Incubators Anonymous

[ki4got]

Quote:
I'm finding the same here with my dorkings. not that the shells are overly thick or anything but they seem to take longer than other chicks incubated at the same time.

this last time, the humidity in the incubator was lower than usual (15-20% vs 20-30%) so i upped the humidity in the incubator, and the temp dropped a tiny bit too (coincidence?) and where i'd been getting 2 or 3 hatched from 10+ eggs, this last time I got 5/6 hatched... so I think I know what I'm planning for the dorkings from now on.

 

[Arielle]

Some of my shipped marans eggs came from Egg-cellent. Here is what she had to say about hatching marans eggs.

I do raise the humidity higher for my marans than I do for other breeds. I do feed all my birds Oyster shell. Once a month I sprinkle some in their feed trough. I also usually leave them in the bator a day longer than the other chicks, because the humidity is good for them even after they hatch. If you have chicks with curled feet when they hatch, then they did not have enough humidity right before hatching. If you read some studies done on that. You can find that the humidity does finish up the last part of their development in their feet. But if they are a little curled, it doesn't mean they are crippled. You can leave them in the incubator for an extra day. That moisture will still be absorbed into their bodies.​

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
I'm finding the same here with my dorkings. not that the shells are overly thick or anything but they seem to take longer than other chicks incubated at the same time.

this last time, the humidity in the incubator was lower than usual (15-20% vs 20-30%) so i upped the humidity in the incubator, and the temp dropped a tiny bit too (coincidence?) and where i'd been getting 2 or 3 hatched from 10+ eggs, this last time I got 5/6 hatched... so I think I know what I'm planning for the dorkings from now on.

Karen, can you clarify your last paragraph.

Do you mean the RH was lower than usual so you added water to bring it up to 20-30% and that resulted in a better hatch?

And was this RH during the first 18 days? And if so, what did you raise it to for the last 3 days??

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:

What is the humidity percent it is raised to?

 

[Arielle]

Donna, I will need to ask her that. I'll send a PM and get back to you with an answer.

Here is what the other breeder said.
Quote:
I think she meant 100 degrees.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
Karen, can you clarify your last paragraph.

Do you mean the RH was lower than usual so you added water to bring it up to 20-30% and that resulted in a better hatch?

And was this RH during the first 18 days? And if so, what did you raise it to for the last 3 days??

ok sorry, i have separate hatcher and incubator...
this last time humidity in the INCUBATOR averaged 15-20%, and so i upped the humidity in the HATCHER to 60-70%. A few times, when I had to open it for some reason, I put water on the paper on the bottom, it jumped to about 80%, but once the paper was dry it dropped back to 60-70...

and the temp is usually right at 99.5, this time around temp for me dropped to about 99. (i didn't adjust anything, it just happenned). then again i kept openning the hatcher to check the eggs prior to pip, so the temps dropped then came back up a bit. maybe that helped? don't know.

hope that clarifies?

either what i did helped the hatch rate, or i just got lucky on this batch of eggs...

researching dorkings, I discovered that back in the 50's, a lethal gene popped up that caused mortality in better than 50% of the chicks. between days 8-15, which is where most of my quitters stop. possibly dwarfism, as they found shortened necks, legs and beaks in the developing chicks that died. wondering if we aren't encountering a similar thing now, which is why many dorking breeders are having bad hatches.

edit: i meant to mention that my usual temp/humidity on prior hatches was usually 25% in the incubator (+/- 5) and 50+ in the hatcher...

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
Karen, can you clarify your last paragraph.

Do you mean the RH was lower than usual so you added water to bring it up to 20-30% and that resulted in a better hatch?

And was this RH during the first 18 days? And if so, what did you raise it to for the last 3 days??

ok sorry, i have separate hatcher and incubator...
this last time humidity in the INCUBATOR averaged 15-20%, and so i upped the humidity in the HATCHER to 60-70%. A few times, when I had to open it for some reason, I put water on the paper on the bottom, it jumped to about 80%, but once the paper was dry it dropped back to 60-70...

and the temp is usually right at 99.5, this time around temp for me dropped to about 99. (i didn't adjust anything, it just happenned). then again i kept openning the hatcher to check the eggs prior to pip, so the temps dropped then came back up a bit. maybe that helped? don't know.

hope that clarifies?

either what i did helped the hatch rate, or i just got lucky on this batch of eggs...

researching dorkings, I discovered that back in the 50's, a lethal gene popped up that caused mortality in better than 50% of the chicks. between days 8-15, which is where most of my quitters stop. possibly dwarfism, as they found shortened necks, legs and beaks in the developing chicks that died. wondering if we aren't encountering a similar thing now, which is why many dorking breeders are having bad hatches.

edit: i meant to mention that my usual temp/humidity on prior hatches was usually 25% in the incubator (+/- 5) and 50+ in the hatcher...

Thanks for the clarification. Interesting about the lethals in the dorking. Surely puts a stop to carrying on the gene when it's a lethal before hatching. 50% hurts for sure but it is possible to eliminate it with time.


Here is the answer to the question about how high the humidity is set during laockdown by egg-cellent.

I try to keep it around 80, but it does get as high as 85.. If it starts to go higher than that. I remove the water completely for a few hours.​

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Quote:
Keep us updated. Are you doing anything to help them? more water, anything?

Ok, I was trying not to interfere at all and then, one of my precious Marans died completely zipped, membrane dried to the egg carton I had cut down and placed in the bator to keep everyone pipping at the right end. How heart breaking to see them come this far and not make it. So the next Marn to zip, I pulled from the carton and laid on it's side.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Keep us updated. Are you doing anything to help them? more water, anything?

Ok, I was trying not to interfere at all and then, one of my precious Marans died completely zipped, membrane dried to the egg carton I had cut down and placed in the bator to keep everyone pipping at the right end. How heart breaking to see them come this far and not make it. So the next Marn to zip, I pulled from the carton and laid on it's side.

Yeap... I had two pip upside down and died and one that I put in the bator upside down I put that one in on its side and not in the egg carton. I checked all the time for the next hatch for upside down pips. My hubby makes me help, too much really. I think my next batch of Marans or Olive Eggers I will not use the egg carton method..... I think I am going to up the humidity to 70% and try to deflect the fans more. I just don't know what to do to make them hatch better, experiments I guess. Maybe these changes will help my other hatches too

 

[Blarneyeggs]

I had more to add last night, but fell asleep while posting. Twice. (it's been a long 3 days watching these cuties hatch). Of my two last to hatch (1 BCM & 1 mystery egg) I practically peeled the whole mystery chick out myself - in the bathroom with the hot shower running, wetting my hands often and in 30-45 second increments putting her back in bator for 5 minutes in between each time to see if I had started her off enough to get out on her own (all my chicks are hens until proven otherwise)

. The Maran, ay! I did not help out as much and -she never fluffed up -the other Marans were really picking at her and she was crying so much. At closer examination she had membrane dried all over her making her appear to still be wet. So I got a warm soapy bowl of water together, and tried to get as much membrane off as I could, she's now back in the bator away from the others and a tad bit more fluffy.

My humidity has been running high, probably too high all along which was another reason I decided to use the egg cartons during lock down, so they don't 'drown'? My humidity was:

44-47% days 1-10
Around 30ish from days 11 through to lockdown -after I was warned of 'drowning the chicks' and versed in the wonders of a dry hatch

70-99% during lockdown. I got it to 70 and then it shot way up after chick # 1 was born.

I believe next time I will start with a dry hatch until lockdown, weigh my eggs and determine how my humidity is by % of weight loss.

use egg cartons, but cut them down more and use the styrofoam ones so they don't wick moisture away.

Try to get eggs without having them go through the postal system. Here are some of the babies: