That's interesting. My son is in 4th and he mentioned doing a hatching project for school the other day. We might just do that!! Ha....Would give me a valid excuse to incubate again, don't you think?
Yeah I'm still trying to get the hang of figuring out the boys from the girls...lol Having single row combs is much easier than the pea/rose/strawberry comb. I was pretty sure of the boys with the rate the combs and wattles are going....lol The silkie mixes and Polish are giving me a headache though...I think I have them pegged but I don't think I'll be sure until they crow or lay....lolThat's interesting. My son is in 4th and he mentioned doing a hatching project for school the other day. We might just do that!! Ha....Would give me a valid excuse to incubate again, don't you think?
I don't know much yet about the generation thing, but I suspect it will be a subject of interest at some point...lol
I saw your pictures on your thread the other day, they are all so cute!! I think I will head over there now, and take a look again.
Sorry to keep bugging you, but I have a question. The air cells? Are they supposed to be slanted? Most of mine are even on both sides of the egg. I removed the 2nd plug on the bator last night and the humidity reading on the bator is 45% and my other one is reading 33%. Should I add some water? It is pretty much dry in there. I also am having a "duh" moment. I cannot for the life of me wrap my head around how the egg is affected with humidity, even though I have read everything that I can find on it. Once I "get it", I will "get it", but until then, it is confusing to me. Does that make sense?Most everything goes by average so will it hurt them if it was high for a night. No. But you should keep an eye on the air sac to make sure they are are loosing enough moisture and the air cell is growing enough. Are you sure your hygrometer is correct would be the next big question and is it really humid where you are? Is the bator in a place where it's getting high humidity? My last hatch I did dry and w/no water at all the first 18 days, my hygrometer read between 45-50 average. I don't know for sure if that hygrometer is accurate, but I kept an eye on the air cells to make sure they weren't loosing too much moisture and getting too big. and And yes, 70% is too high (as an average). If you have your plugs/vents closed in your bator and it is keeping those levels I would open the vents/take out the plugs. (I leave mine out for the whole duration.) And you are getting close to lockdownYAY! So exciting!
LOL I think I got what you are saying. The humidity is relative to loss of moisture in the egg. If your humidity is too high in the bator it will not let the eggs release enough moisture and the air cells will not grow big enough. If this happens the chick will drown in the excess moisture in the egg. If it is too dry in the bator, too much moisture will leave the egg causing the air cell to become to big and the membrane will "shrink wrap" the chick and it won't be able to move to get itself free and will basically suffocate in the shell. Is that what you were asking?
I didn't get a chance to this time, but will definitely do that next week, before I put more eggs in. However, how do you keep the hygrometer from getting wet in the bag? I'm having another "duh" moment trying to picture that.
http://www.easychickenry.com/how-to-incubate-your-own-chicken-eggs.htmlOK here we go. Do these air cells look to be too small for being on day 16.5? I have no way currently to weigh them. If I'm reading right, I need to lower my humidity if they are too small. Is that correct? The thing is the humidity has been ranging from 30% to 45%. (Except when it spiked the other night to 69% for a short while). How much lower can I (try to) go below 30%?
