I'm almost ready to give up..........

[Flufnstuffs~FluffySilkies]

We all do things a little different. And depending on the part of the country
we all live in we each have small differences.
I keep my himidity at 40/45% days 1/18 and 60/65% for the hatch.
I keep my temp at 99.6 - 100

 

[MBLayfield]

Jen,

Where should the humidity be in the hatcher and in the bator? I'm terrified I would end up drowning them so I've kept the bator humidity low and the hatcher humidity high. This last set of eggs I lost went into the bator on day 18 at 70% humidity and it fluctuated between 65 and 70%, should it be higher?

If the bator humidity needs to be higher have I killed the eggs I put in there on the 18th and the 26th with the humidity so low?

 

[MBLayfield]

Thanks Melanie, I'm going to raise the humidity in the bator and see what happens. I've read so much about dry incubation and I'm so terrified of drowning the poor babies that I thought that was the way to go. Maybe it works for some, but its obviously not working out for me

 

[Arklady]

Our average humidity is about 45 -65% so I seldom have to add water at all. In fact I have to keep the vents closed to lower the humidity even in the summer.

Cheer up you will get it.

Arklady

edited to fix post from stupidity... lol

 

[MBLayfield]

Arklady, I think I'm going to add more water and bring my humidity up to 45% and see if that helps.

I'm trying to cheer up, but its hard some days. I've been waiting and waiting for this last hatch. This morning was day 22 so I thought I'd check them out. I just knew they were dead. And they are.

Its so bad that on day 20 and 21 I can't sleep! I'm up every couple hours checking on them! This is a horrible addiction that is only going to get worse once I actually have some chicks hatch.

Its all my hens fault. I let her set on some and had 17 chicks. She fueled this terrible habit I've started again this fall! I blame her!

 

[BirdBrain]

Well, you've gotta blame somebody.

She's as good a one as any.

I hope your next hatch goes 100% better.

 

[seminolewind]

Oh man, how frustrating. I will be on my first try this week.
I wonder, do all egg shippers put on the box "Do not Xray-live eggs"? My mom lost her first baby from xrays. The xrays were at 4 months, and the baby died the last week of pregnancy.
I wonder if there's a difference in hatch rates between shipped eggs and personal laid eggs. I wonder if there's anything we could wrap around the eggs, like aluminum foil that is xray proof. Its worth the try, Karen

 

[jenlynn4]

I run mine the same as Melanie. And it works for me. I just had a real bad time last month, I couldnt get a thing to hatch and then I got a new thermomitor and hygrometer and things are doing much better. I think it will help a ton for you to just bump up that humidity a bit for the first 18 days. around 40% would be good. JEN

 

[speckledhen]

I'm not convinced myself that xraying has anything to do with it at all. And I personally think it's best NOT to put anything about there being eggs in the box on any labeling. I put lots of "EXTREMELY FRAGILE!" stickers that also say "DO NOT SHAKE, CRUSH, or DROP!" that are yellow lined with red and hard to miss. So far, no cracked or broken eggs in any packages, or even blown aircells that I know of. And I use tons of heavy duty bubblewrap that comes from furniture stores. Even with all that, shipping eggs is a gamble. And, the eggs must have decent shell quality and fertility to begin with.

 

[MBLayfield]

I'm sure that shipping plays a part in hatchability & fertile eggs but i'm not convinced that it plays much of a part. I've received eggs from several members here that sell on eggbid.com and my fertility with shipped eggs has been about 60%. Had I not killed them all, I'd be swimming in chicks. I don't know if the PO xrays the box or not, but if they do its not effecting me at all.

I've put my shipped eggs under a broody last year and had almost the same percentage. I've never had a rotten egg or one that has been cracked either. Maybe I'm lucky, maybe its the person who is selling the eggs. I choose to think that its all about the person who sells them and how fresh the eggs are and how well packed they are.