Incubating Lavender Ameraucanas Dry Hatch or No?

[LavinmyBasket]

Only the little yellow one, Frankie is a grocery store chick! Lacey is her one and only hatchmate, a silver laced Orpington. My 12 year daughter named them.❤

We have a Siamese named Frankie

 

[Shellybob]

Do your air cells look jiggly and detached? Any saddles? My new batch I have not started turning yet. They looked fantastic when then arrived & I candled them day 3 and all are developing! I have 6 beautiful Lav eggs and they are doing wonderfully! I’m gonna start turning in a couple days. I will do it like this from now on!! My humidity was averaging 28 my air cells were huge early on so I upped the humidity to low 40’s. Lockdown started yesterday woth two eggs that I am not at all confinement with!! Road trip!

Let us know as soon as anything happens! Paul said they never candle and they just wait and see so I thought “What the heck”! I havent peeked once. But, I did keep them cell up in the cartons with holes on bottom for first 3days and gently shifted back and forth. July 17th is hatch day. JMNS’s sponge trick is working well for me to lower my humidity to 30 I love this chicken life!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I’m very happy with them! Maran, Olive Eggers, Lavender Orpington, Silverudd Blue Isbar & Self blue Ameraucana! From Sunset Barn in Illinois. My hatch is gonna take a miracle, so that’s what I’m hoping for!

Have to see the chicks that hatch out of those, what an awesome collection!

 

[LavinmyBasket]

How long

I had success with bringing down humidity by "toasting" sponges in the toaster oven until they are really dry and placing them in the incubator. I cut them into three pieces. It kept the humidity between 25 and 35%, they have to be switched out often (for me about every 2 hours) probably depends on your incubator and other ambient factors. You may have to do a little trial and error to see what works for you. I wrote a detailed post about it in the May hatch along. I will see if I can find it!

How long have you been hatching Eggs jms? Sounds like you have a lot of experience!

 

[LavinmyBasket]

Will be exciting to see if your grocery store eggs hatch! This is Little Frankie (Francesca) and Lacey today. This little chick is quite the character. And you’re right about the Ameraucanas being super smart, they figure things out way before the other chicks do!❤
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They are super cute!!

 

[LavinmyBasket]

Those babies are so cute❤ Are those grocery store babes? Love the names! Did the sponges and it worked! Holding at 30%

I must have read wrong...I thought you were trying to raise it! I have never heard of the roasting sponges, but thanks for the lesson jms! Glad it worked!

 

[LavinmyBasket]

Here they are 9 weeks old Maui & Italy. Thought you might like an update

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I must have read wrong...I thought you were trying to raise it! I have never heard of the roasting sponges, but thanks for the lesson jms! Glad it worked!

How long have you been hatching Eggs jms? Sounds like you have a lot of experience!

Yes, most people have the opposite problem, trying to bring the humidity up. When I could not find any real info, even scouring the threads on this forum, on how to bring it down, I came up with the "toasted" sponges after much trial and error. I swear by it now, but as with anything there are many factors involved. I just took it on as a science experiment, you should see my notes! My family thought I had lost it, as I was not going to give up until I could figure it out. I actually do not have that much experience incubating eggs. I just found the variables I could manipulate and went from there. There are so many other factors that we as the incubators have no control over, like egg quality, egg age, parent birds nutrition and genetics and of course that intangible "nature" that we have no control over whatsoever. Never mind the most frustrating factor of all, how the eggs are handled under shipment.
So, we can feel sad when the eggs do not hatch, but we should not beat ourselves up over it. I did everything by the book with this last hatch and still had a very poor hatch rate. It is a roll of the dice in many ways and with shipped eggs we should be thrilled if ANY hatch!

 

[Shellybob]

I must have read wrong...I thought you were trying to raise it! I have never heard of the roasting sponges, but thanks for the lesson jms! Glad it worked!

Haha, I live in an old ranch house that is only cooled by a swamp cooler(sucks air thru wet pads) and only adds humidity to my house. Feels like Hawaii but, 105 degrees with humidity Everyone always says, Arizona is a dry heat. Well, not in July and August when the monsoon rolls in. 80% humidity and sometimes 115 degrees outside. Bleh. I will have to worry about the heat with my flock for sure. The sponges are working very well about for 3 hrs. When I work I can come about every 4 so should be ok I would think. I brought my girls out already because it is so hot out that it feels good to them! Lavinmybasket! Your babies are getting so big! I feel that one of mine(Eloise) is mixed with something else and does not look like pure LA. But, Charlotte looks like she is LA. Who knows?! Can’t wait for my next hatch So thankful Jmns is so knowledgeable!

 

[Shellybob]

Eloise is in front. What do you guys think she is?