Hatching Eggs / Paypal CHAT Thread

[crfarm]

has anyone ever seen this before, I opened up a blue marans egg and had not only one bullseye but 2! Needless to say I can say they are fertile!!!!!!!!!

I thought I was seeing things and kept looking at it. glad my husband wasn't here to see me rolling this egg around in the bowl for over 5 minutes........

 

[mendocinosunris]

I think 40-45% is a little high during the incubation process, I try to keep it around 30. 70% is too high at lockdown, I go for 60 and it will naturally go up when eggs start to hatch. Locking down a day early won't hurt anything.

If you have to open your incubator, try to not do it if anyone is zipped, pipped isn't too bad. If you have to open it, make it quick, give a spray of warm water or throw in a damp paper towel and the humidity will recover quickly.

Better luck next time. It's a good idea to practice with your own eggs, backyard eggs are much easier to hatch than shipped eggs.

Good luck,
Deb

IMO I think your humidity was a little high during incubation, I get best results when I dry hatch- especially Maran eggs. I keep it around 20-25 % for the first 19 days then I go to lockdown @ 65%

Have you calibrated your hygrometer? You may be wayyy off if you haven't.

Well, maybe that's it - I've had the humidity too high instead of too low... for some reason, I thought it needed to be between 40 & 50%, & then 75% at hatching. don't ask me where the heck I got that info.

Yes, I did calibrate the hygrometer - there was an article I found that gave a good step-by-step on how to do that. It's right on the money.
Also, when I've added water, it's been cold water. I didn't think to warm it first. I'll make sure it's warm from now on.

Thanks for the tips! I'll start cooking a test batch in a couple of days. Wish me luck!

 

[chick-among-us]

Well, my hatch is done. Two healthy (but lonely) little birchen marans out of over a dozen eggs. Sadness. It wasn't a problem with the eggs. They were from crfarm & DMRippy - they looked great when I candled them, & I saw movement in the SBELs. Couldn't really see movement in the Marans, but they looked like they were developing great. Here's where I think I went wrong: 1. I stopped turning them a day early. Cuz I apparently can't do basic math. Duh. 2. I kept the humidity around 40-45% throughout incubation, which was good, but couldn't keep it above 70% for the hatching process. Not sure how I can improve that - it's SOOO dry in our house during the winter because of the woodstove! I even keep a kettle boiling on the stove all the time. It helps, but not enough. 3. I opened the 'bator once while they were hatching because one of the Marans was shrink-wrapped. The humidity dropped like a stone. Sigh. I'm going to do some more test hatches with my own mutt eggs before I try your nice eggs again. I gotta get better at the incubator thing! Any suggestions on improving humidity? How bout suggestions on improving my math skillz?/?

Sponges in the water trays help a lot...clean ones from the dollar store the fat ones, I cut them and lay them in the slots...then fill with water...then I also lay paper towels rolled up in all available spaces inside the incubator under the screen I can wet them or not depending on what I need. hard to keep it in there if all the stuff to hold water isn't already in there....

 

[crfarm]

Well, maybe that's it - I've had the humidity too high instead of too low... for some reason, I thought it needed to be between 40 & 50%, & then 75% at hatching. don't ask me where the heck I got that info.

Yes, I did calibrate the hygrometer - there was an article I found that gave a good step-by-step on how to do that. It's right on the money.
Also, when I've added water, it's been cold water. I didn't think to warm it first. I'll make sure it's warm from now on.

Thanks for the tips! I'll start cooking a test batch in a couple of days. Wish me luck!

when I get a chance I will contact you about sending you some more birchens.
How is your husband doing? thoughts and prayers are with you......

 

[mendocinosunris]

Sponges in the water trays help a lot...clean ones from the dollar store the fat ones, I cut them and lay them in the slots...then fill with water...then I also lay paper towels rolled up in all available spaces inside the incubator under the screen I can wet them or not depending on what I need. hard to keep it in there if all the stuff to hold water isn't already in there....

Good suggestions! If i put sponges in there, I bet the humidity will stay more stable.

 

[mendocinosunris]

when I get a chance I will contact you about sending you some more birchens.
How is your husband doing? thoughts and prayers are with you......

Awww, thank you so much! That's super sweet.

My husband's doing as well as can be expected. In fact, we're at a hotel in san francisco right now. Spent the whole day at the hospital doing a bizzillion tests. A little more testing tomorrow, then we're on our way home.
So far, it looks like the cancer hasn't spread any further, which makes him a good candidate for a drug study they're doing. He'll be starting that in a couple of weeks.

All fingers and toes are crossed. Also eyes, which makes driving a challenge. For your safety, please stay off the golden gate bridge while we're in town.

 

[DMRippy]

Well, my hatch is done. Two healthy (but lonely) little birchen marans out of over a dozen eggs. Sadness.

It wasn't a problem with the eggs. They were from crfarm & DMRippy - they looked great when I candled them, & I saw movement in the SBELs. Couldn't really see movement in the Marans, but they looked like they were developing great.

Here's where I think I went wrong:
1. I stopped turning them a day early. Cuz I apparently can't do basic math. Duh.
2. I kept the humidity around 40-45% throughout incubation, which was good, but couldn't keep it above 70% for the hatching process. Not sure how I can improve that - it's SOOO dry in our house during the winter because of the woodstove! I even keep a kettle boiling on the stove all the time. It helps, but not enough.
3. I opened the 'bator once while they were hatching because one of the Marans was shrink-wrapped. The humidity dropped like a stone.

Sigh.

I'm going to do some more test hatches with my own mutt eggs before I try your nice eggs again. I gotta get better at the incubator thing!
Any suggestions on improving humidity? How bout suggestions on improving my math skillz?/?

Dry Incubation works best for marans. I keep mine 35% and under for the first 18 days. Stopping turning a day early would not have caused a problem I don't think. I had some that did get turned for days and they hatched just fine. In my hatcher and bator I use a terry cloth towel and drape it over the edge of my water so it is like a wick. Putting it near the heat and fan will help too. Sorry about the hatch.

 

[crfarm]

Awww, thank you so much! That's super sweet.

My husband's doing as well as can be expected. In fact, we're at a hotel in san francisco right now. Spent the whole day at the hospital doing a bizzillion tests. A little more testing tomorrow, then we're on our way home.
So far, it looks like the cancer hasn't spread any further, which makes him a good candidate for a drug study they're doing. He'll be starting that in a couple of weeks.

All fingers and toes are crossed. Also eyes, which makes driving a challenge. For your safety, please stay off the golden gate bridge while we're in town.

oh I am so glad I was drinking anything! that is too funny. Well I hope he continues to do well and if for some reason you don't see any improvements look into the Cancer Treatment Centers. There is one in Phoenix. We have a friend that was only given a few weeks to live and written off by his doctors. They only were giving him choices for palliative care. Him or his parents contacted the cancer treatment center and sent his medical info. They called them and told them to get their son on a plane. They said Ok, but we need to look into tickets. They said NO we said GET him to the airport NOW. They had the ticket waiting for him and they took him right away. He had 2 different types of cancer. They treated him and he is now cancer free! amazing place. With his insurance he has yet to see a bill.

 

[chick-among-us]

Sponges in the water trays help a lot...clean ones from the dollar store the fat ones, I cut them and lay them in the slots...then fill with water...then I also lay paper towels rolled up in all available spaces inside the incubator under the screen I can wet them or not depending on what I need. hard to keep it in there if all the stuff to hold water isn't already in there....

Good suggestions! If i put sponges in there, I bet the humidity will stay more stable.

*nods* I also TRY to Only open the top little hatches on my lg...my hova is harder and you have to open super super slow so as not to zap shrink the eggs...I can open mine really quick and my humidity changes less than five points, my temp barely any.



Edited for crappy spelling.

 

[mzstre]

i

oh I am so glad I was drinking anything! that is too funny. Well I hope he continues to do well and if for some reason you don't see any improvements look into the Cancer Treatment Centers. There is one in Phoenix. We have a friend that was only given a few weeks to live and written off by his doctors. They only were giving him choices for palliative care. Him or his parents contacted the cancer treatment center and sent his medical info. They called them and told them to get their son on a plane. They said Ok, but we need to look into tickets. They said NO we said GET him to the airport NOW. They had the ticket waiting for him and they took him right away. He had 2 different types of cancer. They treated him and he is now cancer free! amazing place. With his insurance he has yet to see a bill.

That is an amazing story! I'm keeping the name of the center just in case.