Incubators Anonymous

[farmgirljd09]

ty ki4got, you are such a super nice person, and i really appreciate the warm welcome and the great help

i wish you luck as it looks like we are both hatch-a-holics, lol

 

[mbleily]

Quote:
sometimes you can tell the older bird by their beak and feet. an older bird will tend to have longer beak and toenails and rougher looking feet/hocks. and if you pick them up and handle them, an older bird might have more or less fat deposited than the others. my old birds tended toward lean than fat because they had free range every day and those not laying tended to wander around a lot more than the layers.

Thanks for the help with this. I will try to use that when picking them out. I do know some of them because I didn't get any more of that breed again. I will compare them with the others. That is great help!! Thanks again.

 

[mbleily]

Perhaps the real issue is: is she laying. If all the hens should be laying at this point, would n't you want to can any slacker even if she is young? Assuming no medical reason to not be laying of course.

If you pick up a hen and look at the vent, a laying hen has a large open vent that is wet and shiny. If it is comparatively small, about half the size, and dry and dull looking she is not laying.

Another good information. Yes I would rather leave them if they are young and just stopped for a while. I am getting some pressure from my family to cut back some. So I would like to get rid of the ones that are in the 5 year range. I am sure they are not laying as much as they did.

 

[mbleily]

i can't wait this time ALL the ggs feel heavy and seem like they are doing great.... hatching day is next wed......except for the 1 or 2 we added from my son's banties we added the day after.....they will be the following day..... i think this will be a great hatch...

I don't know for sure but it seems to me that I heard that the bantie eggs might hatch a little earlier because they are smaller..... Maybe someone will come by and tell us if this is true or not. I hope you have a great hatch!! I am getting eggs in the mail today or tomorrow and will set them on the week end so they will hatch on the week end instead to during the week so I have to stay home from things I am supposed to do.

They are supposed to settle for a day or two anyway.

 

[ki4got]

I don't know for sure but it seems to me that I heard that the bantie eggs might hatch a little earlier because they are smaller..... Maybe someone will come by and tell us if this is true or not. I hope you have a great hatch!! I am getting eggs in the mail today or tomorrow and will set them on the week end so they will hatch on the week end instead to during the week so I have to stay home from things I am supposed to do.

They are supposed to settle for a day or two anyway.

i think that's going to be more breed specific rather than size... my bantam cochins usually hatch right on day 21, the color cross dorkings too, but pure silver grey dorking seems to push it closer to 22 days on average.

i've never had any hatch earlier than day 20.

 

[mbleily]

i think that's going to be more breed specific rather than size... my bantam cochins usually hatch right on day 21, the color cross dorkings too, but pure silver grey dorking seems to push it closer to 22 days on average.

i've never had any hatch earlier than day 20.

I figured some one would come along that knows for sure. I read that on another thread in incubation about smaller eggs sometimes hatching out earlier. I have always seemed to hatch out starting on day 18 but the eggs are not smaller. I think it may have to do with temp being higher. My thermometers all read a different degree. one says 100 one says 99 and one say 98. That should not be high but I still start hatch at 18 days.

 

[ronott1]

Hi Mbleily,

All three of your thermometers are probably off. If they don't read tenths of degrees, you need a different thermometer.

Chicken eggs should hatch on day 21. If they are three days earlier, you are probably running at 100.5 or so. Do you have a forced air or a still air incubator?

You can get a Brinsea spot check. They are accurate to .1 or so. I really like mine. You can also get accurate ones from a pet store. You can calibrate them(verify the temp reading) by checking the temperature of boiling water with the thermometer (not the spot check).

I use a Spot Check placed inside a water weasel toy:



This is my set up for the easter Hatch. The water weasel is sitting next to the eggs. The egg cartons are cut down and the eggs are setting at an angle with the large end up. I candles them and set them in the cartons with the biggest part of the air cell facing up.

These were shipped eggs and 11 of 13 hatched. I set 15.

I hope this helps!

Good luck with the hatch.

Ron

Quote:

 

[mbleily]

Hi Mbleily,

All three of your thermometers are probably off. If they don't read tenths of degrees, you need a different thermometer.

Chicken eggs should hatch on day 21. If they are three days earlier, you are probably running at 100.5 or so. Do you have a forced air or a still air incubator?

You can get a Brinsea spot check. They are accurate to .1 or so. I really like mine. You can also get accurate ones from a pet store. You can calibrate them(verify the temp reading) by checking the temperature of boiling water with the thermometer (not the spot check).

I use a Spot Check placed inside a water weasel toy:



This is my set up for the easter Hatch. The water weasel is sitting next to the eggs. The egg cartons are cut down and the eggs are setting at an angle with the large end up. I candles them and set them in the cartons with the biggest part of the air cell facing up.

These were shipped eggs and 11 of 13 hatched. I set 15.

I hope this helps!

Good luck with the hatch.

Ron

That sounds good but I can't keep buying thermometers. I will have to wait on that one. Another $30.00 is more than I can go right now. I have over 6 that I have bought. Just put in an oral one to see what it goes to. The fish tank one is on 100. The one that someone here recommened from the incubator warehouse is always lower at around 98. I figure the oral one should be good. If it goes to 100 then I should be ok right........? I just hate buying things that don't work right.

oh, yes, I have looked high and low around here for one of those water weasel things and they just don't have them anyplace.
Forgot to say that it is a home made ice chest bator and has a computer fan in it. I have hatched in it twice. both times they started hatching on day 18. The first time I hatched in it I had my eggs and my Sister in laws eggs. My eggs had a problem with fertility and I hatched out only 4 of 14. I had a candler but they were all so dark I couldn't see into them. My SIL eggs hat a better hatch. 8 out of 15 eggs. I could see in some of hers and pulled out 4 that were clear. the other two of her eggs were not deveoped at the end. I opened all the eggs to check at day 23. I had two that were developed completely but didn't pip. the rest were clear. I really didn't think that was so bad for this bater.

 

[ronott1]

Ok, you probably can't find it because of the name. Here it is on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_i...and-games,190&rh=n:165793011,k:water+wigglies

I have been calling it Water Weasel to keep things PC here

Ron
That sounds good but I can't keep buying thermometers. I will have to wait on that one. Another $30.00 is more than I can go right now. I have over 6 that I have bought. Just put in an oral one to see what it goes to. The fish tank one is on 100. The one that someone here recommened from the incubator warehouse is always lower at around 98. I figure the oral one should be good. If it goes to 100 then I should be ok right........? I just hate buying things that don't work right.

oh, yes, I have looked high and low around here for one of those water weasel things and they just don't have them anyplace.

 

[mbleily]

Ok, you probably can't find it because of the name. Here it is on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_i...and-games,190&rh=n:165793011,k:water+wigglies

I have been calling it Water Weasel to keep things PC here

Ron

I had seen those but over $6.00 for shipping on all of them seemed a little much to me. I knew what they looked like and when to walmart, kmart, and all the stores that have toys and looked for them. I hope to fine them locally someday. I just can't bring myself to pay that much for them. LOL I do sound like a cheap scap I know but it really galls me to pay so much for shipping of such a small thing.