HALLOWEEN HATCH!!! Anyone

[k2chickens]

meh.... i guess i was freaking out over nothing. I turned the knob to the right just a tad bit more than usuall and bam!!! red light. That made me feal better once i saw that. I guess i had just turned it too cold when i was in my "freak out mode" lol. Seriously i was all like.." im throwing this on e-bay, telling people the thremostat is not working right...get like 20 bucks for it and im dropping another 100 or so for a hovabator...LULZ!!!

so back on subject......i believe it will be exactly day 14 for me at 3:30 pm today. I went to candle a few this morning during my "freak out" and noticed that the eggs were getting decently dark/packed full -'o'- chick. I believe i could see about 1/8th of an inch worth of vains and the rest was a dark mass or masses. 3 thought's came to mind

1. "Hmmm these eggs look like they are setteling weird" My first hatch i turned by hand and the air sack's seemed to have setteled stretching to the north and south part of the egg from end to end. Now this hatch i went to a auto egg turner in the LG. With the pointy ends down i checked the first ones this morning with my light and the air sack seems to have been forming at the top or "large end" of the egg this time. I'm gussing this is good so they pip at the right end of the egg. What did you guy's first notice when switching form hand turning to auto turning??

2. "Hmm only day 14 and the black masses are already "this" apparent?, will they be hathching early?"
My last hatch on day 17 the masses were decently black and basicly looked liked what i have now. So this kind of raised an eyebrow to me. There was movement in the eggs tho....faint...but i could just bearly make it out.

3."Hmm with the masses being this big and black, is there a chance they have died/rotted in the egg??" Im just a little worried since im not use to seeing what im seeing now at development day 14.

 

[walkswithdog]

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I have done that I bought duck eggs and they threw in a few chickens I thought they where ducks.. 2 hatched no humidity still with the turner on..

Glad someone else has, I feel like a bit of a stooge but after the last week-ten days, I'm just glad some of them made it. Great big "DUH" moments I'm not fond of...

As to the thermostat wars - it's one of the reasons I started building my own bators. I hated the LG thermost, the top opening lid and burning myself on the element, the cramped space and small view.

Now I have my third and fourth homemades and one rescued, rehabbed antique redwood incubator (for 75 $) Yay. I'm keeping the homemades until I can buy one of cbiblis's incubators, solid wood, custom stained, 96 eggs, furniture grade incubator is just my speed.

But my homemades hatched well over a hundred birds. The LG works but it can make you crazy. Hugs

and hang in there.

 

[TommyVT05]

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Sure thing!

Ur Welcome to come to San Diego anytime.

It might be colder at other places now but it fells just like Spring here. ; )
Thats why they call it SUNNY San Diego! Lol.

But!!! be aware of the growing population of breeders that sells "Phoenix" as THE "American Onagadori"s just to make the extra bucks. They see that over the years, the few folks that sells these rare breed (myself included) are making more than their "Phoenix" (but they don't know how much it cost to care for them) so they decide to switch things around to sell their so called "Longtails", causing all of us "rare and exotics" breeder to be all tempered up by it!!!

Just a quick comparison chart in regards to care and feed:

Phoenix: 1-2 hours of care each week, sometimes none needed. Throw in the feed (just scratch) and thats it! Cost is about $8 for each adult, each month (just for the numbers).

American Onagadori - "American Longtails": 3-5 hours of care each week. Have to feed high protein, fish meals, lettuce, cabbage, feed w/o corn, brown rice, etc. Cost is about $20 for each adult, each month (also, just for the numbers).

See the difference now?

So be careful who you are buying "American Onagadoris" from

; )

- Tommy

 

[TommyVT05]

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It would probably be considered one of the "Rarest Mutation of the Century" since none have accomplished such goals. Haha.

Anyhow, Junglefowls are cool looking, but not really fun to raise because they require a LOT of work and a large cage. Unless you get semi-domesticated strains like the San Diego Zoo Red Junglefowl, then they are a bit calmer and easier to work with for starters : )

- Tommy

 

[evonne]

tommy, after seeing your website, i wouldn't buy these rare breeds from anyone other than you or someone you said was okay to buy from...
i can see you know your stuff and you care... that's the most important part.. these are a passion for you.. not just a couple $$...
and that is awsome....


is it lockdown day yet???
lol... i have no way to check my humidity... i've had the little water things full... and i've added a bit as they get lower... i'm thinking of getting those big carwash sponges and cutting one in half to add with hot water on it when i go into lockdown....
i'm in the LG still air

i live in las vegas.. there's no such thing as humidity here... i've heard you should regulate humidity based on where you live... does this mean that my humidity should be lower than say the floridians???
i'm almost tempted to not even add the sponges on lockdown and just keep a very close eye on progression....
so that i know wether it's necessary or not....
maybe once i get a broody i can get one of those guages that looks like an egg with a long wire to the reader and i can watch the leves with a broody and then base my bator off of that.... ????

BLAH!!!!!!!!!!! are they pipping yet?

what letter are we on??

 

[neferset]

It really should be regulate humidity according to your weather. With all the 100% humidity days we'd been having here, I barely had to check or fill any of the water troughs in my incubators. Now, since the cold front has come through, I can't keep them full and the humidity keeps plummeting. I lost one of last night's pipped chicks because of it and had to assist one this morning. The duck incubator seems to be alright, but I had specifically refilled everything on Tuesday night when I moved eggs over.

 

[evonne]

okay, when time comes, what exactly do i need to watch for to tell me then need help because humidity was too low?

but like i said, vegas.. hellow.. what's humidity??

and then what might i have to do to help.. i read somewhere that someone had to drip water on the membrane with an eyedropper.... i could manage that probly....

 

[neferset]

Very white membranes on visible near the holes they've made. I've had a few get dried out a bit this past week, but the one I saved, the membrane was like cardboard almost. I was surprised the little guy made it. The one who had just pipped enough to get his beak out and peep was gone already, so I didn't open his egg.

What you should look for once you've started is any blood vessels. If you see those, stop what you are doing, moisten the membrane, and wait a bit.

Earlier this week, I just opened a couple of the eggs enough so they could finish the job, because the membrane near the holes was dried, but the rest was moist. The little one this morning was completely shrink wrapped. I actually got him out as quickly as I could.

He's cuddling in the brooder with the one that did make it out and the rest that had started hatching on the 15th. I had him with my duckling for a while, but on trying to put them both into the brooder, my little week old Buffy x Reds decided that he was an alien being they needed to gang up on.

 

[evonne]

alright... who was the brilliant one who decided to have me start eggs so they hatch on the 29th??? you are ssoo fired....

so out here in nevada, oct 31 is nevada day... and the kids get a day off school.. we don't take columbus day off.. lol... well 31st being sat this year, they get friday off...
which means halloween party on the 29th.... BLAH!!!!!!!!!!

and then they're doing this thing where the kids trick or treat the parents cars in the parking lot... alsot the 29th.. in the evening...

i know i've seen that if it got a little cold in the bator they could be late... is the same thing with a little warmer and they can come a little early??

i guess i'll just have to cross my fingers and hope they finish on wednesday or wiat till friday.. lol...

oh.. and i have a HUGE halloween party to go to on sat night...

 

[neferset]

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I felt that way about my first viable bantam egg. I even posted on my live journal, speculating that he had been hard boiled. The egg was solid black inside except for the air cell which was extremely well defined. 7 days later, I had a chick.

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My recent hatch...I had put the eggs in and them BD picked the date for his barbeque. I realized later that there would be live entertainment in the kitchen that day. It worked out ok. Just, every time you pass the incubator glance at the wells and make sure they are filled and wet down your sponges. (I have dish towels in right now. Go for a sponge. They work better than dish towels.)

Also, Oikos and Brown Cow brand yogurt make this perfect little plastic yogurt cup that works very well in the incubator. When I don't have an egg carton in that can be used as a step ladder for the swimming pool, I put one of those under one vent hole and a sponge under the wire in the incubator floor, positioned under the other vent hole. I keep both filled/wet using a turkey baster full of warm water.

When it was raining all the time, I never had to worry about refilling my wells, but it seems like they dry out daily now. I'm thinking you will have that to contend with at well. Basically, try to keep things wet enough where you don't have to worry about them drying out. You will have to fight to keep the humidity up there in your climate.

I have Halloween eggs hatching on the 29th, 30th, and 31st. I checked the ones I drew the little faces on and they are right where they should be for the 31st hatch. Otherwise, I have a couple that are clear and one that might have a blood ring.