Incubator/hatching related questions

[dimi]

Hi, all

#1: Why do you put a sponge in the container with water? I understand the water is for humidity - what does the sponge do?
#2: How do you start counting days. For example, I started incubation on Tuesday 9am, is the day 1 Wednesday 9am? or do you count Tuesday as day 1?

Thank you,
Dimi

 

[cookiesdaddy]

When I started with quail I experienced high losses of fully feathered chicks that just seemed to die instead of hatching. I laid out my problem and JJMR794 explained how it worked and suggested hatching in the old style pulp cartons that could be discarded.... This worked well and no risk of splay leg that comes with using anything slick or plastic. This quickly became my incubation and hatching method. when using a bator with no turner, you simply lean the carton full of eggs up on something like the side of the bator or a cup. Then when its time to turn, just spin the entire carton 180 degs and lean it back where it was. all the eggs have now been turned and your bator is closed again in half the time as turning every egg by hand. When lock down came, just sit the carton flat on the bottom of the bator and leave them be!

Here's my OLD automatic eggs turning system, just rolling them back and forth 3 times a day.

And here's my NEW manual eggs turning approach, rocking the whole tray of eggs 2-3 times a day.




(BTW eggs on the left tray were washed, the right ones weren't. From your washing note, I may have over-washed my eggs. I read somewhere how people washed so I soaked my eggs for a couple minutes, wiped away any gunk, rinsed, sprayed a diluted solution of clorox, rinsed again, left in the sun a few minutes to dry ... I might have killed all the fetuses in there! Will update.

 

[Fat Daddy]

Thanks for responses! Good discussion, guys.
I am currently keeping humidity at 70%. Looked today and saw one egg started breaking, I think the chick is peeping. Its strange because its kind of early - I set them on April 7th and today is 22nd, so day 15. Strange.

When do you guys take the chicks out? I understand you need to let them dry up. And I read somewhere that could take up to a day. If one hatches today and none of the others hatch, do I keep it there until other hatch or do I take it out?

It sounds like your bator may have averaged a bit warm. no worries thou. It is very common to get a early "scout" hatch before the others.... Pips are hard to see till you get used to what your looking for. Id bet there are more. They will likely time their entrance and hatch in force with in a few hrs of each other. Watch the cracked one for signs of life. It could go either way. I dont like to leave a chick in the bator with unhatched eggs more than about 12 hrs. After that they get pretty active and disturb the others as they hatch. But do your best not open the bator much. Especially as other eggs are pipped and trying to hatch. I like to keep a spray bottle of water by my bator. If I feel I have to open the bator while eggs are pipped, I give the eggs a good spritz before closing it back up. if you are hatching in pulp cartons these soak up a bit of water too and are great for maintaining humidity.

 

[Fat Daddy]

Here's my OLD automatic eggs turning system, just rolling them back and forth 3 times a day.

And here's my NEW manual eggs turning approach, rocking the whole tray of eggs 2-3 times a day.




(BTW eggs on the left tray were washed, the right ones weren't. From your washing note, I may have over-washed my eggs. I read somewhere how people washed so I soaked my eggs for a couple minutes, wiped away any gunk, rinsed, sprayed a diluted solution of clorox, rinsed again, left in the sun a few minutes to dry ... I might have killed all the fetuses in there! Will update.

In the video you can hear the flaw in your old turner and why your hatch rates are lower than you want..... The eggs banging against the wooden dowels several times every stroke. This causes the vibration that eventually ends the chick... They are the most fragile in the first 7 to 10 days. Its my belief that its the vibration during trucking that causes a common 50% hatch rate in shipped eggs. If you have ever had a cup of coffee in your cup holder while driving in even the smoothest riding car. The coffee always shows a lot of vibration..... A mail truck has a LOT more! I like the new turner BTW...

 

[Fat Daddy]

Thanks, guys. I took the eggs out of turner and fully uncovered the water bowl this morning starting the lockdown. I floated a couple of eggs and they floated, which is hopeful.

Eggs still should be pointy end down at the lockdown, correct?

Thanks,
Dimi

Good Morning Dimi, Floating your eggs really only told you that there is a air cell in the egg. If you take a store bought chicken egg out of your frig, put it in a bowl of water, I'll bet you a soda it will float. (If it doesn't, it is a very fresh egg.) It floats because there is a air cell in it, not because there is a chick inside. There is a lot of misunderstanding about the float test.
If you are hatching with the eggs in a carton or upright position, yes, they need to be pointy end down.... I hatch all my eggs in cartons of some form with eggs in a up right position. If you are laying them on the floor of the bator they will rest naturally as they should be. The most important factor is to be left still. The lock down period is basically to give the chick the chance to properly orient its self to pip into the part of the air cell that is up. If the egg is rolled just before it pips into what he thinks is the top of the air cell, it could pip into the bottom of the air cell. When this happens, the chick only has a small amount of time to beat a hole in the outer shell. If it cant get a hole thru the shell fast enough. The remaining fluid surrounding the chick can drain into the air cell, displacing the air with water, thus drowning it. A lot of the chicks that are lost right as they should hatch are really just drown in the shell. Hatching in a upright position almost completely eliminates this.... . Hope you have a great hatch, Bill

 

[TwoCrows]

I like to get the humidity up somewhere between 65% and 70% at lock down. If the window is foggy, then I know the humidity is where I want it!

 

[Fat Daddy]

This is the best explanation of what's going on at pipping and could explain why I have lost so many at this stage. Thanks Fat Daddy. I'm trying a different approach to eggs turning and keeping them upright at lock down this time to see if it will make a difference. (I also tried another experiment this time, 1 tray of washed eggs and one without washing, to see if it makes a difference.

When I started with quail I experienced high losses of fully feathered chicks that just seemed to die instead of hatching. I laid out my problem and JJMR794 explained how it worked and suggested hatching in the old style pulp cartons that could be discarded.... This worked well and no risk of splay leg that comes with using anything slick or plastic. This quickly became my incubation and hatching method. when using a bator with no turner, you simply lean the carton full of eggs up on something like the side of the bator or a cup. Then when its time to turn, just spin the entire carton 180 degs and lean it back where it was. all the eggs have now been turned and your bator is closed again in half the time as turning every egg by hand. When lock down came, just sit the carton flat on the bottom of the bator and leave them be!
As to your washing experiment.... A bunch of us have had this discussion a lot over the years. Several of us have actually put on the white lab coat and ran the test too. I have found it made no difference as long as the "dirty eggs" didnt sit for a long period of time before being washed..... I find that these days, I dont care if it effected the chance of development or not. I simply wont put a nasty egg in my bator without washing it. Wont take the chance of bringing any more bacteria in than I have too. Please put up a thread when you set your washed eggs verse unwashed egg test. It is a subject that will be of interest to many folks and not just quail people!

Edit to add: By "washing" I mean gently wiping the dirty off the egg with a damp paper towel and drying it quickly......

 

[jhall6293]

...When do you guys take the chicks out? I understand you need to let them dry up. And I read somewhere that could take up to a day. If one hatches today and none of the others hatch, do I keep it there until other hatch or do I take it out?

I let my babes dry off for about 12 hours - 24 hours for some (they're noticeably fluffier after about 6 hours or so) and then move them to their brooder box. As they hatch and get their legs, so to speak, move them to the brooder. If you move them all at the same time, some may be weaker than others and could get trampled or end up at the bottom of a pile of quail babies, both of which could kill said weaker babies.

 

[TwoCrows]

Congrats on the first baby out!! I hope the others make it too. If the cracked one lost too much moisture along the way, he may not come out.

Keep us posted!!

 

[jhall6293]

Quote:

The egg with a crack in it is still there, I think that one is not coming out :-(

Congrats on your first baby!! Keep us posted and keep the pics coming!!
And yes, please let us know what happens with the cracked egg - sometimes they make it, sometimes they do not...like TwoCrows said, if the developing embryo lost too much moisture from the crack, it most likely will not hatch or will have a very difficult hatch (could be deathly weak or deformed), then again it could hatch and be perfectly fine (but usually cracked eggs, depending upon when the egg became cracked, end up causing dead in shell). With all that said though, it really could go either way.
Also, excellent tip from Fat Daddy about keeping a water misting bottle next to the bator - this can literally make the difference between life and death during the hatching process.