I set eggs 2/27/10 ** DUE 3/20th-3/21st** WE"RE HATCHING!!!!

[zephyrcreek]

Hey, I just found this thread. I set 19 eggs on the 27th and another 20 eggs today. Man do I want to candle that first set of eggs and see what's going on inside. A few more days.

27th Batch
3 Black Java
16 Delaware or Delaware x Dixie Rainbow

3/2 BAtch

EE
Black Java
Delaware
Delaware x Dixie Rainbow


I'll set another set of eggs in 5-7 days. By that time I plan to have all the Dixie Rainbows moved into their own pen so no more ???? eggs. Their eggs are usually darker than the Dels though, so I'm fairly sure which ones they are.

 

[carriehelene]

Hi KD, good luck with not obsessing

My first hatch-psycho obsessing
2nd hatch-not so much, even forgot to turn eggs sometimes (hence the 2 turners shown above lol)
3rd hatch- I think I miss turning the eggs, so now I obsess about waiting for them to hatch. Waiting to candle (again), waiting waiting waiting. Boring. Who knew I'd miss turning the eggs. Cool bator by the way.

 

[KDbeads]

Quote:
Nope, refuse to obsess, I think that's what happened to two of my last 3 batches, one was a power outage that left me with one little guy but the other two... if it made it to day 18 and didn't hatch, it had drowned, I obsessed over the humidity. Talked to a few 'old timers' out here that laughed about watching the humidity, they've hatched thousands and thousands of chicks without even adding any water if the bator was inside or a small cup if it was outside and only on the last day. One guy took a look at the new set up and said it was far fancier than his and it should work as long as I ignore it other than the temps and turning

Couldn't find a cooler big enough for a turner or a turner small enough for the cooler so I'm hand 'turning'.

S'ok about the thread, I tend to kill my own faster than anyone elses

 

[carriehelene]

Zephyr, what is a dixie rainbow please? I've never heard the term before.

 

[fordmommy]

I've got 2 friends too that say "don't worry about the humidity". And they've been hatching for years with great results. I figure it better lower at the start, that's why I took ALL the water out. 75-80% was what I was dealing with. Nah. I'll take my chances this way. And like Babylady4 said in a earlier post.....we are melting right now and fast. I should take that into concideration. She lives but 8 miles from me, so we have the same weather. She's got my other eggs in her bator.

 

[fordmommy]

Quote:
I was thinking the same thing. I Googled it and got your website. They are cute. But are they "your own" breed?

 

[prncssprplfrog]

I've been having horrible (what I think are horrible) temp swings- 98-102, but I've also got two thermometers in the bator: one with a probe & one that's a temp/hygro combined.
This is what I've done. I've taken one of my Pysanky eggs that I don't like, filled it with hair gel & put it in the bator over night to reach the other egg's temp, then put the probe in the center of the "egg" and taped it shut. The temp in there is usually a bit lower than the air temp- but is now 99, with the air temp of 102..........grrrr..
Has anyone ever wondered what the internal temp of an egg should be? I'm so stressed out about this! I am working on a better (larger) cooler-bator this weekend that might hold a temp more consistently.....



I'm honestly not expecting to get any hatching out of this batch because of the temp swings- I came down in the night last night to read the probe at 104!!!!!! But I can't honestly can't remember if the temp probe was meant to be put in water & that's why it is reading higher.... i bought it for my turtle tank......

I'll post pictures in a bit.

 

[zephyrcreek]

Quote:
Dixie Rainbows are a dual purpose meat bird that I purchased from S&G Poultry last year. I kept back some of the birds from my August order (as they did not grow well in our cold wet unusual fall) and they have turned into really nice (meaty) layers. While I was disappointed in their growth rate, they are a great dual-purpose bird. They will be moved out of the Del pen this weekend and moved into the layer flock. I had not planned on hatching any, but if we do have any crosses we will use them for meat or the layer flock. Either way this is just a set of test hatches before we start any major incubating.

The Javas and Dels are my real passion.

 

[carriehelene]

Thank you Zephyr, for answering my question. Now if I beg very prettily, will you post some pics of your blue american geese sometime? Pretty please?

 

[KDbeads]

Quote:
I have my homemade wiggler with probe thermometer in it as the only temp monitor in the bator this time. It hovers between 99 and 100. When I used the air thermometer and the wiggler there was almost always a difference in temp, by at least 2 degrees. I'd stay with the wiggler temp personally, that's the temp of the inside of the eggs but monitor the other in case there's a sudden drop/increase in air temp that the wiggler hasn't been affected by yet.