First-Time hatcher just set Feb. 13 7:00pm

[SkippyRoo]

Hi everyone,

So I got a Farm innovations 4200 w/fan and turner and set 36 eggs tonight

15 Red Sussex bought from ebay seller
12 Red Star mix from my girls
5 Buff Orphington mix my girls
4 EE mix my girls


ok so it is settled on 99-101 degrees and with the plugs in about 50% humidity
and now its bedtime

anyone else set tonight?

visualizing energetic and furry puffballs!!!

 

[comptonsgonecountry]

I set last night as well. I have 15 EE eggs in the bator with one being questionable. The egg in question seemed porous upon candling it before being placed in the incubator.

I have my hatch date set for March 5 but will give the hatch until the 8 before calling it quits. Hopefully all goes well.

Good luck on your hatch!

 

[nurse_turtle]

Sounds like a loooooong 21 days to come. Also, 50% humidity during the first 18 days seems high to me. I wish you luck.

 

[SkippyRoo]

Hi Comptons,

Great! Oh I didn't even think of candling the eggs before setting them. I did set a couple of my buff orphington's eggs that seemed pourus a little rough to the touch. Is there a potential problem with pourus eggs?

What type of bator are you using?

good luck!!!

Scott

 

[SkippyRoo]

Hi Nurse Turtle,


Yea, i decided to leave the plugs out and now the humidity is hanging around 35%. thanks for the heads up. I can see how adding water would keep the humidity pretty high. This is my first hatch but i am trusting the dry hatch method from what i've been reading here on the forum.





thanks

Scott

 

[comptonsgonecountry]

Hi Comptons,

Great! Oh I didn't even think of candling the eggs before setting them. I did set a couple of my buff orphington's eggs that seemed pourus a little rough to the touch. Is there a potential problem with pourus eggs?

What type of bator are you using?

good luck!!!

Scott

Scott,

Eggs that are porous can harbor bacteria which in turn could cease the incubation process all together, early death of a growing embryo or it could hatch into a healthy energetic fluffy butt.

I'm using the Little Giant styrofoam bator a friend bought me as a birthday present this year!

 

[SkippyRoo]

Comptons,


Ok so I am curious what are the signs of a porous egg?

 

[comptonsgonecountry]

Here is an example of what a porous egg would look like during the candling process. My egg that I'm concerned about isn't this bad but it's close. I hope this helped you!

 

[SkippyRoo]

Great! Thanks for showing me that! i just candled all of the eggs I have for eating and most of them are lightly speckled but one or two are closer to the one you posted. So is that caused by insufficient calcium in their feed? From what i have gathered so far it is important to feed breeders more nutrient dense feed that your layers. So it seems that extra calcium sources maybe in order as apart of that. i have been giving my hens some dairy, usually cottage cheese a couple of times a week as well as the oyster shell. i will play with this some and see what kind of results i get in the porosity of the eggs.

So much to learn and explore in the wide world of chickens

thanks,

Scott

 

[comptonsgonecountry]

Great! Thanks for showing me that! i just candled all of the eggs I have for eating and most of them are lightly speckled but one or two are closer to the one you posted. So is that caused by insufficient calcium in their feed? From what i have gathered so far it is important to feed breeders more nutrient dense feed that your layers. So it seems that extra calcium sources maybe in order as apart of that. i have been giving my hens some dairy, usually cottage cheese a couple of times a week as well as the oyster shell. i will play with this some and see what kind of results i get in the porosity of the eggs.

So much to learn and explore in the wide world of chickens

thanks,

Scott

I'm still playing around with my feed ratio. I feed my mixed flock that has layers, a rooster and a pullet... a flock ratio feed. It doesn't have added calcium in the pellets because of the rooster and pullet. I heard the extra calcium could be harmful to the rooster and pullet. I do feed the egg shells back to my girls and give the flock yogurt once every week to every other week. Oh, I also give them scratch mixed with their feed during the winter. Reason being is they need all the extra fat on their bones they can get to stay warm. Luckily for us, we didn't have a to bad of a winter so far.

I'm going on my second year of raising chickens and I'm still learning so much from BYC. The majority of everyone on here as been more than helpful!

Good luck and keep us posted on your hatch.

~ Chrissy