FLORIDA!!!!!ALWAYS SUNNY SIDE UP!!!

[Seatrout00]

Nine more days until my little chickies are shipped! Wooot woot!

 

[N F C]

It's day 20 and we have our first hatch!
Olive Egger... BCM over wheaten Ameraucana. F2. This egg has speckles on it...so hope it's a pullet! Many more eggs are pipping. It's going to be a busy night!

Congratulations!

 

[SlickChick76]

Cmom: thanks- I emptied the water tray and after a few hours, humidity was 38%. I thought that may be too low based on what I read, so I added water to one channel and this morning it is 43%.

Is that considered too low?

The documents state that egg setting humidity was to be between 45-55 and hatching humidity at 65%.

AuntNomi and 1kluckychik: Thank you for your input, but may I ask, what are your ideal numbers for both setting and hatching. I am a "numbers" person, and since I have the ability to adjust humidity and temp if need be, I'd like to do so.

Thanks again!!
Danielle

 

[cmom]

Cmom: thanks- I emptied the water tray and after a few hours, humidity was 38%. I thought that may be too low based on what I read, so I added water to one channel and this morning it is 43%.

Is that considered too low?

The documents state that egg setting humidity was to be between 45-55 and hatching humidity at 65%.

AuntNomi and 1kluckychik: Thank you for your input, but may I ask, what are your ideal numbers for both setting and hatching. I am a "numbers" person, and since I have the ability to adjust humidity and temp if need be, I'd like to do so.

Thanks again!!
Danielle

I think 38% is perfect. I try not to let my humidity get above 40%. I usually keep it around 35%. During lock-down I put my humidity up to around 75%, but I also take the chicks and shells out as they hatch out of the hatchers and put them into brooder boxes while they are drying off. Keeping the humidity a little high and when I take out the chicks and shells, I try to take them out as fast as I can without opening the hatchers to much and the humidity recovers pretty quickly. On the LG's, I take a viewing pane out and pluck out the chicks. I also mist the eggs when I open the hatchers. I had poor hatches, around 60% but since I have been doing it this way my hatches have gone up into the 90% range. I have had a couple of 100% but usually there are a very few eggs that don't hatch. I give them a couple of extra days and if they have pipped I mist the eggs but if they have clearly expired I take them out. They can take up to 24 hours to hatch once they pip but usually are out within a few minutes. If there are any that get stuck I carefully mist the area around the pip and let the chick hatch by itself If it is too stuck I will help it carefully. Often times if the chick hasn't started to zip there may be blood vessels still not absorbed and if you aren't careful the chick can bleed to death and there may be some of the yolk not totally absorbed. Good luck and have fun...
I thought I'd share a few pictures. I love to take pictures and am sure I have posted many of them before.

 

[cmom]

Thought I'd share about our crows. We have 6 crows that hang around our property, we call the 6 pack. One of the crows favor one of it's legs and we call it Gimpy. A few days ago another group of crows came around and the 6 pack drove them off. The other group showed up again yesterday and the 6 pack went after them again and drove them away. I guess they are protecting their territory.

 

[getaclue]

I agree with you cmom. I've found that not adding water to the channels until just before lockdown works best too. Our humidity is normally pretty high, and if it rains it can skyrocket. Way too much fluctuation in humidity, and too much moisture absorption during incubation if you fill the channels.

 

[1kluckychik]

The humidity in our 1588 runs between 25-35% with no water. When we add water it goesup to 60-70%

 

[cmom]

The humidity in our 1588 runs between 25-35% with no water. When we add water it goesup to 60-70%

To me that is perfect.

 

[Red Banks]

To me that is perfect.

cmom, this is for the 1588 but in the LG is the water important, I was reading about jars with sponges, paper towels above the channels, etc..... Thanks

 

[cmom]

Quote:
That is for the last 3 days after I take the eggs out of the turner and lay them on the wire then I want to bring up the humidity. The last 3 days is when the chicks will position themselves in the eggs to pip and zip then hatch.