Detatched SHIPPED Chicken Eggs for incubation and hatching

[ozexpat]

How adorable is that???

Oz, in your diaries recently you posted a pic of a woman holding a chicken. Is that your beautiful wife??

thats bernies wife analou. mrs oz will remain a beautiful camera shy mystery

 

[silver1313]

cute kids oz!!!

 

[Gardeningmama]

Quote:
LOL! Well, Bernie's wife is beautiful, as I'm sure Mrs. Oz is as well!

 

[EyesOnSunday]

Hello all!

Sally Sunshine sent me over here so I though I would introduce myself.

I have four beautiful Silkie hens and one very handsome rooster! They are so sweet and bring so much joy to our yard! I got them on April 13th of last year.

I am hatching for the first time and it wasn't exactly planned so things have been a little hectic. I have ended up with eggs in various phases of development. I am always seeking advice and words of wisdom to get me through this. I am already addicted and thinking about my next hatch hahaha.

I brought my two broodies inside last night. One had a clutch of FOURTEEN (!) in a nesting box and the other had one lonely egg on the GROUND under their heat lamp. My nesting boxes in the coop are too high off the ground and I worried that the chicks would fall out after hatching so after much internal debate, I decided it would be safest to bring them inside to a warm storage room in the house.

I set up a still air LG incubator with stones in the bottom to help regulate the heat. I plan to keep the younger eggs in there and give the more developed eggs to the hens. I am hoping the hens will hatch them and I can add the chicks from the bator as they come along.

Candling eggs has become my new favorite thing to do... I think I might need help keeping my mitts (very clean mitts) off them!

My next hatch will be much more organized and hopefully all of the eggs will be started at the same time. Please chime in with any advice!

 

[ozexpat]

Hello all!

Sally Sunshine sent me over here so I though I would introduce myself.

I have four beautiful Silkie hens and one very handsome rooster! They are so sweet and bring so much joy to our yard! I got them on April 13th of last year.

I am hatching for the first time and it wasn't exactly planned so things have been a little hectic. I have ended up with eggs in various phases of development. I am always seeking advice and words of wisdom to get me through this. I am already addicted and thinking about my next hatch hahaha.

I brought my two broodies inside last night. One had a clutch of FOURTEEN (!) in a nesting box and the other had one lonely egg on the GROUND under their heat lamp. My nesting boxes in the coop are too high off the ground and I worried that the chicks would fall out after hatching so after much internal debate, I decided it would be safest to bring them inside to a warm storage room in the house.

I set up a still air LG incubator with stones in the bottom to help regulate the heat. I plan to keep the younger eggs in there and give the more developed eggs to the hens. I am hoping the hens will hatch them and I can add the chicks from the bator as they come along.

Candling eggs has become my new favorite thing to do... I think I might need help keeping my mitts (very clean mitts) off them!

My next hatch will be much more organized and hopefully all of the eggs will be started at the same time. Please chime in with any advice!

welcome from

 

[pogmobum]

welcome from

Haha

 

[bellah1]

[COLOR=FF0000]Sometimes I am just in the mood to argue. I am arguing in defense of the poor, mis-understood styro-bator.[/COLOR] [COLOR=FF0000]Most of the issues are related to people not recognizing the limitations[/COLOR] - [COLOR=FF0000]and most of the limitations are clearly spelled out in the manafacturer instruction - something many people don't read properly. One of the things that they discuss is the ambient temperature ranges for the incubator both with and without a fan.[/COLOR] [COLOR=FF0000]I am a relative noob to hatching. I started with a 1602N hovabator with fan and auto turner. I set it up, ran it for 4 hours, gradually increasing the temperature and then ran it at temp for 30 minutes before setting some local but very fresh mutt eggs. I got a 97% or 17/18 hatch rate. Was this a fluke? I say not. Why - because I understand how a thermostat works, the limitations of the foam insulation and how to calibrate thermometers.[/COLOR] [COLOR=FF0000]Lets start with the basics - the foam in a styrobator is thin. It could be thicker for sure. Now, how many of you have tried to keep beer cool or meat frozen in a styro cooler from a drug store? There you go.. So the foam on a styrobator will only slow down the effects of temperature changes. the more radical the changes in ambient temperature, the more effect on the inside temps, and the need for the thermostat to kick in. Sudden changes in ambient temp cause spikes and dips. The circulating air volume is also small, so changes in temp are rapid. Now if we compare this with my home made bator or a cooler bator - the insulation is way more significant so the effects of ambient temp are not as pronounced. In a larger incubator, there is more mass that is heated so they are more stable. The plastic walls of the cooler bator heat up and retain heat better than the foam of a styro.[/COLOR] [COLOR=FF0000]These effects can be counter balanced by keeping a room draft free and at a constant temp. My living room heats up during the day and then cools when I open the door. It would not be a good room to incubate in. My bedroom in SoCal is much more stable in temp - so when I incubate - I have to learn to sleep over chirps. The temps in the Philippines are 78-88 degrees daily. Not much of a swing. The styros work great there. The second way to combat it is to add mass to the incubator. I get the best results with 41 eggs on my turner. If I have less eggs I add some old expired saline IV bags from a hospital I worked at once. Ziplock containers of water work well too. They will give you mass that will absorb heat spikes and radiate heat when the temp cools too much. [/COLOR] [COLOR=FF0000]Remember - its not the air temperature inside the bator that you are concerned with, its the temp inside the egg. little fluctuations[/COLOR] [COLOR=FF0000]Next - calibrate your thermometer. The one that comes on top of the farm innovators is a joke and needs to be competely ignored - same goes with the cheap ones that come with any of the styrobators. I have a medical thermometer. when I set the temp and I am happy its stable, I place a pill jar three quarters filled with water directly below the vent hole. I then drop a good old fashion medical thermometer into the water through the vent hole. I wait five minute, open the bator and read the thermometer. I compare this against the digital thermometer I am using for the hatch. I now have a calibrated-at-99.5-thermometer.[/COLOR] [COLOR=FF0000]Now I have to admit - I am a much bigger fan of the hovabator thermostat than that in the LG and FI versions. The Hova thermostat is extremely easy to adjust because it allows such small adjustments. The LG/FI thermostat will jump 4 degrees with the smallest movement. After killing an incubator of eggs with my farm innovators, i bought an STC-1000 digital thermostat from ebay or amazon and bypassed the one built in. It was a great "set and forget" upgrade. When I was in the Philippines this trip and building a bator, the cheaper version of the STC-1000 I ordered was just for cooling - did not have a heat cycle - so I ended up cannibalizing one of my 1602N hovabators to use the thermostat. It worked great in my display case bator.[/COLOR] [COLOR=FF0000]When I [/COLOR]first adjust the 1602N thermostat I start low - at about 90 degrees and work my way up. I use about 2 quarts of water in containers in the bator. I slowly increase the temp. I wait for the pilot light to go out. Then i increase some more. It takes me at least 20 minutes to get from 90 to 99.5F. I have only ever had to decrease the temp by 1/4 turn. I have never gone over 100.5. I have yet to have a temp spike or drop. I also use a HB 1588. Now I know most people have great things to say about the yellow plastic incubators but I feel that the 1588 is the best incubator and hatcher for a normal user around. It has a huge window, a set and forget thermostat and is big enough to put a few baskets in to seperate breeds in a multi breed hatch-fest. As far as turners go - the store bought ones wont fit in most cooler bators - with my schedule, I cannot turn by hand. I have 7 turners. I am working on a linear actuator to turn a three level mega bator turner - but as for now, I have not seen a home made one worth its salt. Cabinet bators and home made cooler bators are great but many people do not have the skill set to play with 110V electricity. The ramifications can include electrocution and fire. So there is my rant. Here is a cheer to all those styro bator users out there!!!

I second that!

 

[EyesOnSunday]

welcome from

Making me chuckle already. I love it.

 

[ozexpat]

Making me chuckle already. I love it.

Thats great but be careful, I am a (relatively) old (to some people) opinionated (to others) grouch.

There is a thread called the old peoples home. Maybe I need to move my opinions over there.

 

[MommaBee]

Oh Oz we all know you are a young whipper snapper!

So I left the house to go to an urban farming class. I just knew I would come home to a pip on my last egg. Ahhhh no pip! I know I'm being an ansy nancy but seriously, how long is "normal" for internal to external pip? When do they run out of air? I just can't get the image of that dead internal pipper out of my head! I do NOT want to see that again from waiting to long! Is there harm in giving it an external pip?