Hatch-Along - Setting eggs this weekend (Jan5/6) WHOS WITH ME!

[BroosterSpringsteen]

I'm doing Mixed hatch -- Chicken & Duck eggs-- & I have some questions...
if anyone here can answer or point me to some links it would help.

I know normally, ppl put the duck eggs in then add the chicken eggs later so they all lockdown & hatch together,
BUT I got all the eggs together and did not want the chicken eggs to sit around a week waiting so now in my bator are:

6 green EE chicken eggs hatch day 21
5 choc. Maran chicken eggs hatch day 21-25 (my NYDH maran hatched late on the 23 day for reference)
7 WH Duck eggs hatch day 28

So, I have 2 weeks to figure out a plan & 4 days to implement the plan of how to handle my lockdown/hatch!

Option #1 -- Build another incubator/hatcher to move chicken eggs into at 21 days , well DH not so thrilled I've set more eggs after the NYDH fiasco so trying to not have to go there on this.

Option #2 -- ??_help?? I have no other ideas...

Option #3 -- Leave them together, lockdown at day 18 , keep humidity over 70% when I pull out chicken chicks & hope for the best...??Is that a reasonable thing to do?

All advice and creative ideas for a middle ground (Option #2) very welcome, & Thanks!

Last year I did a couple of staggered hatches with success, but they were all chicken eggs. Mine were a week apart, so I just let the younger eggs sit inside the incubator during lockdown while the older eggs were hatching, and then removed the chicks/quickly cleaned the bator, and let the other chicks hatch a week later. So it was basically a very long lockdown period, and wound up being much easier than I thought it would. I was concerned about the added humidity, but it didn't seem to hurt them. I read that it's ok to stop turning at day 15 (I had to remove the turner early for the hatching eggs). I put the younger eggs in cartons, so the hatching chicks wouldn't kick them around, and I put paper towels under the hatching eggs to make clean-up faster.

Your situation is different with the duck eggs though. I haven't hatched ducks, but don't they need much higher humidity throughout incubation? I guess they'll get that while your chickens are hatching, but what about the first 2 weeks? I know folks hatch chickens and ducks together all the time, but I don't know how it's done.

 

[Conchis]

I'm doing Mixed hatch -- Chicken & Duck eggs-- & I have some questions...
if anyone here can answer or point me to some links it would help.

I know normally, ppl put the duck eggs in then add the chicken eggs later so they all lockdown & hatch together,
BUT I got all the eggs together and did not want the chicken eggs to sit around a week waiting so now in my bator are:

6 green EE chicken eggs hatch day 21
5 choc. Maran chicken eggs hatch day 21-25 (my NYDH maran hatched late on the 23 day for reference)
7 WH Duck eggs hatch day 28

So, I have 2 weeks to figure out a plan & 4 days to implement the plan of how to handle my lockdown/hatch!

Option #1 -- Build another incubator/hatcher to move chicken eggs into at 21 days , well DH not so thrilled I've set more eggs after the NYDH fiasco so trying to not have to go there on this.

Option #2 -- ??_help?? I have no other ideas...

Option #3 -- Leave them together, lockdown at day 18 , keep humidity over 70% when I pull out chicken chicks & hope for the best...??Is that a reasonable thing to do?

All advice and creative ideas for a middle ground (Option #2) very welcome, & Thanks!

I am a total newbie so I'll ask dumb questions and please forgive me. One of the things that I've heard about hatching out duck eggs is that you should spray the shells with water throughout the hatch which oddly reduces the water inside the egg, but what will that do to the humidity levels of the chicken eggs which I assume you won't be spraying with water? I'd love to be able to hatch them together it might solve some problems for me down the road. Does this concern really not amount to much?

 

[Outrun Acres]

I set eggs today (Jan. 7th) i will fall a day behind, but who cares? what breed are u guys hatching? i have seramas and frizzled seramas (frizzle+serama=frizzled serama)

I just set mine today too. This is my first time incubating so I am practicing on my own backyard mix. We have a polish rooster and a columbian wyandotte rooster. Our flock of hens include the following breeds: black sex links, red sex links, columbian wyandotte, buff orpingtons, speckled sussex, welsummer, rhode island red. We should have a interesting mix. I want to get some salmon faverolle eggs once I get this incubator figured out. People seem to have very mixed results with the little giants. So I wanted to get some practice in before I purchase eggs. This is the first year we have had chickens and like most members on BYC we absolutely love them .

 

[ChickenChaser34432]

umm double yolker is not a good thing.

 

[Conchis]

Well I don't have a clue what the humidity in my incubator is, but the little Brinsea mini keeps the temps rock solid steady. There hasn't been even a tenth of a degree fluctuation in this thing. 99.8 period the end. Day one nearly behind me.

 

[chicken pickin]

Well I don't have a clue what the humidity in my incubator is, but the little Brinsea mini keeps the temps rock solid steady. There hasn't been even a tenth of a degree fluctuation in this thing. 99.8 period the end. Day one nearly behind me.

Hmm how would you know the humidity, is there no gauge built in? and its so tiny would something fit inside to measure the humidity. My temps and humidity stay so stable in my hovabator 1588 that I barley look at it. I add water ever couple of days to keep the humidity to where I want. Id be a be a nervous wreck if I didnt know what the humidity was.

 

[chicken pickin]

umm double yolker is not a good thing.

Typically not but Ive seen people post threads where they have hatched them.

 

[Conchis]

nope...there is no humidity gauge built in and the thing is sooooo crammed full of eggs now there is no way to squeeze a gauge in. I'm assuming that they know what THEY'RE doing because clearly I don't know what I'm doing. They say put water in 1/2 of the little well during the first 18 days then fill both halves after lock-down. It's all an experiment at this point.

 

[Texasmja]

nope...there is no humidity gauge built in and the thing is sooooo crammed full of eggs now there is no way to squeeze a gauge in. I'm assuming that they know what THEY'RE doing because clearly I don't know what I'm doing. They say put water in 1/2 of the little well during the first 18 days then fill both halves after lock-down. It's all an experiment at this point.

Follow their instructions, they work well.

 

[ChickenChaser34432]

I'm doing Mixed hatch -- Chicken & Duck eggs-- & I have some questions...
if anyone here can answer or point me to some links it would help.

I know normally, ppl put the duck eggs in then add the chicken eggs later so they all lockdown & hatch together,
BUT I got all the eggs together and did not want the chicken eggs to sit around a week waiting so now in my bator are:

6 green EE chicken eggs      hatch day 21
5 choc. Maran chicken eggs hatch day 21-25 (my NYDH maran hatched late on the 23 day for reference)
7 WH Duck eggs                 hatch day 28

So, I have 2 weeks to figure out a plan & 4 days to implement the plan of how to handle my lockdown/hatch!

Option #1 -- Build another incubator/hatcher to move chicken eggs into at 21 days , well DH not so thrilled I've set more eggs after the NYDH fiasco so trying to not have to go there on this.

Option #2 -- ??_help?? I have no other ideas...

Option #3 -- Leave them together, lockdown at day 18 , keep humidity over 70% when I pull out chicken chicks & hope for the best...??Is that a reasonable thing to do?

All advice and creative ideas for a middle ground (Option #2) very welcome, & Thanks!

Dunno?? Ducks take 28 days to hatch vs chickens 21 days, so the ducks spend their lockdown in the chickens post-hatch funk??? EWWWW!!!! I don't think they would do well like that. I have ALWAYS read ducks n chics must not be run together because of settings differences as well as time differences. Do ya know anyone with a bator u can borrow?? Im running ducks now and next month chickens, that would be the thing I would suggest u do in the future