HomesteadNowhere Hatch-a-long! Set April 7, hatch April 28!

[HomesteadNowhere]

With the incubator plugged into the thermostat I realized that it's now kind of half fan run and half not. I was worried about the temperature difference of the outer eggs.. so went ahead and laid the eggs down. Since they've been in this long I just have the extra 18 spread out stacked on top of the other eggs. When I turn I'll set the 18 in the egg flat, turn eggs, return the eggs to the turned position. And every other time I turn I'll try to rotate some of the outer eggs in and just shift them around. We'll see! It certainly would not meet a scientific study...
I'm still fiddling a bit to have the thermostat sensor down between the eggs so that the eggs will be the right temperature. I was just thinking I should get one of those water wiggle things for the sensor would probably be ideal for this.
I did candle a few randomly tonight and think there was some veins. Fingers crossed!

 

[Justso]

I went ahead and candled my eggs tonight, saw veining in all eggs except the olive egg. I tried two different light sources and still could barely see the air cell. I have to admit I was a little surprised, the two oldest eggs I had washed and put in the refrigerator a little over a week before setting. Sure enough they have veining.
I guess we'll see who decides to stick around next week. I think I'm going to have to get one of those big hunting lights in order to see inside that Olive egg though.

 

[airynn]

I went ahead and candled my eggs tonight, saw veining in all eggs except the olive egg. I tried two different light sources and still could barely see the air cell. I have to admit I was a little surprised, the two oldest eggs I had washed and put in the refrigerator a little over a week before setting. Sure enough they have veining.
I guess we'll see who decides to stick around next week. I think I'm going to have to get one of those big hunting lights in order to see inside that Olive egg though.

I always struggle to candle my olive eggs. Often I just leave them all in.

 

[airynn]

I have been so busy I'd completely forgot about candling the eggs until just now!

NH roo over freedom ranger hens... 34 from 44 set.
Bielefelder roo over freedom ranger hens... 6 from 12 set.
NH roo over brahma and a Wyandotte... 2 from 18 set.

Does blood ring mean there was some early development then it died? Had 2 that were B/FR and 5 that were NH/FR.
Also had a couple with a little black smudge but no veins. I tipped the egg back and forth and the smudge moved with the liquid motion. Early quitters also I'm assuming.
The clears were very clear.

So new total is 42. This is why I set so many. Had alot I pulled the last hatch and wanted as many as possible just in case it was the fertility or early quitters. Glad I did.

I wonder why you have so many that don’t develop. What is your hen roo ratio? I usually have 2-3 out of 24. My ducks were all developing on day 7 and I’ll check my 16 (I think) chicken eggs tomorrow or Tuesday. They are in my classroom.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

Lockdown! Technically not for some more hours but ya.. Candled a couple just because. Saw some movement which is encouraging! Have everything at the ready to increase humidity. Since it ended up 30 eggs and my plastic egg flat hold 30... I decided to set them upright for lockdown and hatching. Having the chicks kickball the other eggs around was annoying. I can put the 5 B/FR eggs on one edge and use a lingerie bag to know those chicks from the rest.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

Oh no.. I just have a sauce jar with the lid set ajar on top. It brought the humidity up to about 50%. I have a strip of that really absorbent microfiber towel, cut about 2 inch wide. It's easy to set in the jar like an upside down U. If the humidity needs raised more just pull more of the towel up for surface area.

 

[Dinoroar]

I've been monitoring the incubator. I have a farmers innovators plugged into a thermostat. It's working well so far! My last hatch I was really not sure I trusted my thermometer/hygrometer, the one I put in the incubator to check the unit. But I trusted that much more than the unit!
I've been checking it with a laser pointer surface temp thermometer on the eggs. When I found some eggs that were on the edge of too hot I moved the thermostat sensor there. I have the thermostat set to 99.3 and it's been good now. There doesn't seem to be any eggs that are too cool but there is variation across the incubator.

Now before someone has a heart attack on how I got 75 eggs in a farmers innovator
I fit 57 eggs laid on their sides. I put a binder under the incubator to tilt it and started setting the eggs, air cell up, as if there were in a carton but leaning against the side and each other. But yes they are all wedged in carefully.
Mine has a plastic mesh floor and after the last hatch I saw the weight of the eggs had started to warp it. The bottom is supported on a ledge around the outside and three supports in the middle. So I cut to length some wood dowel, smaller than a pencil, and laid them across under the plastic mesh. It looks good so far.

This sounds like very impressive loading! I’d love to see a picture!

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

Just a quick one while checking egg temps. The most outer eggs are a little cooler. We'll see if it's enough to be a problem. I have a blanket over the incubator to help insulate.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

Did time stand still?
This is got to be the slowest week ever. Don't know if I can wait till Thursday to candle.

Ha! I've been thinking the same thing since I set the eggs!

 

[Justso]

My last hatch was all washed and from the fridge eggs Might have been a little impulsive... I did get 22 chicks though.

That's great to know!