DRY INCUBATION and AIR SAC MONITORING!?!?

[laceyyates]

Any tips and advice is welcome please! This is my second hatch and am doing the dry incubation method. I have 14 shipped cream leg bars and 8 buffs that I got down the road in the incubator. Stats are:

Temp - 100
Humidity - holding at 23-26%

My incubator is a chinese cheapie, but have had great results with it holding the temp steady. (I kept the styro box it originally came in for added insulation.) It automatically turns eggs every 2 hours. It also has a forced air fan.

I obviously haven't added water and didn't plan to until day 18. My goal was then to up the humidity to 60-70%. Good idea?

I'm scared to death that this isn't going to work. I plan on watching air sacs, but am really new to that as well. How often do I check the air sacs, only on day 7, 10, 14?

About 4 of my shipped eggs have "saddle" air sacs - hoping they will develop...


Thanks for sharing your information with a newbie who wants this to work!

 

[redsoxs]

I don't have any advice but here is a great article on dry incubating. Hope it helps!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-and-raising-chicks

 

[n8ivetxn]

Hello laceyyates

, I'm right there with ya! Except I have a homemade bator - keeping your styro-box was a good idea....

Your numbers look pretty good to me, I just finished reading the article redsoxs posted (thank you redsoxs!) ..... my numbers are similar to yours, just a little bit higher (temp is 100 - 101 & humidity is 27-33%) and like you, on day 18, I'm planning to bump up RH to about 65%.

With my bator, I tried to make sure the lights weren't too close (6") to the eggs (41, Araucana) when I built it, but yesterday, I was spot checking temps and it seemed like there may be a hot spot (108F!) - not totally sure, I think one of my 3 thermos is off +3. So, I wrapped the lights in foil and it seems to be doing better.

What day are you on? I'm just starting day 5 at midnight....

This is my first incubation too - I'm a nervous wreck! Feel like I'm personally incubating them.... hovering over that bator all the time! This is going to be the longest 3wks of my life

Because my eggs were shipped, I candled them at setting, to check air sacs, but I really don't understand some of what I'm seeing, even after going through Sally's pages - it's always tough the first time you do anything! Yes, you're supposed to candle at 7, 10 & 14..... I'm so afraid I'll mess something up. I have a lot of money in these eggs and I can't afford to replace them, if he even had more to ship this time of year.

I just bought a couple little legbar girls and speckled sussex, and they're awful lonely in my big ol' coop!

 

[BlessedCountry6]

Hello,
I just finished my first hatch. I did it dry and it went well. Well a few things went wrong but I did end up with 7 baby turkeys and 2 chicks.

I candled mine more times then I should have but it was amazing at the end to see the little babies moving. My kids loved it too. I learned so much from candling eggs. I also pulled up pics of hatching charts to compare. I looked up pics of candles eggs also. As time went on I got more comfortable with what I was seeing. I had quite a few eggs that weren't fertilized.

I read a few hatching blogs and that helped me out a lot too.

I learned if u smell something bad hunt it down with your nose and get rid of the bad egg so you aren't growing bad bacteria in the incubator.

I'm excited for your journey. I'm so happy to have 7 Chocolate turkeys out of my hatch. Have fun!

 

[n8ivetxn]

Hello

, thanks for posting! - and congrats on your new chicks/poults

I can hardly wait to do the first candling, something has to hatch! .... I'm losing sleep checking on my numbers at night!

Until the first candling, I keep sniffing around the edges of my bator to make sure nothing's rank

 

[laceyyates]

Tehe! SOOOOO glad I'm not the only one! I'm totally hoovering too! I'm only on day 3... But I do hope to keep this thread updated. n8ivetnx - you should keep me updated too!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Any tips and advice is welcome please! This is my second hatch and am doing the dry incubation method. I have 14 shipped cream leg bars and 8 buffs that I got down the road in the incubator. Stats are:

Temp - 100
Humidity - holding at 23-26%

My incubator is a chinese cheapie, but have had great results with it holding the temp steady. (I kept the styro box it originally came in for added insulation.) It automatically turns eggs every 2 hours. It also has a forced air fan.

I obviously haven't added water and didn't plan to until day 18. My goal was then to up the humidity to 60-70%. Good idea?

I'm scared to death that this isn't going to work. I plan on watching air sacs, but am really new to that as well. How often do I check the air sacs, only on day 7, 10, 14?

About 4 of my shipped eggs have "saddle" air sacs - hoping they will develop...


Thanks for sharing your information with a newbie who wants this to work!

As long as your thermometers and hygrometers are accurate, those numbers look good. Just keep an eye on the air cells. Yes, day 7/14/18 are the key days to measure. I use the dry method prefering 30% for the first 17 days and running 75+ for lockdown/hatch. I am a hands on hatcher so I keep my humidity high at hatch. Shipped air cells can be tricky because they are harder to judge. I would judge size based on the non shipped. I use this method quite successfully: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity it has the egg chart and pertinent info.

My overall hatch method is: http://hatching411.weebly.com/ prefering a more hands on philosophy. Good luck on your hatch!

Oh and a good candling thread is: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation

Hello,
I just finished my first hatch. I did it dry and it went well. Well a few things went wrong but I did end up with 7 baby turkeys and 2 chicks.

I candled mine more times then I should have but it was amazing at the end to see the little babies moving. My kids loved it too. I learned so much from candling eggs. I also pulled up pics of hatching charts to compare. I looked up pics of candles eggs also. As time went on I got more comfortable with what I was seeing. I had quite a few eggs that weren't fertilized.

I read a few hatching blogs and that helped me out a lot too.

I learned if u smell something bad hunt it down with your nose and get rid of the bad egg so you aren't growing bad bacteria in the incubator.

I'm excited for your journey. I'm so happy to have 7 Chocolate turkeys out of my hatch. Have fun!

I am a candling addict. I candle most evenings. There is so much to learn through experience and seeing these things for yourself.

 

[n8ivetxn]

Tehe! SOOOOO glad I'm not the only one! I'm totally hoovering too! I'm only on day 3... But I do hope to keep this thread updated. n8ivetnx - you should keep me updated too!

LOL, IKR?! I can't get away from it long enough to get anything significant accomplished around here! And we have company coming next week

We'll do this together

AmyLynn, thank you for the links, I've read through all of them at least once - even before I got the eggs

Very good stuff....I think you're right about candling too, the experience will sharpen the skill and you learn to interpret what you see....

Hello,
I just finished my first hatch. I did it dry and it went well. Well a few things went wrong but I did end up with 7 baby turkeys and 2 chicks.

I candled mine more times then I should have but it was amazing at the end to see the little babies moving. My kids loved it too. I learned so much from candling eggs. I also pulled up pics of hatching charts to compare. I looked up pics of candles eggs also. As time went on I got more comfortable with what I was seeing. I had quite a few eggs that weren't fertilized.

I read a few hatching blogs and that helped me out a lot too.

I learned if u smell something bad hunt it down with your nose and get rid of the bad egg so you aren't growing bad bacteria in the incubator.

I'm excited for your journey. I'm so happy to have 7 Chocolate turkeys out of my hatch. Have fun!

Chocolate turkeys! That sounds like something you'd have in an Easter basket!

I bet they're beautiful.....just think, turkeys were almost our national emblem!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

LOL, IKR?! I can't get away from it long enough to get anything significant accomplished around here! And we have company coming next week

We'll do this together

AmyLynn, thank you for the links, I've read through all of them at least once - even before I got the eggs

Very good stuff....I think you're right about candling too, the experience will sharpen the skill and you learn to interpret what you see....



Chocolate turkeys! That sounds like something you'd have in an Easter basket!

I bet they're beautiful.....just think, turkeys were almost our national emblem!

I like to remind people that the "experts" didn't get to be "experts" by setting them and forgetting them. You gain experience not just by research and following advice but by doing and experiencing. You can't know what is normal if you don't see it firsthand!

 

[n8ivetxn]

I'm an aircraft mechanic by trade and the same principals apply

..... and with my ewes too, I've delivered a few lambs.... you learn by doing, so here we go!