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

[Sally Sunshine]

Forgot to post this in the morning, I am not home but as if this morning we were STILL waiting on brahma here are some of the CCL and I think there was an early brahma in one of the brooders.

 

[sumi]

Forgot to post this in the morning, I am not home but as if this morning we were STILL waiting on brahma here are some of the CCL and I think there was an early brahma in one of the brooders.

 

[chicksooner]

checked on my broody this afternoon. I don't remember what day she is on. She was stinky. Had a bad egg that broke and stuck to her. Cleaned her up and the nest and she is now down to 3 eggs. I couldn't tell what was going on in them. They could all be bad. Fingers crossed one of us hatches something so she can get on with her broodiness.

 

[katiehumes]

Haven't posted for a few days. My eggs shipped out of Ohio as of this morning so I guess they had to go all over the country before they could head this way! I went ahead and sterilized some rocks and put them in my incubator. I started it up and because it's super dry in AZ decided to put water in the bottom. Thankfully I have a few days to get the humidity balance correct because it was at 70%!! It's finally down to 50% but I was so glad to start it up early so I can get my humidity correct. I've been at 99.5º so was happy about that!

I also got in touch with a friend who is going to get me some more local eggs to put with my shipped so hoping for a total of 18 eggs to put in there.

 

[ozexpat]

Haven't posted for a few days. My eggs shipped out of Ohio as of this morning so I guess they had to go all over the country before they could head this way! I went ahead and sterilized some rocks and put them in my incubator. I started it up and because it's super dry in AZ decided to put water in the bottom. Thankfully I have a few days to get the humidity balance correct because it was at 70%!! It's finally down to 50% but I was so glad to start it up early so I can get my humidity correct. I've been at 99.5º so was happy about that!

I also got in touch with a friend who is going to get me some more local eggs to put with my shipped so hoping for a total of 18 eggs to put in there.

unless you have had successful hatches at 50%, I would go dry - have no water in the bator and weigh the eggs for progress

 

[ozexpat]

Sally!!!!!!!!

from another thread

Originally Posted by crazy huhn

First of all: we are talking about farmed meal worms and not "wild" meal worms.

These are two totally different species:
Farmed meal worm: Tenebrio Molibro vs "Wild" meal worm also called "lesser meal worm" or Alphitobius diaperinus

Correctly farmed meal worms, Tenebrio Molibro (not allowing them to feast upon dead matter, feeding them fresh organic bran and veggies) are very safe and an excellent source of protein for your poultry to supplement a commercial mixed feed. "Wild" meal worms, Alphitobius diaperinius will transmit any disease or pathogenic bacteria from the source they are feeding on. This includes being a carrier host for internal parasites and they ARE a true pest to our poultry and even a health risk to humans (E.Coli, Salmonella, just to name a few).
Also: it is not the meal worm larva (commonly referred to as the meal worm) of the Alphitobius diaperinus that spreads poultry diseases such as Marek's, Newcastle disease, fowl pox etc., it is the beetle.
Responsibly farmed meal worms are a lot safer to feed to your poultry than any other insect or bug from your garden or compost pile.

For example check out these sources from the University of Florida, Australian Wildlife Association or one of our very respected BYC members Diana:

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/livestock/poultry/lesser_mealworm.htm
http://www.ozanimals.com/Insect/Lesser-Mealworm-Beetle/Alphitobius/diaperinus.html
http://www.dlunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi

 

[katiehumes]

unless you have had successful hatches at 50%, I would go dry - have no water in the bator and weigh the eggs for progress

Thanks ozexpat, this is my very first time! Why do you prefer dry? I was going to get it down to 45% and leave it there until lock down.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

checked on my broody this afternoon. I don't remember what day she is on. She was stinky. Had a bad egg that broke and stuck to her. Cleaned her up and the nest and she is now down to 3 eggs. I couldn't tell what was going on in them. They could all be bad. Fingers crossed one of us hatches something so she can get on with her broodiness.

 

[ozexpat]

Thanks ozexpat, this is my very first time! Why do you prefer dry? I was going to get it down to 45% and leave it there until lock down.

if you have not read Sally's hatching 101 in my signature, now is a good time to do so.

Most of us will tell you that if you hatch at 45% you will end up with a large percentage that die days 18-21 because they did not dry out enough, have overloaded circulatory systems, are too big and cannot turn to get themselves out.

 

[ozexpat]

I had more than my share of malpositions,

Without doing a clinical trial, I will bet that most malpositions we see here are from inefficient turning - most critical in the first week