Help needed for Polish please

[BradyK]

My Mother died a few months ago and I got my Dad involved in incubating chicks with us He, along with my handicapped daughter have loved this process. Dad has had chickens for a few years now and he has a wonderland for chickens.

He has always wanted a polish. Sure we can order one but a sweet man we all just met has a full bred male and female white crested black and has given us eggs.
I am going to start incubating eggs tomorrow.
I have been researching but just don't get it.

They do not hatch their own eggs so artificial hatch is recommended however hatch rates are low.
It mentions not having a cool down period as the Brinsea usually does but the article that I read is not clear at all and was written out of England.
We have a Brinsea mini advance.
Is there any advice you all can give? Do I eliminate the cool down period or incubate at cooler or warmer temps?

The important question is the eggs are quite dirty. I have never washed my eggs to keep from removing the outer cuticle but I have never had eggs this dirty either.

Please give any advice you have. I want these to hatch so badly for my Dad. Yes we can order one from somewhere but he has loved hatching the chicks we have hatched so much.

Thanks guys.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

My Mother died a few months ago and I got my Dad involved in incubating chicks with us He, along with my handicapped daughter have loved this process. Dad has had chickens for a few years now and he has a wonderland for chickens.

He has always wanted a polish. Sure we can order one but a sweet man we all just met has a full bred male and female white crested black and has given us eggs.
I am going to start incubating eggs tomorrow.
I have been researching but just don't get it.

They do not hatch their own eggs so artificial hatch is recommended however hatch rates are low.
It mentions not having a cool down period as the Brinsea usually does but the article that I read is not clear at all and was written out of England.
We have a Brinsea mini advance.
Is there any advice you all can give? Do I eliminate the cool down period or incubate at cooler or warmer temps?

The important question is the eggs are quite dirty. I have never washed my eggs to keep from removing the outer cuticle but I have never had eggs this dirty either.

Please give any advice you have. I want these to hatch so badly for my Dad. Yes we can order one from somewhere but he has loved hatching the chicks we have hatched so much.

Thanks guys.

You don't have to do a cool down period. Incubate at normal temps. Forced air being 99.5F I've never washed eggs either, but I have never incubated really dirty eggs. There are people who wash eggs before incubation, some use commercial sanitizers that are supposedly safe. Other than that, just hatch normally. A good one to pose Polish questions with is @Yorkshire Coop she hatches beautiful polish chicks. As for the Brinsea mini I know @RubyNala97 has had very successful hatches with the Brinsea mini, (eco I believe)

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Sorry to hear you lost your mother

Has the man you got the eggs from checked fertility of the eggs? When you say low hatch rates do you mean he has tried to incubate and it was poor? Poor hatch rates can be due to infertility but the dirty eggs would bother me more. I too don't wash eggs but I also don't set dirty eggs. Both have risks, washing can cause bacteria to get into the egg as you remove the bloom. Setting dirty eggs can cause bacteria to grow in the incubator which is not good. Dirty eggs can also be harmful for hatched chicks. When they first hatch there is a risk of their umbilical area becoming infected as they climb and drag them selves over the other eggs and shells that are in there.

It's a catch 22 for you now and I can't say you should or should not wash your eggs. Both have risks. Have a read of this ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101 It has a section on washing eggs.

As for your cool down option ~ I have the Brinsea octagon 20 with cool down option and have hatched using it and not using it. Both have produced great results. My polish tend to hatch day 19/20 without the option but using it they hatched 20/21. For me I find it replicates the hen leaving the nest very well. If I dont have it on my incubator does not get opened at all as I have the pump for humidity.
Cool down starts on day 7 and I turn it off again at day 18. I only set it to go off for an hour though not the 2 recomended in the manual.

Good luck with your hatch and keep us posted

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Sorry to hear you lost your mother

Has the man you got the eggs from checked fertility of the eggs? When you say low hatch rates do you mean he has tried to incubate and it was poor? Poor hatch rates can be due to infertility but the dirty eggs would bother me more. I too don't wash eggs but I also don't set dirty eggs. Both have risks, washing can cause bacteria to get into the egg as you remove the bloom. Setting dirty eggs can cause bacteria to grow in the incubator which is not good. Dirty eggs can also be harmful for hatched chicks. When they first hatch there is a risk of their umbilical area becoming infected as they climb and drag them selves over the other eggs and shells that are in there.

It's a catch 22 for you now and I can't say you should or should not wash your eggs. Both have risks. Have a read of this ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101 It has a section on washing eggs.

As for your cool down option ~ I have the Brinsea octagon 20 with cool down option and have hatched using it and not using it. Both have produced great results. My polish tend to hatch day 19/20 without the option but using it they hatched 20/21. For me I find it replicates the hen leaving the nest very well. If I dont have it on my incubator does not get opened at all as I have the pump for humidity.
Cool down starts on day 7 and I turn it off again at day 18. I only set it to go off for an hour though not the 2 recomended in the manual.

Good luck with your hatch and keep us posted

That's interesting on the hatch difference between running the cool down period and not. I wonder if others have had the same experiences.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

That's interesting on the hatch difference between running the cool down period and not. I wonder if others have had the same experiences.

I've not seen many mention that they use the cool down option. Would be very interesting to know what others have gained or not gained from using it.
May have to start a thread just to find out

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I've not seen many mention that they use the cool down option. Would be very interesting to know what others have gained or not gained from using it.
May have to start a thread just to find out

I'm really curious now. Most of my hatches hatch day 19/20, but using an old LG you leave where it stabilizes and that's usually around 100-100.5 ish, so I expect a little earlier hatching. I, of course, don't have a cool down on my incubator, but I sure do like to candle.

lol Of course, that's a fifteen minute thing, not an hour thing.

 

[BradyK]

I thank you so much. I read these this morning and have placed them n the mini around noon.

 

[BradyK]

Whoops didn't mean to push submit yet. The eggs were very dirty. Big concern to me. I had to clean the with Brinsea solution recommended for cleaning. My incubator is disinfected after each use down to every detail. The eggs don't smell good even clean when I lift the lid. He brought me more than I need so I opened one up and the inside smells fine and is beautiful. This smell concerns me. Bacteria in the pours of the shell maybe? I have decreased my cool down to one hour daily and it is highly recommended for all breeds hatched in the Brinsea the hour is the shortest interval as mentions above. This gentlemen said his male and femal are full bred very expensive white created black Polish so I will wait to candle until day five.
All kinds of new for me with this one. The eggs all had to washed. I have never washed eggs I was gentle using warm solution

Also the smell really bothers me. We shall see. I appreciate and have followed your input so much. It's nice to not be alone with this stuff. I studied and read all night last night but the info only confused me

Thanks again.

 

[BradyK]

I found that I rig the eggs was bad. So I removed. This really is a bothersome group. Can't wait to candle in five days and see if they are even fertile.

 

[BradyK]

I

candled the eggs today and 6 out of seven are fertile and perfect for day five. Just posting an update.