Incubator help

[bloonskiller911]

What we r wondering now is when u put eggs in incubator does the small pointy end of egg go up or down,bc we r wondering if that is part of failure.we feed our chicks layer n a ckn feed mix(unsure of brand or ingrediant %).

pointy end goes down in a turner, when they are laying fla it should naturally drop down. also on when i candle i take a toliet paper roll and put it on the rounded end of the egg with the flash light inside, you can see through the air cell and should see veining around it. if you have very dark eggs wait until day ten an be patient, your eyes have to adjust to the low light. i use a little giant incubator also.

a few more questions

do you have a turner or are you turning them yourself, is you incubator still air of circulated air, and how long are you saving your eggs before setting your incbator? fertility drops after about 10 days, i don't like to save longer than 3 days personally.

when saving eggs remember to place them pointy side down in the carton also

 

[postalpoultry]

The temp in my Hovabator was at 100 even. and the humidity at 60. I lowered the temp and it dropped to 97. so I raised it again this morning, but not to its original setting.hopefully to 99degrees.How important is 1 or 2 degrees difference? How would I go about lowering the humidity? Its been at 60% since I started this project yesterday? Another question I have is that the 6 adults I purchased yesterday, have already laid 4 eggs by yesterday evening. IF and WHEN these hatch, should I move the chicks to a brooder for protection, or let them stay with the adults?

OK this is very important, always remember this answer........ IF you hatch out the babies, they are yours!!! The adults WILL KILL them!!!!!
once you put them in the incubator you are committing to parenthood LOl
Sounds like you have it made, 100 is a pretty good temp for guinea and 60% is perfect to start out, why do you want to lower it??
your incubator has (probably) these little plastic plugs covering the vent holes, but in my experience there are ALWAYS other holes. lil pin holes, tiny vents on the bottom, oposite where you put water and so on. I use duck tape to cover all of those holes when I try to get my humidity stable, then I just uncover one at a time to get it where I want it (duck tape doesn't harm incubator, thats why I use it) also if your new hens are that well into laying, give them some tree branches or something to go under (they like to hide their nest) they hollow out small indention in the ground and built nest under things.

 

[Jeff n Stella]

Will they allow larger/older keets into the original flock? or will I have guinea wars in my back yard?

 

[postalpoultry]

Quote:Originally Posted by bloonskiller911

pointy end goes down in a turner, when they are laying fla it should naturally drop down. also on when i candle i take a toliet paper roll and put it on the rounded end of the egg with the flash light inside, you can see through the air cell and should see veining around it. if you have very dark eggs wait until day ten an be patient, your eyes have to adjust to the low light. i use a little giant incubator also.

YEP YEP YEP what they said lol and 10 days would be easier
also they are correct on holding eggs, that is a good point that I did not think to ask you!
I suppose it is possible it could be a feed issue but I really don't think so, even if you fed them nothing you shoulda had some fertile. My bet is on they were first lays of the season and your ladies were not yet fertile.

 

[loveourbirds]

I have just encountered this, thought I would pass it on.
we mix our feed for our chickens. its 25 lbs 18% layer crumble, 25 lbs cracked corn, some grit, some oyster shell, about 6 lbs of calf manna, and 2-6 lbs of black oil sunflower seed. we noticed this year our fertility was lower, and eggs weren't as big. after watching the birds eat, I realized they weren't eating most of the layer crumble, they did eat all the corn, all the sunflower, only some were eating calf manna. taking the layer crumble and some of the calf manna out of the equation lowered our protein content. I'm not a nutritionist, Ive been hatching for 3 years, so all I can give you is my experience. I am also finding an absorption problem with my feed. apple cider vinegar helps with the absorbency problem, add a tablespoon per gallon of water 1 day each week.

I used cat food to boost the protein temporarily, but there are things in cat food that aren't good for chickens.

we are now starting to lacto-ferment our feed, I don't know what the outcome will be. by research it should be way better.

if your eggs are large, but fertility is low; separate your rooster, throw him a hand full of cat food for a couple of days. let the roosters and hens out in fresh grass and I think you will see a big difference in fertility.

here are a couple other things you should know:
if you give a young cockerel layer crumble as the sole source of his feed, he can become sterile.
sorghum seed in your mix will cause more broody hens, and a higher outcome of pullet chicks.
never set eggs that are more than 50% dirty.
open that incubator 15 minutes a day. (simulates hen getting off the eggs)
make sure to sterilize your incubator between hatches.

for me the best humidity settings are 40-45% for 18 days, then raise it to 55-60%. you can actually drown chicks with to much humidity.

another way to think about hatching- the hen does not have a thermometer, a hygrometer, or steady temperature around her. she still hatches eggs. if the temp drops a couple of degrees for a day, don't worry the eggs will hatch. when I used little giant foam incubators, I done better without a hygrometer than I did with one. I would either fill the two line reservoirs or the circle, until day 18 then I would fill all 3.

 

[postalpoultry]

Will they allow larger/older keets into the original flock? or will I have guinea wars in my back yard?

all depends, they are individuals and all have their own personality. I have some that are very laid back, don't give a hoot. others are just plain hateful! But by the time your hatchlings are big enough
to go out with them breeding season will be winding down and that will make it easier.
so in other words, WHO KNOWS!! LOL
plan to keep them separated then hope for the best.
anyway thats a ways off to worry about and there are solutions when you get to that point.

 

[loveourbirds]

I don't raise guineas anymore, but if your using a coop you can put them in the coop in separate cages. use all wire cages so the other birds can see them easily. after a couple of weeks they are used to the other birds and wont pay much attention. you do get the occasional pecking order fight, but it usually calms down quickly.

 

[Jeff n Stella]

Thanks. I know there is plenty of time. I just like to be prepaired. the incubator is holding at 57% humdidity and 99 degrees.

just waiting and watching.

 

[loveourbirds]

what type of guinea are you hatching? I had coral and lavender, but when customers came we couldn't talk over them, so I moved them to another farm.

 

[postalpoultry]

Thanks. I know there is plenty of time. I just like to be prepaired. the incubator is holding at 57% humdidity and 99 degrees.

just waiting and watching.

awesome!! You are off and runnin' now! Best of luck
also what "loveourbieds" said is correct, depending on how you are setup, older ones should be able to see the younger ( for a week or 2) then you go to letting them bed down together (for a week or 2) then comes the actual introduction, done very nonchalantly as if they have always been together, then you watch for problems which you will have to handle as they come.
but all of this starts (in my opinion) a month from hatch